Justin Timberlake ruined the Super Bowl halftime show. And I’m not just referring to the infamous Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show – that being the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” incident. That half-second of “indecent exposure” has resulted in a slew of kinda bland halftime shows that pander to the baby boomer generation and hardly reflect the … [Read more…]
It’s hard to sum up an entire year of pop music in one concise “best of” list. Instead, here’s a tidy little look at some of the highs and lows in pop music over the past year: Hip-Huh?: The New Yorker‘s Sasha Frere-Jones declared that hip-hop was dead and upset a lot of hip-hop heads. … [Read more…]
The new year is almost here, and with it comes a maelstrom of “End of the Year Lists.†Here on Ex-Spectator, I’ll be rolling out a few “End of the Yearâ€/â€End of the Decade†lists. Today’s list: The Best Free Albums, EPs and Mixtapes of 2009. Since Radiohead made the pay-what-you-want model so notable with … [Read more…]
A lot has been said about Adam Lambert’s performance on the American Music Awards Sunday night. With all the hubbub of his “racy” performance, what’s most surprising about the entire escapade and commentary in the days since the show is that there is commentary in the days following the show. And it’s still going strong. … [Read more…]
It’s true… Pete Wentz is a genius. Or someone at Fall Out Boy camp has got it going on in their noggin. A smattering of break-up rumors cropped up online, fresh on the heels of the Tuesday release of the band’s greatest hits album Believers Never Die. Take the NME tweet from just yesterday: Fall … [Read more…]
There is a new, unheard album by The Beatles out there. And “James Richards” wants to spread it to everyone [via The Daily Swarm]: On Sept. 9, 2009 I experienced something that I still am having trouble believing happened to me. I came into the possession of a cassette tape containing a Beatles album that … [Read more…]
The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones recently caught flack for a piece titled “Wrapping Up.†Frere-Jones began the joint review of Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 and Freddie Gibbs’ Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik with a pretty heady assertion: That hip-hop – gasp – is dead! If I had to pick a year for hip-hop’s demise, though, I would choose 2009, … [Read more…]
Overlooked in the Aughts is an ongoing feature focusing on some of the best albums from the 2000s that haven’t quite received the attention they deserved. Today’s post: Danger Mouse & Jemini’s Ghetto Pop Life. When it comes to end-of-the-decade music lists, there’s got to be one titled “Best Danger Mouse Albums.” Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton, burst … [Read more…]
When little kids get their first haircut, there’s usually crying involved. When Pete Wentz gets his hair cut (or shaven?), the crying apparently stops: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM6-BE5XZIQ] Take to the messageboards, Facebook feeds, and Twitter tweets, you FOB fanatics out there! Wentz has proven to be something of an intelligent individual in music: his lyrics have the … [Read more…]
It’s always nice getting some sort of personal email, especially when it’s in the form of a musical reunion between David Byrne and Brian Eno. Well, “personal” isn’t quite the right word, but I certainly took the message as a sincere and direct one: It’s with great pleasure we offer you a sneak peak by … [Read more…]