In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys collects stories, poems, and essays by sex workers. Compiled by David Henry Sterry and RJ Martin, Jr., the book organizes this collection of refreshingly genuine and brutally honest writings by category (love, life, money, etc.). The New York Times wrote of the book: "From the unappealing title, you might think this is a truly trashy [...]
Welcome to the new, not-really-improved BabyStew This Week In Chicago listing. What's new about it, you ask? Absolutely nothing, except that it now covers the week from Monday through Sunday rather than Sunday through Saturday. It always seemed weird to me not to be listing Sunday shows until the morning of – when not many people are reading blogs – for the sole purpose of sticking with the conventional definition of "week" ( i.e. , Sun-Sat). But convention be damned. So here's what's going on in Chicago this "week". [...]
KiT How is it that every time we come across a band from Paris it makes us want to be right there, in their beautiful, hipster culture? It's probably the same factor that made us want to live in Brooklyn when we discovered Sleigh Bells , or Los Angeles when we first came across Heartsrevolution , or Berlin when, or Manchester when, or, or, etc. OK, to be fair, our home town of Brighton is plenty cool enough thanks, but this three piece from the Gallic capital are definitely made from that [...]
One of the best surprises for me at our SxSW party last year was seeing Tigercity perform. They took the stage about 8 hours into the party after a series of alt-country acts like Joe Pug, Justin Townes Earle, The Deep Dark Woods and others. Their set was the turning point in the party. People ordered fewer beers and more red bull + vodka cocktails and things got a little weirder. I haven't had a chance to spin the album, but the 80's inspired "Fake Gold" is here as an mp3 and the video features the bald, bearded [...]
Stiffy Biceptz is disgusted, has had enough, and must speak out on a topic that has burned me up for awhile now. Some bands are completely defined by their key members. If that key member leaves the band or dies, the band dies with them. That's not an opinion, it's an immutable fact, like gravity, or death. Whether or not the other members of the band want to continue on or not is irrelevant. The band as it was known, the synthesis of all the parts that made the band what it was is dead and gone forever [...]
After a summer of hard work, the payoff is here: Flawless Hustle proudly presents Money Isn't Real , our first compilation. If there's one topic that's a constant in Hip-Hop is money. Whether heads are making it, spending it or stealing it, the scene (and our world) is obsessed with money. Hell, one of the reasons people hustle is to get loot, so we ourselves know the power of a dollar, which got us thinking: what the fuck is money, really? It's an interesting concept, and was a great jumping off point for this debut project, so [...]
Yesterday evening, I managed to get myself a ticket for Daniel Johnston's early show at The Mod Club in Toronto. Not sure what I was expecting exactly, but after listening to his latest record Is And Always Was ( buy here ) about 5 times in the past few days, I knew that I would absolutely enjoy this experience. I wasn't wrong. Unfortunately getting there too late to catch any of the opening bands, I managed to get a nice view of the stage once Daniel started his set. Half of which was him and a [...]
Martin Scorsese's films often serve as cinematic history lessons in popular music. Sprawling, decades-spanning opuses like Goodfellas and Casino are perpetually laced with sonic nuggets of big band, blues, and straight up rock and roll that become a sort of audiovisual poetry when combined with stylized violence and drug use. Hollywood upstart P.T. Anderson took a page straight from Scorsese's fake book (he says so in the audio commentary) and cranked it up to 11 for his breakthrough film Boogie Nights , a glitter and gutter rollercoaster ride through the adult film industry in the [...]
I've been spending a lot of time recently combing through Pitchfork's list of the top 500 songs of the decade, but one thing that has annoyed me is that I can't find a site that actually lists all 500 songs on one page. I'm tired of having to scroll through page after page. So, I'm doing it myself. Here's the complete list, republished merely as a reference. Go to www.pitchfork.com to see the full presentation with song reviews, artwork, and audio clips. 500. The Big Pink - "Velvet" 499. N.E.R.D. - "Run to the [...]
Estamos en el mes de aniversario... septiembre marca otro año de llevarte la mejor música de la galaxia, sin cortes comerciales, los sonidos más nuevos del planeta... Seis años sin interrupciones... Galaxy 94.3 fm ® Los Mochis radio se enorgullece en presentarles la más reciente lista en rotación desde nuestros estudios... Sintoniza hoy viernes y mañana sábado una edición más del Friday Night, 20:35 horas para seguir con la tradición... gracias por la sintonía, benditos sean por la preferencia... Playlist 112 Galaxy 94.3 fm 110 mp3 18/19 septiembre 2009 [...]
A wee departure from pasting up film posters on the blog. What seems like a lifetime ago, I posted the late Ian Walker's 1979 New Society article, 'Anarchy in the UK' , on the blog, and it was always my intention to post other pieces by Ian Walker that had originally appeared within the pages of the now defunct British magazine, The New Society . What happened then? Well, I moved to the States and my copy of Paul Barker's 'The Other Britain' - a collection of New [...]
This is a neat musical scene we run in. It's a scene where even the biggest and most popular artists can be found sitting at the bar before they go on stage. There are few barriers and less ego between you and the people making the music you love. As a result, should you choose, you can build these miniature friendships with the bands. Don't get me wrong, when I call them "miniature friendships" I don't mean that as a slight, what I mean is that they're not like regular friendships. They're based around small conversations a couple of times [...]
As we showed you before on Joe Budden's Padded Room review, we aren't just throwing Cigs at a dart board when we come up with these ratings. Our gang of scribes has divergent views on what makes good Hip-Hop and the love him /hate him nature of KiD CuDi gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase the method behind the madness. Below is the TSS Review Crew's discussion of the Cudder's debut, Man On The Moon: The End Of Day . Let's just say this one took a while... [...]
Whether San Francisco planned for it or not, the fall season crept up early. If Saturday begged for suntan lotion, white cut off shirts, and bottles of Honest Ade assorted juices, then Sunday demanded sweaters, scarves, and trendy slacks. Though the chilly sabbath couldn't have come at a better time, as the third and final day of any festival is always the toughest to trudge through, considering everyone's tired and typically on their last breath. Sadly, Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival would come to another end, finishing off its second year with a hug, a [...]
olmadı pitchfork, olmadı 500. The Big Pink - Velvet 499. N.E.R.D. - Run to the Sun [Electronic version] 498. Unwound - Scarlette 497. Woods - Rain On 496. Akufen - Deck the House (Herbert's Stop Like This Mix) 495. Weezer - Island in the Sun 494. Blonde Redhead - Equus 493. Goldfrapp - Lovely Head 492. St. Vincent - The Strangers [...]
( BACK TO PART ONE ) Hell and High Water (1954, 103 minutes)(buy/ rent ) "I shall try my best to make you like me... as a scientist." A private consortium suspects that nuclear activity is occurring in on an island in the neutral waters of the North Pacific. They hire a mercenary WWII vet (Richard Widmark) to captain a submarine for a recon mission. Packed in the tin can are a full crew of sweaty men and one va-va-voomish French scientist. [...]
Given my non-linear view of world events, I would like to believe that the theory of punctuated equilibrium first occurred to Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould while out for a leisurely drive in Gould's beloved Corvair, listening to a Joe Henry mixtape lifted from Ernst Mayr's office. Might sound a little farfateched, but how else are we to connect the dots from the crooner of Shuffletown to the troubador of Kindness Of The World to the surrealist sage of Tiny Voices ? It's difficult to believe that, after [...]
With weather reports predicting high temperatures of up to 95 degrees, day two of Lollapalooza wasn't exactly going to be a walk in the park, either. Well, in some respects it was, but you get the idea. By high noon, mile-long lines had already gathered at every beverage stand, and hundreds of bikini-clad girls flashed around their fresh and fashionable sunburns. Neither shade nor sunscreen made a difference - even the Ice Cream Man couldn't save the day! Instead, while the heat continued to join the thousands of Lollagoers, a mighty wind picked up the slack, cooling things down and [...]
Given this year's summer weather conditions in Chicago - chilly with a taste of sunlight - nobody expected the onslaught of rain and wind that was August 7th, 2009. Incidentally, that happened to make up the opening day of Perry Farrell's summer music extravaganza, otherwise known as Lollapalooza. As fans rolled in at the crack of noon, rain followed... and lots of it. Some might say it was a dreary English day, which seemed fitting given the talent headlining - Depeche Mode , for those unsavvy with geography. Regardless, the bustling Windy City festival hosted thousands upon [...]
Welcome to my weekly roundup of inexpensive indie(ish) musical happenings in downtown Toronto, all for $10 or less. If I'm missing something you think I should list, or you have any comments, let me know. I star (*) shows that most interest me. Like this list? Join my Facebook group to get my weekly Toronto indie music listings. Subscribe to my weekly podcast (or download the episodes) here , or through iTunes . Or just listen to the latest [...]
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
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Tila Tequila NSFW UStream Freak Out (Video)
