News

Nick Cave’s “Grinderman 2″ On Its Way

Amy Dupcak :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 4:45 pm

Nick Cave’s demonic music and imagination have spawned a variety of awesome projects, from his work with The Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds, to his screenplay for The Proposition and recent novel, The Death of Bunny Munro (an absolute must-read!). In 2006, he formed Grinderman, and the band debuted their self-titled album a year later. Now, a follow-up, called Grinderman 2, is slated for release on September 14th. You can hear the first single, “Heathen Child,” on August 30th. And the spooky/surreal cover art, along with an odd little trailer, directed by The Road director John Hillcoat, have just been unveiled. MORE »

How Harry Potter Has Shaped My Life

Matt Kiebus :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 4:30 pm

When I was 12 years old I was a terribly lazy reader. I didn’t enjoy reading anything that wasn’t the sports section of the newspaper and I basically lied on book reports. (Not exactly the ideal start for someone who is now trying to write for a living.) In the summer before seventh grade, my only concerns in life were keeping my batting average up for my travel baseball team. My parents liked to buy me books on the off chance I had the desire to be intellectually stimulated. The result is a bookcase decorated with unread novels.

Until one day my dad bought me Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (Yea, I read the second book first) and for the following eleven years JK Rowling’s masterpiece took over my imagination and at a socially unacceptable time, my life. Up until my senior year in college I was still secretly hoping to one day get a letter in the mail requesting I attend Hogwarts. MORE »

10 Things That Should Make You Proud To Be An American

Chelsea Fisher :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 3:55 pm

The Fourth of July is upon us. The day we beat the Brits and became our own self-governed people. Those were the good days: Paul Revere, cutting down cherry trees, throwing tea into the ocean, giving small pox to innocent natives. Man, being an American was as great then as it is now. In honor of the upcoming holiday and hopefully to boost your nationalism I’ve created a short list that points out just how fucking great America is. FREEDOM! MORE »

Brooklyn Pool Parties Announce Lineup

Amy Dupcak :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 3:45 pm

The Pool Parties are back for another hot wet Brooklyn summer. Not to be confused with other free NYC concerts happening this summer, or the ticketed shows at the Williamsburg Waterfront, like the Faith No More show tonight. The Jelly Pool Parties started in 2006, in the then-abandoned McCarren Park Pool. The Parties moved to the 10,000 capacity Williamsburg Waterfront location last year as it outgrew the 7,000 attendees who flocked to the park in their shades and short shorts (even though there’s no pool on the premises). Now in its fifth year, the lineups and shows have been confirmed. And those bands are…. MORE »

Robert Christgau’s Consumer Guide Comes To An End

Colin Jones :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 2:30 pm

Robert Christgau, one of the godfathers of modern music criticism, announced this week that his encyclopedic-collection of reviews Consumer Guide would be ending this month. Anyone today writing music reviews or criticism are directly or indirectly influenced by Christgau and his guide. Christgau’s announcement came through MSN’s music section which, for the past three-and-a-half years, has hosted the guide.

And in a sign of his dedication, Christgau even left with reviews of The National, The Dead Weather and LCD Soundsystem. Talk about continued relevance. MORE »

Twilight Eclipse: Not As Bad As You Think

Chelsea Fisher :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 2:15 pm

Luckily they waited a year after New Moon to release Twilight Eclipse because I had vowed not to waste my money on another Twilight movie again—but lo and behold I still ended up going, and I’m not ashamed to say it was seriously enjoyable. MORE »

Cover Songs That Kick The Originals To The Curb

Amy Dupcak :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 1:30 pm

Is there such thing as a cover song that’s better than the original? For all the crap out there—the Britney Spears cover of “I Love Rock n Roll” or Hillary Duff’s rendition of “My Generation”—there are a few rare gems out there that have managed to top the original, reinventing an old song or bringing to light a never-before-heard one. There are even those that you probably didn’t know were covers. Here are our top pics. MORE »

A Tale Of Pretending To Drown Men: The Media, Waterboarding and The Getaway Car

Colin Jones :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 1:15 pm

What’s in a word? Or a name? Apparently not a lot when it comes to defining waterboarding as plain and simple torture.

A study released in April from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard revealed that as the government began referring to the waterboarding as an enhanced interrogation technique and not torture, as the Bush White House started doing in 2004, the American media followed suit. However, before the government rhetorical usage shifted, the media was consistant in the definition of what waterboarding is and was — torture. MORE »

Madonna + Daughter Start Material Girl Line

Amy Dupcak :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 12:30 pm

The world’s first Material Girl produced another one in 1996, and now the mother-daughter team of last-name-not-necessary Madonna and Lourdes are launching a fashion line together. The line is ’80s themed and geared to teenagers, even though Lourdes and every other teen today were born after the decade ended. Though the actual clothes are still-to-come, the line’s blog, updated by Lourdes, or “Lola,” herself, is already running. Madonna+offspring want to know: “Are you a Material Girl?” and “A fearless trend setter?”

In other words: “Have you reached the age where you feel pressured to dress slutty?” Or, “Do you weigh your self-worth in how good you look or how fashion savvy you are?” Or, “Are you a thirteen-year-old who goes to school in studded bras?” Or, “Do you have a disposable income to shop at the mall whenever you please?” But perhaps more importantly, “Do you want to ‘express your individuality’ by buying ‘vintage’ clothes at Macy’s?” If yes to all of the above, then congratulations, you are a bona fide Material Girl! MORE »

Trent Reznor, Social Media Skeptic, Scores The Social Network

Colin Jones :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 11:30 am

Trent Reznor, formerly of Nine Inch Nails, announced today on the NIN Feed that he and Atticus Ross are scoring the new Facebook movie from David Fincher, The Social Network. Yes, he had planned to spend time off. Yes, he has started an okay band with his wife called How To Destroy Angels. But being a a fan of Fincher’s he decided to score the movie anyway, even though he’s notoriously wary of social media—as far as we can tell Reznor is not on Facebook himself, and he has quit and rejoined Twitter at least 10 times so far. MORE »

Down To Earth, Grounded Superman Finds His Humble Home (And Men Should, Too)

Andrew Belonsky :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 10:00 am

Superman has had a hard time: his long-lost planet, Krypton, recently came back from the dead, only to be destroyed again. Now he’s back on Earth, celebrating the 700th issue of his titular comic book. And the Man of Steel, like so many of us, is feeling a little downtrodden.

Unsure of where to go with his life, he realizes that he’s been flying far too fast, letting the heart and soul of America go by in one big blur. So, for the next few months, Superman will embark on a storyline called “Grounded,” walking, strolling and perhaps even jogging from coast-to-coast. This archetypical hero’s self-imposed humility may be more powerful than his laser vision, and provides a potential road map for the American male.
MORE »

BP Oil Spill Is No Three Mile Island - But Why?

David Rose :: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 9:00 am

“Do I think this BP spill is going to be the Three Mile Island of off-shore drilling? I don’t think so.”
- Mississippi governor Haley Barbour

1979 was a banner year for energy-industry disasters in the United States.

In the course of two months, two massive environment-wrecking events occurred that became the highlight of news reels all summer long. Public outrage reached a fevered pitch, culminating in a week-long concert series at Madison Square Garden by Musicians United for Safe Energy. Massive citywide protests erupted on both coasts and within the Beltway. One such protest in New York City attracted estimates of 200,000 citizens along with A-list movie stars like Jane Fonda and up-and-coming activists such as Ralph Nader.

Curiously, all this ire was directed at only one of the two culprits. The first of the two disasters of 1979 took the brunt of all the protest, was the focus of political rhetoric, and could be blamed for the decline of an entire industry for the next 30 years. The second disaster resulted in silence and was doomed to be repeated. MORE »

No One’s Gonna Love Cee-Lo’s Cover Video

Gray Hurlburt :: Thursday, July 1st, 2010 6:30 pm

In homage to arguably Band of Horses’ greatest song, “No One’s Gonna Love You,” the Gnarls Barkley tenor Cee-Lo has gone and electro-fied the acoustic track for people who like it when that happens.

The product is even more lethargic than the original—which was already a slumber land favorite—and gives you the feeling of bearing through a drawn-out yawn onboard the Millenium Falcon in hyperspace. If that isn’t enough to get you all jazzed up for an experience, the video for the cover has landed online, and it’s the most dispiriting montage of canned American romance ever brought about by any medium ever and forever and ever. MORE »

Hollister Bedbug Infestation Shuts Down Massive NYC Store…Major Bummer, Bro!

Travis Walter Donovan :: Thursday, July 1st, 2010 6:00 pm

In my recent trip to NYC’s four-story SoHo Hollister to buy some totally rad board shorts and just like — you know — chill out in the mellow vibes, I couldn’t help but notice how all those paid shirtless surfer brahs were rockin’ some new polka-dotted body paint trend. I thought I might have missed out on the latest west coast craze, but it turns out the store was invaded by bloodsucking bedbugs! Even though employees reported the problem almost a month ago, Hollister apparently didn’t care enough about them or their customers to do anything until it got completely out of control. MORE »

Mekka Lekka Hi Mekka Hiney Ho: Judd Apatow Set to Produce Pee-Wee Herman’s Comeback Film

Elisabeth Dickson :: Thursday, July 1st, 2010 5:50 pm

Judd Apatow, director/producer of Knocked Up and Superbad, has just confirmed that he is developing a new Pee-Wee Herman film project, with a screenplay written by creator Paul Reubens and Semi-Pro screenwriter Paul Rust. Apatow, who signed onto the project after seeing Reubens perform as Pee-Wee in a one-man show last winter, told Daily Variety, “Let’s face it - the world needs more Pee-Wee Herman. It’s so great to watch him return with such relevance.” MORE »