News

Bear In Heaven to tour with Metric

Alex Moore :: Friday, April 30th, 2010 11:00 am

We love Bear In Heaven. Their latest record Beast Rest Forth Mouth (try saying that five times fast) manages to be both one of the most innovative and most fun records we’ve heard in a while. Remember when we could say that about Radiohead?

After duking it out in relative obscurity for a few years, 2010 appears to be a breakout year fort the band, and they’ve just announced they’ll be playing Terminal 5 as well as a few other marquis dates with Metric.

Continue reading for the full tour schedule and listen to “Lovesick Teenagers.” MORE »

Jason Reitman interviews Donald Glover: Life of the (Tea) Party

Alex Moore :: Thursday, April 29th, 2010 5:00 pm

Ok, so Donald Glover is not exactly a Tea Party man. “It feels two steps away from white robes,” he told the Huffington Post in a recent interview. “I’m sorry, I know there are some good people there, but any time I see white men over sixty screaming, I get nervous.”

And probably for the better—Donald Glover is too busy to party these days. In the last couple years he’s been the youngest staff writer for 30 Rock, a star of Community with Chevy Chase and Joel McHale, a pillar of Upright Citizen’s Brigade and a regular of the stand-up comedy circuit, recently appearing on the Axe Twisted Humor Tour and starring in his own Comedy Central Presents special last month.

And that’s not even mentioning the rap career. Somewhere along the way, the comic found time to release the mix tape I Am Just A Rapper as the Childish Gambino, mixing indie rock like Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” into his track “Bitch Look At Me Now.”

Jason Reitman, director of Juno and Up In The Air, who also moonlights as one half of the electro turntable duo Bad Meaning Bad, made waves when he listed “Bitch Look At Me Now” as one of the top-played tracks on his iPod in an Entertainment Weekly interview. Suddenly everyone wanted to know—just who is this Childish Gambino? D+T contributor Danny Fassold asked Reitman to find out for us. In a sit-down at the director’s house in Beverly Hills, he did his best. (Photos by Bryan Sheffield) MORE »

Roger Ebert’s Adventures With The Sex Pistols

Alex Moore :: Thursday, April 29th, 2010 11:15 am

I don’t know if it’s been a good year for Roger Ebert, but it’s been a good year for his career and his legacy. There was the fantastic Esquire portfolio in March, the emotional Oprah appearance—it’s been the kind of year where a man shows what he’s made of. In recent days his blog has been showing us what he used to be made of: he used to hang out with the Sex Pistols. In fact, he almost made a movie with them, and he’s making the full script available now for the first time. MORE »

New iPhone: June 7

Alex Moore :: Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 2:30 pm

Mashable is reporting that the new iPhone will likely be released on June 7.

“Apple just put up details about its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on its site,” the tech blog says. “Given the recent iPhone 4G leak and Apple’s usual timing when it comes to iPhone announcements, it’s very likely that Apple will officially announce the next version of iPhone at the conference, which is being held from June 7-11 in San Francisco.” MORE »

Internet Mysteries: The Sandra Bullock Baby, Trent Reznor, and Phantom Wes Anderson

Alex Moore :: Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 11:30 am

The Internet has gone ripe with partially-solved, unsolved, and apparently fully-solved mysteries over the last 24 hours: Trent Reznor’s new mystery band, The Awl plays Where’s Waldo with Wes Anderson, and the real unsolved mystery behind Sandra Bullock’s baby. MORE »

Frightened Rabbit Interview (plus sold-out Webster Hall show tonight)

Alex Moore :: Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 10:30 am

Frightened Rabbit plays a sold-out show at NYC’s Webster Hall tonight.

If you haven’t heard it yet, their new record The Winter of Mixed Drinks is topping our list of best records of the year. 2010 will remember Frightened Rabbit as “the Scottish band that lived up tot he hype,” unlike their countrymen We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Keep reading for an exclusive interview with the band from D+T contributor Drew Fortune. MORE »

The Jason Chen Raid: Does Steve Jobs Hate Blogs?

Alex Moore :: Monday, April 26th, 2010 7:45 pm

iPhonegate got more interesting on Monday, as Gizmodo editor John Chen’s computers were seized by police under warrant from a Superior Court Judge in San Mateo County. But more interesting is the philosophical question this raises about Apple’s relationship to technology: does Steve Jobs hate blogs? MORE »

Stephen Hawking: Aliens Are Coming To Kill Us

Alex Moore :: Monday, April 26th, 2010 1:15 pm

In recent years Stephen Hawking, bellwether of human smarts, has been unleashing a torrent of terrifying doomsday admonitions. From the threat of climate change to nuclear proliferation, Hawking has been doing his part to scare the bejeezus out of us. In a new documentary for Discovery Channel, Hawking has a brand new trump card to keep us up at night: Aliens. MORE »

Blippy’s Blooper: Sharing Is Caring

Alex Moore :: Friday, April 23rd, 2010 7:15 pm

As Mashable has been covering in late-breaking fashion for us today, Blippy made a major blooper. The website, whose sole purpose is to allow users to publicly share their credit card transactions, has accidentally shared… credit card transactions. MORE »

Joni Mitchell calls Bob Dylan “A Fake”

Alex Moore :: Friday, April 23rd, 2010 2:00 pm

Catfight!! There’s nothing like a good smackdown between two aging ex-hippie baby boomers trash-talking about who’s more “phony.”

In an interview just published with the L.A. Times, Joni Mitchell throws down something fierce on Bob Dylan: “Bob is not authentic at all,” she says. “He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake.” MORE »

Listen: The National’s High Violet Now Streaming

Alex Moore :: Friday, April 23rd, 2010 10:30 am

At 10am this morning, The National’s High Violet became the first ever record to premiere as a stream on the the New York Times. Listen for free here until April 27.

In a move redolent of Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable events, the band will take over a vacant space at 13 East 4th Street in Manhattan for four nights to host an event series they’re calling the “High Violet Annex” when the album releases on May 11. There are many things to love about this band, but it’s this kind of embodiment of the spirit of New York rock and roll that makes The National a quintessential New York band rather than just another band from New York, and makes the New York Times a perfect venue for the High Violet premiere. No details are available yet on the High Violet Annex, but stay tuned for more. Keep reading for spring and summer tour dates. MORE »

Tanlines, Brahms at Original Penguin Store this Sunday!

Alex Moore :: Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 7:00 pm

This Sunday is World Penguin Day (that’s right, it’s an actual thing) and D+T and Original Penguin are celebrating with an open bar, DJ sets by Tanlines and Brahms, and 20% the entire store. Click here to RSVP, and follow the jump for more info. MORE »

South Park Finally Finds A Line It Won’t Cross

Alex Moore :: Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 4:34 pm

For the past thirteen years, South Park has been methodically trying and failing to find a line it won’t cross. Last night, it found that line: Jihadis. MORE »

Earth Day 2010 Should be Cancelled

Alex Moore :: Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 2:00 pm

Today marks the 40^th annual Earth Day celebration—time to get out there and celebrate forty years of abject failure on the environment!

Sure, this is a little harsh. But this year’s Earth Day does fall smack in the middle of a very real, very depressing slide in public opinion about the environment. Here’s what we know for sure: Somewhere between April 2008 and October 2009, Americans stopped caring about climate change. What’s more, they started actively believing that the threat of climate change is a hoax. MORE »

Record Store Day: Interview With Founder Michael Kurtz (plus: Listen To Bon Iver)

Alex Moore :: Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 1:45 pm

Record Store Day was this Saturday, and it was a huge hit for the organization, getting tons of attention from exclusive releases by Bon Iver and Blur, and even a shout-out from Seth Meyers on SNL.

Now in its third year, Record Store Day seems to be defying all odds, lifting one of the most notoriously challenged industries to national-holiday status, if only for a day. So how did this whole thing happen?

Keep reading for an exclusive interview with Michael Kurtz, Record Store Day founder and visionary. Also, watch the SNL clip a and listen to Bon Iver covering Peter Gabriel in a special RSD release. MORE »