Monday, December 22, 2008

Random Thoughts: What I learned from Paste 49


In an effort to curb the mounting stack of magazines around the flat (...), I've decided to bring back the "What I Learned" column. Here are some nuggets I plucked from the 49th issue of Paste (December '08/January '09):
  • This isn't so much new information as a reaffirmation of beliefs formerly held: "cover model" Zooey Deschanel is as cute as a button. (She's posing with Him, aka M. Ward.)
  • If you fly American Airlines -- Who has money for vacations during a recession, right? -- you can listen to Paste-selected tunes by plugging into your armrest. Weird partnership....
  • Paste subscribes can go digital (sampler and all) come February. That's good to know, considering I just bought my brother a subscription and re-upped myself.
  • The Mountain Goats, Sloan and the Weakerthans will all be playing one of those rock 'n' roll cruises in February. Hosted by Barenaked Ladies ... eww.
  • Good idea for the holidays: If you have just a couple of bucks left on a gift card, mail it to GiftCardGiver.com and they'll donate the remainder to charities like Habitat for Humanity. -> Think of the children!
  • Hip-OSelect.com has some really sweet Motown T-shirts. Vintage-looking!
  • Coming Jan. 27, 2009: "Ready for the Flood," Gary Louris and Mark Olson's first post-Jayhawks album. <- Sweet.
  • "All of Us in Our Night," by Athens band Modern Skirts, was co-produced by R.E.M.'s Mike Mills (of course) and Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven's David Lowery. That's pretty impressive!
  • Paste's pick for best album of 2008 was She & Him's "Volume One." (Hence the cover.) It's up there on my list too.
  • Of their picks for best film of '08, I've seen exactly none. Yay for me! What, no "Pineapple Express"?
  • Their pick for best show? "Battlestar Galactica" = dorks. (Just kidding, I just got done playing "Halo 3.")
  • Speaking of games, they gave the nod to "Fallout 3." I haven't played that one, but I have No. 6 and No. 7 ("Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Rock Band 2") -- so I'm doing a little better than I did with the movies....
  • How cool is Paste? Facing ads from CCR and Of Montreal, that's how cool.
  • You can get 25 free music downloads (and one free audiobook) from eMusic.com, one of my favorite sites, by visiting www.emusic.com/pastemag.
  • If you ask me, Paste's Digital VIP subscription seems like a pretty good deal.
  • Have you seen what Merge is up to with "Score!"? It's a 14-disc set, with each one curated by people like R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and comedian Zach Galifianakis -- kind of like our very own Homegrown comps.
  • Former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan has another collaboration album out. But this time, instead of Greg Dulli (together they are the Gutter Twins), it's Belle & Sebastian's Isobel Campbell. Sounds interesting.
  • Jesse Malin has covered the Hold Steady on his new(ish) album, "On Your Sleeve." Again, interesting.
  • Stephen Kellogg and Glen Phillips are both on a new compilation, "New Arrivals, Vol. 3," which benefits the National Eating Disorders Association.
  • Here's one for my coworker Matt: In the humorous article "Gazing Into the Crystal 8 Ball," writer Paul J. Williams predicts that, on Aug. 3, 2009, Liam Gallagher will protest the presence of brother and Oasis bandmate Noel Gallagher at Glastonbury Festival. Nice!
BONUS EDUCATION: Issue 49's New-Music Sampler
  • RosieThomas' "Why Can't it Be Christmastime All Year" is a decent enough holiday song; part Flaming Lips, part Amy Grant....
  • Other songs to consider seeking out: The Steps' "Dagger," The Deep Vibration's "Oklahoma City Woman Blues (Veracruz)," Denison Witmer's Fleetwood Mac-esque "Life Before Aesthetics," Anathallo's Format-conjuring "The River," the Whispertown 2000's does-it-better-than-Lucinda "Old Times," LoveKrafty's "Just Go On," the Great Unknown's "I'm Not Listening" (something I'm pretty sure Charlie Parr or Marc Gartman would dig), Modern Skirts' "Soft Pedals" (it's growing on me) and Dear and the Headlights' "I'm Not Crying, You're Not Crying, Are You?"
  • Ones to avoid: Ani's new one, "Smiling Underneath," and Lovedrug's "Blood Like." Just awful, both of 'em.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

that is the second disc that Mark and Isobel have put out together. I have them both and I'd say they are both enjoyable