The Academy-Award nominated, Emmy-winning, ever-brilliant entity known as South Park returns this Wednesday following a brief hiatus. Over the last dozen years, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s brainchild has evolved from a simple gross-out cartoon intent on pushing the boundaries of basic cable to a whipsmart satire of contemporary American politics and culture (intent on pushing the boundaries of basic cable). At times, the turnaround from current event to grist for the South Park mill has been staggering; many episodes have gone from conception to broadcast within as little as two weeks.
As such, it’s fairly likely that if a story is making waves in society, you’ll be treated to Parker and Stone’s refreshingly simplified and hilarious take before the ink has had time to fully dry. And when we’re really lucky, we get treated to an episode inspired by some inane aspect of the music industry that the duo just can’t resist picking apart, because let’s face it, there’s lots to make fun of here. So here we present our top 10 favorite South Park music-related episodes, realizing fully of course that there are many more we left out (including, for the obvious reason that it’s not an episode, the Academy-Award nominated South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut). Honestly, you wouldn’t even believe how many times we got Rickrolled while foraging for clips on YouTube, and yet we persevered to bring you the crème de la crème: Read more…
Over the past week, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been taking a lot of heat for the answers she gave in an interview with Katie Couric on CBS News. The portion that’s getting the most critical attention is that bit about Palin’s foreign policy credentials… Read more…
Metallica’s ninth studio album, Death Magnetic, has “officially” been out for little over a week, but what a week it was. Awarded a degree of media attention that could only have been eclipsed by Jesus coming back to release The Second Coming: A Hip Hopera via iTunes, Death Magnetic has grabbed far more headlines than your average run of the mill chart-topping, Rick-Rubin-produced comeback metal album probably ever should. From Jessica Simpson to Mrs. Sarkozy, foot-long beards to fine wines, it’s Metallica’s world…we’re just reading the headlines. So for this week’s countdown, we’re running back the top ten Metallica-related stories that dominated the week that was (with a keen eye towards avoiding any “magnetic” puns wherever possible). Read more…
XKCD is “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language” published three times per week by Randall Munroe, a former contractor for NASA. It’s my favorite regularly updated webcomic and well worth checking out each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today, here on EAR FARM, we’ve collected ten of our favorite xkcd comics that deal with music in one way or another. Stop. Collaborate and listen.
- 10. Keeping Time (below)
- 9. The Perfect Sound (below)
- 8. Digital Rights Management (below)
- 7. Boombox (below)
- 6. Guitar Hero (below)
- 5. Important Life Lesson (below)
- 4. With Apologies to The Who (below)
- 3. Music Knowledge (below)
- 2. Rock Band (below)
- 1. M.C. Hammer Slide (below)
In anticipation of The Bell House’s grand opening on September 18th (following a private opening on the 17th), I did a little reconnaissance mission this past Thursday in order to get a firsthand look. My curiosity was rewarded, because Jack (Skippy) McFadden - co-owner and booker of the Bell House (and booker at Union Hall) - graciously agreed to take me on the grand tour of the premises as the fully realized vision of the space continued to take impressive shape around us.
Armed with a camera and perhaps an inappropriate number of questions, I compiled the following picture tour to give you 20 vicarious views of Gowanus’s newest gem, The Bell House. But first, here’s what Skippy had to say in a press release circulated just hours after my visit there… Read more…
For the uninitiated, EAR FARM has a community called The Goondocks where people can download exclusive mixes and MP3s Read more…
Let’s face it, after trekking from Cleveland to New York in a single afternoon - only to be greeted by several hours of rush hour gridlock nastiness - the last thing the gypsy gents of Bombadil probably wanted on Friday evening was to be stuck in EAR FARM’s inquisitive crosshairs. And lucky for them, the traffic jam actually saved them; the original plan was for all of us to meet up early and commence a friendly Q&A over a few drinks. The traffic gods had other plans though, mercifully spitting them out of the Holland Tunnel and onwards to the Living Room with no time for interrogation and only moments to spare before delivering another blisteringly awe-inspiring set. Yes, they had momentarily dodged our questions, but for how long?
About 24 hours….Bryan Rahija - guitar, vocals, dapper suit - was good enough to answer our 10 burning questions via email the following day (as well as show us a clip of their tour documentary, see below) just in time to add a little Bombadil to your Monday. Enjoy! Read more…
Madonna turned the big 5-0 this past Saturday and while EAR FARM did nothing “official” to mark the occasion, you better believe much of the weekend was dedicated to an appreciation of her music, video, and fashion skills. The main focus: her entire catalog.
While perusing Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of All Time and listening to her fifth studio album, Erotica, something occurred to me. Read more…
A recent article over on the Townhall Blog portrays John McCain’s usage of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in a campaign ad as a tactical maneuever based not on any nefarious political precedents but rather on a model established in the 90s…..by Aerosmith. Come again?
Well it actually makes a lot of sense, especially when considering the following:
“Heading into the early 90s, they (Aerosmith) had to be wondering how they could possibly compete in the MTV video age with up-and-coming stars like Eddie Vedder and Kirk Kurt Cobain — guys who were half their age. Their answer was to cast two beautiful young actresses, Alicia Silverstone and Liv Tyler to star in the videos. Meanwhile, Steve Tyler, Joe Perry — and the other Aerosmith guys — were, more or less, in the background of these videos. It worked; the videos for Cryin’, Amazing, and Crazy were huge hits on MTV — and Aerosmith successfully launched a second (or was it their third) career comeback. By teaming their music with younger images, Aerosmith successfully marketed their music to a new generation who otherwise might have viewed them as old fogies.”
The truth is, if McCain truly did look to Aerosmith for inspiration on how to remain eternally relevant, he honestly could not have picked a better source. They are the undisputed masters of this dark art, hands down. The triple-headed monster of “Cryin’”, “Amazing”, and “Crazy” - and their cousins Doc, Dopey, and Grumpy - was a force of nature; it felt like Aerosmith OWNED MTV during that period. And yet, it only comprises one chapter in their never-ending odyssey towards immortality. In this week’s Countdown, we give you five other trailblazing master strokes of cultural relevancy from the pioneers of public relations, Aerosmith: Read more…
We’ve gotta hand it to 2008, so far so good. Since January, we’ve come across some fairly amazing albums, and with new releases from Deerhoof, Of Montreal, The Cure and many others on the horizon ( and not even mentioning the Walkmen’s amazing new You & Me, kinda sorta unofficially released last week), the rest of the year seems just as strong, right?
Well, not so fast. While browsing through a few upcoming release calendars, we’ve come across our fair share of land mines lurking in the cabbage patch. Buyer beware!
To help you navigate the glut of new releases, we’ve identified five common trends that we sure as hell are steering clear of….consider it our field guide for avoiding the worst of what 2008 has yet to offer. Read more…
The fine folks over at The Boston Phoenix made a list: 50 Bands, 50 States. Here’s what they did - to celebrate the 4th of July this year they declared the best band, best solo artist, and best new band from each of the 50 states in the United States of America. It’s a nice list they made, but it got me thinking. Read more…
We’ve got to hand it to the Dodos. Not only have they made one of our absolute favorite records of 2008 (which coincidentally ended up saving our lives at one point), but they were also good enough to sit down and chat with me after sweating through a ridiculously hot set at Siren on Saturday afternoon (say that five times fast). Behold Meric, Logan and Joe as they tiptoe our investigative journalistic high wire to answer 10 particularly burning and/or inane questions and become the first band to get officially Countdown’d! Read more…
Boy, I’m really letting you see behind the curtain here. There’ll be no question as to what my favorite albums are anymore, they’re (mostly) all spelled out for you nice and easy right here. Keyword: favorite. I didn’t set about trying to discern the “best” records from each year; rather, I’ve followed in Maura and Jeff’s (and others) footsteps and created a list of my favorite albums from every year I’ve been alive, as per DYFL’s instructions. Read more…
Glenn Collins’s infamous 1988 New York Times article, which trumpeted at least a few years too late the entry of hip-hop into America’s musical mainstream, begins with a sentence so corny in its attempt to adopt the emergent street slang of the time that it’s hard to read without your eyes tearing up. The article, entitled “Rap Music: Brash and Swaggering, Enters The Mainstream,” leads with the statement “Rap is so stupid def, it’s bum-rushin’ the mainstream. It’s housin’ ‘em all - word, homes. Translation: Rap is so incredibly fine, it’s breaking down the doors of mainstream society. It’s bringing down the house - and that’s the truth, friend.” Read more…
The holiday gods did a damn fine job making sure the 4th of July fell on a Friday this year. Now, instead of awkward mid-week recesses or anticlimactic Monday get-downs - both scenarios cruelly bookended with bleary retreats back to the cubicle - we get a perfectly placed day for grilling, chilling, chanting U.S.A. and enjoying us some music. Hooray America! And like the fast food options available to us throughout our great country, this week offers supersized portions of music-related goodness to those brave souls choosing to remain in the five boroughs. So, for this week’s Countdown, may we suggest some holiday week plans? Read more…