Entertainment hourly.
Music
1 Listen Up: Loney Dear, "Airport Surroundings"
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2 Listen Up: The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra
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3 Listen Up: Zooey Deschanel's "Yes Man"
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4 Listen Up: New From Neko Case, "People Got a Lot of Nerve"
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5 Listen Up: "Funny the Way It Is" by Dave Matthews Band
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6 Listen Up: "Rotten Shame" by Meat Puppets
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7 Listen Up: "The Strangers" by St. Vincent
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8 Listen Up: New From Regina Spektor, "Laughing With"
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9 Listen Up: "Periodically Double and Triple" by Yo La Tengo
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10 Listen Up: Paolo Nutini's "Candy"
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11 Listen Up: "One More Chance" by Bloc Party
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12 Listen Up: "Faith and Tenderness" by Liz Phair
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13 Listen Up: Best of Pitchfork Music Festival '09
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14 Listen Up: "Say Please" by the Monsters of Folk
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15 Listen Up: Amy Millan's "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" Cover
The Death Cab for Cutie song "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is heartbreaking no matter how it's performed, but Amy Millan's country-tinged version feels a little less like a sock to the gut than the original. Perhaps it's that her soft, lovely voice is so comforting, but somehow this one doesn't emotionally destroy me quite as much as Death Cab's. Millan plays with the bands Stars and Broken Read more
The Monsters of Folk — M. Ward, Conor Oberst, Jim James, and producer Mike Mogis — are definitely one of my dream musical collaborations. The supergroup has pulled together an album of original songs that's scheduled to hit stores in September, and for now, the musicians are offering a free download of one of their first tracks. If "Say Please" is any indication, this collaboration will be Read more
Over the weekend, I had the chance to attend the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. Now in its fourth year, this year's festival featured 40 artists playing on three stages in the city's Union Park. It was my first time at the festival, and overall, it felt like a smaller and more manageable Lollapalooza, with fewer scheduling conflicts and more chances to see artists I really wanted to see. Read more
Liz Phair is known for wearing her heart on her sleeve and sharing her most intimate feelings with her fans through passionate lyrics. When she first hit the scene, those feelings were pretty angsty, which is part of the reason her album Exile in Guyville spoke to me as a teen. Well, if her song "Faith and Tenderness" is any indication, Phair's days of romantic angst could be behind her for now. Read more
Officially releasing Aug. 10, "One More Chance" is the latest single from Bloc Party and it is one super-charged, danceable tune. It also makes me want to drive somewhere fast. Or, you know . . . jog (see, Fit? I think about exercising). The song pulses with such synthpop-y intensity, you kind of start to forget that the lyrics are so repetitive. It's pretty much ready for the clubs right now. Read more
Over time I've heard praise here and there for Scottish musician Paolo Nutini, but I never really paid attention. Now his newest album Sunny Side Up is topping UK album charts (with Black Eyed Peas topping the singles list), and I figure it's high time I sit down and take a real listen. Young Nutini is only 22, but he has the voice of an old soul. Something about this song "Candy" reminds me of Read more
New Jersey indie band Yo La Tengo has been rocking for practically as long as I've been alive. And today there's exciting news for the group's fans: A new Yo La Tengo album will be coming our way later this year — and we have a fresh track to prove it! Called Popular Songs, the album is set to be released Sept. 8. The band's Matador label is describing it as "epic," saying it'll include a Read more
I often feel nice and relaxed when I listen to Regina Spektor's music with its sweet piano melodies and her adorable voice. Some of her songs are playful and quirky, some are soft and dark. But this newest track, "Laughing With," off her upcoming album Far, just makes me sad. It's as beautiful as anything else Spektor puts out, with some pretty piano and strings, and of course her clear, lovely Read more
For a couple of weeks now, I haven't been able to get the phrase "paint the black hole blacker" out of my head, and it's all because of St. Vincent. The singer — actual name Annie Clark — releases her sophomore album, Actor, today, and that line comes from the ethereal first track, "The Strangers." St. Vincent's music is intensely layered, with strings and horns swirling around Clark's Read more
Remember Meat Puppets? Personally, the band is filed away in my brain for the song "Backwater," which I recall singing (probably off-key) while riding around in my friends' cars in high school. It was probably nestled on mixes amid songs like Beck's "Loser" and Pearl Jam's "Daughter." The band has released several albums since 1994's Too High to Die, and this month they'll release their twelfth Read more
