Fluxtumblr

Dec
4th

Fri

I had breakfast with [Hillary Rodham Clinton] once at the Chateau Marmont in about ‘04. We met because we have the same hairdresser — Sally Hershberger. We gossiped, and we talked about corporate mergers and culture. She’s a lot more fun than you would think.

— Courtney Love, discussing her meeting with Hillary Rodham Clinton after losing a bid for a date with Bill Clinton at a charity auction, in New York Magazine’s Party Lines feature. Man, I’d loooooooove to listen to those two interact. At least on a symbolic pop cultural level, it makes perfect sense for Courtney and Hillary to hang out. Speaking of unlikely yet fascinating conversations between extremely famous people, someone was telling me recently about how Madonna and Jerry Seinfeld had a meal or two together at this nice restaurant in Manhattan; apparently they know each other because they both have apartments in the same building. Can you even imagine what a Seinfeld/Madonna conversation is like? That sorta blows my mind. It’s like a bad sketch idea.

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This is a memo written by Stanley Kubrick in 1971 about his never-to-be-produced Napoleon Bonaparte biopic. He certainly had high expectations for the project!

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Sonic Youth
“Sacred Trickster”

Tom Surgal’s clip thrives on misdirection, and builds up some genuine suspense as its trio of Kim Gordon surrogates enact a bizarre art prank on an elite rooftop party with the calm intensity of suicide bombers.

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Dec
3rd

Thu

Lady GaGa
“Speechless”
Live on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, 2009

Last night I had a dream in which I was friends with Lady GaGa, and I was hanging out at this rehearsal space where she would play a bit of piano while chatting with various people who’d turn up to say hi or conduct business with her. She wasn’t in full costume, but partial costume, like she took off some parts of an elaborate outfit to be comfortable because she was off-duty.

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The Fiery Furnaces
“Even In The Rain”

Scott Jacobson’s clip is a throwback to Spike Jonze’s high-concept hilarity, with Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger starring as Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in a strange behind-the-scenes story about the making of Easy Rider. The Daily Show’s John Oliver turns up as Rip Torn, but his amusing cameo is not enough to upstage the bug-eyed paranoia of Matthew’s take on Hopper. This is clever, well-executed, and a great way of showcasing the duo’s charisma and oddball sense of humor. Also: Keep your eyes open for the Jon Wurster cameo!

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Imagine if the internet as we know it now was around in 1988, and a bunch of (mostly) out-of-touch cranks got together to viciously rip on "Teenage Riot."

This Singles Jukebox post is kinda like that, and it is the even-more-embarrassing flipside of this.

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Dec
2nd

Wed

St. Vincent
“Just The Same But Brand New”
Live from somewhere, 2009
Directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz

…and then, suddenly, you snap out of it. You’re still the same person, but everything in your head has shifted. You’re either new, or normal again. Same difference, maybe. You’re exactly like yourself, but as seen through someone else’s eyes. They forgive your flaws in ways that you cannot, and are far more generous in their estimation of your strengths. You’re skeptical, just a little bit, but willing to believe that they are right about you. It takes this enormous weight off of your shoulders, and with feet firmly on the ground, you nevertheless feel as though you’re light enough to just float away. You’re still the same, and the problems haven’t gone away, but you’re calm and assured. It’ll be okay. (Originally posted 8/6/2009)

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The Following Is A List Of People Who Should Be Ashamed Of Themselves

Please click through and read this if you care about gay and lesbian rights in the state of New York. Reblog it, pass it around.

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Danielle Ate The Sandwich
“She Wolf”

Matthew: Hips don’t lie.

Chris: Some people’s do. Otherwise why would Shakira have singled hers out?

Matthew: Shakira lyrics are always factually correct. Especially “She Wolf.” That’s been fact-checked: It really is NOT a joke, it most certainly IS lycanthropy. The original lyric was “philanthropy,” but it was fact-checked. Definitely lycanthropy.

Chris: I’ve told you how I imagine that song got written right? Shakira was at some party in Los Angeles at like 2:30 in the morning as it was all quiet, in a small group out on the balcony, holding a glass of white wine, and somebody said “lycanthropy” and she was all “That’s such a great word, what is this word, ‘lycanthropy?’” and then they explained it and she got up and went to the piano and came back 30 minutes later with the song. This is my weird “She Wolf” fantasy. I can see it so perfectly in my head.

Matthew: Shakira plays piano?

Chris: Sure. Why not?

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When I first started making sparks, most people I know just thought that was insane,” says Blake, laughing. ” ‘Why are you messing with lightning bolts in your backyard?’ When I started putting on the suit and playing around with (the sparks), they were speechless. That was beyond crazy.” Besides the deadly violet sparks, the smell of ozone and pizza, and the Zelda theme music played at rock-concert levels, the hobby offers technical challenges and the chance to briefly step into a sort of alternate reality. “The plasma looks really beautiful up close,” says Blake of the man-made lightning. “There’s all sorts of fractal patterns and all sorts of detail in there that you can’t make out if you’re scared of it.

— I really enjoyed this article about Tesla coil enthusiasts in the Chicago Tribune. (via Rob Mitchum)

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Here’s a highly entertaining full concert video of Yacht performing in Paris back in October. This is as much enjoyable for the music as for the between-song banter. If you’re feeling impatient, you can skip from song to song — my personal favorite “The Afterlife” happens to come a little after a half hour into the set.

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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Grizzly Bear
“Cheerleader” (Neon Indian’s Studio 6669 Remix)

My review of this rather excellent remix is up on Pitchfork today. I’m very impressed by how naturally my favorite Grizzly Bear song fits into a synth pop arrangement.

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Phoenix
“Lisztomania”
Brat Pack Mash-up

The best mash-ups, whether audio or visual, are entirely intuitive, and make connections between works of art that are both obvious and insightful. Sarah Neuehaus’ brilliant notion of cutting footage of teens dancing from John Hughes movies — easily the best thing about the late director’s work!!! — to Phoenix’s boppy “Lisztomania” cuts straight to the heart of the song’s appeal, all the while managing to make the song seem even more joyful, which is quite a feat.

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If you wanted to watch a couple dapper handsome men speak intelligently about rock music, this video of Ian Svenonius interviewing Jon Spencer at the ATP festival a few months ago will certainly scratch that itch.

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Dec
1st

Tue

Hey, who wants to watch a clip from an old episode of Ally McBeal in which an alarmingly thin Calista Flockhart dresses up in a Mrs. Claus outfit and suggestively sings “Santa Baby” to her co-workers, who are all dubbed in German? If you said “yes,” you can thank Lindsay Hood.

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