Music
Pop Culture
Nipplegate 2: Adam Levine’s Shirtless Superbowl Halftime Performance

There were audible groans among the crowd — especially from the hetero dads — at my friend’s Super Bowl LII party when Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine took off his shirt towards the end of their half-time show and spawned Nipplegate 2. The consensus seemed to be that this was not only cheesy, but inappropriate. Levine […]

Pop Culture
Goodnight Sweet Prince: Remembering The Legend’s Sexiest Songs

I guess you could say he was a sex fiend. Prince — who died on April 21st, 2016 at the young age of 57 — dedicated a lot of musical acreage on most of his albums to unabashed sexual expression. There was plenty of macho posturing, for instance, boasting in the 1980 song “Head” about […]

Pop Culture
The Chicks’ll Scream: Lyric Changes in “Grease: Live”

Fox’s “Grease: Live” aired on Sunday, January 31st at 8pm starring Julianne Hough as Sandy, Aaron Tveit as Danny, Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo, Carly Rae Jepsen as Frenchie, Keke Palmer as Marty, Eve “The Original Jane Brady” Plumb as shop teacher Mrs. Murdock, and cameos by the original Frenchie and Doody. The only thing more […]

Pop Culture
A Line-by-Line Take Down of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”

The song performed in the 1949 musical “Neptune’s Daughter” ’Tis the season to be sexist, with the “traditional” Xmas pop played on an eternal loop, reinforcing old gender stereotypes about boys only wanting cowboy boots and guns while girls insist on walking, talking dollies. There’s the infernal Love, Actually movie which, despite its charming British […]

Pop Culture
Macy Gray’s Latest Is a Love Song to Her Vibrator

We promise (or warn) you that you’ll be singing this catchy song all day once you watch the hilarious animated video below for Macy Gray’s new song, “B.O.B.” And no, Bob isn’t short for Robert Redford or Bobby DeNiro — or for any living, breathing, human being for that matter. According to the lyrics, that’s […]

Music
Stephin Merritt & His Anti-Love Songs

This past weekend, the two of us went to see Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields (69 Love Songs) perform at our local summer Spiegeltent. With his deep baritone, a ukulele and an accompanying cellist, he sang 26 songs, which, “for those of you insufficiently on the spectrum,” he informed us at the end, “were in […]

Pop Culture
10 Emo Love Songs for Your Inner Angsty Teen

by Caithlin Pena for YourTango The 90s to the mid-2000’s was an era of pop/punk/alternative rock music. Punk rock bands spoke to the youth through songs about not fitting in, anger and angst, taboo areas like depression and suicide, and of course, romance and heartbreak. So when Buzzfeed released this list last year, the teenager in me cried from the nostalgia. Even though I […]

Pop Culture
What the Song “Honey, I’m Good” Song Gets Right About Marriage

On first listen, the country-ish pop hit “Honey, I’m Good” by Andy Grammar shouldn’t appeal to us in the slightest: Some douchey pop star with a pompadour calling the waitress “Honey” and commenting on her amazing ass and how much he’d love to go home with her, while, in the same breath, telling her he’s […]

Pop Culture
Battle of the Sexists: “Blurred Lines” VS. “Rude”

During this, the last official week of summer, we thought we’d compare this year’s “Song of Summer” with last year’s official hit to see which would win the title of “Most Offensive.” For the sake of argument, we’re calling “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke the winner of 2013 (though it was pretty much a tie […]

Pop Culture
Our Song of Summer: “Everyone Is Gay”

We’re guessing the official Song of Summer this year is going to be Ariana Grande’s “Problem” featuring Iggy Azalea (though it could be Ed Sheeran’s “Sing,” or the adorable “Rude” by Magic!, or maybe Lana Del Rey’s “West Coast”, though Sia’s Chandelier would be a nice surprise, hopefully not the panderingly named “Summer” by Calvin […]

Pop Culture
Our New Music Crush: Sharon Van Etten

We were lucky enough to see Sharon Van Etten perform live a few weeks back… okay, just Em was: We’re not literally attached at the hip, though Em is sure Lo would have loved it, too. She manages to be both warm and even slightly dorky on stage, while simultaneously oozing rock star chic (all […]

Music
POLL: Who’s Right About Miley – Sinead O’Conner OR Amanda Palmer?

When Miley Cyrus said her “Wrecking Ball” video (in which she cries into the camera, before getting it on with a wrecking ball and a sledgehammer) was inspired by Sinead O’Connor‘s classic and subtle “Nothing Compares 2 U” video (that title is pre-texting!), O’Conner wrote an open letter to Miley, warning her that’s she’s being […]

Pop Culture
The Best “Blurred Lines” Parody Yet!

  The Mod Carosel parody was pretty good, but a little too thin on the politics for our radical feminist tastes. Enter “Defined Lines,” the parody made by some University of Aukland law students for its Law Revue show last week. With its decent production values and pointed yet hilarious feminist message, it’s the Blurred […]

Music
A Round-Up of Thoughtful Spankings Over the Miley Cyrus Spectacle

There’s been a LOT of talk this week over Miley Cyrus’s performance at last week’s VMAs. Here’s some of our favorite analysis: The 2013 VMAs Were Dominated by Miley’s Minstrel Show How Ratchet Culture Became The New Implied Bisexuality A 6-Minute Guide to the Prejudices of the Entertainment Industry What Miley Cyrus Did Was Disgusting […]

Music
The 10 Best and Worst Moments from the 2013 VMAs

photo via MTV.com THE WORST 1. Lady Gaga’s 26 costume changes into smaller and smaller outfits, ending in a Little Mermaid-inspired seashell/thong number. She’s just fucking with us at this point, right? 2. Miley Cyrus’s self-demotion to porny arm candy during her Blurred Lines “duet” with Robin Thicke (or was it the simulated rimming during […]

Pop Culture
Blog Snog: 12 Things to Know About Dating a Musician

  One of our new favorite songs is a cover one of our new favorite songs by one-man-show (and total cutie) George Barnett — The Frisky‘s post this week about the realities of dating musicians helps keep our little fantasies in check: The Frisky: 12 things to know about dating a musician. Nerve: Why more […]