Posts Tagged ‘Simon Lazarus Vasta’

Now Take Them Out Devils’ Contenders for Summer Album of 2013

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on May 10, 2013. Posted in Music

Every May, they start trickling out: the self-proclaimed Summer Albums. They’re the blockbuster popcorn flicks of the music world; flashy, catchy, accessible and widely discussed. In a way, being dubbed the Album of the Summer is a far more prestigious accolade than Album of the Year; It’s a record that gets played to death on
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NTTOD Playlist #4: The Dark Side of Lite FM

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on April 11, 2013. Posted in Arts & Film, Music

First of all, credit where credit ‘s due: the Dark Side of Lite FM is the brainbaby of my friend Edward Julian O’Hara Bonilla. Dude is a pop music genius the likes of which has only graced this beautiful world a handful of times. He’s the true arbiter of what is and what isn’t DSLFM,
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Now Take Them Out, Devils: Caitlin Rose & “Except Rap & Country”

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on March 29, 2013. Posted in Music

“I like everything except Rap and Country.” God, is there a more phrase as simultaneously innocuous and incendiary as that one? It’s the pop music equivalent of “I’m not racist, but…;” a phrase oft repeated by the woefully underinformed and culturally stagnant when they want to appear more evolved than they actually are. By saying
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Now Take Them Out, Devils: The Next Day Introduces Bowie, The Mortal (Part 2)

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on March 21, 2013. Posted in Arts & Film, Music

Missed part one? Read it here. When The Next Day was announced on Bowie’s 66th birthday, I had long since given up any hope of hearing new material. It was as if a limb I had amputated years ago had suddenly reappeared one morning; the phantom pains I had gone through such lengths to banish merely a
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Now Take Them Out, Devils: The Next Day Introduces Bowie, The Mortal (Part 1)

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on March 20, 2013. Posted in Arts & Film, Music

On the first of March it was announced that The Next Day, the first new David Bowie album in ten years, could be streamed in full on iTunes, a week and a half before the record’s actual U.S. release. When I read this, my skin crawled and my stomach curdled. It was too soon. I
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Now Take Them Out, Devils: The Marriage of Music & Narrative in the Video Game Bastion

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on March 5, 2013. Posted in Arts & Film, Music

Recently, when I’m not performing diligent research, sifting through a hard drive’s worth of mp3s, resting my chin in my hands contemplatively and having deep deep thoughts about pop songs for you lovely people, I’ve been playing a video game called Bastion. It’s a really fun game, but more importantly, it’s a genuinely moving experience. If
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Now Take Them Out, Devils: Beck Wrangles Over 160 Musicians for Maximalist Bowie Cover

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on February 21, 2013. Posted in Music, Uncategorized

Since the release of 2008′s astoundingly mediocre Modern Guilt, Beck has all but stepped away from conventional rockstardom. He’s spent the past few years on idiosyncratic projects like the Record Club, a collaboration with such luminaries as Annie Clark, Angus Andrews, Devendra Banhart, Thurston Moore, Jeff Tweedy, and, uh, Giovanni Ribisi. Beck assembled these Superfriends of
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Now Take Them Out, Devils: My Bloody Valentine Released First Album in 22 Years—It’s Awesome

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on February 7, 2013. Posted in Arts & Film, Music

Last Saturday, while the Internet was busy minding its own business, the My Bloody Valentine Facebook page issued this short missive: “We are preparing to go live with the new album/website this evening. We will make an announcement as soon as its up.” Then, at 23:58 Greenwich Mean Time, www.mybloodyvalentine.org burst into existence, accompanied by m
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Artistic Ambition & Corporate Callousness in Sean Howe’s ‘Marvel Comics: The Untold Story’

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on January 29, 2013. Posted in Arts & Film, Comics

The history of the American comic book is bittersweet, if not outright tragic, and no tale cuts to the bone quite like the ballad of Stan and Jack. In the early ’60s, facing the demise of their industry, comics vets Stan Lee and Jack Kirby devised the Marvel Universe. Together, these men created a shared
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Now Take Them Out, Devils Playlist #3: S.A.D.

Written by Simon Lazarus Vasta on January 22, 2013. Posted in Music

It’s the inevitable consequence of living in the Greatest City in the World™: as the skies turn an adjectiveless gray, the trees stripped to their slender bones, and night falls faster than Gerald Ford down the steps of Air Force One,* most of us get a little visit from our old college buddy seasonal affective
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