Pirate Radio Rocks on Good Tunes, Cast

Critics agree that the soundtrack of Pirate Radio can't be beat, and the top-notch cast is a joy. So when it comes to the shaky plot and pacing, some can turn a blind eye:

"There’s no denying the comic energy of the cast," Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone. "Couple that with blasts of Brit rock from the Beatles and the Stones to Dusty Springfield and David Bowie, and the ship is unsinkable."
Writer/director Richard Curtis introduces "characters and conflicts only to drop them," Stephanie Zacharek of Salon complains. But no matter: The best bits "take place in the movie's margins, in the vignettes and asides that don't necessarily have much to do with the plot."
Bah. A great cast and great tunes—some of which are not at all historically accurate—do not a great film make, Sam Adams writes for the AV Club. "Do you like montages, but grow bored with the tedious plot bits in between? Then Pirate Radio is the movie for you."
Curtis alludes to the cultural issues behind the plot—a little, writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. Really, "he wants to party." Which he does, and "which is fine."

Meet the Man Behind Elmo

When Kevin Clash does a live Sesame Street event, the kids “don’t know me from a hole in the wall and they don’t care to,” he tells Time. “I’m the guy holding their friend.” That friend would be Elmo, the furry red monster Clash puppets and voices, one of the most popular characters in the show’s 40-year history.

Yes, that is Clash’s voice on all those Tickle Me Elmo dolls and other toys—“I call that job security,” he says. But don’t expect him to jump into character should you run into him on the street: “We can't just sit there as ourselves and do that voice and personality,” he says, explaining why puppets are brought along even to radio interviews. “We're puppeteers

Brooklyn Bands Heat Up Music Scene

Brooklyn is returning to the forefront of the indie music scene—with a vengeance. New York delves deep into the borough’s offerings with a list of the top 40 songs from Brooklyn musicians, the most important music bloggers, and a map of the best places to see shows. The magazine takes a closer look at three specific acts:

Dirty Projectors: One of the most risk-taking groups out there. “There’s just a culture of getting things done here,” says frontman and Yale graduate David Longstreth, who returned to New York in time for the band’s fifth album, Bitte Orca, its most accessible to date.
MGMT: “I never thought I’d live in Brooklyn Heights,” says frontman Andrew VanWyngarden, “but it’s a nice place to come down off tour.” The band is finishing Congratulations, a followup to 2007 hit Oracular Spectacular; one band member calls it “a mixture of depression and excitement.”
Jace Clayton, aka DJ /Rupture: Released an acclaimed mix tape last year and is working on a follow-up. “I really dislike Boston,” he says of his time there. “Musically it’s super-segregated. People weren’t mixing anything up at all.”

Go to Harvard, Study The Wire

The Wire is about to get an Ivy League makeover. Harvard plans to offer a course on the HBO series about life in Baltimore's ghettos, the New York Post reports. The show "has done more to enhance our understanding of the challenges of urban life and the problems of urban inequality, more than any other media event or scholarly publication," said William J. Wilson, the well-known African-American history professor—and huge fan of The Wire—who will teach the class.

But the move isn't quite as ground-breaking as the show, notes the Post: Duke and Middlebury have also offered courses on the series.

Greatest Albums of the Decade

Paste takes a look back at the past decade—and its own 10-year history—with its list of the 50 best albums of the ‘00s:

No. 1. Sufjan Stevens, Illinoise: “His music pushed boundaries between pop and classical.”
No. 4. Radiohead, Kid A: Marked “the watershed artistic transition toward more electronic-based experimentation.”
No. 8. OutKast, Stankonia: “OutKast’s edgiest and most inspired record.”
No. 10. MIA, Arular: “Her thrilling, slang-tangled debut connected musical and political rebellion.”
No. 14. The Strokes, Is This It: “It saved rock ’n’ roll from the bloat that seemed inescapable in the Fred Durst era.”
No. 17. Kanye West, The College Dropout: “Every so often, an album rewrites the musical rulebook, and this one effectively murdered gangsta rap.”
No. 29. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago: “One of the great bedroom masterworks of our time.”
No. 42. Jay-Z, The Blueprint: “The classic, a knockout punch by a heavyweight champion.”

Ledger-Directed Rap Video Debuts

A music video, one of a few directed by Heath Ledger for little-known artists he liked, made its online debut yesterday. Australian rapper N'fa Forster-Jones, a childhood friend of the late actor's, posted the video along with a behind-the-scenes look at the project, the AP reports. "Every day I count my blessings that I got to have him direct this piece of art," says Forster-Jones, who showed the video at the Rome Film Festival.

How Skulls Took Over Fashion

Skulls, once seen as sinister symbols, are now used on everything from children's shirts to underwear. Sara Dickerman of Slate takes a look at how the trend developed:

In the 16th century, artists like Albrecht Dürer were still using skulls to remind people of their mortality.
French pirate Emanuel Wynn was the first to use the skull-and-crossbones logo on his ship's flag.
As skulls came to symbolize bravado, fighters—from US special operations to the Nazi SS—used them on uniforms.
Mourning jewelry was fashionable in the 19th century, and the "look" lived on thanks to bands like the Grateful Dead and Loree Rodkin, who launched a line of Goth jewelry in 1989.
Mexican art of smiling, dancing skulls, used to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, helped skulls become more widely accepted.
The skull became an icon in 1970s London counterculture, where Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood launched a series of skull-inspired punk gear.
Skulls became truly fashionable thanks to Alexander McQueen, whose scarves have been spotted on Kate Moss and the Olsen twins.