We present this free compilation of music writing that Voice writers are into this week, all by writers we presume were paid for their efforts. If you have a story you'd like to see here, drop us a line.
How do we make hit songs now?
The new New Yorker contains Yet Another Story On Odd Future, although Kelefa Sanneh's piece outstrips its many bibliographic counterparts thanks to its particular focus on the LA hip-hop collective's most sloganeered member, Earl Sweatshirt. The 8,000-word piece, which took nine months of gestation and research to complete (oh, those media outlets that don't work on blog time!), contains interviews with Earl's father (the South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile), mother (who does not want to be identified) and the M.I.A. rapper, real name Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, himself. 
Watching the Times attempt to cover profane bands, songs, and social phenomena without offending their august readership by actually using profanity remains a great joy of ours, so it is with great happiness that we announce that they've finally weighed in on... a certain song. By Cee Lo. Very popular on the Internet recently. You know the one: 
Here is a mostly intentionally delightful chat with Iggy Pop about his rampant shirtlessness, as conducted with the New Yorker, with all the high-culture/low-culture disorientation that implies. It's like the benevolent version of the Times' Snooki profile. Highlights include:
This body is attainable if you just come to regard air as food.
Ordinarily we here at SOTC have no great love for or interest in Coachella, given its considerable distance from... us. But monitoring the web chatter throughout the weekend was somewhat enjoyable anyway -- Sunday night's news that Phoenix's set was way, way better attended than Pavement's, for example, was tremendously cheering. But Sly Stone's repeatedly delayed, apparently completely bewildering set was probably the funniest incident to regard from afar.
Pic by Lina Lecaro.
We recently published the Voice's Best of NYC issue, our annual opportunity to bestow arbitrary awards like Best Rapper Twitter Feed and Best Radio DJ. In turn, we asked a few of our favorite New Yorkers to name their favorite local things.
Dan de Lara may hail from the forgotten borough, but the music blogger and DJ knows at least one semi-secret Manhattan bar. His favorite venue, music critic, and DJ are far more well-known, but one thing he shares that's not: an actual reason to go Staten Island.
Most underappreciated thing about Staten Island?
Brother's Pizza. Most amazing grandma slice and chicken roll. It is all about their marinara sauce. I can drink it alone.
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That right there is a photo of the newly and incongruously New Yorker-anointed rapper Freddie Gibbs at S.O.B.'s last night, holding up the magazine in which he's featured. He was then promptly kicked off the stage for smoking weed. "We have a lot to talk about," read the text message I got in the aftermath of this event. Yes we do. Rap and CMJ, will you guys ever get along? [@Fennrock]
Right here. Trent ain't involved, but discussing his propensity for childhood angst right in front of him (even virtually) would've been awkward. 
Pic by Tina Chou
No contest, our obvious bias aside. Well done.
Victor Vazquez FTW
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