By Sarah Grothjan 7/25/12 1:55pm

Musical Musings

Fluxblog

“10 Years of Perfect Tunes”: Writers Share Their Favorite Songs at FluxBlog Listening Event (With Playlist)

The seats were filled with the type of people who pair fancy garb with worn sneakers or vintage loafers. Pabst Blue Ribbon, Brooklyn Lager and a couple glasses of wine circulated through the book-rimmed room while several speakers took their respective turns at the mic.

FluxBlog, a unique pinprick on the blogosphere upstarted by Matthew Perpetua (who will start his gig as BuzzFeed’s first music editor next Monday) that satiates the MP3 appetite of the music niche, celebrated its 10 years “of perfect tunes” at Housing Works Monday evening, inviting speakers like Gawker’s former co-editor Emily Gould and an editor at Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield, to each play a carefully selected single for the relaxed crowd.

“He was like, ‘I’m so excited someone’s going to talk about a song that’s so uncool to admit you like,’” exclaimed Amanda Petrusich, recounting a remark she received from Mr. Sheffield at the start of the evening. Read More

By Erica Schwiegershausen 6/26/12 12:30pm

Young Ones

Instagram photo from @rookiemag.

Rookie Road Trip: Teenage Editor Tavi Gevinson Eats Cupcakes With Fangirls in Brooklyn

By the time Tavi Gevinson arrived at Littlefield in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon a full hour late (her plane had been delayed), the venue was packed with waify, whimsically dressed teenage girls in carefully considered outfits. There were some shrieks from the audience as the revelation that Ms. Gevinson had arrived spread around the room, and a few trembling “oh my god’s” were emitted as the 16-year-old editor-in-chief took the stage. Pink crepe paper streamers were strung along the walls and metallic stars were had been stuck around the stage. There were boxes of cupcakes on the tables and a few moms chatted in the background.

Ms. Gevinson read from her Rookie DIY article “How to Bitchface,” demonstrating each of the facial expressions discussed and drawing loud laughs from a generous audience. Her voice had an air of self-assured confidence and grace, which was a welcome change from the syrupy tone of the young Rookie writers who read before her, even when she slipped up on a few notes in the text. “Sorry, I should have looked over this more,” Ms. Gevinson apologized to the audience. Read More