Hangin' Out In 100b

Jumping right in to our overview of things that may or may not be considered news, this morning brought us the announcement of this year’s Bafta nominations. Definitely the best news I’ve seen all week is that Control has been nominated for Best British Film, and Samantha Morton for Supporting Actress. I honestly can’t see why she should be nominated and Sam Riley not for his extraordinary performance (though Ms. Morton is quite good herself), but at least he’s been listed for the Orange Rising Star Award (voted for by the public, which means us, so get your votes in). I could treat you to a massive rant about how certain types of actors and movies get ignored by awards, but it’s not like you don’t know and this isn’t really the place (maybe someday, though, if you’re really lucky). In any case, I’d hoped that the Baftas would actually acknowledge Control since it’s British and they’re usually more open than their US cousins so, even with the Sam Riley snub, I’m pretty pleased.

In rather different news, Michael Jackson has yet again found a way to alienate the few fans he has left and, even worse, those of us who still at least consider him a former musical genius. It seems Thriller will be getting a reworking – starting with “The Girl Is Mine”. Not only that, he’ll be ruining what could’ve just stayed a track off of a classic album by including Will.I.Am. This is just wrong and horrible and here’s why: 1. There are thousands, bazillions maybe, of blogs out there showcasing new, exciting, innovative artists so it must be out there to enjoy. Why, oh, why must everybody keep digging in the attic for old stuff to replace new stuff with? Pretty soon, current music will just be a shadow of our glorious music history, a crap-heap of former classics that have been remixed, re-recorded, and reunited and nobody will give a tiny rat’s ass about any of it anymore. Why do the Powers That Decide This Dumbass Crap not understand this? And 2. If you’re an artist trying to pretend you might still be any good, don’t do it by showing us what you used to do well (yeah, I’m talking to you, too, Paul McCartney) and, for god’s sake, don’t do it by including a Black Eyed Pea. Seriously.

And you just can’t get away from it: the planned re-creation of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison concert was cancelled earlier this month. Thank god.

While I take a second to calm down, have a look at this fantastic post from Lefsetz Letter (thanks to No Rock And Roll Fun for pointing it out) about how, while record sales may be declining, it’s not in the way that the big labels want you to think. Best sellers are selling less than they used to, but people still want to buy music. As Lefsetz Letter writes, “People still want music. In prodigious amounts. They just don’t all want the same thing.” Funny isn’t it – I could swear music fans have been saying this for years, ever since the start of all this ‘downloads are killing the music industry’ nonsense started, but I must’ve imagined it. Good thing these new numbers say it for us. This is seriously fascinating stuff, and a great analysis of it, go read more at the link above.

And since the rest of this week’s ‘news’ is just utterly ridiculous (Amy Winehouse’s new hair, Britney’s never-ending antics, rappers on steroids), I’ll just leave you with this song, to remind you of the good times we had back at the beginning of this post, before I got all irritated by stupidity and stuff.

   Joy Division – Interzone