It’s no secret that I love Cornershop. Yeah, I say I’m a big fan of a lot of bands, and it’s always true, but this is special. Like on equal footing with how I feel about the Beatles. One of those rare, one-in-a-million bands whose music you love so much it almost makes you feel a little sick to your stomach.

Me and Cornershop go way back. In fact, I remember the day – like most people, I got into the band via “Brimful of Asha”, just as it was turning into a monster single, and it was my night out with my friends for my 18th birthday. A little silly on the bus ride home, my friends and I couldn’t stop singing the ‘on a 45′ bit of that song, it being the only part we really knew yet. It didn’t take long for me to get myself When I Was Born For The 7th Time and, as they say, I’ve never looked back. I would pledge my undying love to Cornershop’s music (erm, if I had to for some reason), so 8 pounds seems like nothing.

Cornershop is asking us, their listeners, to pledge as little as 8 pounds to get a minimum of a pre-order of the new album they’re working on with – my heart just stopped a little – Bubbley Kaur. She of the magical single “Topknot”, one of my most beloved songs of all time. In fact, this new album seems to be based around the amazing results of that recording, finally turning it into a full-length LP. For 8 pounds you’ll get yourself the album and the knowledge that you had a little part in making it happen. For more money, you’ll get more stuff, but the list of possibilities is pretty fun to look through so I’ll let you check it out yourself.

This pledging / investing-in-the-making-of-albums isn’t really brand spanking new; I’ve seen similar offers by other bands. It’s a really interesting thing going on, releasing bands from big labels who don’t seem to give much of a crap about the bands they represent nor the listeners who pay for the music. Wouldn’t you much rather give your money directly to a band you care about and have a wee hand in helping get an album made? Cornershop is the first band to do this that I do feel that strongly about, and I will definitely be making my pledge asap, – how about you? There’s only 27 days remaining so have a think about how great it will be to hear Cornershop and The Double ‘O’ Groove Of for the first time and get pledging.

Hear Tjinder and Ben tell you all about it themselves, and find out more about the pledge options over at PledgeMusic – and remind yourself how amazing this band has always been below.

Heee’s baaack. After much hoo-ha and spectulation in recent years, Chinese Democracy will finally rain down on waiting Guns N’ Roses fans beginning November 23. To carry the weight of the much-anticipated release – the first from the mega-band since Use Your Illusion in 1991 – Rolling Stone had David Fricke write the Chinese Democracy review. (Spoiler: He gives it 4/5 stars) Unless this’s a massive hoax and the sky crushes us all, Fricke reviewing the album looks like it means the thing is actually real. Now that it’s finally being released, doesn’t Axl Rose owe every American a Pepsi or Coke or something?

The upcoming Britney Spears single has been leaked on the Intertubes. Not sure if this is one of those (cough) official (cough) leaks (wink wink nudge nudge), but you can have a listen to “Kill The Lights” here. A bit of modern Madonna with considerably more gooey bubblegum pop goodness slathered on top.

You’ve seen them in stores and have probably purchased one or two of them (or, erm, copied one from a friend) in the past decade or so (depending on where you live). Here is a nice relatively brief New York Times write-up about those Now That’s What I Call Music compilation CDs capturing the zeitgeist of pop music in the U.K. and U.S.

If you’re already at the New York Times for the Now CD story, check out an interesting article about country music (pop country not Johnny Cash country) phenom Taylor Swift and her ability to break country music trends and barriers, particularly in her young age group.

It’s poetry kid. Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry With a Beat become a bonafide hit, at least in the children’s picture book genre. And who wouldn’t want to check out a book and CD that speaks to children through the words of Mos Def, Kanye West, Common, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni. You can find the book all over the place, including Amazon.

And, finally, off topic, what’s up with the news on the MTV site? I know this a beating a dead horse, but seriously. Okay, I agree that – if we’re trawling for news in a 24-hour news cycle – a semi-nude photo of yet another Disney good girl, Adrienne Bailon could be news, if you stretch it far it enough. (That’s a link to the story, not the photo.) But, what’s up with the inserted sidebar right in the middle of the story – The 10 Best Boobs In Hollywood Gallery – with the enticing ploy of seeing if we can guess who’s boobs are who’s? If you thought that was hitting rock bottom. At the end of the Bailon story is a list of Other Sex Tape News. This is the state of music journalism at MTV.

If you just woke up out of one of them soap-opera comas and missed a whole week, look no further! This is the post for you to get back on top of what’s going on in the music world. Well, as long as it was compelling enough for me to bother mentioning it.

In case you were wondering what the visual frenzy pictured above is: it’s the cover of the new Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavillion. I never thought I’d have this masochistic streak but even though it hurts my head and makes my eyes bug out and also makes me a bit sea sick, I just can’t stop looking at it … I think it’s utterly fascinating that our brains can trick us into thinking the image is moving.

Is it finally going to happen?? More importantly, are people really still waiting for a Jackson 5 reunion? As much as I love the band’s music, I’m afraid I couldn’t get over the weirdness of seeing Michael, who no longer looks like his brothers, sing “Can you Feel It”, or better yet, “Ben” flanked by Tito and Jermaine.

You’ve probably heard by now that The Beatles and their music are in some way going to be incorporated in a game that is nothing like Rock Band, but is by the makers of Rock Band, which makes me wonder whether it’s gonna be like Rock Band, but apparently it’s not.

I enjoy The Hives music so very very much, so at first I was sceptical when I read about American punk band The Roofies suing them for plagiarism. Having heard The Roofies “Why You?”, I think the band might have a point. There seems to be some serious borrowing going on on “Tick Tick Boom”. Though I think that The Hives’s song is much more exciting and, well, better, I also think they should give credit where it’s due – assuming they were inspired by the super short “Why You”. In a similar situation, when Tom Petty discovered The Strokes pretty much ripped off the riff from “American Girl” on “Last Nite”, he laughed it off. He was quoted saying ‘I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs’ and he even let them open a show for him. The difference is that The Strokes told everyone who cared to listen that they did indeed steal it and Tom Petty is an established big, huge name in music, whereas I had never heard of The Roofies – and I don’t think I’m alone in that.

Compare the two songs and decide for yourself:

The Roofies

The Hives

Here’s a question: what do Patrick Wolf and Beyoncé have in common? If you guessed they’re both planning on releasing a double album soon, you’d be right! One of the sides on Patrick Wolf’s album is going to be a bit darker, louder, wilder and called Battle and the other side ehm isn’t. Beyonce has a slightly more crazy reason for doubling the fun, as she’s going to cash in on her schizophrenia and release one album for each of her personalities. Apparently it’s going to be called I Am … Sasha Fierce. The I Am part will represent her true self and Sasha is the crazy, wild stage persona she claims is responsible for all her super, sexy moves.

Oh my goodness, I want one!! I always knew I was a bit of a merchandise whore, but I never realized how much, until I saw these shiny shiny Daft Punk bears. Like a moth to an over-expensive flame I started stroking the screen with a psychotic gleam of greed in my eyes.

When it comes to Dr.Pepper I’m like Forrest Gump and like most who grew up in the eighties and early nineties I have a warm relationship with Guns ‘n Roses as well. I love listening to them, I love to hear from them – OK I hate the cornrows Axl was sporting a few years ago, but I can look past it and remember the prettier times. So believe me when I say this comes from a place of love: I don’t get the deal between the drink and the band. In March Dr.Pepper vowed that if the band released their album in 2008 they’d give the country a free round of their delicious beverage. My question is, how come a whole soft drink company can act like one drunken oil magnate at a high stakes poker game and say: ‘No way, it’s been SEVENTEEN years in the making! You know what, if those boys release the album this year I’ll give all of America a free can!!’ Crazy right? But like the gentleman he is, the good doctor stuck to his promise and will indeed provide the GnR-loving part of the states with its free heavenly liquid. (This is not an add by the way, I just really do like this particular brand of soda pop.)

If you’re a fan of The Black Keys, keep your eyes peeled for the next ZZ Top release, because they’re said to collaborate with the band and the legendary Rick Rubin. Man, that is going to be one seriously hairy jam session with all those beards crammed in one recording studio.

Is it just me or has it been an incredibly slow music news week? Here’s just a few news-ish stories I came across in my internet travels…

Rolling Stone has an interesting run-down of all the musicians who have disagreed with the use of their music in the current US election campaigning. Am I the only one who noticed that the Obama campaign is not mentioned anywhere in this? Perhaps they’ve got the good sense to actually look into the music they use and prevent these problems in the first place. Or perhaps Rolling Stone is just incredibly biased, which I’m sure is totally true (and to be fair, they don’t really claim they’re aren’t), but I haven’t heard of any similar stories involving the Obama campaign – have you? (That’s a serious question, by the way, I’m curious.) In any case, what’s even more interesting (or maybe pathetic is a most appropriate word) is the way this small article has inspired a flood of poorly-spelled ‘democrats suck’, ‘no, mccain totally sux butts’ comments on the same page. What is it about the comments section of websites that brings out crazies who clearly have no knowledge of the English language?

Anyway, Rolling Stone also has details and a trailer for the new version of Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison. Usually I get pretty irritated about re-releases that basically just give us two new songs in exchange for paying something we already have, but this seems to be a little better than most, featuring unreleased material from the show and a new documentary. Even I might have to give in to this one – I sure would like to see that documentary. Visit RS to watch the trailer and judge for yourself if you need to replace your old copy of At Folsom Prison – the new version is out today in the US and in a few weeks in the UK.

Drowned In Sound points us to Weezer’s new “Troublemaker” video, which has broken five world records – including the world’s largest air guitar jam. Sweet – everyone likes a good air guitar rock-out. (Unfortunately, DiS’ embedded video isn’t working properly right now, but you can watch “Troublemaker” here instead.)

You’ve probably heard by now about the mini-kerfuffle between CBS and No Age. There seems to be some question over whether CBS’s explanation of why Randy’s Barack Obama t-shirt was not allowed is legit or if it was complete bollocks, but either way, good for them for doing what they can to support what they believe in. And the story did force me to finally connect that Tamboosh and I will be going to see No Age on Election Day. That should be an interesting evening in so many ways, and I’m glad I won’t just be hanging around in my sweatpants, watching the results come in by myself.

   No Age – Things I Did When I Was Dead

According to NME Dizzee Rascal is going to collaborate with the Sugarhill Gang! That’s almost too much awesomeness in one go. I can’t even imagine what it’ll sound like, but how can it not be anything but epic?

I came across an article that would make an excellent Zany Charts post. Out.com had a poll among gay icons like Cindy Lauper, Rufus Wainwright, Boy George and ugh, Perez Hilton (I won’t even start to tell you how much I loathe everything this dumbass stands for. It could get ugly.) and out came the top ten Gayest albums of all time topped by Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. I’m not entirely sure what exactly makes an album gay but the reason this album topped the chart was because “he was singing for every exiled, dejected, sexually confused young kid who longed for a world of greater possibilities”. That’s kind of beautiful actually. You can check out some of the individual lists by the so-called celebrity ‘gay experts’ at popnography.

Another interesting list was compiled by Rolling Stone. The magazine asked their readers to vote for the most law-breaking songs of all time. The list is topped by Johnny cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”, an excellent choice. Other songs seem to have been chosen, merely because they had the word criminal in the title, like the Michael Jackson and Fiona Apple singles. Come on, seriously, NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police”, and the chart topping song are to “Smooth Criminal” and Fiona’s “Criminal” what Everclear is to shandy.

Unusual? Yes. Effective? Probably not, but it is one helluva publicity stunt. Oasis gave a bunch of buskers a crash course on their new album and let them preview the upcoming release on the mean streets of NYC. Them Gallagher brothers keep it so real that it’s surreal. You can check out the results of this novel way of presenting new albums on stereogum and even compare an original version with the street rendition.

Usher is working on a ‘ladies only’ tour called One Night Stand. He calls it a challenge, I call it dumb. Doesn’t he get enough female attention? Why exclude men? Speak up male fan of Usher, protest this gross injustice! If he had excluded all women, well first of all, the venue would be damn near empty and his fangirl base would cry sexism for sure, but because it’s the men left holding their girlfriend’s purses outside the venues, it’s just dandy. He also states girls like ‘that masculine build’. Why yes we do, so I guess his back-up dancers are gonna be the Chippendales? … Are there still working Chippendales??

The Raveonettes are planning on releasing a series of Remix EPs starting with this one. Now all we have to do is try to convince them to tour around these parts again like they did before they became all that and a bag of Bugles.

There’s another star on star interview on MySpace! This time Brian Wilson and Zooey Deschanel chat about harmony, Gershwin, writing songs and how pretty Zooey is.

Bruce Dickinson, went from Iron Maiden’s frontman to pilot to TV presenter to real life hero. He helped out some tourists stranded in Egypt with his awesome flying powers and like a real hero his response was “I was just doing my job”.

Man, Estelle really got the pointy end of the poop-covered stick in this ‘experiment’. Last week her label decided they’d try to trick people into buying physical singles and pulled her single and album from iTunes. As predicted by all but those Warner geniuses, her stock plummeted like Enron circa 2001. She went from number 11 to 37! The reason was that the non-digital singles put more money in the label’s pockets. Yet again, it’s greed that killed the beast … well, Estelle’s lucky streak. I’d be super pissed, especially because in spite of her initial success she’s still an up and coming artist that can really use the digital boost.

Snoop Dogg had an unlikely ally in his battle against the Australian government to finally be allowed to enter the country. Russell Crowe wrote them a cordial letter endorsing Snoop, highlighting his charity work and great reputation in other countries. It seemed to have worked because he’s now allowed back in the land down under. Huzzah!

Our good friend Fitty tries to reestablish his relevance saying Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” is the spitting image of “Candyshop”. But it’s really really not. And that’s all I have to say about that.

   David Bowie – Rock ‘n Roll Suicide
]]> http://onehundredb.com/2008/09/17/100bs-news-ish-round-up-8/feed/ 0 Tam http://onehundredb.com/2008/09/03/100bs-news-ish-round-up-7/ http://onehundredb.com/2008/09/03/100bs-news-ish-round-up-7/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:53:22 +0000 Julie http://100b.wordpress.com/?p=695 ]]>

I’m going to have to make it quick this week, so I just have a trio of violent and ridiculous (in the exasperating, slightly scary sort of way) stories to share with you all. These three all popped into my blog reader over the last week or so, making for a lovely post-apocolyptic feel to the news.

First, it looks like the LAPD and Hollywood Bowl have taken a lesson from past Houston concert policing and attacked some nice folks at last week’s Radiohead show. All sarcasm aside, this is outrageous, assuming it’s all true, and even my cynical ass can’t believe that people can get away with this.

And that brings us around nicely to the Republican National Convention, which seems to be going swimmingly. First, You Ain’t No Picasso reports that some photographer friends of his were arrested during protests that they were, well, taking photos of. Take notice of the photo he’s posted, where the cops in question totally do not look crazed with power. Maybe I’m reading that into it, or maybe it’s the thick stream of pepper spray (or similar) clouding my judgment. Anyway, if you stop by YANP, also check the links in his post for more RNC madness.

Oh, wait, there’s more! Police also shut down a Rage Against The Machine show that was to take place nearby the convention. Doesn’t democracy just warm your heart? RATM seem to have just switched gears, picking up a megaphone and marching their people down to the convention center in protest. Although it ended in tear gas (as, sadly, stories involving protest of any kind often do nowadays), let’s all just take a minute to thank RATM for being so badass in so very many ways.

   Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name

I make no bones about knowing next to nothing about music news. I don’t follow it very aggressively and tend to zero in on those stories that light a fire under me. So, everytime my at bat for the Round-Up comes around I break out in panic sweats trying to find out what, if anything, happened in the world of music the past two weeks. This edition of the News-ish Round-Up is no exception.

John Rich of Big & Rich, a supporter of U.S. presidential candidate John McCain and responsible for “Raising McCain”, an anthemic ode to the candidate, has added a fine note of idiocy (Rich’s, not McCain’s) to the presidential campaign. Rich has been quoted as saying, “I’m sure Johnny Cash would have been a John McCain supporter if he was still around.” Now, why do dumbasses say this kind of thing and why do news outlets even validate this sort of stupidity. (That’s a rhetorical question.) To her immense credit, Cash’s daughter, Rosanne, didn’t respond by saying who she thought her father would have voted for. Instead, she retorted, “It is appalling to me that people still want to invoke my father’s name, five years after his death, to ascribe beliefs, ideals, values and loyalties to him that cannot possibly be determined and to try to further their own agendas by doing so. Even I would not presume to say publicly what I ‘know’ he thought or felt. This is especially dangerous in the case of political affiliation. It is unfair and presumptuous to use him to bolster any platform.” Kudos, Ms. Cash. Kudos.

Regular readers of my posts will already know almost nothing gets me whipped into a frothy frenzy like talking about the RIAA and the music industry’s Keystone Cops-like inability to cope with the Internet. To wit, two items in the news recently. First, it looks like Pandora – the innovative Internet radio and music recommendation site – is facing the chopping block. Don’t know why? Well, whether it is financially true or not, Pandora reports it’s slated to pay upwards of $17.5 million of its $25 million revenues on royalty fees. Well, you may ask, this is only fair. Normal radio stations have to pay royalties, too. Uh, nope. Your everyday radio stations pay no royalties (this is, in fact, they argue, free advertizing). Well, surely that other big vehicle for musical enjoyment, satellite radio, pays the same royalties? No, you’d be wrong again. Satellite radio pays a lesser fee. It’s only the Internet, that self-perceived enemy of the music industry, that bears the burden of these sorts of royalty fees.

Which leads directly into the second new items in this area.

Muxtape, the virtual mixtape generating site, is, according to the site, “unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA.” Another testament to the constantly loosing battle the RIAA is fighting. Have we learned nothing from history? It is nearly impossible to win a guerrilla war, let alone what amounts to a virtual guerrilla campaign. What’s next? The forkin Hype Machine?

In case you missed the announcement, Bloc Party have come in under the radar and are releasing the digital version of Intimacy on their website. You can pre-order it now for download delivery tomorrow (August 21). You can’t get the CD until the end of the October and this is your chance to get the majority of the tracks earlier (there will be a few different tracks available in each of the two formats).

From happy news for Bloc Party fans to sad news for fans of old school R&B. Jerry Wexler, a producer for Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan and Ray Charles – and the first to call the genre “rhythm and blues” – died at 91.

Speaking of sad, 50 Cent is the giant among hip hop entrepreneurs (I refuse to call them hiphopreneurs because it’s just too corny). According to the 2008 Forbes magazine list of Hip Hop Cash Kings, 50 Cent has turned his many ventures into a massive $150 million in earnings over the past year, knocking Jay-Z down to the second spot. Puff Diddy props up Jay-Z in the third spot.

Since we’re on the hip hop entrepreneur tip, here is some more. Master P is no longer badboy Master P. He’s now Percy Miller, which, interestingly enough, is actually his name. And, alongside his no-curse-words record label (Take A Stand Records), Mr. Miller is now creating his own cable television network, Better Black Television, to go head-to-head with Black Entertainment Television (aka BET). While we may all shrug our shoulders and assume this is another stunt, remember Master P used to be larger than life. And, while his new, squeaky-clean image will go some way to pushing these new ventures along, it doesn’t hurt he’s also put together a notable board of advisors for his new network that includes the likes of Denzel Washington, NAACP Executive Director Vicangelo Bullock, and hip hop legend DJ Kool Herc among others.

No music for you! Go buy some Jerry Wexler-produced classics instead!

I’ve been away for a while and came back in a world gone topsy-turvy! Paris Hilton “runs for president”?!? Snoop Dogg’s in a Bollywood movie?!? John Lydon makes racist comments and has Bloc Party’s Kele beat up?!? I’m waiting for me to wake up and the narrator to say, ‘but it was all just a crazy, crazy dream’.

Yeah, so like I said Snoop’s in a Bollywood movie. When he played Huggy Bear I thought, well yeah, that sounds about right, even when he was in a porno I thought, ‘that’s Snoop for ya!’ but I just cannot imagine him appearing from behind a tree dancing like there’s no tomorrow with twenty other guys dressed just like him (excuse the cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason). He doesn’t exactly do that, but he does wear a turban. I love that he can still surprise us like this, God only knows what he’s gonna do next. Check out a behind the scenes peak at Singh Is Kinng.

Jack White collaborates with Alicia Keys on a new James Bond theme called “Another Way To Die”! I’m already intrigued by the title. I hope it sounds as brooding and sensual as a cross between “Seven Nation Army” and “Goldfinger”.

Woohoo, more exciting new music!! This news ties into aDawgg’s post yesterday rather neatly, Q-Tip reveals details for his new album after a NINE year hiatus. Geez, it’s been long enough, I can’t wait!

Well, this is where the fun, exciting music news stops and it all takes a dark turn.

OK, whoever STOLE The Stooges’s stuff in Quebec: you need to check yourself fool! If you contribute to the prevention of say … a James Blunt (I’m sorry but that voice … ouch), or a Colbie Caillat (that song with the wrinkled nose makes me want to fill my sock with batteries) from playing music, then by all means, but the freaking STOOGES?!? Oh for shame. You disappoint not just the band, but also their fans, yourself AND posterity.

Speaking of disappointing fans, and by fans I mean me. Assorted country stars are going to appear on a Elvis duets Christmas CD due to come out, ehm around Christmas – sorry I haven’t had coffee yet. I have some grievances and I’m too tired to be nice about it. First, it’s not a duet if one half of said duo didn’t even know about the collaboration at the time he recorded the song. Second, if you’re gonna go through with this shite why only country stars? Overall, mainstream, contemporary country is not good – in my judgemental opinion. Third, the AP story quotes someone saying the new versions could spruce up Elvis’ legacy. I’m sorry, but isn’t he already THE King Of Rock ‘n Roll?!? What all-high, benevolent title is there left to aspire to? Supreme high commanding demi-God of all musicdom? Lastly, this is NOT the same as when Junkie XL remixed “A Little Less Conversation”, because that was awesome. I realize I haven’t even heard the new versions yet, but I’ve heard some of the country artists’ work and I can’t imagine it’ll be much different. Well, for those interested, Carrie Underwood and Leann Rimes are among the stars that’ll be Elvising up your Christmas this year. I’m so sure these reworkings won’t be über cheesy, smarmy, sucky affairs.

Another music king is working on his legacy it seems; Michael Jackson asks his fans to vote for their favorite songs for a new Best Of. You can choose from a list of fifty … or just download those fifty songs and you have an even better Best Of than the one coming out.

You know how there’s the fear you might meet your heroes or idols and they turn out to be such a let down (read: wanker), that it’ll crush all the fond memories their work gave you? Well I got a taste of what that’s like when I heard about the altercation between Kele Okereke of Bloc Party and John Lydon. I love The Sex Pistols AND Public Image Limited and it makes me sad that those wonderful bands are now always linked to the ugliness of this story.

Oy. In more disturbing punk news, Howard Stern is planning to do a remake of The Ramones’ Rock ‘n Roll High School. If there is a petition going around pleading him to leave well enough alone – no-no scrap that, to leave totally awesome enough alone, than please direct me to it. If there is no such petition, I’m starting one right now. I urge you Mr.Stern, don’t do this. Just don’t. For all that is holy, keep your shock-jocking paws of this wonderfully insane and much loved movie, puh-lease.

Sigh, you know what? Screw it, Paris Hilton please do run for president! This News-ish Round-Up has brought me down so much, I don’t even care if the world was run by everybody’s fave vapid heiress. I hope we do see her at the debates, bitches.

   The Awkward Stage – The Morons Are Winning

Speaking of the technologically inept, No Rock And Roll Fun points out the NME’s completely … well, completely wrong coverage of the new Rhapsody MP3 store. And while we’re talking about NME – I know it’s been a while since I visited their website, but what’s with the Daily Gossip and Tabloid Hell – also known as the Lily Allen / Pete Doherty / Amy Winehouse Report – sections? I guess they’ve officially given up on being about music in any way, what a shame. Dude, I’m not nearly old enough to remember the good ‘ole days of the magazine, but even I thought it would be pretty cool to write for them back when I first started reading it. Now I’d be embarrassed to admit it – do people seriously care that Paul Banks was seen sunbathing?

Of course we’ve all heard that Glastonbury went over pretty well, despite all the criticism. I’m glad Jay-Z’s set was a winner – nothing brings a crowd of drunken people together like “Wonderwall” (and I’m not even being sarcastic right now). His appearance has done him rather well in other ways as well: 2004′s single “99 Problems” will back in the charts this week, most likely within the Top 25.

My beloved Cold War Kids have announced that their as yet untitled second album will be released in September. The Music Slut recently posted the teaser trailer for it, go have a look. As a ridiculously huge fan of Robbers & Cowards, this is definitely my most anticipated release of the year.

You Ain’t No Picasso just put up a great live “Get Smart”-themed (the old TV show, not the silly new movie) Jack White and Beck collaboration. Check it out before it’s gone, you won’t be sorry. Also brought to my attention by the excellent YANP is the new James Bond teaser trailer. So. Flippin’. Awesome. The count down to November starts now.

   The Detroit Cobras – My Baby Loves The Secret Agent

First off, you have got to know by now that, after yonks of to-ing and fro-ing in the lead up to a trial, it’s now all over. R. Kelly has been acquitted on charges of child pornography. Apparently, according to one juror, the question wasn’t whether the man in the video tapes was Kelly or not. Rather, the question was who exactly was the young girl or woman in the video. In the end, there was reasonable doubt about her identity and the case crumbled like a dry sandcastle. So, the freaky songman remains something of a deviant in any event, but hasn’t been branded a child pornographer.

Speaking of guys on the skeez hunt. Not only is the reunited New Kids On The Block single, “Summertime”, uninspired, the accompanying video borders on depressing. These guys were living large two decades ago. I’m not ashamed to say that I was down with NKOTB when the Bean was listening to them back in the day. Yes, they were a corny boy band. But, “Hangin Tough” was the bomb. And, before anyone jumps on it, I’m in no way discriminating against the middle-aged (that’s pretty much me) kicking the jams on a reunion tour. But, who are they kicking the jams for? The video gives the impression their target group is, um, pretty young. And, really, was this necessary? They should either have left well enough alone or targetted their previous fans for a reunion. (Though I guess that doesn’t bring in the duckets.)

Are you surprised the video debuted at 2:00pm on a Sunday? Next up, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch bust it reunion stylie.

So, we all know Metallica live in the Stone Age and just haven’t gotten down with the whole digital music thang, often openly battling against it. Example: In the past few weeks I’ve wanted to purchase some Metallica albums (true story) in order to make a best of mix. However, I do the majority of my music buys via digital retailers. When I want music, I want is now. Not tomorrow or days and days after. Was Metallica on the two I use most? Nope. Well, I’m out those Metallica albums and Metallica are out the royalities on my missed purchases.

Anyway, the news-ish portion of this story is that Metallica hosted an album listening party for some music writers (including bloggers) in London. Bloggers being bloggers, what was heard was written about. In reaction to this, apparently, unexpected and outrageous turn of events (sarcasm), Metallica management, Q Prime, pressed for the coverage to be pulled down. Of course, Metallica being Metallica and the world being aware of their feelings about ideas being rapidly-and-digitally disseminated, this just made them look dumber than they look already. Then, my guess is, wishing to avoid this embarrassment, the band itself posted an explanation-cum-apology on their site, essentially blaming it all on Q Prime weenies. In a normal situation with normal participants, this would actually be understandable. Metallica are not just a band. Their a brand with a cast of many supporting their organization. Organizations have failures and this may just have been one of them. But, again, Metallica being Metallica and us knowing what we know about their general incapacity to deal with the digital age, this just looks idiotic all-around.

From one band struggling just to get on the Information Superhighway to two industry giants slugging it out about who drives the biggest hog on the Information Superhighway. The National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America are trading blows about, essentially, who is more vital to the health of the music industry, rather than realizing the you-scratch-my-back and so on relationship they have. The RIAA wants radio stations to pay more royalties for the music played. The NAB says they are an invaluable means of generating cash for the big music labels so why should we pay you for letting us advertize your product. Of course, in the Age of Science, this couldn’t be settled without resorting to empirical evidence. Numbers to you and me.

I’ll cut to the chase. The resulting report, Sales vs. Spins, pretty much identifies “a direct correlation between the number of ‘spins’ (plays on free, local radio) and the sales of albums or singles.” Duh. Seriously, it took what was probably a well-compesated research organization to tell the RIAA that people hearing songs on the radio leads to an upswing in purchases?

Irrespective of who wins that punchout, the music industry, in general, is still running around like the Keystone Cops. Another example: Since the previous News-ish Roundup the RIAA has voluntarily dropped the case of Warner vs. Cassin. This was one of a number of legal actions the RIAA was fronting that focused on the issue of making MP3s available for download being a copyright infringement. I ain’t no lawyer, so I’m not holding my breath on this. While it might look like the RIAA has been pushed onto the defensive, I fully expect them to come up with another strategy that will continue to alienate us music lovers.

   New Kids On The Block – Hangin Tough

This week we start off with some tragic news. Rock n Roll icon, Bo Diddley passed away at the age of 79. A lot of musicians, like members of Wilco, Franz Ferdinand and The Rolling Stones have already given tribute and praise to the legendary artist, who once rightly said that he ‘opened the door for a lot of people and they just ran through and left [him] holding the knob’.

I wish I could say the sad news ended there; As if Kurt Cobain’s memory hasn’t been soiled enough with those awful, tasteless, so-called tribute Converse, his ashes have been stolen out of Courtney Love’s home, where she’d stored them in a pink, bear-shaped handbag. OK first of all, I know I’m a total square for bringing this up, but were they out of urns, or what? And who the hell steals ashes?? That sets all new standards of low. Unless the perps (uhuh, I know the lingo, I watch two out of three CSIs) thought they were just stealing a bear-shaped handbag and what they got was a bag full of a Grunge icon’s remains.

Tricky came out with a new video for “Council Estate”. The song gets mixed reactions, but I really like it. It’s not the veiled, whispery, darkness we’re used from him; he shouts out his lyrics in this one, which gives it an alarming urgency. On top of that, he mixes Gene Krupa-type drums with a seventies rock melody for some extra edge. What’s not to like?

Here are some odd pairings: Hard Rock + theme park and Wu Tang Clan + chess. Let’s start with the least interesting of the two; Thanks to the Hard Rock franchise we can now, not only eat, drink, gamble and sleep, but also scream and ride, whilst immersed in all things Hard and Rocking. The Hard Rock Park is South Carolina’s latest tourist trap, it’s a Rock ‘n Roll theme park … Right. I don’t know what that means either, but I don’t really get why it’s exciting to eat your burger next to a display case filled with The Eagles’s platinum records, or Gene Simmons’ tongue, or Billy Corgan’s smugness in the first place.

The Wu Tang Clan started an online chess game for the hip hop/Kasparov fans out there. According to the site they created the ‘world’s first chess and Hip Hop community’, where you can get your learn on and flex ya mentals. I love it, it’s unexpected, but it might just give your local stuffy, sweater vest-y chess club a shot of cool. Who’d pass up the chance to play against The RZA, a long time fan of the game? Not The Tamboosh.

Well, that’s all the news I felt was worth reporting this week. The rest is all of the level of Amy Winehouse’s zany shenanigans. If she’s not playing with new born mice and her BFF Pete Doherty, she’s either in court standing by her man like a bee-hived Tammy Wynette clone, or canceling shows all across the land. Why that continues to be riveting is a mystery to me.

   Wu Tang Clan – Da Mystery Of Chessboxing
]]> http://onehundredb.com/2008/06/05/100bs-news-ish-round-up-3/feed/ 0 Tam http://onehundredb.com/2008/05/21/100bs-news-ish-round-up-2/ http://onehundredb.com/2008/05/21/100bs-news-ish-round-up-2/#comments Wed, 21 May 2008 15:37:30 +0000 Julie http://100b.wordpress.com/?p=544 ]]>

So what’s going in this wacky world of ours this week? A bunch of absurdity? Yeah, probably – let’s have a look …

Like pretty much everyone else on Earth, I love Indiana Jones. I’m pretty excited about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – I’m a little worried about disappointment, but the posters are pretty cool, right? So I was happy to see some good news on the IMDB yesterday: ” … the film – which sees 65-year-old Harrison Ford return to the role of Indiana Jones after a 19 year gap – was praised by the world’s media, reportedly garnering a three and a half minute standing ovation by the select few who were invited to watch it … ” If that’s true, it’s odd that most of the media mentions I’ve come across are focusing on the poor reviews of the movie – or, to be more accurate – the possibility of poor reviews. Writers seem to be particularly excited about the idea of people hating this movie. (This USA Today article says it’s about “mixed reviews” but is definitely more interested in negative ones.) It’s especially funny to watch since we all know it’s not going to matter – everyone’s going to go see it anyway, including me. So get your moneys out, people – there’s less than a day to go!

In other comeback news, NKOTB are now officially back and performing. Tamboosh mentioned the upcoming reunion a while back, but now they have a new single and everything. Part of me thinks this is hilarious (in a fun, memory lane sort of way) and part of me thinks it’s just kind of painful. I wouldn’t pass up the chance to see them do “Cover Girl” (that was my favorite way back when), but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to bring myself to listen to the new single.

Here’s something you most definitely will want to listen to: Stereogum has the new Beck song, “Chemtrails” available for your listening pleasure. Dude, how excited were you guys when you heard that Beck’s upcoming Modern Guilt album has him working with Danger Mouse? Yeah, me too – I’m thinking Beck + Danger Mouse = totally awesome and unpredictable. I’ve only listened once, mind you, but “Chemtrails” provides an early indication that my formula is accurate.

And now for something completely different, Ireland’s turkey puppet won’t be competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, after failing to qualify in the semi-finals. No, that is not a joke to make a point about Eurovision, though I can’t really blame you for thinking so. It’s sadly true that an inanimate turkey didn’t make it to the next round. Here’s a group that knew how to rock Eurovision without dumbass props.

   ABBA – Dancing Queen

What to say, what to say. My time management when it comes to the News-ish Round-Up … Well, it simply sucks. While I have tons of stories and happenings to relate, I started way too late yesterday, didn’t get very far, time and work-related pressure overtook me … And I never got the damned thing done. Then, despite my best intentions, it’s such a beautiful day today I can’t bring myself to stay put long enough to complete the News-ish Round-Up.

So, anywho, all I’ve got to report is that 15-year-old Miley Ray Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) may or may not be America’s little darling anymore now that she’s posed in some racy (again, for a 15-year-old) photos by Annie Liebowitz for Vanity Fair.

Sure, I think the photos are slightly strange. But, isn’t that what art is supposed to do? Move you? Make you think? Apparently, the photos have many involved diving for cover, pointing fingers, and, generally, scrambling about ensuring their dollars, I mean asses, are protected. And observers are left either sticking their nose in shouting about how it is pure child pornography or that people need to get over themselves. As the Bean would say, “I’m just saying.” Talk among yourselves.

For all you cheapskates that just come for the music samples, have at this …

   The Phi Mu Washboard Band – This Land

It’s once again time to round up the news-ish! Since we’ve started this post I’m proud to say that we’ve managed to steer clear from commenting on celebrity relationships, because we really don’t give a crap who’s secretly married or not, who’s engaged because she’s pregnant or not. Leave it to me to break this admirable streak, but this love connection made me go whozajiggawhat?!? This news is a bit older, but Devendra Banhart and Natalie Portman, people. That’s almost as strange a pairing as two historical figures from different continents and time periods hooking up, like say … Cleopatra and Mussolini. For the longest time, I’ve had a girl-crush on Natalie Portman, so maybe it’s just jealousy talking but not in a shmajillion years did I expect these two to get it on, to put it grossly. I know she’s been in one of his videos and he made a song for some charity thing she did, but still. I like this couple in an existential sort of way, it reminds me that anything can happen at any time.

I was always under the impression that Bright Eyes was Conor Oberst’s stage alter ego, like Ziggy Stardust, or Mariah’s Mimi, or Lightspeed Champion. But he recently revealed he’s going to be releasing a solo album soon … OK I love his music, but what the hell has he been doing all the other times? I thought Bright Eyes was basically the Conor Oberst show, how much more Obersty can it get? I’m intrigued.

Elvis’ visit to London in 1958 ranks up there with legends like Jesus’ visit to Glastonbury made famous by William Blake’s poem And Did Those Feet. Well, it looks like The King’s feet did indeed touch British soil back then. I bet there’s an old Londoner out there who’s been saying for years that he once shared a pint with him and people would smile, shake their heads, and say ‘sure old man, that happened’. Finally vindicated, he must feel pretty good about himself, he probably printed ‘I told you so’ on a t-shirt. Oh, and just so there’s no confusion I’m not comparing Jesus to Elvis, John Lennon’s 1966 snafu taught me better.

The Smashing Pumpkins’ announcement that they may not make another album, is the kind of info we try to cover with the -ish in New-ish. It’s vague and non-descript and oh yeah, I don’t care. I mean, who does? This also goes for Ryan Adams and Lily Allen‘s ill-advised new love affair with the peroxide bottle. Apparently working on new albums makes you want to go blonde.

Oh-oh-oh, check out my new favorite video! If the song doesn’t blow your mind, the crafty visuals will. Embroidery, Mexican wrestlers, monkeys, and totem poles are just some of the things that’ll tickle your retina. Here’s Architecture In Helsinki’s “Like It Or Not”:

I’m pee-my-pants excited over Weezer’s upcoming “red album”. The glorious blue album still makes it into my CD player – how come saying that makes me feel like I might as well have been cranking up the phonograph? – a lot. The stoopid good “Pork & Beans” streamed on their site is reminiscent of the glory days, which is a good thing.

Scott Weiland may have left a big gap to fill with his semi-forced ousting, but to the remaining Velvet Revolvers this is an opportunity to cause a big stir and announce they’re looking for a new singer on the internet. If you think you have what it takes to front Velvet Revolver, tape yourself looking over a big hat covering a bushel of frizzy hair whilst exercising your vocal chords and maybe you’ll be picked to do that for a living. The Pipettes lost two whole members and managed to replace them with much less hoohaw then the aforementioned band.

We end with the lyrical whirlwind that is Nas. The wannabe punk in me loves it when people stir the pot for all the right reasons. No other word could cause this much of a ruckuss and has scholars, politicians, as well as talk shows debating it as much as the N-word. Nas new controversially titled album, that may or may not see a release has had people up in arms for a while now. Nahright gives us a preview of shockingly delicious things to come with “Be A Nigger Too”, if the record will be released. I think we should trust that he wouldn’t just do this for the sake of childish attention, as shown with this song. The track starts with a ‘turn the radio up’, but I seriously doubt it’s gonna be getting a lot airplay. He’s taking the power out of the notorious word, as well as other words offensive to different ethnic groups, in the chorus with dull repitition, except that it’s far from dull. I mean it’s Nas, of course it’s amazing, profound and, dare I say, catchy, but even as a ehm ‘chink n-word’, you won’t find me singing it on any street corners just yet.

   Nas – Be A Nigger Too

Alright, just to set the tone for this week’s collection of non-news stories: a Venezuelan TV station has deemed The Simpsons inappropriate for mid-morning television. Instead, they’ve decided to treat young children to a healthy dose of Baywatch. Yup, that sounds about right.

Moving on. After the absolutely astounding success of Get Rich Or Die Trying (though we all know Tamboosh is secretly dying to see it, that’s why I’m totally going to buy it for her on DVD for her upcoming birthday), 50 Cent is in talks to star in the upcoming movie Spectacular. He’ll play “a death row inmate whose imminent execution has made him a cause celebre”. Oh dear, he may actually have to act in this one. No good can come of this.

In perhaps even stupider news, if it could possibly be called that, a “major music-oriented television channel … that asked not to be identified” has pitched a new reality show featuring Axl Rose, following his attempts to finish Chinese Democracy. (Hmm. Now what music-oriented channel might show reality shows? I just can’t think of any.) Seriously, who do they think is going to watch that? Do we all get a free Dr. Pepper if we tune in each week?

And, oh yeah, just in case you haven’t read it on every other site on the entire internets, Pete Doherty’s in jail. It’s all just too shocking.

Lastly, and all sarcasm aside for just one second, let’s take a moment to celebrate the beauty that is Air’s Moon Safari, a truly wonderful album coming up on it’s 10th birthday.

   Air – Sexy Boy

Yeah, so what. I start all of posts with excuses about why my post might (probably) sucks eggs. This week I have yet another excuse. A good one. For me at least. I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro from Apple and, hot damn, it’s sweet! So, I phaffed about for the past four or five days setting it up. What this meant is I had to export and import all my RSS feeds and all the entries was zapped to Kingdom Come.

Anywho, onto this edition of my disjointed and disconnected collection of news-ish tidbits … a.k.a. some stuff that comes from the Interweb into your feeder reader for people that don’t know the news too good.

I may have nuked my backlogged feeds, but you couldn’t have missed the blow-up over what seems to now be known as the ‘Barack Obama Race Speech’ or ‘A More Perfect Union’ or Obama really taking on the elephant in the corner of his campaign or Obama taking on the even bigger elephant crushing the United States with his big ass. Predictably, the Right – in this instance, the White Right, most notably – is all up in tizzy.

(Beware: This video is the FULL speech, running nearly 38 minutes.)

From the inspiring to the painful. Submitted for your approval, two tales about the pathetic and their attempts to mean something to someone somewhere:

Tale #1: The Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records over the licensing of their tracks to Pepsi and Amazon.com. Their reasons? Negatively impacting the credibility they worked ever so hard for years to build with their fans. … They still have fans?

Tale #2: NME, the infamous rag that loves a band or artist one week and hates them the next, is making a Robbie Williams-style attempt to become relevant in the U.S. Good luck. Prediction: NME will fail miserably and then write off the U.S. as musically useless.

This month’s 100best of … selection, Elvis Costello, is opting to release his upcoming album (Momofuku) via digital download and vinyl only. Interesting. Somewhere a record exec just pooped herself a bit.

Undoubtedly, the number and variety of reality crap (*COUGH*), I mean, shows is just out of hand and definitely, somehow, at the heart of the decline of Western Civilization. Even so … Oh. My. God. Let this be shown in the U.K.! The concept is so cringable I can’t not look. I’m so gonna be thuggin to this.

Weezer, Justice, The Klaxons, Mars Volta, DJ Shadow. No, that’s not the lineup for an indie/underground festival. That’s a selection of the artists on the Gran Turismo 5 soundtrack, scheduled for release for the PS3 in April.

On March 16, tamboosh clued you into the existence of hip hop at SXSW with some cuts from The Cool Kids. Well, here’s another I bumped into on my travels along the musical backroads of this so-called Information Superhighway (shout out to The Rap Up) …

   The Carps (ft The Cool Kids) – Heaven’s Gates & Hell’s Flames
   (Warning: 12.28 MondoBites!)

Want to know more about The Carps? Check out their CarpSpace.

That’s it. I’m done. Out.

MusicMagpie.co.uk had themselves a poll and the English public decided that Joy Division’s Unkown Pleasures is the most iconic album cover of all time. Yeah, that sounds about right, especially with the recent attention the band’s been getting lately. But I am surprised to see The Velvet Underground & Nico’s banana isn’t even in the top ten, it would definitely top my list. The only problem with these iconic covers is the superbly creative ways in which their popularity is milked. Remember the Unknown Pleasures inspired New Balance shoes?? Barf. I just don’t see how treading on your favorites band’s image is an expression of appreciation.

Some really good music first saw the light of day these last two weeks starting with M.I.A. & DJ Znobia’s collaboration with Buraka Som Sistema on “Sound Of Kuduro”. It’s absolutely mind blowingly amazing. My first reaction was to bust a move, but then I saw the kids in the video … They shamed me into sitting back down and hoping my headnods were on the beat.

Then the Bean alerted me that the band that makes me drool like a Pavlovian German shepherd by the mere mention of them, The Black Keys, lets us sneak a taste of their upcoming new release produced by Dangermouse. Listen to “Psychotic Girl” over on Stereogum. It’s beyond exciting, so incredibly good it hurts.

Nick Cave also has exciting news, but it’s not music related. He’s planning to finally follow up his deeply disturbing gothic novel And The Ass Saw The Angel. Yay, I can’t wait! It took me a while to finish his book, because you have to be in a certain Tim Burtonesque mood to read it, but I was surprised at how much enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to the next one.

Some of the news was so crazy that it practically forced me to set up a WTF section:
There’s talk of a Libertines musical. WTF?!? I wonder who’s going to play them?? Obviously, John Barrowman would make a good Carl and Ewan Mcgregor could combine his performances in Moulin Rouge and Trainspotting and channel Pete. Yeah, now the idea of a Libertines musical is starting to grow on me. This is followed up with reports that Pete Doherty is going to talk to teenage drug addicts. I actually think this would be a good way to use his celebrity and crack stained past. Yes, it’s on a TV show, which is a bit mweh, but at least he might help out some people.

Equally baffling but in a whole different screwed up way is the robbery surrounding early nineties industrial rock band Cop Shoot Cop. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single Cop Shoot Cop song, but the fact that this guy was in a band once upon a time, gives me an excuse to talk about this sad sad attempt at robbery. The former guitarist of the band used, as I understand it, a parfume bottle shaped like a gun for a weapon. You either have to have balls the size of melons or brains the size of a walnut or a screwy fruitsalady combo of both to pull a stunt like that.

The final WTF is no surprise. The Enemy’s frontman continues his career in Twatdom as he criticizes Arctic Monkeys yet again, but adds Muse to the list this time while he drools over Oasis and Manic Street Preachers. I know I’m just generating more heat when I give this guy attention, but I just can’t help being fascinated by the whole thing. It’s just so incredibly pathetic the way he continues to go on about how much the Arctic Monkeys are overrated. Well, at least he’s consistent, when I first wrote about them on New Band Day a while ago, I learned they started their band because they were bored with the “shit people” in their “shit town”. He just branched out to adding successful bands to his shit list. Now that’s growth.

My favorite news this week comes from Wale, an MC and huge Seinfeld fan from Washington DC, has made a Seinfeld-inspired mix tape! I don’t even want to get into the whole Seinfeld-Larry King freak out or Michael Richards not so funny stand up freak out. Let’s just say that now that half the former cast are displaying some questionable behavior it’s good to have a reminder of what made the show great.

And finally some sad news, while The Charlatans enjoy their biggest high so far with their free downloadable CD, The Dead 60s announce they split up. I was never a big fan but I did enjoy them rioting on the radio. If you still want to catch The Charlatans’ You Cross My Path you have five more days to go on over to XFM and snatch it up.

   The Dead 60s – Riot Radio

First things first, congratulations to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova on their Oscar this week. I’ve not actually seen Once yet, but I was still pleased that a little indie song won a big fat Oscar. And congratulations to the Academy cutting back the stingy and allowing Marketa Irglova the extra 15 seconds she needed to say thank you.

No Rock And Roll Fun points us to a CNN Money article explaining that iTunes is now second only to Wal-Mart as the highest music retailer in the U.S. I’m not at all surprised really – digital music is just too damn convenient. But it is a little sad to see proper record shops die a slow and painful death. Remember how everyone was all worried that the printed word would die with the internet and other assorted technological advances? As if people really want to read books on a little screen when they’re curled up in bed. But it turns out that’s what’s happening to record shops, slowly but surely. Tamboosh just told me the other day that Boudisque, Amsterdam’s very best music shop, is closing their doors at the end of March. That’s a damn shame, and I think we should all take a moment to mourn, even if you’ve never been there and even though they’ll still have other branches around Holland – it’s like the shop in High Fidelity but without the snobbery. We loved to go in there just to see what was up and it kind of felt like home.

In a related online story, No Rock and Roll Fun also (sorry for stealing all your stories today, guys) links to this Guardian post about the lost art of listening to an album for the first time. Graeme Thomson writes: “I’d clear some time and space, put the record on and sit with sleeve in hand, drinking in every last detail. I’d listen to it end-to-end a few times, letting it slowly seep in and under the skin.” Me too. And, sadly, I don’t really do it anymore either. I think a lot of it time related – I just don’t have the same free time as I did back in high school. But I do still save new releases for the perfect time for my first listen, and I do still read the liner notes and lyrics. I’m all for the digital revolution, but that was a nice little ritual back then, and Mr. Thomson’s post brings back fond memories of hearing some classic albums for the first time.

Totally unrelated, it seems that there’s going to be some more dead icons flogging shoes. Oh, dear. Nevermind how disgusting it is to have Ian Curtis involved in this – there’s something so depressing to me about Sid Vicious on products. I once saw a cheap plastic-y handbag with Sid & Nancy on it at the Notting Hill market. It’s always stuck in my head as one of the most depressing items I’ve ever seen – I can’t understand why Sid Vicious is seen as cool when he was really just a totally messed up kid. Anyway, let’s hope this shoe thing isn’t the start of a new “Dead Icons Selling Dumb Crap” trend, I’ll seriously have to go Falling Down on their asses.

   Johnny Boy – You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve

Remember, I live in the U.K. So, I didn’t watch this year’s Grammy Awards. To be totally honest, I didn’t even realize they were even happening (*gasp*). This is a good example of why you probably think my News-ish Roundups are weak. Zing!

I’m not going to rehash the results good or bad. However, a few of the commentaries I read mentioned Alicia Keys tearing it up in her performance of “No One” with John Mayer. And, damn, if she didn’t. She made it Big. Check it for yourself if you didn’t see it go down.

The Gray Lady seemed to lament the “kiss off” of young fans by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in this year.

On a decidedly more depressing level – I don’t even know if I should feed this particular Attention Gobbler, be she real or not – have you heard about 90 Day Jane? By the way, that link will no longer take you anywhere. This morning it did and I read some of her blog. What was the deal? The short story: She was (or is) going to kill herself in 90 days. There were 82 days left this morning. By the time I checked shortly before finishing this post her blog was ~POOF!~ gone. So I did Columbo-ing on Google. Here’s the take from two sites: Way of the Mind and Museum of Hoaxes. Will she appear at another free blog provider? I hope not.

What exactly is Lupe Fiasco trying to say about racism? I swear he contradicts himself so many times I lost count and got confused trying to follow him. He talks about being a monk. Living in a hole in the ground or the Matrix or something. Is he saying racism was good? Is it bad? I hate when people, the media, whoever tries to elevate not necessarily bright, downright dumb, or just plain normal intelligence celebrities and assume they’ve got something good to say because they’re, well, celebrities.

Um, yeah. What he said. Maybe. … I think. Nevermind.

Finally, the RIAA may not be as dense as the Washington Post story indicates. And, finally, speaking of the RIAA, they continue to make the situation worse and anger a few more people. Go Oregon!

OK first off, the most exciting news I’ve heard since I learned about deep fried mars bars, the New Kids On The Block are getting back together after 13 long years!! But Tamboosh, aren’t you sick of all the reuniting late eighties/early nineties bands? Uh yah, but this is NKOTB!! I was soooo an NKOTB-er between the ages of nine and ten. Yup, that is what I called myself. They are the pop equivalent of a black velvet painting, and they’re probably more like Old Men In The Suburbs by now, but they are Pop pioneers. Good God man, I played their cassette – that’s right, cassette – until it started to sound like an old news reel. I went so far as to buy a video of a behind-the-scenes look at the band. I would give my left pinky toe to still have that video, but my stupid, skanky friend (yes, even at ten) ‘borrowed’ it and never gave it back. She definitely didn’t have the ‘right stuff’. Zing!

Phew, what a bombshell. I got to wind down with some not-so-surprising news. Like Pete Doherty not showing up at his solo gig. These next headlines have less to do with music and more to do with the public’s hunger for sensational stories. You’ll be shocked to learn that Amy Winehouse is on drugs, people. A day doesn’t go by that we’re not given some supposedly new insight into the drama that is Amy’s and Britney’s life by the ‘press’. I’m not claiming the paparazzi made them turn to mind altering substances, but it doesn’t help. This latest tidbit prompted more informative debates about the wickedness of crack and such. Oh, and of course there’s the news that Suge Knight was named a member of a notorious Compton gang by the police. Again, shocker. He has been associated with that same gang ever since I can remember, but apparently now it’s news. I don’t think some people understand what the word news means. Pete Doherty showing up for a gig, Amy Winehouse sober, Suge Knight, beloved member of the boyscouts, now that’s news!

While Suge Knight accuses the police of using his name for publicity, The Enemy pull a similar stunt by calling the Arctic Monkeys dull. Do you really have to pull a Gallagher and slag off other bands to stay in the news? How is this in any way productive? They only upped the pressure on their following releases. They better be flippin’ brilliant, because todays XFM/NME darlings are tomorrows fodder for future up-and-coming bands to call dull.

Moving on to more surprising things. UB40′s lead singer is quitting the band. Ehm, did everybody know that they were still together??

Ah, a week doesn’t go by without me peeing myself over some free mp3s. This time the providers of the delicious swag are The Charlatans, who plan to give away their CD next month, and One Little Indian, label of Dan Sartain, Jesse Malin and Asobi Seksu among others has a free CD featuring their artists on eMusic.

NME reports that Busta Rhymes escaped prison. No, not in a daredeviling Michael Scofield kinda prison break; he got away with a fine and community service for assaulting his driver and a fan. Foxy Brown didn’t have as much luck when her petition for early release was denied.

Oh for crap’s sake. How many times do you think a person should be allowed to nickname themselves?!? I thought that once was enough, ok maybe twice, because when you’re bald and named Curly it’s kinda funny, but when your hair grows back and it’s straight it’s just weird. In those rare cases it’s OK to change your name again, but P.Diddy takes the cake. He went from Puff Daddy, to P.Diddy, to Diddy, and now he wants the world to call him Sean John. Come on, pick one and stick with it, man. I’ve had it, I’m just gonna call him Hey-Diddle-Diddle from now one. So there.

   New Kids On The Block – You Got It (The Right Stuff)