Music

Friday, November 6, 2009

Method Man Starring in 3D Movie About Life in the 'Hood

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Method Man in 3D
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shoalin Island rapper Method Man—who last made headlines when he was arrested for owing the IRS $33,000—is set to star in something called The Mortician. There's very little information available regarding the film, but it's apparently a 3D movie being written and directed by Gareth Maxwell Roberts about growing up in the ghetto. IMDb claims it will be a thriller shot in Louisiana slated for release in 2010, and did I mention it's going to be in 3D?

Given the most frequently recurring motifs in Meth's music and his various screen roles to date, I think we know what to expect from The Mortician: 3D bongs, 3D joints and 3D gunfights. I hope he really gets into the role and grows back the dreadlocks he wore at the beginning of his career. Also, the choppy fronts he's wearing in the image at right. Now that would be thrilling in 3D! (HipHopWired)

Tags: , , , ,

U2 and Jay-Z Perform Together in Berlin

Posted by Mike Conklin on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 1:25 PM

There is much to be said about this performance from last night in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, such as, "No two people have ever had less on-stage chemistry than Jay-Z and Bono, which is understandable because Bono is old and embarrassing while Jay-Z is the best." But instead, let's just leave it at, "Ooooh! Look how furry Adam's collar is!"

Tags: , , , ,

All You Need to Know About the Vibe Reboot: Chris Brown and Drake Will Share the Cover

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 12:51 PM

Vibe Magazine Chris Brown
Earlier this week, the new editor in chief at Vibe Magazine and Vibe.com Jermaine Hall told Advertising Age that the publication will make its return next month after going dormant over the summer. The new print Vibe will be a quarterly rather than a monthly, with a circulation of 300,000 rather than the 600,000 it had in June, but Hall hopes to make a splash by putting Chris Brown on the cover.

The magazine's risky move to get attention by featuring the widely-despised Brown will be balanced by having him share cover duties with the inexplicably popular Drake (ugh!). All of this basically spells disaster for Vibe in print, which should probably give up and go online-only already. Hall all but admits as much, telling AdAge: "Whether it's the magazine, or we decide to do some kind of TV programming down the line, everything needs to come back to Vibe.com." Vibe TV? Sounds like a great idea...

Tags: , , ,

Colin Meloy to Write a Children's Book

Posted by Mike Conklin on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 12:25 PM

Picture_1.png
Today in "Things that seem strange at first but actually make a lot of sense, come to think of it," word comes from Tripwire that the Decemberists' Colin Meloy is teaming up with his artist wife, Carson Ellis, to work on a children's book called The Unfortunate Demise of Whitley Rackham. No release date has been announced, but it warms my heart to think of how many young children will undoubtedly soon be heard saying things like, "Mommy, what's a palanquin?" or, "Daddy, why don't we have a parapet?" or, "When I grow up, I'm going to fetishize antiquated language and objects in hopes that it masks the fact that I don't have any real insight to offer about, you know, people. And on the off chance that anyone calls me out on it, it won't really matter because they won't be able to deny that I am awesome at writing melodies."

Tags: , , ,

Fiery Furnaces vs. Radiohead

Posted by Mike Conklin on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 10:15 AM

HarryPartch.jpg
When I got to work yesterday, one of the first things I read was about Matthew Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces taking Radiohead's Thom Yorke to task for the song "Harry Patch (In Memory Of),"about Britain's last surviving WWI veteran, Harry Patch.

"Fuck you. You brand yourself by brazenly and arbitrarily associating yourself with things that you know people consider cool."

At first I was like, "Oh, nice. someone's talking shit about Thom Yorke. I love when people talk shit about Thom Yorke." Then I was like, "But, actually, I mean, who doesn't just arbitrarily associate themselves with cool things in hopes that other people then think you're cool as well? I know I do." And then I was like, "Wait, who thinks British soldiers who fought in WWI are cool? I'm as down with them as they next guy, I guess, but if I wanted someone to think I was cool, I'd probably find someone else to name-drop, like The Apartments maybe."

So then I decided not to write about it because I felt stupid that I didn't understand what the hell was so cool about Harry Patch. But then!

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , ,

Thursday, November 5, 2009

See a Clip From the Rihanna 20/20 Interview

Posted by Mike Conklin on Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 2:15 PM

A clip from the much publicized Diane Sawyer interview with Rihanna aired on today's Good Morning America, and if it's any indication of what's to come when the interview aires in full on 20/20 tomorrow night, it should probably be required viewing for young women everywhere. The emotional maturity she displays, in her ability to remove herself from the situation long enough to think critically about how best to handle it, is a far cry from what most would expect from a 21-year-old pop star.

Tags: , , ,

If Blue Note Records Re-Released Wu-Tang Albums

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 1:40 PM

Method Man Tical Blue Note cover
Graphic designer Logan Walters' Wu-Note Project is the latest, and possibly most-awesomest, cover-redesign project—in which graphic designers re-create movie, video game, record and book covers in the style of other music, records, movies and video game covers. Previously there have been Heath Killen's modernist editions of famous records, Olly Moss's Penguin Classics versions of video game covers, spacesick's "I Can Read Movies" series and M.S. Corley's redesigns of various fantasy novel covers.

Walter has created alternate covers for 18 Wu-Tang and Wu members' albums in the style of Blue Note Records record covers, and the results are pretty wonderfully contradictory, weird mashups of an easy listening aesthetic with gangsta rap photos and text. The best one is after the jump.

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , ,

Sufjan Stevens: "Haha, Yeah, That Whole 50 State Albums Thing Was Really Stupid, Right?"

Posted by Mike Conklin on Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 9:52 AM

Picture_1.png
In in interview with Paste Magazine, Sufjan Stevens acknowledged that maybe that whole "Hey, you know what? I think I'm gonna make a record for each of the 50 states!" thing was sort of a mistake, since he never managed to complete another after Illinoise, which Paste just named the best album of the decade.

“The whole premise was such a joke,” he told Paste, “and I think maybe I took it too seriously. I started to feel like I was becoming a cliché of myself.”

I think maybe he means he was becoming a parody of himself, in which case, sure, I guess. It's not exactly clear to me, though, how deciding instead to write a long-form concept album about the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, complete with an accompanying film and a full orchestra is any less a parody of his persona. Perhaps if he takes a moment to recognize that that persona is actually a parody of all of indie rock culture, with the precociousness, the preciousness, the general sense of wonder at the world, and comes to grips with it the way so many of his fans have, his "existential crisis" will finally come to an end. [via NME]

Tags: , , ,

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bob Boilen Admits He Considers Some Songs More Than Others

Posted by Mike Conklin on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 4:05 PM

npr.jpg
I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention today, but Bob Boilen from NPR's All Songs Considered, has taken to the internet to address recent accusations that his radio show only actually considers songs written by white dudes. In a somewhat surprising and frankly quite refreshing turn of events, dude was basically like, "Suck it, losers, I like what I like."

I'd never say that we cover all songs on the show any more than All Things Considered covers all news items, or ABC World News covers the world. We do cover a lot of ground, but, of course, it's impossible to cover everything.

Robin and I receive hundreds of CDs a week. We toss all press releases in the recycle bin and we try to come to what we love honestly. I won't fake what I do when I host the show. I tend to play music that speaks to me, and so my lack of love for hip-hop, country, classical and metal, stand out as big holes in our coverage. With the exception of classical, those genres tend to sell the best and get covered by traditional media and radio the most, especially hip-hop and country music. And while I can find all of that music on my local radio dial, including jazz, gospel and Latin, nowhere can I hear The Low Anthem, Bill Frisell, Anoushka Shankar, Taken by Trees or even Bon Iver.

I have no real problem with his stance on the situation, really, because of my admittedly strong, possibly irrational resentment of the fact that those who identify as fans of indie rock are more expected to broaden their horizons than fans of any other genre. But yes, technically I suppose you're asking for it when you host a show called All Songs Considered, then proceed to list all the types of songs you'd actually rather not consider, thank you very much. [via Largehearted Boy]

Tags: , ,

SNL Promo Features the First of Many Taylor Swift/Kanye West Jokes

Posted by Mike Conklin on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 3:17 PM

Seriously, you're not actually gonna go out on Saturday night, are you? What? Oh yeah, I totally am too... I was just kidding.

Tags: , ,

Beanie Sigel to Jay-Z: "Hey, Hey!!! Look at Me!!! Jay! Over Here! Jaaaaaay!"

Posted by Mike Conklin on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 2:06 PM

beanie.jpg
Last week we saw the release of a Jay-Z diss track by Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel. It started out kinda ok, then actually got kinda good, then totally fell apart into a 3-minute long whining session about how the two used to be friends, and about how Sigel wants to go on family vacations with Jay and Beyonce or whatever. Now it's been almost a full week since the track was released, and Beanie's wondering why Jay hasn't responded. He appeared on Philly's Power 99 radio station, during an interview with 50 Cent, and MTV News has an account of what went down.

"He is a crumb. I'm gonna put my foot on his neck until he responds," Beans said as the segment came to a wrap. Beans added that he's ready for a lyrical tangle with his once-close clique member and that he would relish a retort from Jiggaman for the "What You Talkin About (Average Cat)" song.

"Please make a record," Beans yelled on-air. "A week's been out, dog. I'm not taking nothing from Jay as an artist. He ain't no walk in the park as an artist. All I'm saying is I don't gotta jog to keep up to him."

On one hand, obviously I'd like to see Jay-Z respond with a rhyme of his own. It's part of the tradition of hip-hop, after all, and it's certainly a lot of fun for us, the listeners. But there's also a lesson to be learned here, about how keeping quiet can be just as effective in achieving your goal (making the other person look really, really fucking stupid) as fighting back.

Tags: , , , , ,

Things I Really Want: The Beatles Apple Flash Drive

Posted by Mike Conklin on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:15 AM

beatles-apple-main-250-70.jpg
Yes, of course I already own every Beatles record. And yes, of course I already own every every Beatles record in multiple formats. And yes, of course, I have them digitized and easily carried around on various ipods and portable hard drives. And yes, of course, I'm expecting someone who loves me very much to buy me the remastered Stereo Box Set for Christmas. And yes, I'm even hoping someone else buys me the mono version, because I can't decide which one I want more.

So you might assume I'd have no use for a green, apple-shaped USB drive containing stereo remasters of the band's 14 studio albums (in lossless FLAC format, and as 320Kbp/s MP3s), plus 13 mini-documentaries, cover art, rare photos and extended liner notes. You would be wrong, though. The limited run of 30,000 is available for pre-order right now at the bargain price of $280, and I need it pronto. [Music Radar]

Tags: , ,

Springsteen Announces Plans for This Weekend's MSG Shows

Posted by Mike Conklin on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 10:42 AM

Bruce-Springsteen---The-River-768312.jpg
To help close down Giants Stadium last moth, Bruce Springsteen, along with his E Street Band, played a series of shows featuring full-length albums performed in their entirety, dedicating nights to Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born in the U.S.A.. Fans in attendance at this weekend's Madison Square Garden shows will be treated to two more such shows, but this time the focus is on lesser known albums: Springsteen's 1973 sophomore LP, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, and the 1980 double-album The River, which boasts as good a Side One as any record maybe ever. Seriously, look:

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , , ,

On 90210, N.E.R.D. Premiere New Member and Song Appropriately Titled "WTF"

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 10:10 AM

A while back I mentioned that N.E.R.D. had auditioned and selected a fourth member for the group, a female vocalist named Rhea who, you know, can actually sing on key. Well, they premiered the young lady and the new track "Radio (WTF)" off their forthcoming record Instant Gratification (dropping sometime in 2010) during an appearance on a recent episode of 90210. The one-minute snippet of song starts off pretty slow and boring then ratchets up to an enjoyable mix of rock and call-and-response hip-hop. The performance is interspersed with what are surely deeply meaningful and implication-laden glances between annoying-looking 90210 characters who don't seem to know what to make of N.E.R.D., which is as it should be. WTF indeed.

Tags: , , ,

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Bushwick Indie-Rockers Set Up Indie-Rock Book Club for Indie Rockers

Posted by Robert Tumas on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 4:15 PM

softmachine.jpg
Tonight, the Bushwick Book Club hosts its second-to-last reading and discussion of the year, at Goodbye Blue Monday. The meeting will discuss Darwin's Origin Of Species, which, if you've never read it, is actually a bit of a slog. How are they going to spice it up, you ask? Well, the Club's "discussions" are more performances than anything else, with participants writing songs that are inspired by or directly referencing the book of the month. The songs are recorded and posted on the Club's MySpace page, with titles ranging from "James Arriving" (inspired by James and the Giant Peach) to less obvious titles like "The Ballad of Francine Pefko," which takes its inspiration from the same Vonnegut novel as the venue in which it was originally performed. One can only imagine what kooky songs those krazy kids are going to come up with for Darwin.

So, in the L Magazine/Listicle tradition, we've assembled a few other songs inspired by books—some are obvious, some are not, but most should be locked away forever, and never listened to again...

Continue reading »

Tags: , ,

The New Rihanna Video Disappoints

Posted by Mike Conklin on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 3:50 PM

I have very high hopes for Rihanna's new record, Rated R (due out on November 23rd, along with every other big pop record of the year), but I'm not feeling great about it at the moment. The first single, "Russian Roulette" is overly dramatic and completely joyless, which, yes, I know, is to be expected. The second single, "Wait Your Turn," was released along with its official video on Rihanna's website today, and it's a step in the right direction—hyper-stylized, reggae-tinged verses, the infectious "the wait is ova" refrain—but in the grainy, black and white video, we see a performer in love with her new image as some dark, mysterious badass robot but without any real proof that she's got the songs to go with it. [Idolator]

Tags: , , ,

Weezer and Kenny G, Together At Last

Posted by Mike Conklin on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 12:33 PM

Watching this video of Weezer performing the ridiculously "I'm Your Daddy" with a special guest appearance by Mr. Kenny G on soprano saxophone, there are many things one wants to say: about the fact that Rivers Cuomo has basically become a stand-up comedian, about feeling like what he's doing might actually be sort of a slap in the face to the other pop-stars and genres he seems to be parodying, even if he'd never admit it. But then one realizes that, fuck, he still writes better melodies than everyone else. And, hooboy, that Kenny G sure can blow, right?!

Tags: , , ,

Noel Gallagher: "London Has Lost Its Spark. Also, I'm 300 Years Old."

Posted by Mike Conklin on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:10 AM

noel-gallagher.jpg
I don't really know what's going on in London these days. I was there a few years ago and it seemed nice enough, not even all gray and rainy like everyone told me it would be. Noel Gallagher knows something I don't, though, because he's announced that he'll be moving back up north to his native Manchester, on account of London suddenly becoming lame. At an event in the capital last night, Gallagher had this to say to The Metro:

“I'm leaving London to go back up north, to Manchester. I've been advised to do a Rod Stewart, as in a tax exile, but I don't want to do it. But London has lost its spark.”

Yeah, you know, he's probably right. It makes sense that the entire city of London, rather than a 42-year-old ex-guitarist from an irrelevant rock band, would just go ahead and lose it's spark. [Gigwise]

Tags: , , ,

50 Cent Wants to Live on the Set of Mad Men

Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 8:49 AM

The latest single from 50 Cent's forthcoming album Before I Self-Destruct (which just got bumped up to a November 16 release date) is a "song for the ladies." Or maybe it's more accurate to call it a song "for prospective mothers," since 50 spends much of "Baby By Me" explaining why he'd be a great father and partner. Hint: It's because he'll give all the women who have his children one million dollars—which, when you think about it, is kinda like having your book picked for Oprah's Book Club.

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , ,

Monday, November 2, 2009

Devendra Banhart: "I'm a Twat"

Posted by Mike Conklin on Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 3:55 PM

devendra.jpg
There's a new Devendra Banhart record out tomorrow. It's called What Will Be, and... real talk? I didn't know it existed until I believe last Friday. So I'm still letting it sink in, but so far, it sounds like, you know, a Devendra Banhart record. He was interviewed recently by New York Magazine's Vulture blog, about a whole bunch of stuff: weirdly secretive, possibly weed-growing communities in Northern California, obscure languages that only have 20 words, Hugo Chavez, and, of course, Twitter! And Natalie Portman!

A lot of musicians use Twitter nowadays. Why don’t you?
Just because I’m a twat doesn’t mean I can do it. I don’t know. I guess I don’t want everyone to know what I’m doing every second.

You dated Natalie Portman for a spell. Are you guys still on good terms?
Very good terms. She’s one of my best friends. I love her super-much. Super-much.

You know, if this dude would just come around, I feel like we could get, like, Tracy Morgan-caliber tweeting out of him.

Tags: , , , ,

Recent Comments

Most Commented On

Most Emailed Stories

Top Viewed Stories

© 2009