Loading ...Trying to download the first single off Marilyn… More »
Archive for March, 2009
Web Site Explains Rap Music To CollegeHumor Readers, Other Jerks
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Christopher R. Weingarten
Remember that e-mail forward your dad sent you a few years ago, about Oakland’s “Ebonics translation competition.” And Biggie’s “One More Chance” was translated into stiff, academic language? And a good time was had by all, especially racist assholes who like to criticize the way other people talk? Well, imagine that e-mail is now a Web site that is sending out press releases, and probably desperately clawing for one of those Web site book deals right now! Just warning you…
Reading And Leeds Try To Keep Things Current
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Fall Out Boy, the Prodigy, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the acts playing this year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals, the twinned festivals that will be held in the UK during the last weekend of August. The Guardian notes that unlike other outdoor extravaganzas in the UK, Reading and Leeds are not sowing the oats of nostalgia, picking for its headliners acts that have actually had albums come out during the latter half of the ’00s. Progress sure looks funny these days! Full bills after the jump.
Five Reasons Why Jam Band Fans Are Better Than Indie Rock Fans
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Christopher R. Weingarten
I was skimming through this year’s Bonnaroo lineup as part of my usual round of cyber-stalking Neko Case, and I came upon an interesting discovery—this festival kicks ass! Although one of my friends described the layout as a desert of dust and piss, and the jam-centric lineup means stupid Phish is going to play for approximately 76 hours straight, I can pretty much get behind anything that brings together High On Fire and Janelle Monae (that isn’t made by the Hood Internet). Something this good could never happen on indie rock’s watch! Here are five reasons why the mud-caked hippies who will attend Bonnaroo are better than your sweater-clad ass!
The Pirate Bay On Facebook: Because You Really Want To Marry Your Personal Data To Your File-Sharing Habits
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
Hey, now you can install links to the super-full-of-itself BitTerrorist haven The Pirate Bay to your Facebook page, thus allowing people you work with, your friends from high school, and your husband’s aunt to see that you recently downloaded a copy of The Fame to your hard drive. Hey, the brave new world of convergence doesn’t always have to be a smart place, right?
Florida TV Station Overcome By Paroxysm Of Good Taste
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
A TV station in Panama City, Fla., is refusing… More »
Flo Rida Tries To Overcome The Struggle Of Being A Two-Hit Wonder
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to R.O.O.T.S. (Route Of Overcoming The Struggle), the second album by record-breaking MC Flo Rida:
Tera Melos Get The ’90s-Nostalgia Party Started Right
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
The California band Tera Melos have given “Hey Sandy,” the theme to Nickelodeon’s mid-’90s indie-rock Love Boat The Adventures Of Pete & Pete, a wonderfully chaotic spin, complete with video that pays homage to both the show’s opening credits and Brian Wilson. (No, really, it is awesome.) Clip of the original Pete & Pete open after the jump.
“DIY” Is Also Another Word For “Making Sure Your Luggage Makes Weight”
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
Singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton’s name comes up a lot when people discuss do-it-yourself musical “success” on the Internet, and it’s easy to see why he’s spun online crap into gold: He’s a recovering computer programmer and former a capella dude who releases free MP3s of songs with titles like “Code Monkey” and “Re: Your Brains,” he uses Web 2.0 to help plan his concert tour, and he takes requests via Twitter. (Plus his Web site has a Wiki!) The New York Times took a look at the “reasonable middle-class living” he was eking out in 2007, but they took their profiling to a new level today, with a Coulton-penned Business article about just how he gets around airlines’ increasingly draconian weight restrictions for luggage. (What, he can’t organize a flash mob to descend on the airport and help him repack? Piker.)
“AMTV” Makes Me Wonder If The Recession Will Be A Not-Entirely-Bad Thing For Music Videos
Tue Mar 31 2009 by Maura
The second episode of MTV’s attempt to bring the music video back to some of its programming hours, AMTV, aired in the wee hours of this morning. The six hours cut a relatively wide swath across the pop world, blending new clips (”If You Seek Amy” and “I Love College,” both of which were aired in full and as snippets) with vintage videos (”Let’s Go Crazy,” that really long live clip of “In Your Eyes”), a few pieces from MTV’s live-performance vault (mostly stuff from recent Spring Break trips, although the programmers did sneak in Jay-Z and the Roots performing “Big Pimpin” on MTV Unplugged), and bumpers with music that all but gave away the network’s demographic intentions (”Just Can’t Get Enough,” “Hangin’ Tough”).
