The new album from Bloc Party, Intimacy, will be available for download Aug. 21. Yes, that's this Thursday. And yes, that would appear to be the cover at left. (Perhaps it'll be tweaked in time for the physical product to be shipped in October.) Interesting to note that the US shopping-cart page is hosted on Atlantic Records' official site—could this be a sign of release strategies to come for the label? [Bloc Party]
This weekend's Summercase festival in Barcelona should have been what most festivals are: A celebrations of commerce intermixed with music you sort of enjoy. But John Lydon apparently couldn't let people enjoy their three-euro water bottles and Bloc Party.
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Kele Okerke—the lead singer of anthemically anthemic British band Bloc Party—has suddenly decided that signing to Vice magazine's record label is a "Don't." In an interview, he lamented the decision to partner with the label, which distributes the group's albums in the U.S.:
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- MTV begins layoffs today; alas, the twisted tykes featured on My Super Sweet 16 are not technically Viacom employees, and thus ineligible. [Gawker]
- Paul Wall introduces a line of cubic-zirconia adornments for cars and SUVs. We're expecting him to become a Home Shopping Network fixture by July. [AllHipHop]
- Nas kicks off his listening party by saying that everyone in the room—among them journalists, Swizz Beatz, and Jay-Z—bears responsibility for killing hip-hop. Okay, that takes balls. [SOHH]
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