Ah, the dog days of August, when the news cycle is so slow, Michael Stipe's profession that he "very publicly despise[s]" George W. Bush is worthy of a headline. I suppose it could be worse, though—he could be
coming out for the 38,584th time. [
6music]
Another day, another festival lineup announcement; this time the Voodoo Music Experience, scheduled for October 24-26 in New Orleans. No real surprises though, with Sasquatch's R.E.M. joining Bumbershoot's Stone Temple Pilots and Pemberton/Lollapalooza/Virgin Festival's Nine Inch Nails. The local acts that make Voodoo a little more interesting than your average fest include the Neville Brothers and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Also a nice touch: not inviting Tiesto back. [
Billboard]
Dear everyone getting all excited about the "Michael Stipe comes out" story: Um, this is news? Sure, he apparently told
Spin that he'd "just never felt strongly enough about a particular relationship to say, 'Yeah, he's my boyfriend, that is what it is,'" but that claim would seem to be at least
somewhat contradicted by this 2001 quote from
Time: "Stipe says he's 'phenomenally overworked' but happy. He says he's been 'in a relationship with an amazing man' for about three years (he says his partner isn't a celebrity). In the past Stipe avoided questions about his sexuality, but he's now more comfortable discussing it. 'I was being made to be a coward about it,' he says, 'rather than someone who felt like it really was a very private thing.' He now readily describes himself as a 'queer artist.' " I know, Lexis/Nexis is expensive, but you'd think that semi-real news organizations would at least spend
some money on, like, actual research! [
Us / Photo: AP]
Brangelina makes its perhaps-inevitable SXSW appearance, and yet even the combined starpower of its two members can't get an entourage into Wednesday night's R.E.M. show at Stubb's. That sound you hear is the wailing of a bunch of "lifestyle marketers" who are crushed,
crushed that they couldn't book R.E.M. for their own fake-VIP lounges, because could you imagine what the Google hits would look like if Brad was photographed holding an
Eastport backpack? [
Hollywood Insider / Photo: AP]
R.E.M.'s
Accelerate will stream on iLike, the iTunes-tracker-slash-Facebook-app that I uninstalled long ago, beginning on March 24. That's a whole
week before the album's April 1 release date—and a week or so after it will likely leak out from Warner Music Group's double-locked safe for really big, important albums. [
Billboard]
Idolator
Halloween is only four days away! Although the fun is rapidly being sucked from the whole holiday thanks to church-sponsored "Harvest Festivals" and the jackass who thinks a "FBI: Female Body Inspector" t-shirt is a costume, we hope to help you, the reader, inject a bit more excitement into the celebration with some costume ideas from your favorite music videos.
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