mike barthel - Idolator

Posts Tagged “mike barthel”

the nimbus of her fame

Madonna Fan Freaking Out Over Madonna Mentioning Him, Madonna

When trying to figure out how how important, or unimportant, pop music has become, one of the problems you run into is differentiating between music being discussed as art and entertainment, and music being discussed as a sort of hobby for celebrities. A creepy article about Madonna on Tina Brown's new blog thing is a good working definition of the latter, and the audio clip accompanying it is just plain odd. More »

11:00 AM on Mon Oct 20 2008
By Mike Barthel
445 views, 1 comment

dubious honors

Leonard Cohen is Metaphorically Tied to a Chair

Surely I can't have been the only person a little disappointed that the song chosen to pay tribute to Leonard Cohen when inducting him into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame was "Hallelujah." It's a great song, certainly, but it's most strongly associated with Jeff Buckley, to such a degree that some people don't even know Cohen wrote it. Worse, the version performed by Damien Rice is the Buckley version, with its ascending melody line in the final chorus and persistent falsetto. It'd be like playing a rock version of "All Along the Watchtower" at Bob Dylan's induction—a fine song, but not really the best choice. So what would've been better, and who should've sung it? Well, just pick any two of the following: More »

5:30 PM on Wed Mar 12 2008
By Mike Barthel
650 views, 17 comments

Latest by Jthorsen: I can't believe that anyone would question Cohen's influence on R&R. As a fan consistant since the late 60's it has ALWAYS been obvious. As far as Dameon Rice being the interpreter of Cohen's classic. Why Not? Perhaps this is more »

Bruce Dickinson, of Iron Maiden, has co-written a horror film. Sadly, it is not an adaptation of Dante's Inferno with Maiden mascot Eddie as Dante, Lemmy from Motorhead as Virgil, and members of other metal bands as the denizens of hell. It is just something or other about Aleister Crowley. (Rob Zombie should feel free to call me about the Inferno idea, though.) [NME]

4 comments

Given that she's attempting a return to normalcy, it makes a kind of cosmic sense that Britney Spears is guest-starring on How I Met Your Mother. Back in the glory years of the sitcom, nothing was more normal than a past-their-prime popstar dropping lame zingers in front of a live studio audience. How I Met Your Mother is a fairly traditional sitcom, but like Britney, it does new things with an old form, making this seem like a good match. On the other hand, putting Neil Patrick Harris and Britney Spears in the same room may cause some sort of irony supernova to form. [Yahoo! News]

4 comments

promiscuous producer

Timbaland: I Has a Bus

No matter what you think of Timbo, if you want to get a good idea of what the new music industry model might look like, the following clip of Tim at work on his new bus is a good roadmap. It's also pretty awesome. More »

3:30 PM on Wed Mar 12 2008
By Mike Barthel
814 views, 1 comment

On the one hand, having a contest co-sponsored by Pitchfork and Guitar Center lends support to Jim DeRogatis' "they're the new Rolling Stone!" argument. On the other hand, if you win, you get a lesson in sampler use from the RZA. (You also get a contact high at no additional charge.) While you're forbidden from entering if you work for Roland or Guitar Center, actual Wu-Tang Clan members are free to try, so this could be U-God's chance. [Pitchfork]

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videodrone

Pat Buchanan Gets It On With a Cat

If, like Jess, you enjoyed Andrew WK's song about the McLaughlin Group from radio show Fair Game, you will love Scott Bateman's cartoon adaptation of it, since it features a dancing cat, an astronaut, the grim reaper, and Pat Buchanan. (Pat is the one without the hood.) [Salon]

11:00 AM on Wed Mar 12 2008
By Mike Barthel
124 views, 1 comment

Blender, the mag where you come for the reviews and leave quickly before you see how bad the features are, has a list of the "20 biggest record company screw-ups of all time." Some are obvious, like the industry's inability to deal with the internet (No. 1) and that guy who turned down the Beatles (No. 2). But should Berry Gordy selling Motown for only $60 million really be No. 3, given that he kept all the copyrights? Does signing R.E.M. to a major-label deal qualify at all? Is Chinese Democracy really the worst cash-hole ever? [Reuters]

6 comments

announcements

Guest Editor's New Favorite Band Is Jail-Brakers

OK, you already know all about me the writer, but did you know that I not only guest-blog, but guest-shred? That's why I'm thinking of buying an acoustic flying V and trying out for JAIL-BRAKERS. For now, I will be posting about people for whom I have not yet shred. Yet.

9:42 AM on Tue Jul 31 2007
By Dick Malone
113 views, 2 comments

open up and say eww

"Rock Of Love" Pits Groupies Aganist Rockers

Rock of Love, VH1's latest attempt to create an emotional equivalent to the Faces of Death series, consists of once and future Poison lead singer Bret Michaels and the women competing for his affections. It's the rock remix of and follow-up to Flavor of Love, on which Public Enemy's Flavor Flav tried to find someone to marry, sorta. But the genre switch has also changed something about the ladies participating (well, in addition to the racial inversion): this time, there are groupies, and there are rockers. More »

12:00 PM on Fri Jul 20 2007
By Dick Malone
14,019 views, 13 comments

Latest by Silverfuture: let's also not forget the awesome show, Supergroup, with Scott Ian and Evan Seinfeld. They're both totally metal. more »

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