Jan/090
Street-light foot-ball, ooooooooooooh!!
So apparently Journey will be sharing the spotlight with Bruce Springsteen at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday.
Oh joy of joys. At least I won’t feel bad about missing anything remotely important when I get up to grab another beer.
Jan/090
Depeche Mode reveal new album details
I love Depeche Mode. The Some Great Reward to Violator series of albums mark one of my favorite periods for any band, ever. So when the band announces the details of a new album, I can’t help but get a little giddy.
The new album, dubbed Sounds of the Universe, will release this April 21 in the United States, with the first single hitting March 9. And according to Pitchfork, it’s “pretty darn good.” The band also has an extensive list of European tour dates announced for the spring and summer, so could an American tour be too far away?
Jan/091
Super Bowling the weekend away in Tampa
In case you’ve been living in a hole with your fingers in your ears for the past, oh, month or so, you should know that the forty-third incarnation of the manliest of manly sporting events – the Super Bowl – is poisted to take place this coming Sunday in Tampa, Florida. Starting at 6:20 PM EST, you can start knocking back some Arn Cities (or, if you’re a snob like me, some East End Blackstrap Stouts) while you watch the soon-to-be-world-champions Pittsburgh Steelers win the game in a landslide.
Oh, and there’ll be some other team involved too, but who cares about that?
So when you’re not busy waving your Terrible Towels and not being a loser like this guy, why not booze ‘n groove a bit, too? This weekend, Tampa will host tons of Super Bowl soirees – and we here at ShowClix are ticketing the best of ‘em. To that end, here’s a sampling of some excellent ways to party hardy in the Sunshine State:
Diddy is cooler than you’ll ever be. I mean, look at the guy. Just look at him. He’s so cool that he makes Vin Diesel look like Napoleon Dynamite. Be that as it may, however, you can at least sponge some of his coolness by attending The Good Life Experience, an event so cool that not only is Diddy himself showing up to host it, but also pro boxer Winky Wright and multi-talented sportsman Deion Sanders. And to make things even better, the event takes place across three days at The Venue (a club that’s so cool in itself that it doesn’t even need a catchy name).
Are smokin’ hot blondes more your cup of tea? Join AJA Channelside for a three-day blitz featuring hosts Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson of E!’s Girls Next Door on Friday and Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson on Saturday. And while you’re not ogling the ladies (you terrible lecher you), you can groove to tunes spun by DJ AM and Jazzy Jeff, DJ Scene, and DJ Vice. It can’t get much better than that, eh?
Don’t have tickets to the big game itself? Here’s the next best way to watch the Steelers trounce that, uh, other team in style. Taking place on Sunday at The Venue, The Superview is the premier star-studded party on Super Bowl Eve. Celebrity guests include supermodels Claudia Jordan and Vida Guerra and gridiron vets Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, and Adrian Peterson. Tunes will be provided by DJ Psycho, who’s flying down all the way from New York for this one-of-a-kind event.
Does your Super Bowl experience need a little jazz to spice things up? Tonight, join New York Jets veteran Earl Christy at the Grill Smith Carrollwood for the Smooth as Ice Celebrity Bash, featuring acclaimed smooth jazz saxophonist Eric Darius. The event features an extensive list of celebrity guests including fellow Jets alum Joe Namath, so it should be a night to remember.
Jan/091
Telefoning the Great Beyond
You probably don’t know Telefon Tel Aviv, but you should. The New Orleans-based electronic music duo developed a unique sound – melancholy, occasionally danceable downtempo with trip-hop, R&B, and IDM influences – over three albums, the last of which was released just last week.
Sadly, however, one-half of the duo passed away just two days after the release of Immolate Yourself. Charles Cooper, an eccentric musician with a sizable shoe collection and a “profound” encyclopedic knowledge of hip-hop, was found dead in his Chicago apartment this past Tuesday. According to CBS2 Chicago, he had gone missing after an argument with his girlfriend.
Guys: Let this be a lesson. No woman is worth hurting yourself over, no matter if you’ve brightened the world a little bit with your music or with some other aspect of your being. For me, at least, the world will be just a bit darker without all of TTA in it.
Jan/0911
The hills are alive with the sound of zombies
As if Michael Jackson weren’t practically a walking corpse himself, now he’s unleashing hordes of the undead upon us for the second time… in broadway musical form.
“Thriller: the Musical” is expected to open in New York’s Broadway district sometime in the distant future (the article doesn’t really give a timeframe), and sources say it’ll most likely feature songs from Off the Wall, Jacko’s 1979 studio album. In addition, Jackson is expected to participate in “every aspect” of the show’s production.
Okay, that’s great and all, but why not bring the show here to the ‘Burgh instead? We are, after all, the zombie capital of the world.
Jan/090
Cleveland, thou art truly a town of shame*
*…and Superman, and Trent Reznor, and vaguely racist baseball teams. But I digress.
I posted a little while back about the seriously underwhelming picks for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, and it seems that I’m not alone in my opinion. In an op-ed piece this past weekend, PA Times-Herald managing editor Gordon Glantz lamented the selection of inductees in recent times, calling it, “almost Jim-Crow-in-reverse.” The Hall’s selection process, he claims, favors persons of color and non-rock-related bands and artists over more popular – and, dare I say, more conventional – potential nominees.
Frankly, I can’t argue with that. Who the heck are Bobby Womack and Little Anthony and the Imperials, and why do they deserve to be inducted before Iggy and the Stooges, King Crimson, or Jefferson Airplane? Why is Run-D.M.C., who have never made anything resembling rock and roll in their entire careers, headlining this year while Alice Cooper and Yes sit on the sidelines? I just don’t get it.
Jan/090
Monday Album Roundup: The Boss is Back!
Welcome once again to Monday! The record labels continue to rouse themselves from the winter freeze this week with a bundle of warming melodies for your aural pleasure. In addition to the albums I’m plugging in detail below, we have new releases from the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, London rockers The Rifles, and Leathermouth (the punk side project of My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero.)
First on the agenda is the sweet-sixteenth studio album by legendary classic rock singer/songwriter and political activist Bruce Springsteen. While Working on a Dream isn’t the best thing that the Boss has ever done – his voice has deteriorated a bit over the years, the title track is a little boring, and there’s a few other inferior filler tracks that could have pretty safely been excised – the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive thus far. It won’t win over detractors, but his fans should feel right at home.
And if you’re not sold yet, be sure to catch Bruce on the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend. I’d expect at least one track from the new album, plus a few crowd-rousers like “Born in the USA” and “Dancing in the Dark.”
Now here’s another thing that I don’t normally do: plug a soundtrack. Most movie or TV show soundtracks, when divorced from the source material, aren’t much to write home about. But when you have Wu-Tang’s RZA behind it, as well as an impressive list of guests… well, you can’t get much better than that. Afro Samurai Resurrection is the soundtrack to a bizarre anime show starring Samuel L. Jackson, and it’s well worth listening to if you like to keep up on what the former Wu-Tangers are up to nowadays.
In indie releases, the big news is Glasgow natives Franz Ferdinand’s third studio album. I’ve had mixed feelings about Franz’s music in the past – the same mixed feelings I have about all of that “neo-post-punk” (post-post-punk?) stuff that seems to have cropped up in the last half-decade – but the first single is actually pretty good. And besides, the Glasgow music scene seems to constantly churn out quality bands at a rate that few other cities can claim. So perhaps the band might surprise me this time around. Tomorrow, we’ll find out for sure.
Finally, because I like to save my personal “ohmigod this is going to be awesome” albums for last, singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik is set to release his sixth album, Whisper House, tomorrow. Sheik, I feel, is one of those unsung one-hit wonders from the ’90s (he’s best known for his Grammy-nominated song “Barely Breathing“) who’s much, much more than just one song. His style of acoustic alternative rock is introspective without being whiny, often catchy without crossing the line into saccharine, and interesting and dynamic enough to win over music fans of all stripes and colors.
So check out Whisper House – and maybe the rest of Sheik’s back-catalog while you’re at it. All you children of the ’90s out there might be surprised at what you’re missing. He’s got a bevy of US tour dates too, so be sure to catch him in concert if you like what you hear.
Jan/090
Stephen Colbert wants YOU! to remix Lessig
After his upsetting victory over The Decemberists a couple of years back, faux-right-wing comedy show host Stephen Colbert is taking on the music community once again. This time, his target is amateur electronica artists.
In a recent show, Colbert implored would-be Girl Talkers to remix his recent interview with Stanford law professor and anti-copyright activist Lawrence Lessig into an electronic tune. Apparently he’s looking for a song with a “pumping K-hole groove,” er, whatever that means.
No word on what the prize for the best entry is, but if you want to enter, feel free to upload your remix here.
Jan/091
You’ll never guess who has an Al Sharpton mullet…
Yeah. Sometimes I just have no words.
Here’s a shot of the good Reverend for comparison:
This… this is a failure of epic proportions.
Jan/090
Wait, wait; back up a sec. Who’s Amy?
(Yeah, the pic is old, but I couldn’t pass up an excuse to remind the world of bald-headed Britney. Don’t worry; you’ll be safe so long as you don’t put your hand in her pain box.)
Reformed pop star Britney Spears has been in the news quite a bit recently, largely due to her recent album release and subsequent tour announcement. After the first single from Circus hit the airwaves a short time ago, the second one followed suit… only, like Britney herself, it’s a little deceptively racy.
The song, titled “If U Seek Amy” (say it out loud with no breaks between the words), has caused the whiny-soccer-mom collective Parents Television Council to demand that radio stations label it indecent. The branding would mean that the song couldn’t be played between the hours of 6 AM and 10 PM on normal broadcast radio. Thus far, the complaint has had no effect, but it could leave Spears’ single dead in the water.
Personally, I have a song that I’d like to record in response: It’s entitled, “If U Seek A Off Pee Tea Sea.” I think I may have a hit on my hands; what do you guys think?