DJ-mix series come and go, but the paired Fabric and FabricLive mixes have so far issued 80 CDs. To see how they stack up as a whole, we're reviewing them in numerical order, and very loosely: in some cases I will only have played the mixes only two or three times.
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Unsurprisingly, the number of concerts and musically enhanced protest rallies surrounding the DNC in Denver this week has brought forth a more-than-equal number of blog posts covering them. You'd expect a site called Pop + Politics to be inside the events, and they've recently posted two good write-ups of Wyclef Jean's performance and his call for Latino communities to get behind Obama. But the showstopper is this video interview with the RZA, in which the Wu-Tang Clan CEO explains how "Obama went platinum" (and citing numbers), talking about how his priors prevent him from voting, and then urging 18-year-old black men to vote because they've "got eight years to make [their] move": "A black man, by the time he's 25, he's either locked up or dead." (It's also worth mentioning that Pop + Politics is doing excellent DNC coverage outside of music.) [Pop + Politics]
If nothing else, the recent chart ascents of M.I.A.'s Kala and "Paper Planes" are fascinating for the parallels they evoke with... Moby. Think about it: Play was a modest-selling album by a critics' pet that thanks to truckloads of advertising wound up selling a huge number of copies; Kala finished second in Idolator Pop 2007 and is now climbing the charts (currently at No. 37, having sold 11,000 copies) thanks to its use in a movie (and trailer). I've long thought of Play as the signal album of the dot-com boom and bust, for many reasons, and it's interesting to see Kala in that light at this later date. No prizes for guessing M.I.A. will eventually sell 10 million, though.
So, remember those nine songs from Chinese Democracy that leaked back in June? And remember how the proprietor of Antiquiet.com, the blog that streamed those songs until their servers crashed and they got a "friendly" e-mail or twelve from the Guns N' Roses camp, got a visit from the Feds shortly after the leaks sprung? Well, two days after he posted a call for lawyers on the site—"More and more each day, it looks like I may be indicted," he wrote—he was arrested by FBI agents and charged with violating Federal copyright laws.
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Do you believe in: a) the sheer animal magnetism of John Larroquette in a three-piece suit, b) situation comedy, c) the power of a tribute video to make you feel complete, d) love? If you answered "all of the above," join me after the jump.
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Last night I was clicking through the zillionth or so argument on the Internet I've come across this decade, and as with approximately 98 million-billion-trillion of them, it hinged, to some degree, on the definition of "indie." We've gone through this a quintillion times on this blog, too, so I've decided to ask everyone to make a subtle, yet important semantic shift: The next time you're tempted to use the word "indie rock" to describe a band, scene, movement, Web site, or general state of mind, I want you to take a deep breath, crack your typing knuckles, press "delete" five times, and instead type this word: alternative.
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The iTunes Store has been restored to service in China—minus the compilation Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace, thanks to its compilers' suggestions that a number of Olympic athletes had downloaded the album in protest. The Chinese government has not offered any comment. [Fact Magazine]
As you may know, 50 Cent and the Game have been feuding for a while, over credits on albums or actions in strip clubs or just general assholery on the part of both parties. And you also may be aware of the fact that the Game has a new album, LAX, that came out yesterday. Well, some dude on 50 Cent's mazelike social-networking site ThisIs50.com decided to "celebrate" that fact with presents for his readers!
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As if R. Kelly's year wasn't fraught enough, now it looks like he's involved in a South African legal tangle that seems to be part 419 scam, part phony concert promotion. A South African woman raised at least $130,000 from investors in 2005 by claiming that she was going to bring the Pied Piper of R & B in for a concert; she then deposited the money into an account owned by a "Robert Kelly," according to German police, even though no concert took place. Kelly's camp is claiming that the singer has nothing to do with either the bank account or the woman, and they're so convinced of his innocence, they're saying that he'll cooperate fully with the investigation. No, really! [Uberblog]
ARTIST: New Kids On The Block
Press Releases That Aim The Bar High Dept.
"The singer is known for the ability to write her own lyrics." [International Business Times]
Idolator
