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19 May 2009 21:22

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Music: Think Pitchfork’s right about Eminem’s “Relapse”? Judge for yourself.

19 May 2009 10:05

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Music: We’ve avoided “American Idol” this season. But it’s near the end.

  • Rocker Adam Lambert, who’s wowed the judges repeatedly and reduced Paula Abdul to tears on at least one occasion. And who may or may not be gay. But really, who cares? source
  • Kris Allen, the Jason Mraz-ish alt-popper who’s sung songs from “Once” and got a key performance last week out of an acoustic rendition of Kanye West’s “Heartless.” source

19 May 2009 09:02

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Music: Eminem gets a backhanded compliment from Pitchfork on “Relapse”

  • 4.8 At least it’s not as bad as “Encore” was, they say source

18 May 2009 22:49

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Music: OMG OMG OMG Radiohead’s recording a new album! OMG!

  • It’s at the stage where we’ve got the big Lego box out and we’ve tipped it out on the floor and we’re just looking at all the bits and thinking what’s next?
  • Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood • On the startings of another album from the British superstars. If it’s half as good as “In Rainbows,” we can’t wait. Also, Thom Yorke regularly says awesome things. • source

17 May 2009 13:19

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Music: When it comes to rock stars, EVERY-BO-DY MUST GET SToooNED!

  • Trying to show a link between rock stars and drugs is like trying to make a link between mouths and tooth decay—too obvious to bother.
  • R.U. Sirius • Author of the new book “Everybody Must Get Stoned: Rock Stars on Drugs.” Sirius (the nom de plume of Ken Goffman) analyzes the drug culture of rock music and how rock stars (as well as drugs) are the epitome of the release from a tightly-focused life. Snoooches! • source

17 May 2009 08:54

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Music: Danger Mouse goes the blank-CDR route with his new album

  • “For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.” Uber-popular producer Danger Mouse, who also moonlights as half of Gnarls Barkley, was having legal problems getting his latest album out, so he came up with a novel solution to its release. So, instead of letting the label get in the way, he’s releasing the packaging of “Dark Night of the Soul” – an elaborate 100-plus-page book with a blank CD, presumably for purposes of putting the torrented album onto. Clever, but he has a history of this. source

16 May 2009 22:58

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Music, Politics: Thom Yorke goes ME ANGRY AARGH at big oil companies

  • i have been reading how the oil industry is investing millions of dollars in a PR campaign against it! how utterly dumbass is that? how do these people look their children in the eye?
  • Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke • On the oil industry’s continuing campaign to stop the passage of a climate change bill in congress. Obama supports the bill, BTW. • source
 

16 May 2009 12:54

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Music: ShortFormBlog Saturday Mixtape: ’90s one-hit wonders

  • 1. The Refreshments are far more known now as the creators of the “King of the Hill” theme song, but “Banditos” is still an unsung classic. And lead singer Roger Clyne is still around with his band The Peacemakers.

    2. With “Brimful of Asha,” Cornershop managed to create an simple-sounding but ultra-nuanced pop tune – there are dozens of obscure references to Bollywood cinema in this song.

    3. The Cardigans sounded destined to sit next to Sixpence None the Richer on the Radio, but they were far more interesting than that. Check out “Explode,” a solid attempt at electronica by them.

    4. “Closing Time” might be a perfect example of a one-hit wonder, but Semisonic didn’t deserve the fate. Songs like “Delicious” brim with songcraft. And singer Dan Wilson later won Grammys for his songwriting

    3. Fountains of Wayne started as a pretty awesome synthesis of power-pop when nobody cared about power-pop. Eventually “Stacy’s Mom” pigeonholed them, but “Leave the Biker” is still a funny ditty.source

15 May 2009 19:46

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Music: Eminem has a different kind of weight problem from Jessica Simpson

Slim Shady’s looking a lot slimmer these days. He says it’s because he stopped drinking. In other news, “Relapse” leaked. source

14 May 2009 21:48

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Music: Help Paste Magazine stave off advertising cuts or they’ll get deleted

  • Sigh, magazines are feeling it too. Paste, which is probably one of the best music magazines out there (even if it does dig deep into that mushy adult-pop-indie), is begging for your help to stay afloat. Seriously. They have a donation page and everything. Plus, Paste is awesome. Why would we want this magazine to die? Sigh. Throw in $25 bones and help pay for someone’s freelance piece. You’ll feel better for it, trust us. source