Recent reports give word that Michael Jackson’s body will be brought to the infamous Neverland Ranch for public viewing. The King of Pop will apparently be transported in a 30 car procession to his carnival compound on Thursday July 2nd 2009, and will be laid out for viewing the following day, Friday July 3rd 2009. There has yet to be a concrete statement as to the final resting spot for Jackson, although Neverland Ranch and the King’s birth place of Gary, Indiana have been among the offered locations. In fact, Mayor Rudy Clay has been lobbying quite fervently for MJ’s body to be buried in Gary, saying “I believe that his body will lie in state in Gary, Indiana. Now, it may not happen, but I believe it will.” Of course the burial would call for the less than wealthy Indiana city to accommodate the singer with the erection of a museum and an elaborate performing arts center with the pop star’s grave as the piece de resistance. In other related news, a 2002 will of Jackson’s has been discovered leaving his worldly possessions to his mother Katherine, his three children and various charities. Reports say that said will bestows nothing to Michael’s father Joe.
June 2009
The Archives
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Bits & Pieces
VIBE Magazine Says Goodbye
06.30.09Although an official statement has not been released, VIBE Media Group’s CEO Steve Aaron has reportedly sent a letter to the VIBE Magazine staff announcing a cease of publication. Although no detailed reason has been voiced as to the cause of the fold, Rap Radar has confirmed that the VIBE big wig called for a halt on production effective immediately. Founded by Quincy Jones in 1993 the 16 year old magazine has gone above and beyond the call of duty, sharing the ever changing ins & outs of the Rap and R&B world with its robust readership. The magazine boasted a plethora of content spanning from heavier introspective pieces to lighter more tongue and cheek writings. The urban mag even published some books including The VIBE History of Hip Hop and Cheo Hodari Coker’s Unbelievable, a Biggie Smalls biography which has since gone on to be adapted into the major motion picture, Notorious. With the birth of every blog comes the death of a printed page. R.I.P VIBE.
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Bits & Pieces
Jay Reatard – Tonight @ La Sala Rossa
06.30.09Come get stupid with the Reatard, Jay Reatard that is, as he serenades Montreal armed with a helmet and chin strap, ok not really, but he’ll have his guitar, tonight at La Sala Rossa.
With special guests: TV Smith + The O Voids
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Bits & Pieces
The Flaming Lips Burn Bright With MGMT & Karen O
06.29.09The Flaming Lips are back, and I’m not referring to the pesky keepsake that stripper in Reno gave you; rather Wayne Coyne and his band of pouty puckers are slated to give birth to their latest double album Embryonic, said to be their velveteen return to strange. And not only is Coyne, the currency of modern weird, gift wrapping new toys for us to play with, but he’s also brought MGMT and Karen O on board to… well… defense for their involvement seems hardly necessary. In a recent interview, the front man extraordinaire explained, “We have MGMT doing a song with us and we have Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs doing a couple songs with us. For the Karen O tracks, I just called her up in her hotel room and we just did it right over the telephone. It’s pretty absurd.” And just in case you were worried that these top lister collaborations wouldn’t quench your Coyned out floating in space experience, never fret my pet cause the Waynster included, “We have this weird mathematician guy from Germany doing some spoken word stuff on the record.” Strap in kiddies, this one’s gonna be special… Now where the hell did I put those mushrooms…
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CD Reviews
Patterson Hood – Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)
06.28.09
Pulling a rabbit out of a magic top hat filled with southern rock perfection, Patterson Hood returns with a spellbinding follow up to his 2004 debut album Killers and Stars; notching out another line in the bed post for a second Drive-By Truckers bastard child, a priceless diamond arises entitled Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs). (more…)
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CD Reviews
The Lemonheads – Varshons
06.28.09
Since 1986 the world has experienced country tinged folk grunge drollery straight from the sweet & sour core of Mr. Evan Dando, and now in 2009 The Lemonheads grace the scene once again with a carefully caressed album of covers dubbed Varshons. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Deer Tick – Born on Flag Day
06.28.09 -
CD Reviews
Regina Spektor – Far
06.28.09
I find it rather ‘amusingly’ perplexing that Regina Spektor, thankfully back with her third album Far, is constantly tagged as being quirky, weird or eccentric. Perhaps the conundrum is this: It is a well documented and complacently common fact that we (us humans) tend to create a facade for ourselves to reflect what we want the voyeur to see and how we want that voyeur to perceive that facade. (more…)
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CD Reviews
The Mars Volta – Octahedron
06.27.09
The black velvet of the sticky night’s shadows cradled her body as her crystal blue eyes peered longingly at a feast of warm skin and thick red life. He stood in silence smoking a cigarette, vigilantly polishing his Octahedron shaped lighter before depositing it in the tired denim residence of his back pocket. The dry scrappy twigs cracked beneath his heavy worn boots and the moon hung as a spectator to the impending doom that drew near; gracefully timed by a smoky hourglass with units of measure expressing themselves as exhaled puffs of voluptuous smoke. She remained crouched in the darkness, her thoughts clouded by the hunger of a seemingly unquenchable thirst. He stared at the ebony lake, its humble ripples waltzing in the shimmering titanium moonlight, his deepest instinct sensing the glare of intent eyes. She sloppily dragged her black hair from her vision, letting her already intense stare improve in clarity. Her initially pursed full lips opened slightly and her bubble gum tongue ran along there yearning surface; her teeth ached, her mind struggled and her body burned. He dropped the spent tobacco to the ground as the emotion and fervent curse of a thousand unique years matured in the blink of an eye. The trees heard nothing but shrieks of terror in the air as she leapt from hiding and took rule upon the final moments of his life. His labored breathing lasted only a moment as she wrapped her frail arms around his body, plunging her lavishly dutiful canines into his undeserving neck. “With Twilight As My Guide”, she whispered, consuming his crimson life, her heart pounding faster with every beat that his missed. In seconds the night’s silence returned and a blood covered sprawl was adorned with the stench of death and tears of regret. A glossy admit one embossed with the words The Mars Volta floated in the pool of human fuel, marking a curtain call that wouldn’t be met, a life that wouldn’t be lead. Do Desperate Graves exist or only desperate ‘people’? (more…)
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CD Reviews
Amazing Baby – Rewild
06.27.09
Have you ever wondered what happened to the boys from Lord of the Flies? Well they all grew up, moved to Greenpoint and started a band called Amazing Baby. Actually, that isn’t chronologically correct, however if you name your album Rewild you are either moving back to the wild after years in captivity or you were subject to curriculum suggested readings in high school that you attempted to internalize whilst listening to Led Zeppelin records. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Alexisonfire – Old Crows/Young Cardinals
06.27.09
Webster defines maturity as the quality or state of being fully grown or developed, oddly enough there’s an image of Alexisonfire and their latest studio baby Old Crows/Young Cardinals offered as a defining visual representation of the word…Well not really…But there damn well should be. (more…)
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CD Reviews
Spinnerette – Spinnerette
06.27.09
All the way from the city of angels Brody Dalle’s brainchild Spinnerette, delivers their eponymous opening effort. Ok people. What is going on over there in Los Angeles? I mean does all of that sunshine, grey ocean water and el fresco dining limit your brain cells to a vocabulary that’s farthest reach is “Oh babe oh babe I would die for you oh babe yeah”? (more…)
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Bits & Pieces
NoMeansNo – Last Night @ La Sala Rossa
06.27.09
Seasoned punk rock veterans NoMeansNo tore a hole in history lastnight, schooling a stoked La Sala Rossa on just how its done… The photos will rock and the review will talk.
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Bits & Pieces
Camera Obscura – Last Night @ La Tulipe
06.27.09
An emotionally swollen La Tulipe swayed in the shadows as Camera Obscura made the night’s heart beat with indullable passion… We’ll show you what we heard & tell you what we saw.
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Concert Reviews
Great Lake Swimmers @ Théâtre Plaza – 06.20.09
06.26.09
Her eyes swelled with tears and the air felt cold with grief. Beams of sunlight trespassed through the room as specks of dust danced on the warm glow. She could hear her own childhood laughter resonate through her memories as the cracks in the paint held on tight to images of loving bonds. Visions of her father bouncing through the front door wearing a triumphant grin and brandishing a freshly caught bundle of fish seemed all too real. She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair almost able to feel her mother’s calm touch gather her blonde locks into a pony tail. She spent her best summers here, running in the tall cool grass and throwing stones in the lake as the scent of barbecue wafted down the hill and through the trees. She was twelve when her parents died, twelve when her childhood ended and her quest for guarded innocence began. She could still remember her aunt walking through the front door to their apartment in the city with a pain filled face and a mind irked with concern, “Mom and dad were in a terrible accident”, she said. Although that was the first time she’d heard it out loud, a cold fear ran through her body hours before, as though part of her was in the car. Now here she stood twenty years later in the center of the room where her memories of them felt whole once again. The floor creaked as she shifted her weight from side to side, swaying to the reminiscent sound of scratchy radio music that seemed to only play in her head. As she walked through the screen door and down the old grey wood steps, the next door neighbour made his way over and opened his hand revealing two gold pins which sported her parent’s names engraved in the old precious metal. “We all had so much when your parents were alive”, he said, “We swam these lakes in silence, taking nature head on and appreciating all that lay ahead of us. I don’t have many physical objects to remind me of them but my heart wants you to have these pins.” A slow tear floated down his cheek as he flipped the pins and read the inscription, “You came, you conquered, you loved…You are our Great Lake Swimmers”. (more…)
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Bits & Pieces
N*E*R*D Gets Plug Pulled In Glastonbury
06.26.09If you were one of the cheering fans staring earnestly at the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival the afternoon of Friday June 26th 2009, then you most likely witnessed N*E*R*D get their plug pulled. After beginning a mere 25 minutes later than an originally slated stage time of 3:10pm (BST), the academic hip hoppers’ front man exclaimed “They’re trying to cut our set short because of technical issues. All I know is that you’ve paid between 100 and 200 dollars… and you want to see a full N*E*R*D set… that’s what’s going to happen”. As one would imagine the festival’s controllers did not take kindly to Pharrell’s announcement and made an example of the group by cutting the stage power a few moments into Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom) which would uncontrollably be their final song. (more…)
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Bits & Pieces
Michael Jackson Removed From New Sacha Baron Cohen Movie
06.26.09Universal Pictures’ big wigs were hard at work following the death of the King of Pop, discussing whether or not to remove a less than tasteful Michael Jackson bit from Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest romp, Bruno. The scene in question in which Bruno, played by Cohen, interviews a flustered LaToya Jackson in regards to a myriad of topics including her brother Michael, was stripped from the film just hours before its slated la la land premiere. The only other time a film has been doctored this close to show time was for the pushed release of Spider-Man, in sympathy to the 9/11 tragedy. The movie’s director Larry Charles commented, “We decided to take it out for tonight, and we’ll reassess before the release whether to keep it out”.
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Bits & Pieces
NoMeansNo – Tonight @ La Sala Rossa
06.26.09Canadian bred punk rock trio NoMeansNo splatters some nostalgic noise all over La Sala Rossa tonight.
With special guests: Grand Trine + The American Devices
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Bits & Pieces
Camera Obscura – Tonight @ La Tulipe
06.26.09Maudlin indie quintet Camera Obscura sends warm shivers up La Tulipe’s spine tonight.
With sepcial guest: Anni Rossi
