Happy Record Store Day

When you were six:

Your dad: We've got to go visit Great Aunt Marylou
You: Don't wanna. She's not got anything to play with and it's boring.
Your dad: How about if I get you a special toy on the way?
You: Maybe...
Your dad: And we won't have to go again for a whole year

Now:

Your local record shop: Please come and see us
You: Don't wanna. You've got terrible stock and it's expensive.
Your local record shop: How about if I had a special Suede album?
You: Maybe...
Your local record shop: And... I suppose we won't see for a whole year afterwards

Alice Glass isn't happy

Alice Glass has been being upset on Twitter at the idea of Ethan Kath continuing Crystal Castles without her. NME storified the tweets:

Kath, for his part, describes Glass as "my former vocalist":

"I wish my former vocalist the best of luck in her future endeavors. I think it can be empowering for her to be in charge of her own project. It should be rewarding for her considering she didn't appear on Crystal Castles' best known songs, (she's not on 'Untrust Us'. 'Not In Love', 'Vanished', 'Crimewave', 'Vietnam', 'Magic Spells', 'Knights', 'Air War', 'Leni', 'Lovers Who Uncover', 'Violent Youth', 'Reckless', 'Year of Silence', 'Intimate', '1991', 'Good Time', 'Violent Dreams' etc.). People often gave her credit for my lyrics and that was fine, I didn't care."

Now, even though true, that's a pretty shitty statement. It reeks of someone in an atrophying domestic relationship listing petty items to try and prove something that doesn't matter: "when it rained that time and the bathroom leaked, I was the one who rigged the saucepans to catch the drips. And it was always me who had to ring the pizza place. And if it wasn't for me the cats would never have been wormed ever, would they?"

It seems like even Kath realised what he sounded like, because he later revised this statement:

"I wish my former vocalist the best of luck in her future endeavors. I think it can be empowering for her to be in charge of her own project. It should be rewarding for her."

You can still hear the muttering "last summer I was the only one who even seemed bothered about flea collars" underneath, but it's a lot less douchey.

Newjackswingobit: Johnny Kemp

1980s R&B star Johnny Kemp has died.

Born in the Bahamas, Kemp relocated to New York in the late 70s as a member of Kinky Foxx, but his breakthrough came after going solo. His career peak didn't last long - a brace of albums, the same number of Billboard hits - but he had recently been enjoying a lucrative spell on the nostalgia market. (That there is a New Jack Swing nostalgia market makes everyone feel incredibly old.)

His death is apparently unexplained; he had been due to perform on a cruise but his body was found floating in Montego Bay. He was 55.

The Rifles "hacked"

The Rifles - who are apparently still going - tweeted support for UKIP yesterday:

It turns out, though, that they don't support UKIP. Or so they said after a backlash:

Please ignore the tweet regarding UKIP. Someone thinks their quite funny and hacked our twitter account #wankers

We've had an issue with our twitter account, why anyone would hack us is beyond on us. thanks to those showing us the vote of confidence X

I'm guessing that "hacked" here means "someone picked up a phone or used a computer where the account was logged in" rather than suggesting that Farage has someone sat in a room somewhere trying to break into the accounts of third-string guitar bands.

Embed and breakfast man: Garbage

Garbage have teamed up with Brian Aubert out of Silversun Pickups for their Record Store Day single. This is it:


Record Store Day is an annual event where rare records are hidden in shops for people to hunt down; the winners get to sell them on eBay at huge profits.

Steve Albini isn't impressed with Tidal

It's not just a damning-but-amusing comparison with another celeb-led endeavour from Steve Albini [via NME]:

Now, the Shellac and Big Black member has spoken to Vulture, raising doubts over the platform and calling it a "budget version of Pono", Neil Young's high-definition music player

Albini also shows his working:

"Historically, every time there’s been a new technological progression, there’s been a new convenience format [for listening to music]," Albini is quoted as saying. "So the question is, is it possible for something to be more convenient than streaming? And the answer is obviously yes. If you want your music to play at the push of a button, convenience is going to trump sound quality 100 percent of the time."

"It's for the same reason that if you had a screen that displayed paintings in your living room, very few serious art enthusiasts would care for such a screen despite the fact that it might show you very high-resolution images of artworks. They want to own a piece of art that is a direct connection to the person who made it. Having an HD screen in your house that would display artwork might have a market, but it’s not the same market as people who are interested in owning art."

Actually, he might have wanted to go with the idea that most people are quite happy to stick up a poster with a Matisse printed onto it, even though that might not be the real thing. But aside from a poorly worked through metaphor, his basic point (that there's no mass market for paying through the nose for a product where there's a perfectly good-enough, cheaper, free version) is sound.

Tom Chaplin is going solo

Tom Chaplin, "the voice of Keane", is going solo, but cautiously:

A source shared: ''Tom didn't want to rush his first record. He wanted it to be perfect.

''He's taken his time and now feels he has the makings of an album that can withstand the comparisons to Keane's amazing back catalogue.''

Tom, sweetheart; I've heard foxes on heat screeching in the night who are capable of withstanding comparisons to Keanes - cough - amazing back catalogue.

''Tom isn't afraid to get personal on the album.

''His bandmate Tim Rice-oxley wrote the majority of Keane's tracks so Tom didn't always get the chance to explore his inner demons. Now it's his project he feels a lot more liberated.

''There will be more lyrics about his own struggle than ever heard on the band's records.''

Ah, who can wait until Christmas to hear "my struggle" from the boy who went to Tonbridge School (which is more costly than either Eton or Harrow)?

Legendobit: Percy Sledge

Sledge. Ledge.

Percy Sledge was 74. He'd had surgery for cancer at the start of last year, but had returned to touring.

Sidenote: Sledge wasn't credited as a writer on When A Man Loves A Woman. Which might be part of the reason why he returned to work after surgery at the age of 73.

Pink extends the finger of screw you

The other night, Pink went to a benefit gig for the John Wayne Cancer Institute to support a friend being given an award.

There's a photo, look:

Some people looked at this photo and started muttering about Pink's weight.

Fortunately, Pink doesn't take this sort of thing sitting down.

pic.twitter.com/fHdHg6II9g

— P!nk (@Pink) April 13, 2015

(Side note: The Mirror was especially bad, banging on about how terrible she looked in the article where they published her retort.)

Argentina finds a great way to avoid future Bieber concerts

Justin Bieber might not want to visit Argentina any time soon:

An Argentine judge ordered the arrest of pop star Justin Bieber if he sets foot in the country after the Canadian singer failed to face questions about an alleged assault at a Buenos Aires nightclub in 2013, his court secretary said on Friday.

Now, I'm not saying that every nation should just adopt the idea that Bieber should have his collar felt if he turns up at immigration. Just every right thinking nation.

Bookmarks: Empire Records

It's 20 years since Empire Records. Yes, 20 years. Yes, that does mean you're old.

Meanwhile, Rough Trade's New York outlet has been cosplaying as Empire Records to celebrate. Yes, that's a store cosplaying.

Brooklyn Vegan enjoyed the experience:

The Empire Records screening occurred inside the Rough Trade venue, which was also where the real treat for fans of the film happened. During an intermission, the metal band GWAR rushed out to recreate the dream-video scene where Mark is with them and eaten by a worm. This time though "Mark" was a raffle winner selected earlier in the evening. But moments after this Mark disappeared, actor Ethan Embry, Mark in the film, was pulled from the worm, and he, Johnny Whitworth, who played A.J., and GWAR selected the next two raffle winners, including a "Warren" shoplifting package. The proceeds were directed to Opening Act, a charity that supports arts education in NYC schools.

DJobit: Jess Marquis

Jess Marquis, who as DJ Jess founded Trash and was resident DJ at New York's Webster Hall, has died.

Three times winner of New York's The L Magazine Best DJ, there's a celebration of his life at Driven By Boredom:

I always told Jess how corny I thought he was. He was this drama kid turned nightlife icon who was so over the top about everything. I am so apathetic and Jess was the exact opposite and his love for burlesque and Morrissey made me roll my eyes. I blame him for the fact that I know all the lyrics to a dozen fucking Smiths songs. He was just so fucking silly and would make me take photo after photo of him and wouldn’t tell anyone he was probably 5 years older than they all thought he was. I gave him shit for all of it, but I would kill to care about anything as much as he did all of this shit.

How quickly can Zayn be photoshopped out of One Direction history

Tour posters? He's gone already. "Perfume" ads? Ironically still hanging about like a bad smell.

This week just gone

The most-read stories from April 2010:

1. RIP: Ann Vervoort
2. Adam Ant comes back. Before he's ready
3. Liverpool's Korova on fire
4. Michael Ancram's love for Bob Dylan
5. Bizarely, the 'ten most popular Jesus searches on No Rock & Roll Fun'
6. John Prine downloads (sadly long gone now)
7. Gordon Smart reports on a man wearing a hat
8. Last FM removes the ability to listen to any song you like
9. RIP: Peter Steele
10. Sony Awards shortlist

This week's interesting releases:


This Is The Kit - Bashed Out

Download Bashed Out



Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming

Download Lucid Dreaming



Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp

Download Ivy Tripp



Drenge - Undertow

Download Undertow



The Lilac Time - No Sad Songs

Download No Sad Songs