Saturday, March 05, 2016

I'm not sure, but I think Footloose just turned into Buttloose and happened

Big Freedia had been going to play Mississippi, until the state realised her show involved twerking, and didn't know what twerking was, and decided it was probably stripping, and banned the show.

But now the state has satisfied itself that twerking is just the right side of unholy to allow it to happen in Mississippi, and the show will go on:

However, after explaining to the ABC [Alcohol Beverage Control board] that twerking and "gyrating" does not necessarily constitute "nudity and sexual conduct," the concert was rescheduled, with Big Freedia anointing the event the "First Annual International Twerk Day."

"Our laws have been slower to change than the rest of the country," [venue owner Ben] Shemper tells Rolling Stone. "So I'm happy that we all came to an agreement and that Big Freedia can return. We are making history, and I'm excited to be a part of it."
Everyone will remember where they were when they heard the news. It's the twerk that was heard around the world.


Countryobit: Joey Feek

Joey Feek, the "Joey" in Joey + Rory, has died.

She's been unwell for some time, and her decline has been recorded by Rory, her husband as well as her collaborator. Yesterday he posted:

"At 2:30 this afternoon, as we were gathered around her, holding hands and praying... my precious bride breathed her last."
The pair had been active in the music industry - and married - before forming a professional partnership to compete on Can You Duet, a CMT Voice-style show. The pair came third, but a combination of their talents and connections saw them spin their appearance into a three-album run with Sugar Hill Records; then a number of self-released albums which became more and more Christianity-heavy as they progressed.


It's not like anyone ever liked Staind, is it?

Aaron Lewis, who must take most of the blame for the work of Staind, has chosen his favourite from the US Presidential hopefuls. In his primary, he supported Ted Cruz, but does intend to throw his weight behind any blowhard if that's the way the pre-nuclear wind blows:

"Listen, I like the fact Donald Trump has come in and shaken things up and said a whole lot of things the establishment doesn't want to hear him say and the people did want to hear him say," Lewis said. "But at the same time, there's an expectation for somebody being presidential in nature, and he disappoints me with the bickering and the name-calling. It's just not very presidential behavior. But I would certainly vote for him if he becomes the candidate."
Lewis, then, loves the way the guy says what he thinks. Except it turns out he doesn't, because it's name-calling. He wants Trump to be presidential, but he doesn't want Trump to behave like he's part of the establishment.

Lewis doesn't really have a coherent position, and seems confused about what parts of the US political system he respects and what parts he doesn't.

No wonder he's endorsing Trump.


Iggy Pop applies for work

Iggy Pop wanted to work with Josh Homme, so he, erm, sent him stuff:

"I was looking to make high-quality, non-band solo work, where you really put both feet into it," he said. "I’d been skirting around it: doing an album in French, or a soundtrack, or a reunion band album. I wanted to find the best and he’s the best. I sent him a dossier on me by FedEx: written form, no email. I sent him three essays I’d written on my sex life about specific people. I also sent him an interview I did with an eminent critic here in New York about his concerns about my career."
I'm not Homme's biggest fan, but even I recognise he probably wouldn't have needed an Iggy Pop primer to decide if he wanted to work with him. Homme would be unlikely to have got a note about working with Iggy Pop and needed to fire up Wikipedia.

Maybe that's wasn't what Pop was going for. Maybe he thought Homme needed persuasion and would have been on the phone screaming "okay, no more details about what you put into whose butthole. I'll work with you, just stop sending the stuff..."


Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Rock sick list: Paul Van Dyk

Dance man Paul Van Dyk fell off the stage during a weekend gig in Amsterdam.

He's okay, but under doctor's orders, according to his website:

Thank you for continuing to send us so many messages of love and support for Paul. Paul is in the hospital in stable condition and under observation. What he needs now is rest. We will provide another update after the next evaluation by the medical experts towards the end of this week.


Monday, February 29, 2016

Sam Smith not quite the first; finds ways to make it worst

Sam Smith won an Oscar last night, and managed to turn his moment of triumph into a massive car crash.

If you or I won a prize for such a terrible record, we might just pick up the statue and leave the auditorium before anyone noticed.

But Sam had to declare how special he was:

As the 23-year-old singer collected his Oscar for best original song for "Writing’s on the Wall" from Spectre at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, he mistakenly dubbed himself the first openly gay man to win an Oscar.
He based this claim on something he thought Ian McKellen had said:
“I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had won an Oscar,” Smith said.

“If this is the case, I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community around the world. I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope that we can all stand as equals one day.”
If you or I were going to go on TV in front of millions and make a bold statement like that, we might have wanted to double check the quote we were half-remembering. It's 2016; you can get a waffle that connects to the internet and allows you to fact check.

Hang on, I've just checked that. It's not true, I meant "phone".

But I was able to check that before I made a massive claim of that nature.

Ian McKellen was, as you'd imagine, lovely about the whole thing:
McKellen, however, doesn't seem to care that he had been misquoted - and was more keen that Smith gets some recognition for winning an Oscar.

He tweeted: "I'd said no openly gay actor had received #Oscars-that doesn’t detract from @samsmithworld achievement. Congratulations to him & all others!"
It kind of does detract, though.

Amongst people pointing out his mistake was Dustin Lance Black, who won for Best Original Screenplay. For Milk. (Winning an Oscar as a gay man, for a film about a gay man; a gay man who did a little more for the cause than singing a James Bond theme toon.)

He wasn't just scoring points, either:
THE POINT: knowing our LGBTQ history is important. We stand on the shoulders of countless brave men and women who paved the way for us.
Well, yes - especially if you're stood on a stage at an Oscars which has all been about representation, and are going to make a claim like that.

Could Smith make matters worse?

Well, yes, he could:
Smith was eventually informed backstage that he actually isn't the first openly gay person to win an Oscar. The list of winners also includes Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim, filmmaker Bill Condon, Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, and lyricist Howard Ashman, who won two Best Original Song awards for his legendary work with Disney.

When a reporter mentioned that Ashman had previously won, Smith did not recognize the name.

"I should know him. We should date," Smith quipped, seemingly unaware that Ashman died from complications from AIDS in 1991.
There's part of me that is impressed that, having been backed into a corner and been told he doesn't know what he's talking about, Smith decided to try and jape his way out of it. "I clearly have no idea who these people are, so I'm going to make a joke", thereby saying he should be dating someone who died before he was even born.

Well done, Sam. Well done.


Sunday, February 28, 2016

Tidal about to be washed away

According to rumours, Samsung is about to buy busted flush Tidal.

In other words, Samsung has come up with a quick way of acquiring music rights.


Lita Ford: The 70s were a different place

Lita Ford freaked out a bit when she realised The Runaways were mostly gay:

"This was in the early '70s, mid-'70s, so I was not aware of homosexuality; I didn't know anything about it. And it was still in the closet; nobody came out and said, 'I'm gay' — nobody came out at that time.

And when I found out that the girls were all gay in the band, I wasn't sure how to take it, and I didn't know what it was. I was only sixteen at the time. And I quit the band.

I went home and I told my parents that it was the manager's fault; I blamed it all on him and said that he was too weird and I couldn't handle him — he was just too freaky. But that wasn't the case."

So I had given it a couple of weeks and thought about it, and I thought, 'You know, it's really no big deal. I shouldn't worry about that. And I hope to God that they call me back and get me back in the band.'

Because I was thinking that they would go on to achieve superstar status and that I would just be sitting at home and doing nothing. And thank God they called me back and they said, 'Lita, we can't find anybody that can play guitar like you. Please come back.'


Blake Babies hope you'll chip in for an Earwig

The Blake Babies are running a PledgeMusic campaign to allow them to release the Earwig demos on vinyl. Perfect if you have a thing for vinyl and/or Juliana Hatfield.


Radio France is going to sell some records

Radio France has, as you might expect, a massive collection of records. One and a half million items on vinyl alone.

Now it's digitising its collection, though, it's thinking it might not need to take up so much space with records and so there's going to be an auction:

As deputy director of documentation and head of the Radio France discography Marc Maret told Trax: “This is not a dead collection. It is alive and well, is used every day, and is affiliated to a music platform that allows its distribution.”
First sale is in June. Anyone asking about Plastique Bertrand will be barred from bidding.


This week just gone

The most-read stories across February:

1. Liveblog: Brits 2016
2. Beyonce ruins the Superbowl for middle-aged white men
3. RIP: Vi Subversa
4. MySpace now part of NME owners' business
5. Lousie Mensch hails Madchester stars The Las
6. Kesha reminds us what a terrible place the music business is
7. Pop papers: NME Awards
8. RIP: Terry Wogan
9. Screamadelica today
10. Cerys Matthews' hat upsets idiots; The Sun treats them like they're not idiots

These were the interesting releases:


Rosie Lowe - Control


Download Control



Edward II - Manchester's Improving Daily


Download Manchester's Improving Daily



Carrie Rodriguez - Lola


Download Lola



Birds Of Chicago - Real Midnight


Download Real Midnight