Daily Loaf

A few music-themed conversation pieces to use during this weekend’s Halloween festivities.

Photo by Tracy May.

• The Killers are releasing a CD and DVD of Live at Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 10, and the performance will also be in select movie theaters for one night only, Nov. 5. Is it a coincidence that the only night it will be in theaters is my birthday? No way. Brandon Flowers just gets what women want on their big day.
• An all-star list of musicians celebrated the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th birthday Thursday night, including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder. How did you spend your 25th?
• If you’ve been sitting, waiting, wishing to see Jack Johnson in concert, book a ticket to Hawaii for next month: Johnson will be performing two acoustic shows Nov. 13 and 14 in Honolulu to promote the release of his documentary film En Concert. If you have eyes and you live in Hawaii, you should catch one of these shows.
• While youngest Jonas brother Nick plans to record a solo album next year, all three siblings swear the Jonas Brothers are not breaking up. Oh, thank God. No, seriously, I’ve been losing sleep over the prospect of the end of the Jo Bros. Seriously.
• Weezer is appearing on Nickelodeon’s kids show Yo Gabba Gabba early next year, and will be jamming out in bug costumes. It will be the first time my generation has tuned into Nick since Kenan and Kel went off the air.
• Britney Spears unleashed her music video for “3″ today. Relive your Sesame Street days of learning to count to three — today’s show is brought to you by menage a trois — and get more music news links after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

An unexpected but enthralling update from Phil Bardi of Routes Music:

Austin is a city with a long tradition of many things, from mass murders to good music. So, it’s no surprise that many claim the state capital of Texas is haunted.

On Saturday, while coming down Brazos Drive in downtown Austin, I snapped some photos of Driskill Hotel.

While looking through my pictures tonight, I came upon these two similar photos:

Read the rest of this entry »

The weekend doesn’t officially end until you’re caught up on your music news.

• RollingStone.com has exclusive video footage of Maroon 5 recording the follow-up album to 2007’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. The video also includes footage of the band lounging in Switzerland, where lead singer Adam Levine (pictured right) and company have been working on the album. Mr. Levine is truly my dream man, a beautiful, perverted poet. Isn’t that what all women want?

• Fuse will air the world premiere of Nirvana Live at Reading on Monday, Nov. 1, at 11 p.m. The concert is from 1992 and has never been released. Yes, everyone you know will be watching (and re-watching) this broadcast.
• Them Crooked Vultures have finally (finally!) announced the release date of their self-titled debut album to be Nov. 17. “No One Knows” for sure until the album drops, but I’d be a “Pretender” if I didn’t say this album could be a “Stairway to [Rock 'n' Roll] Heaven.”
• Artists like Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails have joined the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo after learning their music may have been used to torture detainees. Is Miley Cyrus on the list of musicians whose music aided in the torture? Seriously. I’m not trying to be funny.
• Weezer is teaming up with Chamillionaire, Sara Bareilles and Kenny G for tracks for an upcoming edition of AOL Sessions at AOL’s Beverly Hills studio. Well, Beverly Hills is where Weezer wants to be, but who knew it would be Kenny G that would get them there?
• Speaking of Weezer, the band released the video for “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” the first single off their new Raditude album, slated for release on Oct. 27. Enjoy the video — in your favorite undone sweater and with some pork and beans, of course — and more music links after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

11:11, Let There Be Light, Art, Sound This sneak peek of the exhibit (which officially opens Nov. 11) includes live music, artworks from local artists, a drum atrium and a costume contest on Halloween night. Visit studio620.org for more info. Oct. 27-31, noon-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat., reception 7 p.m. Sat., The Studio@620, St. Petersburg, free.

Ghost Ship Spooktacular Under the bay, there be monsters…and a few of them have surfaced for this scary fun tour of the decades-old “haunted” ship. Visit the galley, mess hall, hospital, and radio room, where ghouls, freaks and zombies lurk around every corner. Search for ghosts with the Florida Paranormal Research Group and the White Noise Paranormal Network, and visit the Demon Den Deck for a brew if your nerves get a bit jangled. The kid’s tour is a mite less macabre; bob for apples, play monster musical chairs, run in an eyeball relay race and compete in the costume contest. Visit americanvictory.org for more info. Oct. 29-31, Ghost Ship 7:30-11:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.; Kid’s Spooktacular 2-4 p.m. Sat., American Victory Ship and Museum, Tampa, Ghost ship, $20; Kid’s Spooktacular, $10 adults, $5 kids 4-12.

Hit the break for more on Guavaween, graveyard walks, haunted houses, weird art and more, and check back as we add to the list of spooky spectacles. Read the rest of this entry »

At Thrill the World, St. Pete joins MJ fans across the world in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Simultaneous Dance — in this case, the famous, phantasmic Thriller dance. The Pier hosts music, food, activities and a pre-dance lesson for anyone who needs to learn the monster moves. Then, Michael Jackson achieves what no world leader ever has: a world united – united by zombies. No word on whether Obama’s participating, but we hope to see everyone from the local Blockbuster guy to the Prez paying tribute to the one-gloved man. Come in your most dashing undead duds, and an on-site make-up artist adds scabs and scars to make sure that you thrill and terrify like the real thing. Sat., Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. sign-in, 8:30 p.m. dance, The Pier, 800 Second Ave. N.E., St. Petersburg, free admission; $5 zombie make-up, thrillstpete.com. – Franki Weddington

Hello voracious readers, welcome to heaven. Seriously, the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading is a nice reminder that in 2009, people still read theses little things called books. Held on the USF St. Petersburg campus, this lovely celebration of the written word features book signings, panel discussions, entertainment, family activities, refreshments, and various booksellers and exhibitors. There are also book signings by Read the rest of this entry »

Green Halloween This inaugural “eek-o-friendly” event offers a pumpkin patch cake walk, a “best green costume” contest, bobbing for organic apples, making a Halloween goodie bag from recycled magazines, and a sweet-n-scary selection of healthy treats. Visit greenhalloween.org for more info. Fri., Oct. 23, 3:30-6:30 p.m., Hyde Park Village, Tampa.

Zombie Weekend A cadre of creepy films await on Friday, including Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead (pictured), and a special zombi-fied version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Saturday features more family-friendly (but still freaky) flicks like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler — which, thanks to the shocking power of the theater’s Percepto system, will actually make you tingle! Visit beachtheatre.com for full schedule. Oct. 23-24, Beach Theatre, St. Pete Beach, $5 Friday; free family movies Saturday.

Horror Fest The Sunscreen Film Festival presents a cadre of chilling cinema – and then fills you in on how to get onscreen yourself. At the Horror Fest workshops, acting coach Mark Durso explains his Uta Hagen technique; Twilight casting director Lana Veenker (whose advice you may or may not heed, depending on your opinion of her vapid vampires) explores “How to Break into the Film Biz without Living in Hollywood” and “Auditioning for Film and TV”; and special effects make-up artist John Rusnak leads a horror make-up workshop. Spooky special movie screenings include indie or limited release flicks like Trick ‘r Treat (starring True Blood’s Anna Paquin, appropriately enough), Deadfall Trail, Sauna and Evil Things. A haunted Halloween party follows Saturday’s films. Oct. 23-25, Mark Durso and Lana Veenker Workshops 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun., The Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg; Horror Fest Screenings, 7 and 9 p.m. Fri. –Sat., John Rusnak Workshop, Noon, Sat., Muvico Baywalk 20, 151 Second Ave. N., St. Petersburg; $8 per movie; $25 four-movie pass and make-up workshop; $125 full access pass, visit sunscreenfilmfestival.com for detailed schedule. – Franki Weddington

Hit the break for more events, and check back as we add to the list of spooky spectacles. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. This Saturday, St. Pete joins Michael Jackson fans across the world in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Simultaneous Dance — in this case, the famed zombie-rific Thriller dance.

The Pier hosts Thrill the World, with music, food, activities and a pre-dance lesson for anyone who needs to learn the monster moves. Then, MJ achieves what no world leader ever has: a world united … by dancing cadavers. Read the rest of this entry »

A fresh batch of music links to start the weekend off right.

• The Flaming Lips plan to cover Pink Floyd’s classic 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon, a collaborative effort with Stardeath and White Dwarfs. Let’s just state the obvious, here: It takes some serious balls to redo Dark Side of the Moon. Don’t mess this up, Lips.
• Garth Brooks will be performing at Las Vegas’ Wynn resort on Oct. 24, but promises the show will be completely antithetical to the typical, flashy Sin City show. In fact, it will be reminiscent of his original Stillwater, Okla., shows in 1983. Because people visiting Vegas really wish they could feel like they’re living it up in Oklahoma circa 1983.
• John Mayer’s new album, Battle Studies, drops Nov. 17. Mayer will also perform a concert that night airing live on Fuse. Reasons as to why Battle Studies was not titled Songs About Jennifer Aniston have yet to be announced.
• Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo is writing a song with Katy Perry that will possibly be featured on her follow-up to One of the Boys. It’s like Cuomo knew this collaboration was written in the stars: He looks just like Buddy Holly, and (oh oh) Perry bears resemblance to Mary Tyler Moore.
• Bon Jovi is now the “artist in residence” for NBC to promote their new album, The Circle, which lands in stores Nov. 12. I wouldn’t mind if Jon Bon Jovi pulled a Rick Springfield and bared some of his finer assets to the world.
• The Arctic Monkeys released a video for “Cornerstone,” the second single off of Humbug. The video looks like it was inspired by a homemade YouTube video — Arctic Monkey see, Arctic Monkey do — but its simplicity complements the loveliness of the tune. Watch the video and get more music links after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

A disturbing premonition wrestled me from slumber hours before dawn.

Captain Beefheart [pictured right circa 1969] is going to die soon.

And it won’t rupture the zeitgeist enough as it should.

But having the world mourn alongside won’t help ease anything, because for myself, and I believe for most fans of Don Van Vliet’s enigmatic character, the actual listening experience was usually a solitary activity, due to the fact that no one else in the room ever wants to hear “Hobo Chang Ba,” even when the mood is too perfect.

I might try to take the day off though. Lounge around the house. Start with A&M Sessions, end with Grow Fins box.

But are men truly resurrected by the repetition of thoughts and memories? As if a fierce combustion of our chatty consciousnesses exploding across all corners of the globe could somehow be swept up and breathe actual life into the corpse? Read the rest of this entry »

The debate on file-sharing continues in earnest, with UK artists Radiohead and Lily Allen taking opposite sides. From a September 10 article in the Times Online, about musicians speaking out against a British government proposal to cut illegal file-sharers’ internet connections: “Every generation has a different method,” said Radiohead guitarist and FAC Board of Directors member Ed O’Brien. “File sharing is like a sampler, like taping your mate’s music.” From a blog post on Lily Allen’s Myspace page: “I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead don’t seem to think so. Last week in an article in the Times these guys from huge bands said file sharing music is fine. It probably is fine for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world. For new talent though, file sharing is a disaster as it’s making it harder and harder for new acts to emerge.”

Flaming Lips debuted a new video on Myspace for “I Can Be a Frog.” The song is kind of slow and ambient for the Lips, and I can’t figure out if the animal sounds are genius or an effing nuisance. Check it out: Read the rest of this entry »

With the Loafies on Tuesday, I am getting ready for a little awards show action. What better way to prepare for my acceptance speech (I’m winning a Loafie for something, right?) than to watch the MTV VMAs?

My favorite part of any awards show is the red carpet, generally…but this is the VMAs so I know the best is yet to come, so briefly, here are my thoughts on the red carpet arrivals:
• Lady Gaga is Phantoming it up in that mask. And I have to say I feel that Kermit has actually downgraded from Miss Piggy, as we are not certain that Gaga ( right) is technically a Lady.

• Shakira and Pink are in the same dress. This is a disaster, seriously, whose dress is that? Who let that happen? Some poor assistant at a New York fashion house is about to join the unemployment line.

• Alicia Keys looks adorable!  I am in love with that dress. That woman is the picture of sophistication lately.

• Now, onto the show where we will discuss Kanye’s diss, Gaga’s bleeding, Pink’s Boob and more…. Read the rest of this entry »

*The Duggars are expecting their 19th child. If you do not know who they are, I want you to imagine Jon and Kate + 8 - The Douche + 11 x a whole lot of morals and a stance against birth control. Got it?  Good. In all seriousness, though, that woman’s uterus should be removed and ceremoniously burned. No one should have that many kids, not Albert Einstein, not Stephen Hawking, not Mother Teresa and most definitely not anyone named Jim Bob.**

*Disney acquired Marvel comics this week.  In a related story, Spiderman will now don a pair of 4-fingered white gloves.

*One of the best and most totally realistic medical dramas of all time is returning this fall and apparently Christina and Dr. McArmy (aka Owen) are going to work things out. Am I the only one who ISN’T stoked for this pairing?! If we have learned anything from this show, and we have learned a lot, it is that people who fall in love with main characters go crazy, die or get removed from the cast for being homophobic. Christina cannot handle that type of heartache and frankly, neither can I.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s recommended releases as well as a breakdown of other worthy albums available now.

Vinyl:

Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
The band’s third album is a set of songs both heavier and lush than in previous efforts but still full of the Monkeys’ punch and vitality.

Jeff Beck – Beck-Ola
Jeff Beck – Truth
Exact replicas now available on pristine HQ-180 vinyl. Taken from the original analog master tapes.

Chocolate Watch Band – No Way Out
Chocolate Watch Band – Inner Mystique
Hailing from San Jose, Calif., the Watch Band — featuring the pouting, Mick Jagger-influenced lead vocals of Dave Aguilar, the thrilling guitars of Sean Tolby and Mark Loomis, the solid bass of Bill Flores and the thumping drums of Gary Andrijasevich — made all the right scenes in San Jose, including appearances with the Syndicate of Sound and Count Five.

John Fogerty – Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
Among the special guests are Bruce Springsteen.

Fugazi – 3 Songs 7″
Remastered.

Woody Guthrie – Woody, Cisco And Sonny
Woody Guthrie – Woody The Agitator
Woody Guthrie – Woody’s Roots
Woody Guthrie – Woody’s Greatest Hits
Classic Guthrie vinyl reissues — now available.

Jet – Shaka Rock
bass, drums, guitars and vocals.

Willie Nelson – American Classic

Pearl Jam – The Fixer 7″
Two new tracks from their upcoming album on white vinyl with glow-in-the-dark ink on the label!

Chuck Ragan/Brian Fallon split 7″
They of Hot Water Music and Gaslight Anthem fame, respectively.

Reigning Sound – Love and Curses
New release — now available on vinyl.

The Smiths – The Smiths
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder
The Smiths – Queen is Dead
The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come
180 gram vinyl reissues. Remastering supervised by Johnny Marr. Read the rest of this entry »

Eric Dane, aka McSteamy

*Video has surfaced that indicates Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, may have been drunk when he fell off a stage and broke some stuff, and by stuff I mean bones.  I am beside myself.  This is about as shocking as the moment I realized Brett Michaels is kind of a skeezeball.

*Something about Michael Jackson and the doctors or homicide or pills or something.  I don’t know, I am sure they will blame someone else next week.  Moving on.

*We got to see McSteamy’s “anatomy” (Do you see what I did there? Hilarious, I know) in the sex tape leaked/released at an opportune time just before the fall premieres, of Seattle’s second hottest surgeon….But it doesn’t stop there folks.

Read the rest of this entry »

With today’s announcement that the L.A. County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide, the never-ending story has officially turned into a murder mystery. Any minute now some old Hollywood detective (Columbo? Jessica Fletcher?) will come shambling onto the scene, gather all the celebrity suspects in a fancy living room and spring a surprise revelation:  “LaToya, it was you!”

Or not. There don’t look to be any surprise culprits lurking here because the prime suspect looks awfully, well, suspicious.

Video after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Who the fuck is this person? you think with disgust as you read my apathetic reaction to Steely Dan’s performance at Ruth Eckerd Hall. You find yourself compelled to school me on my apparent lack of knowledge, compose an angry response listing all the reasons I am wrong, berate my abilities as a journalist and my failure as a music critic overall. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW AND WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I CARE? you conclude in all caps so I can’t ignore your ire. I can almost hear your self-righteous click of “Submit Comment” button. (Photo by jamesostrand.com)

You have a valid point. Who the fuck am I and why does my opinion matter so much more than those other idiots who came before me who you also thought were chattering out of their asses?

I am a near-native who’s covered all aspects of Bay area culture for Creative Loafing for nearly six years. While I never aspired to be the paper’s music editor, my love of music eventually and naturally led me to write about it, to attempt to put those intangible moments of joy and sorrow to paper and describe the seemingly indescribable, to relay a sound or a feeling or a mood or a texture with words, to try and offer an objective look at something inherently subjective, something based on experiences and background and taste and even my mood at any given time. I’ve been writing and listening to music for a long time. I don’t pretend to know everything but I approach all music with an open mind and a willingness to build upon what I already know. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re probably wondering what Hunter S. Thompson has to say about Sarah Palin. Maybe you’re curious about his thoughts on the first months of Barack Obama’s presidency. Could be you want to know his predictions for the upcoming professional football season.

We can’t know what he would think, of course. And don’t for a moment presume that you would know his opinion, say, of President Obama. Thompson was many things and most of them were unpredictable. He was a brilliant man, a gifted writer and an artful, challenging conversationalist. Largely self-educated, he would see historical and literary parallels in nearly every avenue of discourse and for him writing / art / conversation was a parry-parry-thrust sort of game.

As much as his army of readers misses him, imagine being a close friend and missing him. When there is a Great Historical Moment – the Obama Inauguration, for example, or the death of Michael Jackson – the friends all prepare for the illumination and insight of their old buddy, for a moment forgetting that he is gone.

So, unless there is a Mojo Wire in the Great Beyond, we cannot know what Hunter S. Thompson thinks about Palin, Obama or Jackson. And it reminds us how much we miss that voice of his, the twisted and insightful literary voice he brought to the world. He left behind a lot of writing and over the next decade or so, it will be carefully published by the family’s literary trust. The first major posthumous work, The Mutineer – his third volume of collected letters, edited by Douglas Brinkley – will appear in October.

Read the rest of this entry »

They saved the not-a-dry-eye-in-the-house part for the very end. As the Michael Jackson memorial stretched just past two hours this afternoon, after a series of speeches and several emotional music performances, Jackson’s daughter approached the microphone, aunt Janet steadying her. Choking back sobs, 11-year-old Paris said, “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. I just want to say I love him so much.”

If that didn’t get to your tear ducts at least a little, you’ve got a pretty chilly heart.

The second-most famous Jackson, Janet, clad in a black dress and beret, was sad- or stone-faced every time on camera. She neither spoke nor performed. Michael’s brothers Jermaine and Marlon offered tributes, and Jermaine sang a teary rendition of what speaker Brooke Shields said was Michael’s favorite song: the Charlie Chaplin chestnut “Smile.”

Maybe I’ve reached Michael Jackson overload, but I stayed dry-eyed until Paris’ comments at the end.

Read more

No TV at the job? No worries. We’re streaming the Michael Jackson memorial here via Hulu. The stream starts at 12:55 p.m., so leave the window open or check back with us. Comment, comment, comment. I’ll be watching and weighing in.

Go to the music blog, tampacalling.com, to get the feed.

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Steps to becoming greener: Reducing your waste, reusing and recycling: Joshua Poll gives some useful tips for ways to start reducing, reusing, and recycling things you thought you could just throw away.

Genetically engineering cows that will produce less methane, reducing greenhouse gases: Geneticists in Canada are trying to engineer a cow that produces less methane, resulting in less greenhouse gases, reports Brian Roberts.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ten days after his death, Michael Jackson is the biggest story in the entertainment world. Some of you may be crying overkill, but I’m still keeping tabs. Here’s a series of the latest links I’ve come across.

Video of Jackson at his last rehearsals.

Jackson’s public memorial confirmed for L.A.’s Staples Center on Tuesday, July 7.

TV networks planning coverage of Jackson memorial.

Billboard: How Michael Jackson’s Thriller changed the music biz.

Billboard: Jackson will likely set more chart records.

Billboard: “Michael Jackson and MTV — The M once stood for Michael.”

Madonna honors Jackson during a show at same arena in London that he was to perform 50 shows.

Former L.A. Times music critic Robert Hilburn, who probably had more access to MJ than any other scribe, writes a remembrance.

Jackson news coverage touches on the tawdry side.

If you love a good celebrity death, you’ve been in heaven the last several days. And if you’re a connoisseur of a good celebrity obit, you need to be reading obit-mag.com.

Obit is a brilliantly edited online magazine that makes for great reading anytime, with all kinds of features that lend themselves to discussion over the watercooler, or your workplace equivalent thereof:  Died on the Same Day (today’s deaths: Jim Morrison and tennis player Pancho Gonzalez); Best Sendoffs (including Top 10 Stupid Death Tricks); and Ask Judy (a Q&A on dying well by Vanity Fair contributing editor Judy Bachrach). And it doesn’t confine itself to the deaths of individuals; there have been essays on the end of a terrorist organization, the demise of journalism, even the death of silence, as well as “the photography, the art, the prose of death” (in the words of founder J. Robert Hillier). Death: It’s a big subject, and Obit means to cover all its facets.

But the mag is most useful as a highly readable digest of obituaries past and present, and since lately there have been a whole lot of obituaries to digest, Michael Schaffer’s “The Grim Reader: This Week in Death” is a must-read. Read the rest of this entry »

Shades of the old days. Michael Jackson is ruling the charts.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks record sales, Jackson’s solo albums sold 415,000 units last week, mostly in the time between the Friday after his death and Sunday night, when scanning for the week closed. 58 percent of the sales were digital downloads.

Because Jackson’s titles are not eligible for the Billboard 200, they are relegated to the Pop Catalog chart, where he holds the top nine positions. Three of his titles — Number Ones, Thriller and The Essential Michael Jackson — exceeded 100,000 in sales, outpacing Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. (88,000), which claims No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s the first time that a catalog album has outsold the No. 1 on the 200, the survey of current albums. This week, Jackson has done it three times over.

Additionally, Jackson titles hold the first four positions on the Digital Albums chart, and six of the Top 10

Read more.

It used to be that MTV would overplay videos to such a degree that it was impossible not to know the latest singles by Madonna, or Prince, or Michael Jackson (may he RIP). Those artists blew wads of cash to make miniature movies for their songs. (Michael and sister Janet’s 1995 acclaimed video duet, “Scream,” cost $7 million alone to produce.)

Nowadays, MTV doesn’t play videos so much as it airs clips of them during the closing credits of its neverending reality TV programming, so many artists have turned to YouTube to get the vids out and are likely alot more budget conscious when making them. The results vary from fun and inspired to downright garbage. Here’s a look at two Moby videos created in support of his ninth album (out today on Little Idiot). I’ve also included a preview clip of Bjork’s live Voltaic CD/DVD release. (Complete clips from the DVD would be nice but sadly, there are leaked or uploaded as yet.)

Artist: Moby
Album: Wait for Me
Songs: “Shot in the Back of the Head,” “Pale Horses.”
Both of Moby’s new singles have intrigued me with their raw electro-meets-organic feel. The video for “Shot in the Back of the Head” is David Lynch’s dark and abstract translation of the song, which is rather gloomy all on its own; and “Pale Horses,” the second single with haunting female vocals by Amelia and melancholy overtones, is directed by Elanna Allen and follows a lonely alien who takes a train to the moon to find some companions. Both are animated, but in very different styles.
Grade: A for both; the music was good and the videos compelling enough to make me want to check out Moby’s new album. (CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP).

This morning I came across an amazing article by Alex Pasternack on Treehugger that was accompanied by the Michael Jackson music video ”Earth Song”. Another extraordinary aspect to Michael’s passions.

Pasternak states in the article,

“Michael Jackson was famous for his socially-conscious music, but ‘Earth Song’, his big, bold environmental call-to-arms, is often overlooked. Still, by sheer dint of his reach, the song might have made Jackson (who bears no relation to U.S. EPA chief Lisa Jackson) a kind of super-sized Al Gore, a decade before An Inconvenient Truth.

‘Earth Song’ is indisputably the most popular green-themed tune ever. It remains Jackson’s best-selling song in the U.K. (yes, bigger than “Thriller” or “Billie Jean”), and beat out the Beatles’ first single in 25 years for the top spot on the British charts. But the song, and its lavish globe-trotting video, barely registered in the U.S.”
Read the rest of this entry »

According to industry insiders, three Michael Jackson albums — Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson and Thriller — each sold 100,000 copies last week. The sales tracking week ended at the close of business on Sunday (June 28) night and will be reported today. That means the bulk of the sales took place in the three days after Jackson’s death.

Those six-figure tallies would’ve put the three discs at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the Billboard 200 —slightly ahead of the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. — but catalog albums are not eligible for the main album sales chart, so Jackson will instead dominate the Pop Catalog survey.

Read more.

Police tow doctor’s car, hope to find clues about Jackson’s death.

ABC: Michael Jackson’s death caps years of ill health.

ABC: Who will get custody of Jackson’s kids?

Phoenix New Times: 10 random thoughts about Michael Jackson’s death.

Newsday: Comparing Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

Ed. Note: What follows is a repost of an item by CL Marketing Director Joran Oppelt from his recent trip to SXSW. At the time, I thought it was just a really cool video. Today I think it’s become something more. You can see Joran’s original post here.

Quincy recalls his first encounters with Michael Jackson and their work on the best-selling records Off the Wall and Thriller, as well as the birth of MTV and how they broke through the “no black artists” mandate.

This exclusive CL TV video was shot in March at Jones’ 2009 South by Southwest keynote address. Check out the Quincy Jones video by clicking here.

Here are some links to various stories about Michael Jackson’s death and its aftermath:

New links as of 2 p.m.

Police tow doctor’s car, hope to find clues about Jackson’s death.

ABC: Michael Jackson’s death caps years of ill health.

ABC: Who will get custody of Jackson’s kids?

Phoenix New Times: 10 random thoughts about Michael Jackson’s death.

Newsday: Comparing Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

_____________

Jermaine Jackson explains details.

A look back at Michael Jackson’s life in photos.

Reactions from friends and stars: Britney Spears, Diddy Combs, Quincy Jones and more.

AP: “World Mourns King of Pop”

Jackson’s scheduled London concerts leave a tangled business mess. $85 million in advance ticket sales.

Billboard; King of the pop charts.

MTV News: “Michael Jackson and MTV — From Epic Videos to Show-Stealing Performances.”

Never has so much triumph dissolved into so much tragedy.

From kid star to King of Pop to punchline. And now dead. Michael Jackson was 50 when he died earlier today of a heart attack. A shock — but, then again, when it came to Michael Jackson, nothing was.

Some people will dismiss Jackson’s death as a fitting end to a twisted caricature of a life. They might even get a chuckle out of it. I won’t. I’m hit. This is one of those celebrity deaths that I’ll remember where I was when I heard about it. (As it turned it, it was at the start of Cirque de Soleil; I left soon after.)

I’m upset, more than I guess I thought I’d be. But I’m focusing on memories. I was there, watching, when he wowed the country with his pre-adolescent charm on Ed Sullivan, his skin the color of milk chocolate. I was there, watching, as he turned into a man, still with childlike charisma.

I was there in 1979, in an arena in Honolulu, when he performed with The Jacksons, but the most riveting material was from his new album, Off The Wall. I was there, in front of the TV, when he first did the moonwalk on Motown 25 and folks talked about it for days, months. I was there, a newly minted music critic, giving Thriller all of three stars.

And yes, I was there when he gradually sanded his skin to the color of chalk and remade his nose into a button.

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Never say Neverland: Michael Jackson has decided he doesn’t want to auction off all his junk precious memorabilia after all. Or maybe he never wanted to get rid of it in the first place? In any case, a dispute between the erstwhile King of Pop and the auctioneers has saved those jewel-encrusted gloves, MTV Moonmen and Sgt. Pepper-esque jackets from the cruelty of the gavel. That’s a relief, huh? AP’s report after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Toward the end of her 7 p.m. show at Ruth Eckerd Saturday night, Kathy Griffin told a long, funny and rather mind-boggling anecdote about spending her birthday with Cher — freakin’ Cher! — at the star’s mega-mansion in Malibu. How did D-lister Kathy Griffin wind up chatting for five hours over birthday cake in freakin’ Cher’s football-field-sized bedroom suite? Because Rosie O’Donnell introduced them, and Cher told Rosie she thought Griffin was “a smart, funny chick” who it’d be fun to hang out with.
Which kind of sums up the increasingly paradoxical nature of Kathy Griffin’s D-list persona: She does seem like a smart, funny chick who it would be fun to hang out with — but now she hangs out with Rosie and freakin’ Cher! “Do you know who I spent yesterday with?” she asks us. “Gloria Estefan at her fuckin’ compound.” OK, Griffin was visiting her for an episode of D-List — but she was still spending the day with Glorida fuckin’ Estefan. And at this point Griffin is arguably hotter than either Cher or Gloria.
Does this mean her attitude toward celebrities is any less jaundiced, her barbs any less barbed? Well, maybe when it comes to the goddesses — Cher, Oprah, Rosie — but Paula Abdul? Nancy Grace? Michael Jackson? Octo-mom Nadya Suleman? She killed. Two biggest laugh/gasps of the evening: respective jokes about the surgical enhancements of Jackson and Suleman. If Jackson’s nose falls off during a show, she wondered, would he hold his mic up to the hole like Stephen Hawking? And regarding octo-mom’s Angelina Jolie-esque mouth: “She’s trying to convince us on TV that she hasn’t had those lips done? Sorry, but it looks like she has a freshly fucked pussy on her face.” Read the rest of this entry »

Which comeback is scarier? Michael Jackson’s 10-concert please-help-me-pay-my-legal-bills blitz in London this summer — or shrieking nutcase Tatiana del Toro’s return to American Idol tonight?

Jackson’s announcement — which HuffPo memorably headlined “Wacko Jacko Backo” — somehow drew “more than 1500 screaming fans,” according to USA Today. Take a look at his face and you’ll start screaming, too.

As for Tats del Toro, she is rightfully being touted as The Most Annoying Idol Contestant Ever, so naturally the judges selected her to come back tonight and try for one of the three Wild Card spots. And she’s got scary pictures, too, albeit scary pictures of herself semi-naked.