The A.V. Club - Music

Music: Newswire:DOOM and Madlib working on follow-up to Madvillainy: check out new music from Madvillain

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:04:00 -0600

According to the good folks over at Stones Throw, one of the niftiest independent labels around, DOOM and Madlib are reportedly in Los Angeles working on a follow-up to their 2004 cult classic Madvillainy. Details are scarce but Stones Throw artist J.Rocc previewed some new Madvillain during a recent appearance on Eastvillageradio.com's "Fat Beats Live". Check out snippets of new Madvillain goodness below. As big DOOM and Madlib fans, we are wildly optimistic about this fortuitous development.

Music: Newswire:DMX backs out of upcoming boxing match

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:43:00 -0600

Allhiphop.com is reporting that, in a rare burst of sanity, rapper/neophyte pugilist Earl "DMX" Simmons has backed out of an upcoming boxing match with actor Eric Martinez. According to the article, DMX opted out of exchanging fisticuffs with the moonlighting actor either out of safety concerns or because the promoters wouldn't throw the fight in his favors. Promoters are reportedly looking for another rapper to take DMX's place for the December 12th bout in Alabama. Might we suggest MC Paul Barman? He has a mean left hook and fights dirty.

Music: Newswire:Echo & The Bunnymen cancel U.S. tour

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:58:00 -0600

Thanks to a new IRS rule that would claim a shocking 30 percent of their show profits, Echo & The Bunnymen have canceled their upcoming U.S. tour, according to a statement from the band's publicist. The tour was set to begin Nov. 15 in Atlanta. Expect to see a siren on The Drudge Report soon saying something to the effect of "You see what happens in Obama's America, liberals? EVEN FOREIGNERS ARE OVERTAXED." The doomed itinerary is below. Nov. 15, Atlanta, Masquerade Nov. 17, Washington D.C., The Black Cat Nov. 18, State College, Penn., The State Theatre ...

Music: Hater:Ghost Of Michael Jackson To Appear On British TV

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:05:00 -0600

Since he's currently got the number one movie in the country, The Ghost Of Michael Jackson is obviously the most in-demand celebrity ghost interview right now. (Well, besides The Ghost Of Madonna Past, but she never grants interviews, and The Ghost Of Marilyn Monroe, who is too busy haunting the factory where Lindsay Lohan's leggings are manufactured to speak publicly.) But who will get the exclusive Ghost Of Michael Jackson sit-down? Diane Sawyer? Oprah? Barbara Walters? The animatronic Larry King puppet that seamlessly replaced Larry King 5 years ago? A Lays potato chip in which his face mysteriously ...

Music: Newswire:No Doubt expands the war on video-game avatars

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:00 -0600

The sturm and drang over Kurt Cobain's avatar appearing in Guitar Hero 5 to sing songs by other artists has settled, but the war may be just beginning: Billboard reports today that No Doubt is suing Activision, the makers of Guitar Hero and the new Band Hero, for unauthorized use of its members' likenesses in songs by other artists. Just as Cobain could rock out some Bush jams in Guitar Hero 5 (and nearly destroy the space-time continuum), No Doubt leader Gwen Stefani can sing the decidedly less embarrassing "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones (among others) in ...

Music: Interview:Jim O’Rourke

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:06:00 -0600

Jim O’Rourke is a storied musician and producer who has cut something of a Zelig-like figure in indie music in the 1990s and 2000s. He came up with the prescient avant-folk group Gastr Del Sol, made numerous records full of drones and noise, and played crucial roles in such big bands as Wilco (he helped conceive Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) and Sonic Youth (he was temporarily a fifth member of the band). His studio credits, as a producer and/or mixer, include records by Stereolab, John Fahey, Joanna Newsom, Faust, Beth Orton, and many more. Alongside all that, O’Rourke ...

Music: Newswire:EMI sues website selling 25-cent Beatles MP3s

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:34:00 -0600

While music-lovers keep watching for signs that The Beatles catalog is about to come to iTunes ("Is that new yellow iPod tied to 'Yellow Submarine?' Is Steve Jobs wearing a Sgt. Pepper jacket?"), a previously obscure streaming-music site called BlueBeat.com has quietly begun selling Beatles MP3s for a quarter apiece, claiming in their FAQ: Our mp3s are fully-licensed audio-visual works and BlueBeat.com pays all applicable royalties. ... For more information about what defines an audio-visual work, read the Copyright help file at http://www.copyright.gov/eco/help-type.html Now, Variety reports that EMI has filed a lawsuit against ...

Music: Interview:Daryl Hall and John Oates

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

When Daryl Hall and John Oates met in 1967, both men had been kicking around the Philadelphia music scene for nearly a decade. They immediately found common ground, and they began collaborating a couple of years later, releasing their first album, Whole Oats, in 1972. In 1973, they notched their first hit single, “She’s Gone,” from the album Abandoned Luncheonette, though follow-up successes were more scattered throughout the ’70s, as the duo experimented with different sounds and styles. With the 1980 album Voices, Hall and Oates began to hit their stride, and for the next half-decade, they released an ...

Music: Newswire:Chris Brown continues making bad decisions

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:52:00 -0600

The cover art for Chris Brown's new album, Graffiti, has found its way to the Internet, and it's a doozy. The two people I've conversed with about it so far IM-ed exactly the same message: "What the fuck?" For the comments section, might I suggest a crude version of The New Yorker's caption contest? Winner gets nothing but a sense of accomplishment.

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 22: Lee Hazlewood, space cowboy/peculiar guy

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:48:00 -0600

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. I first remember reading about Lee Hazlewood in one of the British music magazines I devoured rapaciously during my sorry stint as a teenybopper music obsessive. That’s how friendless ...

Music: Newswire:Today in geek chic merchandising: Weezer introduces signature Snuggie, Daniel Johnston gets own Iphone game

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:06:00 -0600

The nice thing about being in a band like Weezer is that you never have to worry about looking cool. So the band won't lose any hipness points by introducing its very own line of Weezer snuggies, the wearable blankets your grandma loves so goddamned much. Each Weezer snuggie comes with a free copy of the group's cringe-inducingly titled new album Raditude. Also cringe-inducing? A guest roster that includes Li'l Wayne and Jermaine "Sinful Dwarf" Dupri and and song titles like "Can't Stop Partying," and "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want ...

Music: Review:Nirvana: Bleach / Live At Reading