Yglesias notes that when The Beatles came to town in 1964, tickets to see them were actually pretty reasonable, if not downright cheap: Adjusting for inflation, those tickets ranged in price from $15 to $30. These days $30 will get you in to see St. Vincent at the 9:30 Club but prices to see Kings of Leon at the Verizon Center start at about $60. There are a number of concomitant reasons why, despite it being the hottest show in the world, it was so much cheaper than any popular concert would be in 2014. First is the simplest of...
Continue reading...Music
Another reason why Queen was/is awesome
As if you really needed more, right?, since Queen is pretty much one of the most kick-ass bands of all time. Yet, from Letters of Note (follow it, you’ll thank me later), come to find out that Freddy Mercury was the type of gentleman who actually wrote thank-you letters: In 1973, just as Queen finished recording their second album, 27-year-old Freddie Mercury, ever the gentleman, politely wrote the following letter of thanks to Jac Holzman, founder of their U.S. label, Elektra Records; Holzman had fought hard to bring the band to his label in 1971, and his faith in them hadn’t gone unnoticed by...
Continue reading...A Complete History of the Soviet Union Arraged to the Melody of Tetris
This is pretty great. From the YouTube description: Buy the whole album at http://www.pigfaceboy.co.uk Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pigfaceboy A Complete History Of The Soviet Union Through The Eyes Of A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris. Music by “Pig With The Face Of A Boy” Written and performed by DONALD NEWHOLM and DAN WOODS, with MALCOLM GAYNER & ROBIN HARRIS Photographed by TIM JORDAN Costumes by LUCY NEWHOLM Production assistant NICOLA LINCÉ Special thanks to JAMES LAMONT and REMY LAMONT Produced by CHRIS LINCÉ and DAN WOODS for the ‘Musical Comedy Lab\’ Directed, animated, and edited by...
Continue reading...Does Eminem's new single make domestic violence sexy?
On Eminem’s new single, “Love the Way You Lie,” the rapper once again takes on the subject of abusive relationships. Somewhat telling, the song features Rihanna, last year’s face of domestic violence. The video highlights a violent and troublesome relationship between characters played by Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. Many are claiming that the song and video romanticize domestic violence. Truth is, though, I just don’t see it. Other than the characters in this particular vignette being terribly attractive themselves, there’s not much in the song or video that makes a dysfunctional and violent relationship look good...
Continue reading...Time for another Gathering of the Juggalos already? Sweet!
Calling all Juggalos! It’s just about time for another Gathering of the Juggalos! The eleventh one!? Can you believe it’s been that many years? Neither can I. Feels like just yesterday we discovered chugging Faygo and hating conformists. Well, time get ready; it’s coming right up: This is what you have been waiting for, Juggalos! Here is the super huge mega commercial that will fill you in on what you can expect from the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos going down at The Hatchet Landings in Cave-in-Rock, Illinois August 12th — 15th! CHECK IT OUT! I hope everybody brings...
Continue reading...Was President Obama in the "Whoomp (There It Is)" video?
Via Gawker: Finally, a Barack Obama conspiracy theory for the rest of us! Everyone from Tea Partiers to hip hop message boardsthinks Obama was an extra in the music video for Tag Team’s single “Whoomp (There It Is)”. Before you do anything else, check out 1:01 of the music video for Tag Team’s 1993 smash hit “Whoomp (There It Is)”. A tipster sent in the video along with a note: Barack [is] in the Tag Team “Whoomp there it is” video. Don’t believe me? Judge for yourself. We were highly skeptical, since “Judge for yourself” sounds like something from a multi-colored...
Continue reading...A little alma mater pride
While I was in Ohio over the weekend, my brother showed us this YouTube video of Ohio State’s very own flash mob, which took place a few weeks ago. He’s a sophomore there and happened to be walking through the (new, gorgeous) student union at the time, when all of a sudden: choreographed dance routine to music from Glee! My brother turned to the girl next to him to ask what was going on, and she expressed similar bafflement but then jumped up to join in a few minutes later. Look, I know it’s kind of cheesy,...
Continue reading...Andrew WK is excited about some songs
In the most recent issue of NME, the special guest reviewer for the singles was Andrew WK, and he’s pretty excited about some songs. For example: White Rabbits – They Done Wrong/We Done Wrong I like the way this starts – with surprising changing rhythms! I also like this band’s name as I’ve always loved white rabbits, especially with big blood-red eyes. This sounds like a rabbit – friendly, calm, soft. At first, it’s like the music people hear as they board an airplane. But then it grows and expand! The rabbits start mating and producing musical...
Continue reading...Juggalos: How do magnets work?
Jonah Weiner at Slate, for some reason, brings us a review of the new Insane Clown Posse video “Miracles.” It’s a rather grand review, comparing this particular posse of clowns to a rap-rock Wordsworth “dropping f-bombs aplenty in praise of the natural sublime,” for example. The song is a catalog of whoa-dude epiphanies, the sort that teenagers in movies enjoy while lying on the hoods of subcompacts, passing joints, and gazing up at the stars. Wide-eyed and wondrous, rappers Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope hail a variety of phenomena that will “blow your brain,” from “the Milky...
Continue reading...Alex Chilton: Likely or unlikely victim of the debacle that was the health care system?
Over at NOLA.com, there’s a spectacular overview of Alex Chilton’s life in New Orleans, where he lived mostly anonymously and quietly for over 28 years. I recommend you read it if you care about music at all (because you should care about Alex Chilton if you like music at all). This part, however, kind of struck me: At least twice in the week before his fatal heart attack, Chilton experienced shortness of breath and chills while cutting grass. But he did not seek medical attention, Kersting said, in part because he had no health insurance. So, rock...
Continue reading...
Recent Comments