International relief organzation War Child has released their fifth compilation, Heroes, to raise money for children affected by war. “The concept of Heroes is that the biggest legends in music, including Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Brian Wilson and The Clash, select one of the classic tracks from their own songwriting canon, and nominate an artist from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that classic song.” Former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire created the artwork.
Track Listing:
- Beck — “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” (Bob Dylan)
- The Kooks — “Victoria” (The Kinks)
- The Hold Steady — “Atlantic City” (Bruce Sprinsteen)
- Hot Chip – “Transmission” (Joy Division)
- Lily Allen — “Straight To Hell” (The Clash)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” (The Ramones)
- Franz Ferdinand — “Call Me” (Blondie)
- Duffy — “Live And Let Die” (Paul McCartney)
- Estelle — “Superstition” (Stevie Wonder)
- Rufus Wainwright — “Wonderful/Song For Children” (Brian Wilson)
- Scissor Sisters — “Do The Strand” (Roxy Music)
- Peaches –”Search And Destroy” (Iggy Pop)
- Adam Cohen — “Take This Waltz” (Leonard Cohen)
- Elbow — “Running To Stand Still” (U2)
- The Like –”You Belong To Me” (Elvis Costello)
- TV On The Radio — “Heroes” (David Bowie)
The Sunshine Underground is currently finishing their follow up to their debut album, Raise The Alarm–it was one of my favorites of 2006. In the meantime, fans can download “From the City to the Sea”, a collaboration with FC Kahuna.
I wasn’t trying to watch Ellen today but my DVR reverted to ABC after I finished playing last week’s episode of Psych. Anyway, Lily Allen was on the show to “perform” her first single, “The Fear”, from her recently released sophmore album It’s Not Me, It’s You. Her stiff, lip-synched vocals were a perfect fit for the lack of emotion in the song. I don’t see the point in faking it either; they should’ve just played a video. Apparently bathroom karaoke is also a new feature of Ellen’s show because she and Lily sang a duet of Britney’s “Womanizer” after the commercial break.
Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) became an overnight sensation after closing out the 7th game of the World Series during his rookie season with the Atlanta Braves. The then 19-year old relief pitcher’s success brought him multimillion dollar deals, endorsements, magazines covers, and his own catchphrase, “You’re fucking out!”. But his meteoric rise was soon followed by a catastrophic collapse as his press conferences and post-game interviews became platforms for insults against his team and fans. His career starts to tailspin as he flips the bird to everyone around him and gets shipped from team to team, no longer capable of maintaining his 101-mph fastball and unable to repeat his early success.
“Several shitty years later”, Kenny returns to his hometown with only his truck and jet ski–broke, indebted to the IRS, and an unwelcome guest at his brother Dustin’s (John Hawkes) house. He gets work as a gym teacher at his old middle school and learns that his ex-girlfriend, the curvaceous April Buchanon (Katy Mixon), is the school’s art teacher and is engaged to their starstruck boss, Principal Cutler (Andrew Daly). Kenny has emotionally reached rock-bottom but he is determined to hook up with April while convinced that he’ll return to the big leagues. The words from his audiobook, “You’re Fuckin’ Out. I’m Fuckin’ In.”, serve as his inspiration:
“Undaunted, I knew the game was mine to win. Just like in life, all of my successes depend on me. I’m the man who has the ball. I’m the man who can throw it faster than fuck, so that is why I am better than everyone in the world. Kiss my ass and suck my dick, everyone.”
Eastbound & Down airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 10:30pm EST
It’s no surprise that Bitch Slap was created by Rick Jacobson and Eric Gruendemann who both worked on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Originally planned for a release in late 2008, the T&A-filled film is jokingly rated “PG-DD” and should finally be out this Spring according to the website. Fans of Hercules and Xena should be pleased with cameos by Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless, and Renee O’Connor.
Bitch Slap stars Julia Voth (“Trixie”), Erin Cummings (“Hel”), and America Olivio (“Camero”) as “three bad girls (a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer and a corporate power-broker) as they arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort massive booty from a ruthless underworld kingpin”. It’s a 21st century homage to B-movie/exploitation flicks with a look inspired by the work of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino circa Sin City and Grindhouse. It could be one of the best or worst movies of the year. Maybe it’ll just go straight to DVD.
The website, designed by Hybrid Logic Media, is worth checking out…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6X4fQa6Ea0&hl=en&fs=1]
Razorlight are currently averaging an impressive 1.2 tweets per day since starting their Twitter account one month ago. Follow the band with 352 others (and counting) to stay updated on the exciting life of these rock ‘n’ roll stars. Based on their last three posts, I’ll be on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one.
“Are looking forward to their show tonight”
“Are in New York.”
“Have just landed in Mexico City.”
The band is indeed performing in NYC tonight at Irving Plaza. Maybe they’ll tweet to let us know when they plan to take the stage.
Last night’s episode of Flight of the Conchords was my favorite one of the season so far. “What happened basically: The guys become friends with Murray (for awhile).” Mel’s song is the musical highlight of the show. Check out her fan blog, Flight Tracker.
EMI has re-released the remastered versions of the Pet Shop Boys‘ first six proper albums in the U.K. almost eight years after the release of the “Further Listening” series in 2001 [ka-ching!]. But these new versions of Please, Actually, Introspective, Behaviour, Very, and Bilingual don’t come with the bonus discs of B-Sides, previously unreleased tracks, and remixes. That’s right, Neil, keep yawning.
TBWA\Chiat\Day created a series of great-looking posters for their ad campaign for the 51st (2009) GRAMMY Awards. The Celebrate The Music That Makes Us campaign features illustrations of Kanye West, Rihanna, Thom Yorke (above), Coldplay, Stevie Wonder, Lil Wayne, and Lenny Kravitz using the names of songs that have influenced and inspired their work. There’s been some positive media buzz about the campaign and fans on various blogs have expressed interest in owning these posters. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any way to buy them and it takes too much unnecessary work to just download them. Visitors to GRAMMY.com can’t purchase the pictures in any form through the archaic online store. Taking screen captures from the site’s Flash Gallery–see end of post–is the best option.
GRAMMY.com links to a Facebook page for “The Recording Academy”, but there’s also a Facebook group called “The Recording Academy feat. The GRAMMY Awards”. Between the two, you’ll still only be able to download a few average-quality images and you won’t find any Buddy Icons.
A free, well-designed iPhone App enables users to download some of the images but it requires plodding through a 51-question trivia game. You’ll only discover that downloads are available if you finish the game or if you bother to read the instructions. So if you just want to download all eight images then you have to have the awareness and patience to create screen captures or spend the time to find both Facebook pages and download/play one iPhone App. Either way, it’s a lot of work.
The out-of-home portion of the campaign is great but the GRAMMYs are missing the mark on a good opportunity to leverage these creative assets to promote the show online, modernize their brand, and even sell posters.
Give Gomez your email address to download “Airstream Driver”, the first single from their upcoming album A New Tide, available March 31st in the U.S. See the band live during their Spring tour:
3/21 – Workplay Theatre, Birmingham, AL
3/22 – Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC
3/23- The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
3/24 – Center Stage, Atlanta, GA
3/26 – Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
3/27 – Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA
3/28 – Theatre of The Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
3/29 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
3/31 – Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
4/01 – State Theatre, Ithaca, NY
4/02 – Pearl Street, Northampton, MA
4/03 – Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
