The Love/Hate News Report 02.02.12: Happy Black History Month
Posted by John Downey on 02.02.2012
News and thoughts on Adele breaking more records, the Amy Winehouse fashion show, Lana Del Rey critiquing herself, Jack White's new single, Nicolas Cage reading LMFAO's lyrics, Ben Folds's new album, Don Cornelius's death and more!
Welcome to the only music news report that hopes for colder weather, the Love/Hate News Report! That might sound strange, but look at it from my perspective: I live in New England, I'm typing this intro at 7:30 on a Wednesday night (the last part of the column I type up), and it is 53 degree Fahrenheit. This...isn't...right.
Nick Krenn's Major Bands, Minor Labels looks at The War On Drugs, Imperial Teen, and White Buffalo. If you like music, you've already clicked on that hyperlink. His other column, The Music 3R's, delves into the politics of licking armpits and Miley Cyrus's penis cake. Damn, man, I thought I was the weird guy around here. C.A. Bell's Ten Deep looks at the greatest songs about girls. It's a hell of a list, but I think he could have found a spot for "Greedy Bitches" by Ghostface Killah. Just sayin'. Oh, and speaking of Imperial Teen, check out an interview that Bell conducted with the band here.
The New England Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl. I hope they either win (in a close game) or lost by a wide margin. If the Pats lose by anything less than a touchdown, my fellow Bostonians will make slideshows and explain in great detail why their beloved football Red Sawx should have won the Supa Bowl over those fahkin' New York hippies. Anyway...
Okay, here's how this works: I find eight news bites per week, and complain about them. Except when I like them, in which case I'll rave about them. That is relatively speaking, of course. I'm a bit of a scoundrel who remains negative about most matters, so to let you know when I'm not trying to drown you in sarcasm/hate, I have helpful little visual reminders letting you know when I think something is a good thing. For reasons concerning symmetry, I've put indicators around the parts where I'm ranting.
If you don't agree with me, that's what the comment section is for. Go ahead and air your grievances in a matter that you find to be most appropriate. If you troll hard enough, I might cry. I will never admit to tearing up, of course, but you'll know when it happens when you get that warm feeling in your heart.
Adele's 21 Is #1 On The Billboard 200 For The 18th Week
I actually thought that Tim McGraw's Emotional Traffic was going to spoil Adele's reign at the top. There are only two demographics that are consistently buying music these days, teenage girls and country fans, and McGraw has plenty of crossover appeal. Emotional Traffic debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 with 68,000 copies. Adele's 21 sold 116,000 copies (thanks, in large part, to the release of a deluxe edition of the album). This wasn't even close.
21 is now two weeks short of tying The Bodyguard soundtrack's record of twenty non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard 200 , and, well, I don't know if 21 will stay on top for much longer. Lana Del Rey's Born to Die has been selling well on iTunes and Amazon, and Leonard Cohen's new ideas could take away from Adele's sales. Even if 21 tops the charts for another week, next week sees new releases from Ben Kweller, Paul McCartney, The Fray, and Van Halen. As I said last week, though, Adele has had a hell of a year on the strength of a hell of an album, and that I'm still talking about 21 represents a hell of an accomplishment.
Instead of embedding "Rolling In The Deep", though, you get a song from the album that 21 surpassed!
…well, I liked it.
Amy Winehouse's Father Not Pleased With Amy-Inspired Fashion Show
It's been a little over six months since Amy Winehouse passed away, and I don't know that we've agreed on a proper way to talk about her. Her art was significantly inspired by her self-destructive behavior, and whether you were a fan of hers or not depended on if you could stomach someone with a gorgeous voice singing about disregarding their own health. Her death only served to complicate matters, though quite a few people have made the obvious, tasteless "she should've gone to rehab" joke. In short, using Winehouse's music or image is still tricky business and should probably be run past her estate for legal purposes, if not ethical ones. That someone had the bright idea of running a fashion show based on Winehouse's image, then, can only be seen as a bad thing.
The show was run by Jean Paul Gaultier, and though I know little of fashion, a cursory Google search suggests that Gaultier prefers attaching himself to big names over good taste. Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father, has spoken out against the show, saying, "To see her image lifted wholesale to sell clothes was a wrench we were not expecting or consulted on. …We're proud of her influence on fashion but…[the show] portrays a view of Amy when she was not at her best, and glamorizes some of the more upsetting times in her life. That's upsetting for her family."
Some have suggested that Mitch is upset because he doesn't get any money out of this. Okay, let's play along. Let's say that your daughter spent five years in the limelight, became celebrated for her music and look, and died suddenly. Six months after her death, someone plans on holding a fashion show using your daughter's likeness and music. How much money would it take for you to be okay with this? Personally, I don't think that any amount of money would be sufficient.
…AWKWARD TRANSITION!
Jack White Announces New Solo Album, Releases First Single
How to best sum up Jack White's career in one paragraph? Well, from 1999 through 2005, he stuck with the White Stripes and producing a Loretta Lynn album, and between De Stijl, White Blood Cells, Elephant, and Get Behind Me Satan, Jack White was basically untouchable. From 2006 through 2011, between the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, and making Icky Thump, White couldn't do anything right. I know that some people like the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, but they sound like much of the same limp rock'n'roll that the White Stripes sounded like a fresh alternative to.
That said, Jack White's new single, "Love Interruption", off of his upcoming debut solo album, Blunderbuss, is actually pretty good. 2012 looks to be stacked with noteworthy releases, but there is still room for a kickass Jack White album. Here's hoping that Blunderbuss is the comeback album that the lead single hints it to be.
Shit Lana Del Rey Says
"I actually felt good about [my performance on Saturday Night Live]. I thought I looked beautiful and sang fine. …There's backlash about everything I do. It's nothing new. When I walk outside, people have something to say about it. It wouldn't have mattered if I was absolutely excellent. People don't have anything nice to say about this project. I'm sure that's why you're writing about it."
Isn't she great, folks? Let's give her a hand!
Nicolas Cage Justifies His Existence
I've only enjoyed two Nicolas Cage films. In one of them, Princess Nausicaa and the guy who essentially owns the moon robbed him of all of his money. In the other one, he gets tortured and killed in front of his daughter before the climactic final scenes. I've never liked the guy's technique, and the stories my high school film teacher shared of what it was like to work with Cage didn't paint him in a flattering light, either.
His serious reading of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It", though, justifies his entire existence and makes me happy that Nicolas Cage exists. Enjoy:
Needless to say, this hasn't been a good week for positive news.
Where's My Happy Pilz
Remember Patrice Wilson? Sure you do—he's the guy behind Ark Music Factory, the company who produced Rebecca Black's "Friday". Since that video went viral last year, Wilson has been busy dodging skepticism and trying to make himself look like the good guy. To date, he has been relatively unsuccessful.
Well, he produced a new song with a new artist, and directed a video to go along with it. Let's see the damage…
I don't know what I can say about this that I haven't said about Ark, Black, or their imitators in the past. Even taking into account the market that this song is obviously aimed at, this is far from acceptable. The girl can't sing and is barely part of her own music video, the central focus of the video is a boy who willingly acts like a dork because shut up, and the whole thing comes across as late 80's/early 90's kid pop vomiting on itself.
There are positives, though. The beat isn't too bad, and Wilson usually takes quite a bit of time between posting videos. The video he posted before this one was put up in October, so I'm sure that we'll have plenty of time before we have to OH GOD WHY
At least "Friday" and most of its imitators were positive pieces and lent themselves to repeated viewings. This is just depressing, and I don't know who the target audience for this piece is. The video goes past "laughably bad" and settles on "dogshit". Goodness, I hope you didn't listen to those songs the whole way through.
Ben Folds Announces Work On New Album Has Begun
One Tweet isn't much to go on, but it is enough to get a guy like me excited. Cue quote machine:
It's happening fo sho - Day 1 in studio with Robert and Darren through March #NewBenFoldsFiveRecord.
A later Tweet confirmed plans to have it be released in the Spring. If you're wondering why I'm not going into much detail in why this is awesome fucking news…
Sorry/You're welcome.
Deaths In Music This Week
Television host and producer Don Cornelius passed away on February 1. Cornelius is best known as the creator of Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971 to 1993. The official cause of death has yet to be determined, though reports claim that Cornelius took his own life. He was 75.
On behalf of 411mania, I extend my condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.
One Sentence Banal Minutiae
MILEY CYRUS BUYS $127K CAR
Celebrities—they're just like you and me!
SINEAD O'CONNOR BACK WITH HUSBAND
I know that the joke going around is that Sinead is kah-RAZY, but the thing is, Barry Herridge keeps coming back to this crazy chick, so who's the really crazy one?
JAMES MURPHY OF LCD SOUNDSYSTEM TO MAKE A NEW BRAND OF COFFEE
Let me guess: it will be pretentious, upscale, have a bitter aftertaste, and everyone will love it, myself included.
RINGO STARR SAYS HE WILL NEVER WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
People might rag on him because he's the fourth Beatle, but if Paris Hilton can write a book, what's stopping Ringo?
FLORENCE WELCH ONCE SET FIRE TO HER HOTEL ROOM
No word on if she also went cow-tipping.
SELENA GOMEZ SAYS SHE IS IN LOVE WITH JUSTIN BIEBER
Who wants to bet that she'll break up with him the second she turns 20?
DEMI LOVATO RETURNS TO TWITTER
OMG, like, thank GAWD!
RAPPER GUN KELLY ARRESTED FOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT
And yet MC Vagina walks the streets.
KE$HA'S FRIEND MOONS CAMERA
Still more newsworthy than anything Fox News has aired.
NICOLE SCHERZINGER, STEVE JONES, AND PAULA ABDUL FIRED FROM THE X FACTOR
And not a single fuck was given that day.
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This is the first week of February, and you know what that means—you finally have a good excuse to blare "I'm Black Y'All" all day. Also, this means that it is time to announce January's Album to Love!
This month's choice is Born to Die by Lana Del Rey. Combining soulful lyrics with a modern-day stage prescence, Del Rey has created a unique sound that nobody is using today. You might be asking yourself, "Downey, are you serious?", to which I'll say, "Of course not!" Actually, this month's selection is Attack On Memory by Cloud Nothings. This is the first punk album I've heard in a long time that actually creates an identity for itself, and I think it stands a good chance at making it onto several year-end lists. As is usually the case, the album is also this week's playlist. Enjoy.
If the widget doesn't work, click here. If the widget doesn't show up, then it REALLY didn't work
Albums To Love
January: Attack on Memory, Cloud Nothings
Oh, Downey, you and your Lana Del Rey jokes. ;) She does need to keep her trap shut. I will agree with you on that. Also, love the January pick of Cloud Nothings -- it would be minen also.
Oh, and I picked up Del Rey's album by the way, and I'll say it's 60% good, a Rotten Tomatoes Fresh rating.
Posted By: Nick Krenn (Registered) on February 02, 2012 at 07:10 AM
Folds went into some info about the BFF album on The Nerdist podcast. I recommend that listen. There are some good performances there too. Let's just plead to the gods that he leaves the Autotune at home.
Posted By: C.A. Bell (Registered) on February 08, 2012 at 01:15 AM
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Adele's 21 Is #1 On The Billboard 200 For The 18th Week
Amy Winehouse's Father Not Pleased With Amy-Inspired Fashion Show
