The year was 2002. A famously nerdy, well-loved 1990s alt-pop band, looking for the perfect foil for their music-video rep, pulls out a dormant pop-culture phenomenon and breathes new life into it. That band was Weezer. That phenomenon was The Muppets. It took another try or two to fully pull it off, but The Muppets managed to earn their place back in the A list thanks to the template set by that video. Can lightning strike twice? Fortunately, there’s another famously nerdy, well-loved 1990s alt-pop band looking for the perfect foil for their music-video rep. Aren’t comebacks splendid, Ben Folds Five and Fraggle Rock? source
Fans had been trading magnetic tapes of already-released albums for years by this point, but Wonder was different: It was the first time that unheard recordings of a superstar’s new compositions had leaked to the public, and were being sold. It’s easy to take such a thing for granted today, when leaks circulate freely online, but Wonder represented the earliest moment when advancing technologies combined with popular demand and illicit entrepreneurship to create cracks in the record industry’s otherwise firm facade.Articles: Bob Dylan’s Great White Wonder: The Story of the World’s First Album Leak | Features | Pitchfork (via thisistheverge)
Breaking Bad is as addictive as Walter White’s blue meth, even to people who work on the show.
Before the pilot aired, composer Dave Porter saw it at a colleague’s house and knew he was going to need more than one fix of AMC’s nervy drama that stars Bryan Cranston as a chemistry teacher who makes a fascinating descent into the drug trade.
“I was absolutely hooked,” Porter told Wired in an e-mail. “After that, I was as persistent as I could be until I was hired.”
So addictive, he had to work on the show.
Listen to the first song from Mars
Hip-hop musician Will.i.am’s “Reach for the Stars” officially became the first song broadcast from Mars today, thanks to a signal beamed from NASA’s Curiosity rover.
“This is the first time that a song’s ever come from another planet,” Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for education and a former astronaut, told students at an educational event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
You know, if the aliens come, we should be promoting our highest artistic work. Not the Black Eyed Peas. It’s like introducing Martians to our cinematic history through “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” I mean, how hard would it have been to put on some John Cage for these folks? You wouldn’t even have had to broadcast anything!
» So, where did all the money go? Well, the company certainly hasn’t done much trimming when it comes to wages. After reporting $16 million in employee compensation during 2009, equal to 31.16% of their revenue, the company only shaved $3 million in wages by 2011. The company reported $13 million in employee compensation last year, equal to 44.67% of their revenue, including over $3 million in wages for the company’s two highest-ranking executives. Add in a $21.9 million drop in annual membership dues over the same two-year period — amid a fairly rosy 2011 for the music industry as a whole, which suggests members are departing or paying smaller amounts in membership dues — and the picture really starts to come together. So, how much longer do you think the RIAA is going to last?
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How did it happen that our performance, which was a small and clumsy stunt, brought so much trouble? How can this happen in a healthy society? And now it takes thousands of people around the world to prove the obvious, to prove that the three of us are innocent.Maria Alekhina, member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot • Expressing disbelief that Pussy Riot’s decision to stage an anti-Putin protest on the alter of Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral has created such an uproar. While Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a lenient sentencing by the court, some believe that his statements reveal a hidden presumption of guilt which they worry will be shared by jurors. In addition to Alekhina, co-defendants Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich stood by their decision to protest, and said they were more free behind bars than prosecutors who can “only say what political censorship allows.” A verdict is expected to be delivered on August 17. source (via • follow)
![theatlantic:
The Geography of America’s Music Scenes
Numerous U.S. cities have staked claims as leading music centers. Seattle had its grunge, Chicago has electric blues, and Nashville its twang. Detroit was the birthplace of both Motown and the hard-edge distorted indie rock of The White Stripes. Austin has Stevie Ray Vaughn, Willie Nelson, and a host of legendary singer-songwriters. Then there’s of course New Orleans jazz, brass, and funk; San Francisco’s psychedelic sound; and the reverb-soaked rockabilly that is inextricably associated with Memphis’s Sun Records.
Read more. [Martin Prosperity Institute]
The surprise to us: Kalamazoo’s music scene is apparently very strong.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8c852VTMN1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
The Geography of America’s Music Scenes
Numerous U.S. cities have staked claims as leading music centers. Seattle had its grunge, Chicago has electric blues, and Nashville its twang. Detroit was the birthplace of both Motown and the hard-edge distorted indie rock of The White Stripes. Austin has Stevie Ray Vaughn, Willie Nelson, and a host of legendary singer-songwriters. Then there’s of course New Orleans jazz, brass, and funk; San Francisco’s psychedelic sound; and the reverb-soaked rockabilly that is inextricably associated with Memphis’s Sun Records.
Read more. [Martin Prosperity Institute]
The surprise to us: Kalamazoo’s music scene is apparently very strong.
Polarizing rapper Tyler, the Creator took to FormSpring last night to share his thoughts on fellow Odd Future member Frank Ocean’s recent announcement regarding his sexuality. “He told me a long time ago,” said Tyler, adding,”It was just funny cause i was getting bashed as a homophobe or whatever and I kept saying dude how am I one?” Of course, as is expected with the internet nowadays, not everybody was as supportive. Noisey saved us the effort of collecting hate-filled tweets, comedian Lil Duval probably lost a few fans thanks to comments he made, and some people still think it’s just a marketing gimmick. (photo via InFlexWeTrust; ht @RESPECTmag) source
Check out this awesome mash-up of The Andy Griffith Show theme song and Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’, created several months ago for Paste Magazine by DJ Party Ben. Perhaps one of the oddest ways to remember Griffith, who died early this morning. Here’s a more traditional way.
(Source: hypervocal.com)
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
This guy’s name is Gen. Keith...
mconor says: ‘Independent rapper’ come on SFB, everybody knows Based God also he’s still unsigned, not indie
» SFB says: We’d like to get an independent second opinion on this. — Ernie @ SFB
(Source: shortformblog)
» That’s a pretty impressive number — see the entire, alphabetized track list over at The Fader — and it’s inspired all of us here at SFB to chase the rap career that we’ve collectively dreamed of. The goal: 1300 freestyles by this time next week. Leave your beat recommendations in the replies/comments. Next move’s on you #BasedGod…
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Former Fugees singer and solo artist Lauryn Hill faces federal charges for failing to file her taxes for three straight years, from 2005-2007. According to federal prosecutors, Mrs. Hill earned more than $1.6 million during that time. If convicted of the charges, Mrs. Hill could face up to $100,000 in fines and a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Hill, who has toured somewhat heavily in recent years, hasn’t released a new studio album since her 1998 debut. (Photo via TonyFelgueiras) source
![reuters:
In 2003, it transpired that US intelligence services had tortured detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib with music from Sesame Street.
Human rights researcher Thomas Keenan explains: “Prisoners were forced to put on headphones. They were attached to chairs, headphones were attached to their heads, and they were left alone just with the music for very long periods of time. Sometimes hours, even days on end, listening to repeated loud music.”
“The music was so loud,” says Moazzam Begg, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram. “And it was probably some of the worst torture that they faced.”
Stunned by this abuse of his work, Christopher Cerf was motivated to find out more about how it could happen.
AL JAZEERA: Sesame Street music used at Guantanamo
[Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton]
A low point for humanity.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4w35p459L1qmaoalo1_500.jpg)
In 2003, it transpired that US intelligence services had tortured detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib with music from Sesame Street.
Human rights researcher Thomas Keenan explains: “Prisoners were forced to put on headphones. They were attached to chairs, headphones were attached to their heads, and they were left alone just with the music for very long periods of time. Sometimes hours, even days on end, listening to repeated loud music.”
“The music was so loud,” says Moazzam Begg, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram. “And it was probably some of the worst torture that they faced.”
Stunned by this abuse of his work, Christopher Cerf was motivated to find out more about how it could happen.
AL JAZEERA: Sesame Street music used at Guantanamo
[Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton]
A low point for humanity.
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