BBC Criticized for Iggy Pop's Racist Remark (NME)
MS: During a live BBC2 interview, Pop recounted an anecdote about visiting "Paki shops" in Camden. The BBC issued an on-air apology the following day but broadcasting watchdog Ofcom received two complaints from viewers about the incident. Ofcom ruled that the BBC "failed in its responsibility to ensure the offence caused was justified by the context".
Rock’s Balkanized Route to the Indies (NY Times)
MS: On any given night in an American rock club you can hear bands like Gogol Bordello, Man Man, Beirut and Balkan Beat Box playing odd-metered songs drawing on the rhythms of Eastern European Gypsy music. You might encounter Antibalas or Vampire Weekend riffing on African sounds, Dengue Fever making psychedelic Cambodian pop or a D.J. like Diplo spinning Brazilian funk. On the recent “Kala,” a contender for the year’s most exciting pop album, the British-Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A., who works from Brooklyn, draws on Indian, African and West Indian sounds. The folk-rocker Devendra Banhart creates fusions with Mexican and Brazilian musicians on his recent CD, “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon.” And the veteran musical adventurer Bjork toured this year with a West African percussion troupe and Chinese pipa virtuoso.
Radiohead Said to Shun Major Labels in Next Deal (NY Times)
MS: Radiohead, the British rock band that is regarded as the pre-eminent free agent in the global music business, is close to signing a series of deals to release its next album independently and leave the major record companies behind.
CBGB’s Vacant Shell To House Designer Suits And Other Things We Can’t Afford (Rolling Stone)
MS: If cancer hadn’t recently claimed CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, this news might have. The boutique is just the latest addition to hit the formerly dilapidated Bowery strip: Whole Foods and Starbucks were recently constructed as the street continues to morph from punky to yuppie.
Raids Target Music Piracy Site (Reuters)
MS: "OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of pre-release music online," said Jeremy Banks, head of the anti-piracy unit at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which helped in the investigation.
"This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure. This was a worldwide network that got hold of music they did not own the rights to and posted it online."
The Hold Steady Ready New Album (NME)
MS: "It sounds like the rest of our stuff. It's hard for me to tell what's different. I haven't finished lyrics at all. Writing a record to me is like doing a crossword puzzle, there's that last one on the bottom and once you get that one the rest of them it gets really easy. I don't have that one yet, but I have a lot of the other ones"
Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp Going On Tour (Billboard)
MS: Fishof will recruit 12 as-yet-unnamed rock star counselors who will each oversee one band in each city. Campers will arrive at 8 a.m., split into 12 different bands, and rehearse all day long. And "by 6 p.m., they're opening for a major rock act, which has yet to be named," Fishof says. "Each band does one song in front of a major act."
U2 lyrics turn congregations into crowds (Yale Daily)
MS: A U2charist is an Episcopalian worship service that uses U2 songs to instill a message of compassion and hope within a traditional liturgy. The service aims to encourage attendees to work toward the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations, which promote worldwide development. U2’s lead singer Bono co-founded the ONE Campaign, which embraces the MDGs in its efforts to eliminate poverty,
The Musical Genius of Jens Lekman (Slate)
MS: Lekman's reception in the States has been limited by a couple of minor artistic transgressions. First, he is, yes, it's true, prone to the sort of twee self-regard that converted Wes Anderson, midcareer, from a promising filmmaker into an antique tea table. Second, his influences and affinities are instantly obvious: Stephin Merritt's drone, Morrissey's bite, Belle and Sebastian's atmospherics, with some of Jonathan Richman's wild pitch and yaw. But all this is superficial in the face of one overwhelming truth: Lekman is a fully realized pop genius, and each of his full-length records is its own masterpiece.
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