Wednesday, January 28, 2004
What happened to the NME and has Royce Da 5'9 finally come correct?
James Ridgeway re-examines the issue of whether Bush was a deserter in "Operation Desert Guard: Bush's War Record: Missing, Inaction." (Village Voice)
I used to love reading the UK music weekly the New Musical Express for it's great journalism and scoops on acts that wouldn't hit the US for months, but the magazine has slowly devolved into a pale shadow of its former self in the last couple years. The most recent issue I received (Jan. 10) confirmed why I'm probably right to let my subscription lapse once the last issue has been mailed this time around:
- current buzz indie band and magazine cover stars Franz Ferdinand are described as the "band [that] will change your life!" I've gotten used to the NME hype over the years but come on!
- Nelly's cornball cash-in remix album Da Derrty Version: The Reinvention is rated a 9/10 and described as "brrilliant (sic)." If there's been a worse hip hop album this past year, somebody please comment below and let me know so I can avoid it at all costs.
On the the other hand, they do rate Lil Jon #3 on their Hot List for 2004 (I guess the crunk sound is only just now making it to the UK) and I'm also curious to hear some stuff on two new female garage MC's they tout: MC Shystie and Lady Sovereign. Next to blow after Dizzee and Dynamite, who knows?
I'm hoping this will lay to rest any need for me to continue posting on the Em vs. Source beef: "Eminem A Racist? Source's Source Chaos Kid Says No Way." (MTV News)
And I'm loving the new Primo-produced track "Hip Hop" by former Slim Shady affiliate Royce Da 5'9". Hip Hop for real, indeed. (mp3 sample courtesy: Hiphopsite.com)
But why should consumers care about music when the music industry obviously doesn't: Own a Piece of Elvis® History.
Related reading: All Shook Up Over Cutting and Selling of Elvis Tape. (New York Times)
Douglas Wolk asks the question: "How Bad a Year? Music biz recovery means suing and firing more people" in his Voice "The Sound of The Industry" column. (Village Voice)
And LA Reid is labeled "A Casualty of a Roiling Music Industry" (New York Times via Whatevs)
Coming soon: N*E*R*D's Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Ice Cream sneaker line via Reebok. (Star Trak Press Release)
Female football comes to NY and I didn't even know there was a Women’s Professional Football League to begin with. (Crain's)
But while we're on the topic of women's sports, Track & Field great Fanny Blankers-Koen R.I.P. (IAAF.org)
My PC is still buggin' out, I'm getting no sound, the monitor goes into "power save" mode all the time and it's crashing and/or not booting up so the Dell Tech Support Center (in Austin TX supposedly, I asked. Yeah right!) offered me the brillliant suggestion of reinstalling the Windows OS. Bottom line, depending on how long this takes to get right (I'm not tech adept at all), this might be my last post for a while. I guess this might be an excuse to upgrade to Windows XP?
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I used to love reading the UK music weekly the New Musical Express for it's great journalism and scoops on acts that wouldn't hit the US for months, but the magazine has slowly devolved into a pale shadow of its former self in the last couple years. The most recent issue I received (Jan. 10) confirmed why I'm probably right to let my subscription lapse once the last issue has been mailed this time around:
- current buzz indie band and magazine cover stars Franz Ferdinand are described as the "band [that] will change your life!" I've gotten used to the NME hype over the years but come on!
- Nelly's cornball cash-in remix album Da Derrty Version: The Reinvention is rated a 9/10 and described as "brrilliant (sic)." If there's been a worse hip hop album this past year, somebody please comment below and let me know so I can avoid it at all costs.
On the the other hand, they do rate Lil Jon #3 on their Hot List for 2004 (I guess the crunk sound is only just now making it to the UK) and I'm also curious to hear some stuff on two new female garage MC's they tout: MC Shystie and Lady Sovereign. Next to blow after Dizzee and Dynamite, who knows?
I'm hoping this will lay to rest any need for me to continue posting on the Em vs. Source beef: "Eminem A Racist? Source's Source Chaos Kid Says No Way." (MTV News)
And I'm loving the new Primo-produced track "Hip Hop" by former Slim Shady affiliate Royce Da 5'9". Hip Hop for real, indeed. (mp3 sample courtesy: Hiphopsite.com)
But why should consumers care about music when the music industry obviously doesn't: Own a Piece of Elvis® History.
Related reading: All Shook Up Over Cutting and Selling of Elvis Tape. (New York Times)
Douglas Wolk asks the question: "How Bad a Year? Music biz recovery means suing and firing more people" in his Voice "The Sound of The Industry" column. (Village Voice)
And LA Reid is labeled "A Casualty of a Roiling Music Industry" (New York Times via Whatevs)
Coming soon: N*E*R*D's Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Ice Cream sneaker line via Reebok. (Star Trak Press Release)
Female football comes to NY and I didn't even know there was a Women’s Professional Football League to begin with. (Crain's)
But while we're on the topic of women's sports, Track & Field great Fanny Blankers-Koen R.I.P. (IAAF.org)
My PC is still buggin' out, I'm getting no sound, the monitor goes into "power save" mode all the time and it's crashing and/or not booting up so the Dell Tech Support Center (in Austin TX supposedly, I asked. Yeah right!) offered me the brillliant suggestion of reinstalling the Windows OS. Bottom line, depending on how long this takes to get right (I'm not tech adept at all), this might be my last post for a while. I guess this might be an excuse to upgrade to Windows XP?
