Wednesday, April 28, 2004

JAY-Z, RICK RUBIN AND VINCENT GALLO hang in the 'hood in Brooklyn.

This is a stellar new B&W video for the Jay-Z track "99 Problems" produced by Rick Rubin. It was directed by Mark Romanek (Beck, No Doubt, Weezer, Lenny Kravitz, Madonna).

Monday, April 26, 2004

I LOVE LIVING IN NYC...

In the past week - I've seen two movies being filmed in the streets of New York. One was on East 4th between Lafayette and Broadway - a movie called "First Last Kiss" with Will Smith and Eva Mendes. And the other was on East 9th and 2nd Ave. That one was the Sydney Pollack movie starring Nicole Kidman called "The Interpreter".

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

NEXT TIME YOU ARE IN SOHO...

...pass by 30 Crosby Street between Broome and Grand.

Lenny Kravitz is selling his huge loft there for over 13 million!

Pictures of the apt are here and more info here.

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

A cool NYC song is "Good Fortune" by PJ Harvey.
YUM YUM

Things were lively in my neighborhood over the weekend. About a half a block from my apt, NY electro guru Moby hosted a Saturday bake sale for democracy to benefit moveon.org outside his restaurant called Teany. Rev. Al Sharpton was outside my apt window at one point. I had to do a double take.
And here are more photos of who else was there.
Also Moby talks about it in his on-line journal. The line-up to buy tasty cupcakes was down the block!

COACHELLA MADNESS - HERE I COME

In less than 2 weeks I will be on the sunny west coast in Los Angeles and near Palm Springs for the Coachella Festival. Can't wait!! It will be a crowded festival this year. Billboard.com reports that 2 day passes and tickets for the first day Sat May 1st are sold out!

IS THERE ANYTNING THEY CAN'T DO??

My fave band of the moment FRANZ FERDINAND were guest editors of the Guardian, a UK newspaper. They did a killer job. Check out the articles.


Friday, April 16, 2004

I WONDER WHO WILL BE CAST AS KURT COBAIN?

The WB Network is developing an original movie about
the life of 1990s rock icon Kurt Cobain. The network
has obtained the rights to Charles Cross' 2001 book
"Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain."
Robert Munic ("They Call Me Sir") has been
commissioned to write the script for the film, which
could get a primetime berth as early as next season.
The untitled film is the latest project out of the
WB's new longform original programming unit, which is
run by senior vp original movies Tana Nugent Jamieson.
"The day Kurt Cobain died was the day the music died
for a generation," she said. "His story is perfect for
our audience."

Thursday, April 15, 2004

FROM MY FAVORITE WEBSITE popbitch.com

Where's social services when you need them?

A comprehensive guide to the most appallingly named celebrity babies of the 21st Century:

1. Pilot Inspektor Riesgraf Lee - (Jason Lee)
2. Tu Morrow - Rob Morrow (Tu Morrow... geddit?)
3. Audio Science Sossamon - Shannon Sossamon
4. Salvador O'Brien - Ed O' Brien (Radiohead)
5. Raven Numan - Gary Numan
6. Banjo Griffiths-Taylor - Rachel Griffiths
7. Jermajesty Jackson - Jermaine Jackson
8. Reignbeau Rhames - Ving Rhames (like Rainbow)
9. Jaz Agassi - Andre and Steffi Agassi
10. Speck Wildhorse Mellencamp - John Mellencamp

Thursday, April 08, 2004

NOW NOW CALM DOWN...

QUEENS of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme canceled a concert in Philadelphia after he was injured in an East Village bar brawl early Tuesday. Homme and girlfriend Brody Dalle of the Distillers hit Niagara on Avenue A after Homme's side project, Eagles of Death Metal, played Mercury Lounge. At about 2:30 a.m., Homme had words with a guy at the bar and ended up taking several punches. "Josh is injured," Eagles publicist Trevor Jones confirmed. Though Tuesday's Philly gig was canceled, Homme and his band taped a performance for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" yesterday and were scheduled to play last night's "top secret" Visionaire magazine bash at Canal Room.

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Another good story on one of my fave bands THE STILLS!

Ottawa Sun - April 7th/04

It may well be the perfect pop album for today. Self-pitying lyrics, Coldplay-worthy falsetto crooning, layer upon layer of jangly guitar riffs -- The Stills' irresistible Logic Will Break Your Heart makes it all sound so easy.

You can learn a lot about people from how they remember the 1980s, that synthetic pop decade that refuses to leave. Especially when they weren't exactly around for it the first time around.

At 25, The Stills' singer-guitarist Tim Fletcher can't claim to have been frequenting Montreal's Foufounes Electriques or Club Soda during that misunderstood decade. But no matter: Fletcher and bandmates Dave Hamelin (drums), Greg Paquet (guitar) and Oliver Crowe (bass) have come up with their own 1980s. And in many ways, it sounds much better.

Not that the 12 songs on Logic Will Break Your Heart, recorded in New York with fellow Canuck Gus Van Go at the helm, are derivative. It may be fun to listen for echoes of The Jesus and Mary Chain (at the beginning of Lola Stars and Stripes), New Order (Changes Are No Good), The Smiths (the clever fade-in of the bitter Allison Krausse) and The Cure (just about everything). But the songwriting of Fletcher and Hamelin is strong enough to ward off all accusations of predictability.

"I think, early on, bands like The Pixies, The Clash and Belle and Sebastian were really what we were listening to," Fletcher says.

"And yeah, some of the '80s stuff that we get referred to -- Echo and the Bunnymen, Duran Duran, The Cure, The Smiths -- were things that were in our musical subconscious."

But, he asserts, "we never listened to Joy Division." And, as the Belle and Sebastian tip confirms, it has never been all-'80s-all-the-time for The Stills.

Indeed, the Montrealers honed their skills in the fertile musical ground of New York City, watching and learning as they shared bills with the likes of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

"That's where we earned a couple of our stripes," Fletcher says of the Big Apple. "Our managers are from Montreal, but live in New York, and upon hearing some of the compositions Dave and I had been working on, they encouraged us to come down. It was like, 'What are you doing? Don't waste your time there; come to New York and we'll see what can come of us working on music together.' "

What came of the band's N.Y.C. adventure was a deal with Vice Recordings, with distribution by Warner Music, and a promising EP, The Rememberese, that offered a taste of the band's gifts for adding melancholy sentiments to catchy tunes.

By the time of Logic, The Stills were doing everything right.

Nothing to it, really, Fletcher shrugs.

"We know how to craft songs and we know how to produce them in a certain way," Fletcher says, adding that the band's early material was far more experimental. "I think when the label heard the record, they were surprised by how accessible it is. But it's our first record and that's what we thought it should be."

Again, The Stills make it all sound so easy. And each new set of ears brings a new convert. But, Fletcher notes, pop stardom doesn't mean the band can forever suppress its experimental tendencies -- musically or lyrically.

"Right now," he says, "we're in a box that confines us. It's self-imposed, in a certain way, but we want to break out of that box and step into more open and creative territory.

"That record reflects the headspace we were in at the time of writing those songs. And it really succeeded in that realm. It is moody; there is a certain pessimism.

"But it's a pretty underdeveloped and simplistic take on emotions, to a certain degree. It's time to move on to new emotional territory and new moods. We won't repeat ourselves."
SPEAKING OF BLONDES...

Seminal NY band Blondie is back with a new album. Do you think people still care? Looks like they do.

Check out these photos of the FREE OUTDOOR concert they did last night in New York.

Wonder if they played "Call Me"?

New album came out yesterday.

Long live Debbie Harry!