UPDATE: New Jersey moved closer to allowing chronically ill patients to smoke marijuana to relieve symptoms of pain and nausea. The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee approved the medical marijuana bill by an 8-1 vote with two abstentions Thursday. New Jersey would become the 14th state with such a law if it passes the Legislature and Gov. Jon Corzine signs it. Corzine has said he would. MORE THE EXAMINER: Just when we thought that New Jersey would be the fourteenth state to ratify laws lifting the ban on medical marijuana, a new obstacle has appeared to slow it down. […]
EARLY WORD: Roots Picnic Schedule
[Click poster to purchase tix] Awwww YEAH! God bless the motherfucking Roots and all who sail with her. We’re gonna be covering it for Rolling Stone, so try and stay classy, Philadelphia. Please. And to make sure you pace yourselves and don’t wind up that person they always carry out before it even begins, all drunk-up and heat-stroked and shit, we’re posting the schedule after the jump…
RIP: Koko Taylor, Chicago Blues Icon, Dead At 80
[Koko Taylor – Up In Flames (Wild At Heart)] LOS ANGELES TIMES: Koko Taylor, a Chicago musical icon who became one of the most revered female blues vocalists of her time with signature hits such as “Wang Dang Doodle,” “I’m a Woman” and “Hey Bartender,” died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago of complications from gastrointestinal surgery. She was 80. Her death came less than four weeks after her last performance, at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where she collected her record 29th Blues Music Award. She had surgery May 19 and appeared to be recovering until taking […]
BOXED OFFERING: How To Grow Up To Be A Debaser
[Illustration by JAY BEVENOUR] Pixies career-encompassing box set called Minotaur will be available for purchase at ainr.com, home of contemporary art reinterpretation box sets for Beck, NIN and Sigur Ros. This stunning reappropriation/recreation of the Pixies catalog as art is “must have” for any fan of Vaughan Oliver or 4AD’s legendary catalog, one that any collector should be salivating to check out. Minotaur is out June 15 in a $175 Deluxe Edition and a $450 Limited Collector’s edition that also includes a 96-page hardcover book and vinyl versions of every Pixies release. The Deluxe Edition will include all five Pixies […]
CONCERT REVIEW: The Pet Sounds Of Brooklyn
? [Photos by TIFFANY YOON] BY DIANCA POTTS AND KYLEE MESSNER Last night’s sold out performance by Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear — the It Band of the moment — opened with a set full of ethereal indie rock compliments of opening act (and fellow New Yorkers) Here We Go Magic. Spearheaded by front man Luke Temple, Here We Go Magic’s performance flowed over the calm and composed crowd like a balm, sounding like a revamped resurrection of the Shins circa ’01 and a tamer Animal Collective with a side of forlorn folk. Describing their own sound as “a lovely ruckus,” Here […]
THE BEATLES: Rock Band
MTV: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr took the stage at the Microsoft press conference to talk briefly about the game, made by “Rock Band” creators at MTV-owned Harmonix Music, which is slated for release on September 9 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Wii. It will be released alongside replica Beatles instruments that connect to the game — and the long-awaited remastered Beatles catalog will be released on the same day. MORE
TONITE: Grizzly Bear Jamboree At The Troc
[Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks] UPDATE: THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT NEW YORK TIMES: Music moves; it can’t do anything else. Grizzly Bear’s songs rev without going anywhere. With broad vocal harmonies and harmonic motion built from unusual guitar tunings, the band gives you beauty until you can’t stand it. I found myself lost in a few bright, bursting moments of its show at Town Hall on Thursday. They felt like static pleasures, though. The concert sits in my memory like a slide show. There is a nearly suffocating fussiness in this band. It can’t be altered: it’s the life […]
When Slim Shady’s Face Met Sacha Cohen’s Junk
ASSOCIATED PRESS: In character as flamboyant fashion reporter “Bruno,” Baron Cohen flew in above Sunday’s award show audience on a wire — and in a pair of feathery white wings and his rear end mostly exposed. But the comedian crashed into an overhead obstacle, and he was lowered into the audience — right into Eminem’s lap, his bare hindquarters in the rapper’s face. Eminem seemed visibly upset at the mishap. Or was it a joke he was in on? The rapper stormed out with his entourage in tow — and cameras rolling. MORE UPDATE: The head writer for the MTV […]
TONITE: Crystal Antlers
[Crystal Antlers: ‘Andrew’] At The Barbary tonight!
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Iggy Pop: He’s the Godfather of Punk, the former lead singer of The Stooges, famous for his explosive bare-chested performances and for the verbal abuse he hurls at his audiences. Also for his self-mutilation and heroin addiction. But last year the artist once known as James Jewell Osterburg Jr. turned 60, and his newest work reflects the changes that have come with age. His album Preliminaires, in fact, takes inspiration from sources that may surprise some: Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and French novelist Michel Houellebecq. It features standards like “Autumn Leaves” and “How Insensitive.” The result? Iggy […]
SuBo Taken To Mental Hospital After Breakdown
THE SUN: BRITAIN’S Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle was in the Priory clinic last night suffering from exhaustion. The singer, dubbed SuBo, had an “emotional breakdown” following Saturday’s final in which she was runner-up. But the talent show favourite was still eyeing a mega United States tour. The 48-year-old virgin, tipped to earn £8MILLION, survived tears and a tantrum to finish second in Saturday’s gripping final of telly’s Britain’s Got Talent. But the pressure finally told late yesterday as the Scots singer — dubbed SuBo by fans — was rushed to the private clinic suffering from exhaustion. Show aides had […]
SPECIAL REPORT: The Good News Flower Hour
SPECIAL REPORT: GNFH #23 Today is SAY NO TO U.S. TORTURE POLICY Day. We made this reminder so you don’t forget. You’re welcome. RELATED: Photographs of alleged prisoner abuse which Barack Obama is attempting to censor include images of apparent rape and sexual abuse, it has emerged. At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee. Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube. Another apparently shows a female prisoner having […]
BOARD GAME: Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
MORE [h/t P. RYDDY] * THE WORLD CAFE As a child, Benjy Ferree dreamed of becoming an actor. After discovering his love of music, he moved to Washington, D.C., and began playing gigs at local clubs. Before long, Ferree’s vintage Americana music had caught the eye of a label, which put out Leaving the Nest, a folksy, acoustic and blues-filled album that won the singer many new fans. Ferree’s new follow-up, Come Back to the Five and Dime Bobby Dee, Bobby Dee, tells the tragic story of Disney actor Bobby Driscoll in song. Though he sticks to Americana, Ferree adds […]