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Pixies, Real Estate, Allison Crutchfield, Wolfgang   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, July 10, 2017 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE MUPPETS get mashed-up with the Beasties' "Sabotage."

THE PIXIES played a mini-set for World Cafe Live.

REAL ESTATE played a mini-set at the 2017 NON-COMMvention in Philadelphia.

ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

SHOUT OUT LOUDS share "Jumbo Jet."

THE HOLLIES: "Have You Ever Loved Somebody", courtesy of the Beeb.

SONIC YOUTH: Diffuser celebrates Sister's 40th anniversary.

PERFUME GENIUS: Mike Hadreas discussed his fave albums at The Quietus.

JARVIS COCKER interviews PETER SAVILLE on how Joy Division and New Order influenced modern art. (Thx, Frank Yang.)

THE TOP 25 LPs of 2017 (So Far), according to Consequence of Sound.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Spider-Man: Homecoming easily tops the chart with 117MM, well above projections near 90MM and a tribute to the power of bringing an extremely valuable, but declining franchise under the umbrella of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Despicable Me 3 places with 34MM on a 53 percent drop from its debutframe; it is a head of the orginal, but lages the others in this franchise.  Baby Driver shows with12.8MM on a leffy 38 percent drop (esp leggy given that Edgar Wright fans likely frontloaded the debut).  This will be Wright's biggest and most profitable picture to date.  Wonder Woman hands on to the fourth slot with another 10.1MM on a 36 percent drop; it is gaining on the Guardians sequel for the second spot overall this year. Transformers: The Last Knight rounds ou the Top Five with 6.3MM, but plummets 63 percent in the process, cementing it as a franchise surviving on toy sales foreign grosses.

DUNKIRK: Christopher Nolan writes about the difficulty that went into trying to get the movie made and the pitch that sealed the deal with Warner Brothers.

DONAL LOGUE's child is "safely back home" after being missing for more than a week.

BEN AFFLECK reportedly started a relationship with SNL line producer Lindsay Shookus during his marriage to Jennifer Garner.  Shookus left her now ex-husband, Kevin Miller, to be with Affleck.

BAYWATCH is getting rescued overseas.

MARRYING WITH THE STARS: Julianne Hough married NHL star Brooks Laich; Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy married each other.

JEREMY RENNER has broken both his arms in a stunt that went wrong while filming Avengers: Infinity War.

JAMES CORDEN and his wife Julia are expecting their third child.

SHIA LeBEOUF was arrested in Georgia for being wasted and losing control of himself.

NELSAN ELLIS, who starred in HBO's True Blood as Lafayette Reynolds, has died at 39.

IRAQ: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday to congratulate Iraq’s armed forces for wresting the city from the Islamic State. The victory marked the formal end of a bloody campaign that lasted nearly nine months, left much of Iraq’s second-largest city in ruins, killed thousands of people and displaced nearly a million more.

WOLFGANG rescues all sorts of animals.

PRAYING MANTISES are killing birds and eating their brains.

GOATS clearing a lot at Western Michigan University have drawn a union grievance.

AN ARMED 11-YEAR-OLD saved a fishing party from a charging brown bear in Alaska on June 18.

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Eli's Coming. Sheer Mag, Offa Rex, Boris, Flowers of Evil, Baby Rhino   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, July 07, 2017 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THREE DOG NIGHT! Once again, I'm enjoying the guilty pleasure of enjoying "Eli's Coming" with fellow fans of the late, lamented SportsNight. That, along with memories of The Service's cover of "Shambala" led me to compile a few more, including "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "Joy To The World," "One," "Liar," and "Celebrate."

SHEER MAG advance streams their widely-anticipated debut, Need To Feel Your Love.

OFFA REX advance streams The Queen of Hearts.

BORIS advance streams Dear.

FLOWERS OF EVIL streams City Of Fear.

TED LEO shares “You’re Like Me.”

RAINER MARIA shares "Suicides And Lazy Eyes."

DEE-LITE finds that "Groove Is In the Heart," with a little help from Bootsy Collins and Q-Tip.

THE BOOMTOWN RATS are releasing a new album - their first in over 30 years.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: New tracks from Mogwai, Benjamin Clementine, St Vincent, and more...

LENNON & McCARTNEY, 60 years later.

THE TOP 25 AMERICANA & COUNTRY LPs of 2017 (So Far), according to Rolling Stone.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING is this weekend's sole wide release, scoring 93 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.  It was a project in which Marvel Studios essentially proposed taking over the creative part from Sony and incorporating Spidey into the MCU following Captain America: Civil War.  It has also been described as Marvel's John Hughes teen movie.  And Homecoming executes on both of those things well, right down to its soundtrack and Hughes homages.  Tom Holland captures the Peter Parker of the early comics and the first movie adaptation by Sam Raimi (skipping the origin story except in passing dialog tho); the rest of the younger cast is generally fresh and natural.  The screenplay makes The Vulture (never one of my fave villains) interesting and former Batman and Birdman Michael Keaton makes the most of the material. Marisa Tomei continues to age like a fine, fine wine -- so much so that it's a running joke; she may also get the best line in the movie, though you have to wait for it.  And then there is the cameo contingent from the MCU, most particularly Robert Downey, Jr, who is, as always, Tony Stark and Robert Downey, Jr.  Marvel movies with him tend to make more than Marvel movies without him, so this was as much commerce as art, but the relationship (which you've seen in the trailers, perhaps) works well enough and the screenplay is careful to not let him overshadow Holland.  And yes, you'll want to stay past the credits, even if you curse me for it in the moment.

PATTON OSWALD and actress Meredith Salenger are headed down the aisle.

LILITH FAIR: An Oral History.

MEATBALLS: An Oral History.

VALERIAN director Luc Beeson had some of his film school students shoot a version of one particularly strange sequence in order to explain it to his pro crew.

THE BATMAN: Director Matt Reeves talks about Alfred Hitchcok and Chritopher Nolan.

GAME OF THRONES is hitting the road.

A BABY RHINO gets a lullaby.

A GORILLA enjoys watching gorilla videos.

A CAT and a fidget spinner.

STRANGE SEA PICKLES are surfacing in Alaska.

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Thingsday, incl. Real Estate, The Kills, Weak Days, Goat Yoga   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, July 06, 2017 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

 

FOO FIGHTERS debuted "Dirty Water" in Paris.

REAL ESTATE played a mini-set at at the 2017 NON-COMMvention in Philadelphia.

THE KILLS are streaming their Echo Home – Non-Electric EP.

THE WEAK DAYS advance stream Tight.

CHANCE THE RAPPER covered Stevie Wonder during his Tiny Desk Concert.

ARCADE FIRE debuted "Chemistry" in London.

 

R.B. GREAVES: "Take a Letter, Maria."

PRINCE: Duane Tudahl, author of Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions (1983-1984), walks you through the reissue's bonus tracks.  ALSO: John Blackwell Jr., drummer for Prince’s New Power Generation, has died at 43, after being  diagnosed with “brain tumours” in 2016.

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: Ten of Their Best.

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCAST's J. Willgoose, Esq. talks to Morning Edition about the band's artistic process.

THE BEST of 2017 (So Far), according to Pretty Much Amazing.

 

BABY DRIVER: I forgot to mention yesterday that I caught Edgar Wright's latest flick over the holiday weekend.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, though it helps if you think of it more as a musical than a gangster/heist movie (that level of suspension of disbelief will help quite a bit).  The weak link may be Ansel Elgort in the title role; he's good, but perhaps not up to the level of performance you get from Jon Hamm or Jamie Foxx here. Or perhaps he plays it a bit more real than he should.

BRAD PITT & SIENNA MILLER  have been "spending some time together."

ROB KARDASHIAN & BLAC CHYNA had another dramatic falling out, this time involving explicit photos and allegations.

TUPAC broke off his sexual relationship with Madonna because she was white.

LAUREN CONRAD and her husband, lawyer William Tell, are proud parents to a son.

AMELIA EARHART, who vanished 80 years ago on a round-the-world flight, may have survived a crash-landing in the Marshall Islands.

VALERIAN: The early buzz is generally good, if a bit mixed.

 

GOAT YOGA is banned from the Congressional Cemetery.

MOM? DAD? There's a bear in my bedroom.

AN ELEPHANT checked out Baraboo, WI, after esacaping from Circus World.

CANUCK THE CROW interrupted mail service at several addresses in East Vancouver.

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Post-Holiday Things, incl. BSS, Peter Perrett, St Vincent, Orchestra Dog   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, July 05, 2017 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

 

THE XX shares a video for "I Dare You."

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE advance streams Hug Of Thunder.

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING advance streams Every Valley.

SARAH JAFFE advance streams Bad Baby.

TRISTEN advance streams Sneaker Waves.

PETER PERRETT of THE ONLY ONES is streaming his first LP in 20 years, How the West Was Won.

GREAT GRANDPA streams Plastic Cough.

ST VINCENT shares "New York,"

THE NATIONAL shares "Sleep Well Beast."

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER shares "Standing In The Doorway."

 

DAVID BOWIE sung Paul Simon's "America" at the Concert for NYC in Oct 2001.

THE ROLLING STONES are back in the studio.

ANNIE LENNOX was recently "discovered" by a US radio station employee.

RADIOHEAD's OK Computer saw our future.

SPOON: Britt Daniel talks to Drowned In Sound about the process behind Hot Thoughts.

 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Despicable Me 3 easily topped the weekend chart with 72.4MM, which is probably just fine against an 80MM budget, but below the last DM debut and below the Minions spinoff.  Baby Driver placed with 21MM (30MM since opening last Wed.) against a 34MM budget;it kept momentum over the five days, suggesting it may have legs instead of just being a thing for Edgar Wright fans.  Transformers: The Last Knight showed with 17MM on a steep 62 percent drop; its' still going gangbusters in foreign markets,busting through the 400MM mark overall.  Wonder Woman took the fourth slot with 15.7MM on a leggy 37 percent drop -- especially leggy given it has lost screens to new releases.  The Amazonian princess crosses 700MM worldwide against a 149MM budget.  Cars 3 rounds out the Top Five with 9.7MM, taking a 60 percent hit with the arrival of the Despicable Me competition; this will be Pixar's worst or second-worst performeron the big screen.  Below the fold, The House debuts in sixth in a Summer that's been deadly for comedies.

MARIA MENOUNOS was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and is stepping down from E! News.

SCARLETTT JOHANSSON and SNL's Colin Jost are back on.

DONAL LOGUE and his ex-wife took to social media to search for their missing child.

QUENTIN TARANTINO got engaged to singer Daniela Pick.

FYRE FESTIVAL organizer Billy McFarland was arrested by federal agents on Friday on a charge of wire fraud.  He's out on 300K bail.

JAMES CROMWELL was sentenced to seven days in the Orange County Jail, after refusing to pay a fine related to his arrest at a protest in Wawayanda, New York.

FANTASTIC BEASTS: A few details about the sequel.

HAWAII FIVE-O's Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park have left the show after the network refused to pay them as much as their white costars.

 

A DOG joins an orchestra in Turkey.

KANGAROOS frustrate self-driving cars.

A RACCOON has a meal on a NYC subway train.

HOW FROGS Benefited From The Dinosaurs' Extinction.

AN IGUANA in a toilet? Must be Florida...

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Happy Birthday, 'Murica (more or less)!   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, June 30, 2017 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

THE FOURTH of JULY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE BEACH BOYS!  It's Pate Reunion Weekend and time to "Do It Again."  Because folks my age will always remember their mammoth July 4th concerts at the Washington Monument -- as with this 1980 take o­n "Good Vibrations."  Their "Lost Concert" from 1964 includes "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Long, Tall Texan," "Little Deuce Coupe," "Surfer Girl," "Surfin' USA," "Shut Down," "In My Room," "Papa Ooh Mow Mow," and "Hawaii." Their take on "Dance, Dance, Dance" from Shindig! later that year is like a slice of Christmas in July.  There's also a nifty twofer of "I Get Around" and "'When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" from their first UK TV appearance o­n Ready Steady Go!  The Andy Williams Show serves up "Help Me, Rhonda," while The Jack Benny Hour produced these quick takes o­n "Barbara Ann" and "California Girls."  There's a primitive video for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" that starts with a cameo from Brian Wilson's dogs (Banana and Louie), who appear at the end of the Pet Sounds LP.  And I'll finish with a live version of "God Only Knows" from the 1967 European tour -- one of the last Brian would do for a decade or so.

RAY CHARLES performs "America The Beautiful" like no one else.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: Bruce Springsteen, circa 1978, before it came out on The River.

AMERICAN MUSIC: The Violent Femmes, circa 1992.

DAVE ALVIN: Hey, baby, it's the "4th of July."

JAMES LILEKS: Truth.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER: As performed by Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Smokey Robinson, members of the Grateful Dead, and Umphrey’s McGee.

THE UNITED STATES prepares to celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on July 4, 1776. As the Wikipedia notes, this is a little arbitrary: New Englanders had been fighting Britain since April 1775; the first motion in the Continental Congress for independence was made o­n June 8th; and the Congress voted 12-0 for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain o­n July 2, 1776. Even so, the publication of the Declaration was momentous .  If you're not in DC, the best way to see and learn about the Declaration may be through the Charters of Freedom website. Or you can watch Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas, Renee Zelleweger, Kevin Spacey, Wynona Ryder and other Hollywood folk read the Declaration.

Of course, the holiday more broadly celebrates the American Revolutionary War, and the Founders' unlikely victory. People with the highest standard of living and the lowest taxes in the Western World fought a sometimes unpopular war for our freedom. Early o­n, the Revolutionaries (also known as "Americans" or "Patriots") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the colonial population. By 1779, there were more Americans fighting with the British than with Washington, which is why Washington needed help from the French, the Spanish and freed Blacks. You can separate fact from fiction regarding the sacrifices and fates of the Founders at Snopes. You can hear two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough read from the first chapter of his 1776 via NPR. Or watch a nifty clip on the passage and public reading of the Declaration from the John Adams miniseries.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Despicable Me 3, which is currently scoring 62 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, which opened Wednesday scoring 98 percent; and The House,which was not advance screened for critics. 

GARY DeCARLO, the lead singer of Steam, has died after battling cancer. And you're all thinking it.

JUMANJI: The reimagined flick drops a trailer online.

MARVEL'S INHUMANS drops a trailer online.

ROB LOWE describes his encounter with Bigfoot.

JOHN MAYER talks to Rolling Stone about Katy Perry, what he's learned from Dead & Company and why he's given up drinking booze and opts for marijuana.

GAME OF THRONES: Emilia Clarke tells Rolling Stone how her breakthrough role turned her into a feminist, a fantasy icon and a royal fan favorite.

TWIGGY: Another Fourth of July tradition, the water-skiing squirrel. Great story. Compelling and rich. Now on GoPro!

THE SQUIRREL THREAT, however, continues unabated.

SWALLOWS are nesting inside a condo parking garage after mastering the technique of opening the door.

THE BELL-RINGING CATS return, in a variety of hats.

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