Ticket sales for the Dixie Chicks latest tour aren’t meeting expectations, so says Billboard. So the trio’s managers are considering "reconfiguring" the tour to adjust routing and capacity.
Through my cynical eyes: Let’s change this tour so it passes through more blue states than red states, ‘cos those fuckers in the south still hate our guts.
Perhaps it’s not so cynical — Memphis was canceled, but a second show was added in Toronto. (Not technically a blue state, but Canada? Blue enough …)
I wouldn’t have really gotten into Sigur Rós if Kronos Quartet hadn’t performed the band’s "Flugufrelsarinn" as an encore a few years back.
Kronos has made that performance available on its MySpace page for a while now, and I hope one day they make it commercially available. And wasn’t Sigur Rós supposed to be working on a piece for Kronos? I’ve always wondered how Mr. Bungle’s commission worked out.
Kronos’ MySpace page also has a recording of "Star-Spangled Banner", transcribed from Jimi Hendrix’s performance. Didn’t Matt Haimowitz already go there?
Seven years ago, long-time Kronos cellist Joan Jeanrenaud left the ensemble after 20 years. Her replacement, Jennifer Culp, stayed with the quartet for six years. Jeffrey Ziegler is Kronos’ newest cellist, and I have to say — he’s, um, really hot.
I just discovered the coolest Firefox extension — rikaichan. Hover your cursor over some Japanese text, and it’ll give you a definition. I installed it and went to Bounce.com, and I was impressed. Maybe this tool will finally make all that vocabulary sink into my head. I haven’t tried the lookup tool yet.
When it comes to stunt casting, Gilmore Girls has some of the best. Madeliene Albright made her way into one of Rory’s dreams, while the real Paul Anka met up with the dog Paul Anka in a rather bizarre sequence in one of Lorelai’s dreams. Norman Mailer, on the other hand, didn’t appear in a dream sequence.
Probably nothing. But in terms of crossover pairings, this strikes me as stunt casting on the level of Nelly enlisting Tim McGraw for backing vocals. What’s next? Hamasaki Ayumi dueting with Chiba Yusuke from Thee Michelle Gun Elephant? Namie Amuro singing with Yoshimura Hideki of bloodthirsty butchers?
Speaking of Gilmore Girls, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Joe Pernice and Sparks show up for an episode when the town’s troubadour, played by Grant Lee Phillips, gets tapped to open for Neil Young. Did I mention Sebastian Bach of Skid Row has a regular guest star spot? I love this show.
Both Out magazine and the Advocate have published music issues in the past month.
One of the most annoying gay stereotypes is "gay == disco". Unfortunately, it’s one stereotype with empirical evidence. Gay men love their club music, divas and musicals, and when it comes to rock music, leave that to the lesbians.
That said, both magazines have done a nice job of trying to cover a broader view of gay musicians.
Now that I’ve spent a bit of time searching and grabbing classical music from eMusic, a few pet peeves have surfaced. When I ArtsJournal linked to this article, I was ready to say, "Yeah, I’d like that, too."
Instead, I found the iPod-centric perspective of the article limiting, and a few of the points made me cringe.
Mad Capsule Markets has gone on hiatus to pursue individual projects, reports Bounce.com. The band posted an announcement on its official site. No time has been set for when the Mad Capsule Markets will continue.
Web sites for each of the members’ projects were listed in the announcement. Ueda Takeshi is working on Fuzz Rez Zweep, Kyono is involved with Wag Dug, while Miyagami Motokatsu is spending his time on Rhythm Method.
Mad Capsule Markets haven’t been as prolific since the turn of the century. Compared to the seven studio albums the band released in the ’90s, the trio managed to record only two studio albums since 2001. I’m not sure the news of the band’s hiatus comes as too much of a surprise.
I may be stealing my own thunder by posting this entry, but in an effort to put some really whacked out stuff on my Last.fm profile, I’ve undertaken the arduous task of ripping my music library, which consists of some 800+ titles.
Probably small beans next to some hardcore music fans out there, but it’s gotten me digging up stuff I haven’t heard in years. And I inevitably find myself thinking, "Wow. I gotta write about that!"
Dancing Ferret Records is set to release a tribute album to comic book author Neil Gaiman, so reports Billboard.com. The album features contributions by Tori Amos, Cruxshadows, Tapping the Vein and Schandmaul. Gaiman himself will contribute to the liner notes, while Dave McKean provides the cover art. The album hits stores on July 18.
Being the Sandman fanatic, I’m most likely going to get this album, even if it turns out to be a disaster. One of these days, I’ll have to rent Mirrormask, the movie Gaiman and McKean made together.