Sometimes when rock crossed over into the literary realm, the results are amazing crossed with awesome. On the other hand, there’s a coffee-table book coming from Hatebreed lead singer Jamey Jasta. And that isn’t the only book he’s putting out this year!
Anyone who has been in a promising local band knows about the tricky situation of trying to promote your music act–sure to be the pride of Toledo or Yuma or whatever–while not throughly irritating every person you know or meet. Sacramento act We Prick You faced the same dilemma; however, in trying to get the word out to local reporter Eddie Jorgensen, they might have gone just a step too far.
Sure, the music business is hitting all time lows, with executives panicking and trying every remaining angle to sell product, but there’s a lot to look forward to in 2008, right? Bill Werde, executive editor at Billboard magazine, appears on today’s episode of the public radio business news program Marketplace to discuss what he sees in his industry crystal ball for 2008. What will save the industry that pays his bills and mine? I dunno, same stuff as every other year, I suppose.
The BBC has a Sound Of 2008 poll, which tags the artists mostly likely to succeed in the coming year, according to 150 or so British rock journos. The list has had some success as a predictor, with Mika as last year’s winner, Corrine Bailey Rae taking the prize in 2006, as well as the Beatles in 1963, and Edward Elgar in 1899. It might be worth checking out some of the names at the top of the list, like Adele, who is apparently our less frightening replacement for Amy Winehouse. But the really disturbing news is that many of these journalists are apparently taking their cues from the charts over at Hype Machine.
Apparently, it’s been a year since the last incarnation of the Shortlist Prize–formerly called something else, but I forget what, and don’t feel like looking it up–and today the “long list” of Shortlist nominees were announced. Wilco, Spoon, M.I.A., of course, and that Tool sideproject Walmart wouldn’t carry. What seemed most interesting was the list of nominators, which seems to be slipping in quality a bit.
As previously reported on Idolator, you might have noticed that the quality of writing in the music section of your local Village Voice-owned alt-weekly has dipped slightly in the last few years. In partial tribute to the memories of adequate-or-better writing gone by, and partially to make for easy material on a Friday, we again turn the spotlight on everyone’s favorite national alternative media chain. Niki D’Andrea, music editor of the Phoenix New Times, today’s your lucky day!
There are few musical genres less immediately fascinating than Christian rap. Sure, two or three people might wax nostalgic for the 1990 S.F.C. (Soldiers For Christ, obvs) release A Saved Man In The Jungle, but since DC Talk dissolved, there hasn’t been much reason to pay attention to a genre whose reason for existence is dubious, at best. So DMX, I just want to take this moment publicly to thank you for bringing your unique brand of insanity to Team Jesus.
It’s been a month-and-a-half since the last Kid Rock related post here at Idolator, and while there may be no argument that ever convinces me to pony up $65 for a ticket, A.D. Amorosi uses a preview for an upcoming Atlantic City concert to re-examine whether we should all be fans of the Kid by now.
Deadlines are a pain. Sometimes you have to write about things of dubious merit, expound on music that you can’t really consider yourself any sort of expert in, or resort to cranky hit pieces. It happens to us all. However, there are some music section cliches that need to be laid to rest permanently, like the one scribe Mike Meyer recently chose as a resort.
So between today’s glacially paced news cycle and the fact that I spent most of the last four hours beating my head against the blog thanks some serious ISP issues–I will see you in hell, customer service department at Comcast–I would just like to take a brief moment to thank Mr. Dan Gibson for… More »
