The family name may have been long besmirched by - among other things - molestation charges(he was acquitted) and 'wardrobe malfunctions' - but the Jackson Five reunited at an industry convention sans Michael this week in Los Angeles. Janet presented her bros with the lifetime-achievement BMI Icon Award, and while Jacko and his brother Jermaine were not present, their brother Marlon had the line of the night: when asked where Michael was, he responded, "I don't know - I think he's in Egypt riding a camel or something." Awesome. At the same event, T-Pain, who apparently owns the charts these days without my ever having heard his voice, was named the top songwriter. [R&R]
Seven Mary Three still write and record music. This would be the 7M3(acronyms!) that brought us 'Cumbersome,' which dominated rock radio in the Year of Our Lord 1995, and to which I still know all the lyrics.
They seem like they're really prolific - or rushed: Maylene & the Sons of Disaster will enter the studio in December to work on their third album, which they'll hopefully have out next summer. Didn't II just come out?? [Decoy]
The first guitar Hendrix ever set ablaze on stage was auctioned off this week for $128,000. The '65 Strat was burned at the stake - so to speak - in 1967.
Another '90s flashback for this post-Gen-Xer: Alice in Chains complete with new singer William DuVall(who?), are making a new record.
Tom Morello's new album is streaming online, so go get yourself some ear candy. The Rage guitarist spent his week, of course, in Minneapolis protesting at the Republican National Convention(see our last blog post for more on that).
A band that gives me chills: Keane have a new single online over here. I saw some HDNet made-for-TV concert of theirs a few years ago and they blew me away.
They kinda reminded me of Queens of the Stone Age crossed with Isis during their set at Ottawa's Bluesfest earlier this summer - in a good way. Brooklyn's Secret Machines are touring this fall with Canadian band The Dears Small Shins; check their myspace page for the deets.
Featuring ex-Taken guys(great band!), Mikoto played a tiny dive here in Ottawa a couple years ago, and besides commenting on my admittedly very old Eighteen Visions shirt, rocked a killer set...and then I never heard their name again - until now. Torque Recs in Saskatchewan have signed the band and will put out We Are the Architects October 14th. Good move!
As if The Loved Ones, MxPx and Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan weren't awesome on their own, they're uniting for a tribute - to Johnny Cash, the Man in Black himself. It's called All Aboard!, due out before Christmas. PS: I've listened to little else but HWM's Caution record all week.
She's a brick, and I'm drowning slowly: Ben Folds Five, who were ridiculously good in their time, are reuniting for some Myspace thing, and they'll perform The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner in its entirety. Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere!
Word is that arguably the biggest MC in the world - if not the best - may have a new album out sooner rather than later - Kanye West is working on new material he could have out by the end of Oh Eight. [Billboard]
Nickelback have a new album coming out this fall. On that woeful day, feces will rain from the heavens upon all of us hapless citizens. And to make matters worse, U2's new album has been pushed back to 2009 by the Powers That Be. Dammit! There is a silver lining to this nickel-filled cloud, though: Bono and co. apparently have between fifty and sixty songs to choose from for inclusion on their first album in what will be five years.
I don't have to read past the pullquote on this story: one of the yowling voices of my youth, Chris Cornell(in his Soundgarden days), has a new album in November produced by...Timbaland. It's the clash of the titans! LOOK OUT!!!! My favourite quote from the piece: "As to be expected with Timbaland behind the boards, these songs move Cornell in a much more R&B-oriented direction..." Superb.
Proving there's still some semblance of hope in popular music, Slipknot's new single bumped The Game out of top spot on the Billboard 200 chart last week. Word to your mother.
I know you love news about lawsuits - so here's some legal-beagle news concerning Akon, Great White and Ne-Yo! Wheee!
Posted by mike at September 6, 2008 10:49 PM