Recently in Dispatches Category

by Nate Cavalieri

According to a report by Reuters, the results of a survey taken by Jacobs Media found that "if you are male and a Led Zeppelin fan, chances are you may be leaning toward voting Republican in the U.S. presidential election." Certainly curious inbox fodder for those about to rock, but a close look finds that summary to be a bit misleading, and the fine print analysis to be downright alarming.

by Chris Ryan

As you can see from the album art for her newest full-length, New Amerykah, Erykah Badu has a lot of things on her mind. And as you can see from her fabulous video for "Honey," what's on her mind is music.  So we decided to check out how she made this Amerykhan quilt and, more specifically, the diverse fabric of sounds woven through it.

by Piotr Orlov

Behold, a requiem for the music producer! In 2008, when pretty much any Tom, Dick or Harriet with a Pro Tools set-up and some decent microphones could finagle a “produced by” credit onto the meta-data file of a digital release, let’s take a moment to pay homage to a pair of gentlemen who worked a little harder in creating great music. It wasn’t just different skill sets or historical perspectives that separated Teo Macero and Joe Gibbs from the multitudes of today’s whippersnappers. Macero, who passed away after a long illness on February 19 at the age of 82, and Gibbs, who died of a sudden heart attack on February 21 at the age of 65, also possessed visions (sonic, aesthetic, hell, even commercial) they could share with their collaborators and guide them to a new place. Rare gifts in the age of press-and-record.

by Nate Cavalieri

(Real-life political musicians)

After so much feverish lead-up -- IM squabbles concerning the details of John McCain's heroism, will.i.am duets with Obama circulating YouTube, and "I don't usually send emails like this" messages from otherwise politically indifferent friends -- it was two relatively trivial events of Super Tuesday that left an odd taste on Back-to-Usual Wednesday. Don't laugh: the release of Jack Johnson's Static Through the Silence and Sheryl Crow's Detours.

Hip-hop’s lord of braggadocio stays true to the maxim “We gon’ do everything that

Kan like” in his attempt to become Kanye West, the brand -- i.e. blog about the miscellaneous things he covets, co-author a book and launch a search engine.

Our friends at Idolator seem to take issue with Arcade Fire's new online video for "Black Mirror," but we  happen to think the b&w mini-opus -- which lets users remix the song in real time -- is a damn fine piece of entertainment. The video, directed by Oliver Groulx and Tracy Maurice, owes more than a small debt to the work of Canadian auteur Guy Madden, whose Saddest Music in the World should be required viewing for anyone who knows the difference between "kind of pretentious" and fricken awesome.

With a bit of keyboard coordination, you can pare the whole song down to Win Butler's voice and the propulsive drum beat, then send in the strings right at the moment when that dude's gigantic head starts rising out of the ocean. Curious? Get remixing.

Further Watching:
Arcade Fire's Interactive "Black Mirror" video

The Onion's A.V. Club points us to the most recent case of  musical censorship in the Magic Kingdom. U.K. punk sensation Gallows was set to take the stage at Disneyland's House of Blues -- before the Mouse determined vocalist Frank Carter's lyrics were a bit too darkly inappropriate for the family-friendly venue. Previously, management had scuttled a scheduled set by Machine Head for much the same reason. Gallows themselves are taking the decision lightly. "I think Mickey Mouse got jealous that Minnie Mouse had Gallows posters on her wall," the band said. "I recommend Mickey shows Minnie some more attention, you know, take her out and make her feel special. Cartoon mice need love too."

While foul-mouthed British punks might be barred, Disneyland is on the record for welcoming young goths in all their pasty, black-pleathered, Manic-Panic'ed glory.

(PHOTO: Lydia Russo)

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a man who dresses in all white, moonlights as an inspirational speaker, and belts out the anthem “Party Party Party” is just having a laugh. But don’t get it twisted—Andrew W.K. is pretty damn serious, whether he’s collaborating in the studio with Lee “Scratch” Perry or drumming for  noise-rock wet dream, To Live and Shave in L.A. Two recent New York solo piano performances add a further, refined layer to the artist previously responsible for lines like “We kill, we stab, we rob, we steal/party till you puke.”

by Chris Ryan

Travis Barker did not invent the remix. Diddy did that (according to him, at least).

But Travis Barker did re-invent himself using the remix. See what I did there!?

by Chris Ryan

Elisabeth Hasselbeck prefers their early stuff, Whoopi and Joy are partial to Jeffrey Lewis, Barbra would take Judy Collins every day of the week and twice on Sundays, and Sherri thinks the world is flat. But that's not stopping the Moldy Peaches from making a never-thought-you'd-see-the-day appearance on ABC's chatty Thunderdome known as "The View." The Peaches, made up of Adam Green and Kimya Dawson, are riding a newfound wave of interest sparked by the success of the Juno soundtrack (which they contribute to significantly). Somewhere Rosie O'Donnell is weeping over an out-of-tune acoustic guitar.
History happens on Monday, January 21, at 11 a.m. EST on ABC.

by Chris Ryan

The literate, piano-laden indie pop of Kate Nash might not seem the likeliest fodder for a thumping electro-remix. But who are we kidding? It's 2008! We live in an open source world and everything (music, video, lunch!) is ripe for the remixing. Rhapsody is the only place you'll find the Tape Deck remix of Nash's first ever single, "Caroline's a Victim." The Brit remix crew (who've also worked with Love Is All and Mystery Jets) gives the original a menacing beat and a cut-and-paste stagger, turning Nash's personable voice into a weapon of dance-floor destruction.

by Chris Ryan

LCD Soundsystem's sophomore effort, Sound of Silver, has won the second annual Idolator.com Critics Poll, besting M.I.A.'s Kala in the albums race. And in a turn of events about as surprising as the sun coming up this moring, Rihanna's "Umbrella" was named single of the year.

Juno is currently America's favorite feel-good, teen pregnancy flick written by an ex-stripper. The best-selling soundtrack draws heavily from the back catalog of anti-folk sensation Kimya Dawson, formerly one half of the Moldy Peaches. Rob Harvilla at the Village Voice weighs in on a recent Dawson solo set in Brooklyn, comparing the singer-songwriter's post-buzz fame to that generated by another, equally musical romantic comedy.

by Chris Ryan

I thought Soulja Boy's performance of "Crank Dat Soulja Boy" with Natalie Portman was going to be that particular song's highwater mark. I was wrong. According to CNN, "Crank Dat" is the most popular digital song of all-time, making his duet rendition of the track on TRL but a footnote.   

by Chris Ryan

The shockwaves of the performance-enhancing drugs earthquake are now being felt in the of entertainment. According to Sunday's Albany Times Union, the Albany District Attorney's office investigating the illegal trafficking of steroids and human growth hormone, has found evidence that artists including Mary J. Blige, Timbaland, Wyclef and 50 Cent had allegedly received performance enhancing drugs from pharmaceutical companies of dubious origin.