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Archive for the ‘supernovas’ Category

The beginning of Kanye West’s end …

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Someday, megalomaniac megaton hip-hopper Kanye West’s career will peter out. His star will fade and the spotlight will turn toward someone else. (He’s not going to take it well.)

That time seems much, much closer today than it did at this time yesterday.

Whenever it happens, we will be able to put our fingers on the exact moment when West’s career trajectory changed direction, from upward to downward. That moment is captured by this photo, and this teenager’s face.

kanyeswift

In other news, Beyonce extends her “I’m awesome” streak to 28 years.

Obligatory Jay-Z post

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Right about now, Jay-Z is everywhere. Which, of course, is just how he likes it — especially in the days leading up to a new album.

His highly anticipated “The Blueprint 3″ comes out on Sept. 11, and it leaked the other day. You can go find it if you want, or you can listen to a sanctioned stream here. (I think it sounds pretty solid, with a couple weak spots. The Swizz Beats collabo, “On to the Next One,” is my early fave.)

He’s throwin’ a big ol’ show at Madison Square Garden on release day, with proceeds to benefit the families of 9/11 firefighters and police officers.

On Sunday, to unwind, he and his girl — no stranger to good news in recent weeks herself — showed up at a high-profile gig by one of the year’s most acclaimed indie-rock bands, Grizzly Bear, setting Twitter, and then the blogs, ablaze.

But my favorite bit of Jay-Z ephemera from the past few days is this commercial for Rhapsody, in which he re-enacts the covers from each of his albums. It’s pretty slick.

So what say you, Frequency readers? Have you heard “The Blueprint 3″ yet? If so, thoughts? If not, are you stoked for its release? Or nonplussed?

Today’s the 50th anniversary of …

Monday, August 17th, 2009

… the release of the preeminent jazz recording, “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis.

Track one on side one, “So What,” is the song you hear the most, and you can find it on YouTube if you want. I’ve always really dug track two, “Freddie Freeloader,” which seems to be the perfect soundtrack to this bleary Monday morning. Granted, it’s the perfect soundtrack to pretty much any time, any day.

Quote of the day

Monday, July 27th, 2009

From Carrie Brownstein, formerly of the band Sleater-Kinney:

“I don’t know if Weezer hates its fans or just the (apparently) stifling concept of sincerity, but you should listen to these two new songs if you weren’t already convinced of Weezer’s contempt for music.”

Click that link above to see/hear the songs that prompted her dead-on observation.

And know that, for me, Weezer’s self-titled debut is a desert-island disc, and “Pinkerton” isn’t far behind. I even like the green (self-titled) album. But the turn Rivers Cuomo has taken over the past few years is simply embarrassing, and getting worse.

(Thanks, Idolator.)

New Pearl Jam song

Monday, July 20th, 2009

It’s called “The Fixer,” from the rock ‘n’ roll stalwart’s album “Backspacer,” due out Sept. 20.

So … we have a comments section for a reason. What do you think? My quick take: I think it’s fine. But like most of Pearl Jam’s music, it’s just kind of there. Like, “Yup. That’s a Pearl Jam song.” I’ve heard it before.

Much respect to those guys and what they do and all that, but their songs never seem to stick with me or compel me to go out and buy the record, you know? And I don’t think this one is going to, either.

Happy Independence Day!

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Michael Jackson, 1958-2009

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Such a sad and premature end to one of the most fascinating, public, and troubled lives ever lived. For just a moment, put aside the events of the past 20 years and observe a young man brimming with promise and born to perform.

Pearl Jam everywhere, all of a sudden

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

My love-hate relationship with grunge’s eternal bridesmaid continues. Here’s Pearl Jam performing last night on Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” debut:

Between this and yesterday’s news of the band’s partnership with Target (and then more news of the band’s lawyers squashing online discussion of a new song), it seems the fellas are looking to make some dough, eh? Not that there’s anything wrong with that — there most certainly is not. But this is not the defiantly anti-commercial, press-shy Pearl Jam we’ve come to know over the years.

Pretty decent tune, though.

“Gaga’s Madonna”

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

I find Kanye West’s blog endlessly entertaining, whether he’s posting on things that catch his eye (music, fashion, architecture, women), or ranting so hard he might break his MacBook Air!!!!!!!! Today, he threw up a gem of a post complimenting the paparazzi on what he deems a “fresh” photo of Rihanna.

It is a pretty cool photo, though maybe not as cool as Kanye thinks. But as is his wont, Kanye can’t stop at just props for the paparazzi. Instead, he delves into the relationship between photogs and the “legends” they’re covering, complete with a comparison of modern-day pop stars to those of yesteryear:

“I LOOK AT OUR CURRENT SUPERSTARS LIKE LEGENDS IN THE MAKING… LIKE JUSTIN IS THE NEW MIKE , BEYONCE’S THE NEW TINA TURNER, GAGA’S MADONNA, JAY IS SINATRA… WAYNE IS HENDRIX, THOM YORKE IS ROGER WATERS, THESE ARE THE CHAMPIONS AND SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED AS SUCH.”

That’s good stuff. Justin Timberlake the new Mike (Jackson, presumably)? Reasonable. Beyonce = Tina. OK. Thom Yorke is Roger Waters? Look at Kanye flashing the proggy-Brit-rocker knowledge! And does he mean Jay-Z is the new Sinatra? And Lil Wayne is a modern Jimi Hendrix? Each is a stretch in my mind, but I can see it, I guess: Jay-Z is the dapper, classy godfather of modern rap, and Wayne’s a talented, wild personality with a flair for the dramatic (not to mention a rock jones).

But wait … Lady Gaga is the new Madonna? *Urp* Swing and a miss on that one, Kanye.

More on Lady Gaga in an upcoming post on the Frequency blog, but for now, let’s turn the question to you, dear reader: If Justin is the new Mike, and so on and so on, what classic star’s image/career/trajectory does Kanye West recall? Leave your ideas in the comments…


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