Producer
The-Dream revealed he made a lazy $15 million for writing Rihanna's 'Umbrella' (via
Billboard). The worst thing about this news is that it was elicited from the star by the most annoying interviewer in the world. Who now probably sees this as vindication of his infuriating style. What an arsehole.
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Chunklet rips on Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 50 records of the year.:
"Go ahead. Give me eight Bon Iver jokes. I dare you. See? Impossible. There are not eight funny things about Bon Iver. There is maybe the fact that a guy whose music is a go-for-broke attempt to get laid has a dumb French name that he gets all pissy about mispronouncing. It's supposed to rhyme with "Bone Eater." I don't know for sure that he's trying to get laid. I just assume."
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Rapper
Kid Cudi responded to the video message posted by ill U.S. teen Bren Breedlove. Suffering from a degenerative heart condition, Breedlove's video, uploaded in mid-December, outlined how he suffered a near-death experience, during which he dreamed of seeing Kid Cudi. Breedlove died shortly after posting the video (via
NY Daily News):
"I am so sad about Ben Breedlove," Kid Cudi wrote on his Tumblr blog. "I watched the video he left for the world to see, and him seeing me in detail, in his vision really warmed my heart. I broke down, I am to tears because I hate how life is so unfair. This has really touched my heart in a way I cant describe, this is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much."
Warning: Gary Jules' version of 'Mad World' alert:
Ben Breedlove - Part 1
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Frontman Kele Okereke said
Bloc Party are recording a new album (via
Triple J): "
"It feels like the record that we're making doesn't sound like anyone else on the planet - that's a really good feeling."
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In the wake of the
departure of festival co-founder Vivian Lees, Big Day Out have "joined forces" with the U.S. promoters behind Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits festival. What this means exactly is unclear, beyond a longer email footer (via
M+N):
“I am really happy to be able to announce this new partnership. I could not have found more creatively sympathetic, commercially dynamic and like-minded partners than the guys at C3. We remain a locally passionate music business but can revel and excel in what this new global relationship and its combined wealth of knowledge and experience can bring for Australian audiences and Australian and international artists.” - BDO promoter, Ken West
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You know how
Future of the Left were just here in Australia being great? Turns out their guitarist, Jimmy, can
write.
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Kanye West spazzed out — in the way we know and love — with a massive series of tweets concerning his new project "DONDA". Which he gave out an email address for:
I sit everyday and ask what can I do to make a difference...
I know this is not a very rapper thing to say but I haven't bought a new car or piece of jewelry in about 2 years...
I invest every dime back into creativity... hiring amazing creatives paying for flights, offices ... etc...
My area of expertise is in music, my passion is in music design film and products... my strength is connectivity...
There are so many broken systems from the economy to school systems jail systems... we need experts for this...
We need scientist and top world designers to directly affect governments.
If anyone would like to reach out email us at contactDONDA@gmail.com
I just wanted to share what's been on my mind...
Read the whole thing in neat linear fashion on
TheVine.
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Deadmau5 hates Ultra Music Festival in Miami (via
Miami New Times):
"Ultra to me is the definition of insanity: Doing the same fucking thing every year, expecting different results every time," says Deadmau5 (AKA Joel Zimmerman) in the clip. "It's fun and it's cool, and if you've never been, go. But if you are one of those dudes that go every year, it's like why would you go again?"
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Carles presented his "BOLD INDIE PREDICTIONS ABT 2K12" over at
Hipster Runoff. A couple of doozies:
- The new Best Coast album will be 'absolute garbage', but will sell well.
- James Blake will launch another failed album cycle.
- Skrillex will 'play' a late night show.
- Mumford and Sons will sell mad albums 2 lamestreamers.
- Foster the People will vanish from the face of the Earth.
- Ariel Pink will 'get his act together' and release one of the greatest, yet most misunderstood works of the past seven centuries.
- VIP areas will grow to become larger than the 'General Admission' area at most music festivals.
- The VIP bubble will burst, and true VIPs will no longer want to spend time with the 'fake VIPs' who invaded the VIP area.
- Lana Del Rey will play music festivals and 'effing tank'.
- A tween will be murdered over a VIP wristband.
Read the
whole list.
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The Guardian have revived a pretty amazing interview with David Lee-Roth, conducted in 1984 as he drives around L.A.. Check these two — entertaining and seemingly IQ-opposed — quotes:
"Y' know, there's a guy in Quiet Riot who mimics what I do. He goes out with a bottle of Jack Daniels on stage, but he has to be careful he doesn't bang it too hard on the drum riser in case it foams up and the audience know it's filled with soda pop. I hear this from the groupies, okay? They don't lie."
And:
"I believe in disposable culture, because it's significant of the time and place it occurs in. Van Halen – any rock band – is a historical paragraph. It's disposable not because it's bad – although these things often are – but because there are so many new things coming along and replacing it. I support that. I think it educates people, and it's an educational language. What's happening this week?"
This is when he's not discussing the dialects of New Guinea. Who knew? Read the whole thing
here at The Guardian.
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"
People" are saying that
Radiohead might do Splendour this year because they're
advertised as playing a gig in Taiwan in July (for the first time ever, confirms Google translate). The band were of course, part of the
Great Splendour Poster Fiasco of 2011. Stone Roses are playing Fuji Rock this year also, an event that traditionally shares a great many band's with Splendour.
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