Sunday, August 1, 2010

Rising Artist EXCLUSIVE! Male Bonding INTV!

It has been a very hot summer and all one wants to do is cool down and relax. With the influx of great new music and bands that have come in 2010, relaxing with a summer soundtrack is the best way to do that. Male Bonding hail from England and have penned the song "Year's Not Long," which in some circles, people are calling the song of the summer. It is a catchy, trippy, light summer track. Though I believe it comes from an influx of surf inspired bands like The Soft Pack, The Drums, Surfer Blood, Vampire Weekend and others, though Male Bonding seems to disagree. Male Bonding have become one of the most talked about bands of the year and one of the most listened to new acts of the summer. Take a look at my interview with Male Bonding's main man Kevin Hendrick. We discussed the surf rock inspired movement happening now, the band's live sets and signing to the famous indie label Sub Pop.


Your style and sound is so fresh and perfect for this time of year, who are some of your influences?

Teenage Fanclub
Ride
Buzzcocks
The Wedding Present

Playing a psychedelic surf pop rock and coming from England, is it a bit hard to write the perfect song for the beach and summer while being in such a dark place?

We don't know about playing psychedelic surf pop rock but we live near the canal and we hang out there on the tow path under the bridges. John sleeps there sometimes for inspiration and to feel real.

You guys have been known to play covers from everyone from Black Flag to Mission of Burma to Blur in your sets. What are some other surprise covers you guys do?

We have covered Baby Gecko, Flipper. Teenage Fanclub didn't make it outside of the practice room. Oh yeah, we had a really nice day in Detroit with the Vivian Girls - we were on tour together. We jammed Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day' and ended up playing it together (Live Aid style) every night of the tour. It really was a perfect day though.

The US indie rock press has taken a huge support and embrace to you guys, what is it like to be welcomed and praised from another country?


Great. It's nice to see what it's like outside our comfort zone and it's encouraging that what we do can reach places.

You recently signed with Sub Pop, what was that like?

It was all cava and crepes.

Do you feel an obligation to uphold some sort of standard being with such a label as Sub Pop?

Not obliged, just honoured to be a part of Sub Pop. We will do our very best.

Recently you were on the road with The Soft Pack, what was that experience like? How are those guys to tour with?

The Soft Pack are incredibly nice people. And hugely supportive. They play really good music too. So it's a pleasure to tour with them.

Surf-pop rock is making huge waves (no pun intended) with acts like yourself, Soft Pack, Surfer Blood, Vampire Weekend, The Postelles and many others. Do you think this will be a big musical movement?

To be honest I think those bands vary in styles way too much to be tied to one particular movement, and this is a good thing.

Being from a place like England and its musical history, do you feel an obligation or any expectation that you need to live up to when playing around the world?

No, that's a different 'Empire State of Mind'. We just do what we do as well as we can and be who we are as much as we can be. Heritage aside.

Is it still a big deal for a British band to make it big in the US?

Don't know, ask Bush.

Interpol on Letterman



Interpol debuted a new song and line up this week on Letterman. Take a look as the Carlos D-less band performs "Barricade."

Antony & the Johnsons Presents Swanlights

Antony and the Johnson's are set to release their latest record, Swanlights on October 12, but also to accompany the record will be a book of the same name. Antony's writings, poetry and paintings will be featured in Swanlights. If that is not all, on the record he has Bjork duetting with him for the song "Fletta." Here are some of the paintings, as well as the track listing for Swanlights.

1. Everything is New
2. The Great White Ocean
3. Ghost
4. I'm In Love
5. Violetta
6. Swanlights
7. The Spirit Was Gone
8. Thank You For Your Love
9. Flétta (with Björk)
10. Salt Silver Oxygen
11. Christina's Farm

Grace Potter & Nocturnals on Kimmel!



New England songstress Grace Potter rocked Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, take a look!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Live Review - The Postelles @ Bowery Ballroom

This was an event many years in the making, not just a headlining gig for New York City boys, The Postelles, but also a record release gig. The Postelles, prodigies of Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes (Hammond Jr produced a majority of the band’s material), have been waiting a very long time to release their major label debut, and finally it arrived and they arrived back home to do it. In the ever changing atmosphere of the Bowery, The Postelles came ready to create a good old fashion musical block party and just have fun and celebrate their achievements. The band has been on the road the past few months in Europe and back in the US supporting Interpol and Kings of Leon at that now infamous pigeon-dropping concert in St. Louis. Yet, The Postelles arrived back to where it all began in the city of big dreams to take their dreams even higher.

The band has been gigging around New York for a few years now, and playing a few shows outside the city here and there, but as time has gone on, the anticipation of their long awaited debut was building, it was finally here and so were they. A sold out concert in the 600 person Bowery Ballroom, fans crammed in on a hot night and didn’t mind breaking a sweat dancing and bopping to the bands set. The Postelles music is a cross between garage surf rock meets doo-wop and very easy to find yourself lost in their style. The bands live shows are very energetic, as they are lads from New York they look like an English band with the exception of front man Daniel Balk, who could pass for actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s doppelganger. As the slick band played their hour long set, it was the perfect amount of fun for the middle of the week, as they show cased songs off their debut as well as brand new songs they even made room to cover The Ramones “Beat on the Brat.” As Balk said before breaking into the cover, “We have covered this song on the entire tour, but tonight is the final night we ever do this because it’s New York and its from a great New York band, so this is for Joey Ramone!” as a new generation paid homage to their heroes and legends of the Bowery before them, The Postelles are a band that will give you the most fun from any new band all summer.

Flaming Lips on Letterman



Even on TV The Flaming Lips play each song and gig as if it is their last! Here they are on Letterman this week performing "Sea of Leaves," superb!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Live Review - Sting @ Jones Beach

I wonder if a punk from New Castle, England coming of age in the 70’s would have ever thought that later in his life he would be on a world tour with the Royal Philharmonic? For Sting, this idea has to cross his mind night in and night out on his latest tour. Backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Steven Marcurio, Sting is on the road touring opera houses and amphitheaters in support of his latest, Symphonicities. The record is a reinterpretation and rearrangements of his classic songs from his solo career and Police days as well as deep cuts and rarities.
Yet, the master of zen who has transformed himself into the master of ceremonies, performed for two and a half hours and at 58 years old, looks as young and as fresh as he did when he was a young punk. Opening with “Every Little Thing She does is Magic,” Sting had the audience guessing as the orchestra did their overture and with these new rearrangements the iconic rhythms of his songs are gone and completely new. It would not be until Sting would start to belt out the verses that people would sing along. As the audience enjoyed the guessing game of the set list all night, Sting would take time in between each song and told the story and origins of each song. As rock and roll met classical music, it felt as intimate as possible on a picture perfect night. “Jones Beach, this is one of my favorite places in the whole world to play,” Sting said just as he got into “Englishman in New York.” As the night went on, it was his B-sides, rarities and deep cuts like “Russians,” “Bourbon Street,” and “Hung my Head,” a song later made famous by Johnny Cash, would display the Royal Philharmonic’s power. As the crowd at Jones Beach would sit in awe and wonder, they would also sit in surprise as he would completely change his iconic rhythms and melodies to “Roxanne,” “Every Breathe you Take,” and “King of Pain.” The only song from his catalogue that would sound anything like the original version would be his turn of the century smash hit, “Desert Rose.”
It was the tale of two Stings as the last time audiences saw him on the road was just a few years ago with his first band The Police, a tour which we and they all knew was for money. However, this reinvention of his solo work seems to have revitalized Sting in such profound ways. He seems to be extremely proud of what he is doing, even after years of dabbling with old English folk songs and instruments; this seems to be a dream realized. Again, I wonder if that young punk had planned this event all along…..

Saturday, July 24, 2010

EXCLUSIVE! Strange Death of Liberal England INTV!

Newly elected British Prime Minister, David Cameron visited the US for the first time since winning a spot at 10 Downing Street this past spring. Cameron is the first conservative leader in the UK since 1996 and ushering in a new era of politics to the US biggest allies. Therefore it is only fitting that my interview with The Strange Death of Liberal England happen now. Though this band has no political ties to a particular party (though I am sure we can guess what their ideology is), it takes it's name from the classic book by George Dangerfield of the same name. The Strange Death of Liberal England are ushering in a new era of music in their homeland. They are a band that have been compared to Arcade Fire and Pixies, however, they have a slightly darker edge to their sound and keep the momentum going as one of the premiere indie acts in the UK. As the band has been on a slow start, forming five years ago, they are finally entering the studio to record their debut after releasing a handful of EP's through the years. Take a look at my interview with lead singer Adam Woolway as we discussed the band's name, politics, recording their long awaited debut and like last week's band, The Dig, what it was like touring with one of my favorites, Editors.

Where does the band get it’s name from?

We pinched it from a book by George Dangerfield to make us look clever and thus impress girls.

Do you consider yourself to be a political band or just thought the name sounded cool?

Both. Everything you do is political from choosing to drive your car to watching a certain TV channel. We're not gonna tell you who to vote for but we may tut slightly if you don't vote at all. And it does sound cool, right?

You started off doing instrumental songs then shifted over to more “traditional” sounding songs with lyrics, why the shift? Will you ever go back an add lyrics to your instrumental numbers?

We got quite bored writing instrumental tracks. Although that was the kind of music we listened to at the time it was not the type of music our band was due to make. Any band can press a distortion pedal and thats all we were really doing. There are certain emotions you really need words to convey.

You have been often compared to Pixies and Arcade Fire, how do you respond to such high comparisons?

The first 70 times are quite flattering as they are great bands. After that you tend to suspect the journalist hasn't really listened to your record.

Recently drummer Andrew Summerly left the band, what caused his departure? How has David Lindsay been working out? Is it odd not having one of the founding members be the backbone of the bands sound anymore?

Being a band means 5 peoples lives all have to move in the same direction and sometimes its a miracle that happens at all. When we came to recording our album we realised we had drifted apart and unfortunately embarking on such a project amplifies such cracks. Andy left the band in December last year and David has now joined. He's great and an amazing drummer so its been way easier than we could ever have hoped for. Yes, at first, it was very odd Andy not being there but Forward, March and all that...

You have gained such high recognition due to your live shows, what is it like taking the stage and playing your hearts out?

We all live regular lives, have dumb jobs and have to sit in a transit van for hours to play a gig for an amount of money that won't cover the petrol cost. If we didn't enjoy playing live so much we wouldn't play at all. We put on a good show but its all for our benefit.

What is it like being on the road with another high energy live British act – Editors?

Its great, you learn a lot and they give you champagne. Our transit van has penis envy parked next to their two sleeper buses.

How have Editors been to you guys? Are you fans of their work? Do you learn anything from watching such an experienced band while you are still a rather young band?

Editors are great. Their live show is amazing and you learn something from every band you play with, either how to do something or how not to do it.

Is a new album in the works? When can we expect it?

Soon. It’s all recorded and mixed. It was recorded in Dec 09 with David M Allen who did a lot of the 80s Cure and Depeche Mode albums. The first single is Flagships and is available on iTunes now, by the way.

I ask this question to every foreign act I speak with, is it still a big deal for a band to break big in America?

Of course. A country so similar to ours yet also such a contrast. The more people your music truly connects with the more value it has

When can we expect you across the pond, here in the States?

I couldn't say for sure but we'll only have to be asked once. Lets say...soon?


101 Undisputable Rock Facts

101 Undisputable Facts About Rock & Roll
Organized by Bill Reese*

1. There are 18 songs on London Calling, at least 12 of them are incredible.Had it been pared down by one-third, it would be considered in a category with Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds. 2. Billy Corgan is thin, but ever since he shaved his head he looks like a fat ass
3. Disco is panned as an awful genre, but if you look at its instrumentation, the best disco songs have orchestral strings, horns, woodwinds; ambitious instrumentation indeed. In contrast, The Ramones played three instruments, all terribly, and they’re considered legends.
4. Scotland is the new Brooklyn.
5. Nickleback’s 2005 album All the Right Reasons has sold more than 8 million copies in the United States. There are 300 million people in the United States. That means that 1 out of every 37 people in this country supposedly owns a Nickleback album.
6. I do not know a single person who owns the aforementioned Nickleback album. Despite knowing roughly 500-1,000 people, the odds of not knowing anybody who owns that album are staggering.
7. The Misfits wrote a goal song for the New York Rangers with the lyrics “I wanna be a New York RANGER! I wanna live a life of DANGER!” The song was rejected by team officials who did not want to encourage their fans to live dangerous lifestyles.
8. None of the lyrics in Alanis Morrisette’s “Ironic” represent the literal definition of irony.
9. Paul Schaeffer of The Late Show with David Letterman co-wrote “It’s Raining Men.” (Hallelujah)
10. Jazz music possibly gets its name from Jass, which was short for Jassum, which came from Jassum Clubs, a.k.a. brothels. Jassum was a 1900s New Orleans euphemism for male reproductive cells.
11. Bruce Springsteen originally wrote “Hungry Heart” for The Ramones.
12. Van Morrison is the greatest white soul singer ever.
13. Flava Flav is the only reason Chuck D and the rest of Public Enemy weren’t assassinated by the U.S. Government in the late 1980s. Think about it, they were promoting some revolutionary shit and they could have easily been taken out. But while Chuck D was saying It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Flava Flav was wearing a giant clock around his neck. It distracted the feds away from the real revolutionary lyrics and made them take Public Enemy less seriously.
14. Karen O is not a sex symbol. I’d rather fuck John Popper pre-gastric bypass.
15. Many great artists do not have a platinum selling album. But
Shaquille O'Neal does.16. Marvin Gaye wrote a sequel to "Let's Get it On" called "Keep Gettin’ It On."People are having sex in the background of the song.
17. James Brown's screams at the tail end of the extended version of "Cold Sweat" are the most terrifying sounds ever recorded on tape.
18. Tom Waits has no idea who the fuck Scarlett Johnansen is.
19. Matt Sharp's Rentals have been severely ripped off by the late 2000's indie synth-pop movement. The Rentals missed being immensely popular by a solid 10 years.
20. Rivers Cuomo ended up marrying a Japanese girl. We're still crying to "Across the Sea."
21. Ringo Starr, who just turned 70, will live to be 112 years old and will only die because he'll cross paths with The Highlander, and THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
22. Yoko Ono broke up The Beatles. Everybody knows that. She is also
—directly or indirectly—responsible for the breakups of The Police, Van Halen, The Smiths, At the Drive-In, My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies, Wings, OutKast, Fleetwood Mac, Oasis, Steve & Edie, A Tribe Called Quest, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Fire Flies, Guns N’ Roses, Simon & Garfunkel, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Audioslave, The Fugies, The Verve, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Libertines, and convinced John Frusciante to leave Red Hot Chili Peppers.
23. Lil’ Wayne has more tattoos than good songs.
24. Freddie Mercury was so flamboyant that the fact that he was gay ranked about 5th on the list of the most outrageous things about him. Ranking #1, the mustache.
25. The Hold Steady are not a Christian band, but if they are, they are more talented than Creed, cooler than P.O.D. write catchier riffs than MxPx and got more soul than Winger.
26. Now that Jacko is dead, Justin Timberlake is hereby appointed King of Pop.
27. While we’re at it, Ozzy Osbourne is almost dead so we’ll need a new Prince of Darkness. The Devil has probably had enough of heavy metal anyway, Papa Roach ruined it for him. Come to think of it, the devil was always more of a Delta Blues, Rockabily, drinkin’-cheatin’ Country music kinda guy anyway. Hell, he taught Robert Johnson how to play his guitar that one night on the crossroads. In this case, Jack White should be anointed Prince of Darkness. Jack’s always in red and black, dabbles in rock, blues and country and has even written an album called Get Behind Me Satan.
28. T.I. went to jail for having a gun in his car, yet the motherless bastards who produce “Kidz Bop”—albums of “family friendly” popular songs sung by choirs of tweenage brats—walk the streets freely.
29. With the exception of Robert Christgau, David Fricke and sometimes Kurt Loader, all music journalists are as original as Hoobastank, as talented as William Hung, as intelligent as Jessica Simpson, and as tacky as Stryper—especially the author of this list of facts.
30. Album reviews in rock magazines are tied specifically to who does the cover story and how many ads their label buys within the paper. Don’t believe me? Inquire about purchasing a banner ad on this most scrupulous blog.
31. Now that James Brown is dead, the title of “Hardest Working Man in Show Business” goes to Iggy Pop, who attempted to stage dive at a Carnegie Hall benefit and landed flat on the floor when no one attempted to catch him. Search & Destroy indeed.
32. Emo is R&B for white people.
33. There is a secret booklet under the CD tray in Radiohead's Kid A album. The secret booklet has some album lyrics and really fucked-up artwork.
34. Contrary to popular belief, Sharon Jones is not the black, non-psychotic Amy Winehouse. Winehouse is the British, drugged out Sharon Jones.
35. Nobody has ever correctly pronounced the names of Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke, Live singer Ed Kowalczyk, or any of the Armenian names in System of a Down.
36. Nine out of Ten emo girls agree: Chubby, pre-Zooey Deschanel Ben Gibbard was cuter and wrote better songs than skinny, happily married Ben Gibbard.
37. E Street Band guitar virtuoso Nils Lofgren also played the piano on Neil Young's haunting classic "After the Gold Rush."
38. Dr. Dog is not a rap group.
39. A rooster will never crow when you are singing… they're not that foolish. They wait for a pause in-between phrases, then they crow like hell.
40. Sufjan Stevens played more than 20 different instruments on his epic album Illinoise.
41. The Verve never made a dime off "Bittersweet Symphony
" or its corresponding album Urban Hymns. The string sections in "Bittersweet Symphony" were sampled from a Rolling Stones song.
42. Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore contributed a song and appeared on the CW's Gossip Girl because their teenage daughter was a huge fan of the show.
43. Morrissey is a dick.
44. Green Day's "Before the Lobotomy" is the only punk song in a 7/8 time signature.
45. Trent Reznor recorded The Fragile in a former funeral parlor in New Orleans.
46. Rhode Island-based noise-punk band Lightning Bolt play every gig in a circle in the center of the floor or pit. At festivals, they wait until the previous band play their last notes, say "thank you, goodnight" and then begin their set.
47. While at SUNY Purchase, Dan Deacon helped lead an effort to name a new student dormitory "WHAM! CITY." He and fellow Purchase alum Jimmy Joe Roache eventually formed the Wham City arts collective in Baltimore.
48. Gogol Bordello's members are American citizens.
49. The Age of Rockets album Hannah is a palindrome. The album's title is spelled the same backwards and forwards, and the album is arranged so that the album's bookends reflect one another.
50. "Parents Just Don't Understand," by Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff set
hip-hop back 10 years.
51. Kim Deal's song "Gigantic" off The Pixies seminal Surfer Rosa album is about exactly what you think it's about.
52. Lady Gaga wrote "Bad Romance" about the bartender at Welcome to the Johnson's.
53. Every young band Johnny Marr joins gets exponentially better. (Are you reading this, Jonas Brothers?)
54. Fred Durst is a better music video director than Clint Eastwood is a musician.
55. At the very end of Brand New’s Deja Entendu Jesse Lacey sings "…Never to see any other way…" which is the same phrase as the creepy loop played 30 seconds after the end of "A Day in the Life" on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s...
56. Norwegian Black Metal musicians are the most rid
iculously dressed performers in the world.
57. Chili Peppers bassist Flea played one of The Nihilists in The Big Lebowski as well as the hippie licking LSD off Johnny Depp’s jacket in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.
58. There were two Dr. Dre’s, the one who’s famous and the other who was the fat co-host on Yo! MTV Raps with Ed Lover.
59. When asked in an interview what her favorite Jay-Z song was, Miley Cyrus couldn’t name a single one, despite the lyric “...And a Jay-Z song was on” in her mega-hit “Party in the U.S.A.”
60. The LAPD killed Tupac.
61. Tupac is still alive.
62. All Gnarls Barkley photo shoots feature Danger Mouse and Cee Lo dressed in costume as characters from movies, TV, etc.
63. TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain is a reference to a level in Super Nintendo game “Super Mario Brothers.”
64. Dave Chappelle killed Rick James
65. Willie Nelson wrote
Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.”
66. Jimmy Buffett was the first author to write a #
1 New York Times Bestseller in both fiction and nonfiction.
67. Since about the mid-to-late-1970s or so, only one artist/group has been able to build long-term success after hitting it big with a cover song. Marilyn Manson’s first big hit was “Sweet Dreams,” which was written by The Eurythmics. It which was followed a year later by “The Beautiful People,” Manson’s first original hit. In contrast, plenty of groups scored with a cover and then faded: The Ataris “Boys of Summer,” Orgy “Blue Monday,” etc. Even The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” was the group’s first and only U.S. hit.
68. It is illegal in New York City to be James Iha. 69. The Killers’ Sam’s Town does not sound like a Bruce Springsteen album, no matter how much Brandon Flowers believes so. The only groups that sound remotely like the E Street Band are Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Gaslight Anthem and The Hold Steady.
70. Freddie Mercury’s real name was Farrokh Bulsara.
71. The riff from The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army” is sung by nearly a dozen European football clubs as
a chant.
72. Iggy Pop played the father of Ellen on The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
73. Legend has it that blues legend Lead Belly—who wrote “In the Pines,” or, as most people know it, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” from Nirvana Unplugged—was set free by the Governor of Texas when he wrote the Governor a song appealing for his release. Ironically, the Governor had won election on a platform of not paroling violent offenders such as Lead Belly.

74. Wal-Mart and K-Mart refused to sell Nirvana’s In Utero because the back cover was illustrated with dozens of fetuses and because it contained a track titled “Rape Me.” Nirvana issued Wal-Mart an alternate back cover and changed the name of the song to “Waif Me,” but left the song itself unchanged.
75. MTV has censored lyrics that refer to everything from sex, guns, drugs, suicide, to 8” spinny rims. MTV also no longer stands for “Music Television.”
76. Just because you are from Long Island doesn’t mean you must automatically worship Billy Joel.
77. Slash’s birth name is Saul Hudson.
78. Craig Finn is writing the screen adaptation for Chuck Klosterman’s book Fargo Rock City.
79. Aerosmith have 14 studio albums but 11 “greatest hits” albums.
80. Radiohead’s debut Pablo Honey is named after the Jerky Boys prank call of the same name.
81. Reel-to-reel tape sounds better than vinyl.
82. Number of anti-Iraq War songs by Incubus: 4. Number of anti-Iraq War songs by Zack de la Rocha: 0.
83. Cablevision honcho and N.Y. Knicks and N.Y. Rangers owner James Dolan plays in a band called J.D. and the Straight Shot. He pays Cablevision employees to come to his shows at BB King’s in Manhattan to cheer and pretend that he isn’t a talentless hack.
84. Based solely on its cover, MGMT’s Congratulations should be re-titled Cowabunga! 85. The “Little Drummer Boy” duet between David Bowie and Bing Crosby is the strangest holiday recording ever made.
86. The legendary Fillmore East theater in Manhattan is now a Duane Reade drugstore.
87. It is a fact that Van Halen’s tour riders called for there to be a bowl of M&Ms in their dressing room, but all the brown M&Ms had to be discarded.
88. Napster founder Shawn Fanning changed music in a more profound way than Elvis Presley.
89. More people illegally downloaded Rad
iohead’s In Rainbows than obtained the album for free through the group’s own website.
90. Auto-tune is the greatest thing to ever happen to Chili Peppers singer Anthony Keidis, and the worst thing to ever happen to Kanye West.
91. Audiences that do not sustain applause for at least five minutes after a set do not deserve an encore. Likewise, bands who return for “scheduled encores” should be forced to record with Phil Spector in jail.
92.
Brian Wilson is still batshit crazy.
93. Word Up Magazine, (As in “It was all a dream, I useda read Word Up Magazine” from Biggy Smalls’ classic “Juicy”) is still in print. It’s now a teeny-bopper magazine and has featured the very un-Notorious Justin Bieber on the cover twice in 2010 alone.
94. Staten Island will be allowed to remain one of the five boroughs of New York City so long as it is re-named The Land of Shaolin and the Verrazano Bridge is re-named in honor of Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
95. Michael Jackson died while filming the Pepsi commercial when his hair caught fire. He was replaced with a series of actors hired by Joe Jackson who hatched a vast conspiracy to disillusion the public for 20 years and then culminate the con in a spectacular fake death sequence. For the record, MJ has sold 35 million albums since his death. In contrast, the highest selling new album in 2009 sold only 3.21 million copies (Taylor Swift).
96. Despite the relative proliferation of so-called “Indie Labels,” the highest selling indie album of all time is The Offspring’s 1994 breakthrough Smash, released originally on Epitaph. It has sold 11 million copies worldwide since 1994.
97. Nobody but Cedric Bixler-Zavala understands The Mars Volta’s lyrics.
98. Rick Rubin is the baddest motherfucker alive. When you’re worshipped by the diverse likes of Jay-Z and Slayer you’re allowed to hold that title.
99. It is impossible to have 99 problems without a bitch being one of them. Even Obama has to worry about Sarah Palin.
100. Johnny Ramone has the most awesome tombstone ever. Take that Pharaoh Khufu! 101. In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make... except if you are a rock star, then you make way too much love to balance the equation.

***Please note, none of these facts have been checked. Bill Reese is a contributing writer to With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie. He has also written for Good Times Magazine, Skope and is an Editor at Playbill.

Robyn Cover & Tracklisting

Swedish Pop princess Robyn is set to release Body Talk pt. 2 later this year, take a look at the cover and track listing below:

01 In My Eyes
02 Include Me Out
03 Hang With Me
04 Love Kills
05 We Dance to the Beat
06 Criminal Intent
07 U Should Know Better [ft. Snoop Dogg]
08 Indestructible (acoustic version)

Also, just in case you missed it, Robyn OWNED Letterman this week, take a look HERE.