Always a subject of intense discussion, the list of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees is almost more of a sore spot than the actual inductees end up being. I guess us music freaks are resigned to the fact that the eventual inductees will end up containing more than a couple of head-scratchers. I also think that many of us music fans have officially concluded that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is essentially Jann Wenner’s personal clubhouse […]
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R.I.P. R.E.M.: A Fan Remembers
I’m sitting here very bitter, sad & frustrated as I try to bang out this REM obit. Bitter about the idiots who took the time to post on Facebook how happy they were that REM had called it a day, sad because I’ll never see them in concert again, frustrated because I really didn’t care for them for the most part for the past 10 years, and now they’re gone. I always explained my love affair with REM this way: […]
Chart Stalker 9/8/11: Weezy Reigns Supreme
Lil Wayne does it again. The pint-sized rapper has just rung up the second-biggest sales week of 2011 so far with his latest effort, Tha Carter IV. Ringing in with 964,000 copies sold, Weezy comes just a hair’s breadth away from matching the first week sales of his chart-topping magnum opus (and last *proper* album), Tha Carter III. How big is this number? Well, if the year was to end today, Wayne would have the fifth biggest selling album of […]
The Blerd Playlist: “I Feel The Earth Move (Songs For Earthquakes)”
As most of you know, the East Coast was rocked today by a seismic, 5.8 earthquake that caused chairs to fall over, cats to become briefly startled, and a rash of hasty, terrified status updates. As most of the Blerd staff is located in the Northeast – with the exception of our Californian contributors, who regard earthquakes with the same concern as a hearty fart – we were notably shaken by this disaster. In remembrance of those who were lost […]
Today in “For Real?”: The West Memphis 3 Are Free
One of popular culture’s most celebrated causes finally achieved some (sorta, kinda) closure yesterday when it was announced that Jason Baldwin, Jesse Misskelley, and Damien Echols – otherwise known as the West Memphis 3 – would be freed after 18 years of incarceration. The trio, convicted of a grisly triple murder in 1993, were set free after entering an Alford plea, an obscure plea that essentially admits guilt on paper, but allows the convicted to maintain innocence publicly. The “guilty” […]
It’s Crazy Clown Time!: David Lynch Gets Set To Release Album
Through the years, David Lynch has worked in a variety of media – photography, sculpture, web series, furniture and his own line of coffee (no joke). But it’s Lynch’s film and television work for which he is best known, comprising a dossier of art house cult classics including Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and the Twin Peaks series (which at times, I still can’t believe aired on prime time network television). Music has always been central to Lynch’s film […]
Chart Stalker 8/19/11: Are We Already Out of Throne Jokes?
Surprising no one, Jay-Z and Kanye West debut at the top of Billboard’s album charts this week with Watch The Throne. The highly anticipated wap cowabbowation (sorry, that was my RZA voice) scores 2011’s second-biggest first week, after Lady GaGa’s Born This Way (which is still holding on at #18). Unlike GaGa, Jay and ‘Ye didn’t benefit from special pricing at a digital account. Actually, it could be argued that Throne was a limited release. It was available for half […]