(an imagining) Location: Somewhere in England. The phone rings. “Hello, this is Sade”. “Sade, this is Jay-Z” Sade: “Who? Who’s crazy?” Jay-Z “No…Jay-Z. The rapper? Beyonce’s husband? I wanted to talk to you and see if we can make a record together.” Sade: “What are you , mad? I have a long memory, man!” Jay-Z: “What? I don’t understand. What are you talking about?” Sade: (plays a snippet of Timbaland featuring Jay-Z’s “Lobster & Scrimp”, which features the lyrics “Now […]
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Sweet Chin Muzak – Is Derek Jeter Done?
After not hitting lower than .291 in his entire Major League Baseball career, last season, Derek Jeter hit .270 and slugged just .370. The slugging percentage was also the lowest of his career. And even though he won his 5th Gold Glove in 2010, his decline in range at shortstop over the last few years is very apparent. As of this writing, Jeter is currently hitting .206 with just one extra base hit in the first nine games of the […]
Chart Stalker 4/13/11: Adele Reclaims the Throne
As if to give us a second to catch our breath after a few weeks of solid activity, this week’s Billboard chart numbers kinda suck. Adele’s 21 returns to the #1 spot with 88,000 copies sold, just a 6% decline over the previous week’s scans. The British singer’s numbers have been ridiculously consistent both here and in her home country (where “consistent” would be a bit of an understatement-the album’s spent it’s entire 11-week life at #1) and brings my […]
Don’t Sit Down- The Arctic Monkeys Have Moved Your Chair. Bastards.
So I was sitting on the can a few days back (great visual, right?) and picked up an old Blender magazine I had laying around. It’s been five years since the Arctic Monkeys debuted with a bang…at least in their native U.K. While Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not turned into England’s fastest selling debut album of all time, the Monkeys have not been able to replicate that success here in the States. That album sold just […]
The Viewfinder: “Someone to Love Me (Naked)” by Mary J. Blige
What the hell is Mary J. Blige doing? Sure, her record sales are in decline-so’s everyone’s! Just when you thought the Queen of Hip-Hop soul had learned her lesson after her first Diddy-related fiasco, 2003’s Love & Life, she’s re-teamed with Mr. Combs for “Someone to Love Me (Naked)”, a slight revision of a track that originally appeared on Diddy’s Last Train to Paris CD and is the first single from Mary’s upcoming My Life II set. You know there’s […]
Blerd Appreciation: Dennis Rodman
One of the five best defensive players in basketball history will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame this summer. While many of you hear the name “Dennis Rodman” and immediately think “cross-dressing train wreck”, those of us that followed basketball in the late Eighties and most of the Nineties (hopefully) feel differently. Rodman was, basically, a freak of nature. Drafted at age 25 out of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, he didn’t follow the typical trajectory of a basketball stud. […]
New Release Report 4/12/11: A “So Beautiful” List of Releases
After a bit of a hiccup, the surprisingly robust release schedule that’s been par for the course these past few weeks is back. If you’re a rock fan, you obviously know that the Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light hits stores today (reminder: we’ve reviewed it). This album reunites Butch Vig with Dave Grohl for the first time in nearly twenty years, reunites Dave Grohl with Krist Novocelic for the first time on record since Kurt Cobain’s suicide, and also reunites Pat […]
Hear Here: Justice’s “Civilization”
Man, there was a point in time when dance music sucked. I’m talking about the late Nineties, when everything was techno bump-bump-bump. During my limited clubgoing experience, I found myself quickly discouraged, not only because the people that frequented those places weren’t exactly the types I wanted to hang out with, but also because the music generally sucked. Thanks to groups like Daft Punk, dance music has taken a turn for the better over the past decade. I hate to […]
Roundball Soundoff 4/11/11: Playoff Preview
With only a few games left in the season, the playoff picture is pretty clear, so let’s have a look at the match-ups: Eastern Conference First Round 1. Chicago vs. 8. Indiana Chicago put together a great season and a nice final run to secure the top spot in the East. They are my favorites to win the title. Indiana squeaked in the final spot while Charlotte crumbled; they are the only playoff team with a sub-.500 record, so I […]
Patrick Leaves This Fan Stump-ed on His Boston Solo Outing
I don’t really have a problem with artists who were once part of a group or band attempting to establish their own identity. That said, I can’t think of an artist I’ve seen in concert (who was once part of a band) going out of their way to not perform said band’s songs. Robert Plant performed Led Zeppelin songs. Ben Folds played Ben Folds Five songs. Then again, neither of these guys was attempting to make the full-on genre switch […]
“Make Some Noise” for the Return of the Beastie Boys!
As one of hip-hop’s longest running hitmaking acts (second only to former labelmate LL Cool J), the Beastie Boys would be totally within their right to rest on their laurels and coast. Thankfully, they’re not-not even after MCA’s cancer scare a couple of years ago. With Hot Sauce Committee, Vol. 2 about a month away from release, the trio has unleashed the first single from the album, “Make Some Noise”. Mike and the Adams aren’t reinventing the wheel at all-it’s […]
The Viewfinder: Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation”
Poor Kelly Rowland. It can’t be fun being the second banana. Everything she does from here on to eternity will be prefaced or succeeded by a mention of Beyonce. Period. Never gonna change, unless something absolutely miraculous happens. It’s not fair-after all Kelly is a gifted vocalist in her own right and I’d argue that she’s more of a babe than Bee is (at least if you don’t subscribe to the typical American ideal of beauty), but as far as […]