In paying homage to MCR, here is my favorite of their tracks. Gerard Way and company announced today that My Chemical Romance has official called it a day. With a lack of interest in their most recent release of singles, I guess the time is right. I remember when they blew up from a couple videos on Fuse to the arena rockers they became with The Black Parade. They’ll be missed. My question is what is next for James Dewees now?
Just when Pendulum had finally crossed over for some success stateside, they have decided to call it quits. Frontman Rob Swire announced that the Australian electronic outfit will no longer be releasing a new album in 2013 as expected and will not be performing any more live shows as a band. I’m glad I got to see them during their first North American tour with Linkin Park last year because they had one hype ass live show. Their single “Propane Nightmares” took a while to catch on in the U.S. but when it did, I definitely couldn’t get enough of it. After three albums together, the band members will focus on side projects that include Rob Swire and Gareth McGrilen’s Knife Party. Swire’s vocals are pretty badass, as he showcased on the deadmau5 track “Ghosts ‘N Stuff”, so I don’t see it being too hard for him to find consistent work. I have a feeling their music will grow in popularity after the fact and a reunion will be in high demand. For now though, GTS.
Here’s some shit news to kick off your weekend. Handsome Furs announced via their website that the married duo are no longer making music.
With a heavy heart the time has come to let all of you know that Handsome Furs are no more. The most important thing that needs to be said right now is how extremely grateful we are to all the fans all over the world that showered us with love and support over the years. Thank you for everything! It’s been an incredible 6 years and we owe it all to you.
xoxo
HF
Considering I call this Reilly’s greatest contribution to my musical catalouge, this is obviously terrible news. Handsome Furs delivered three stellar albums with Plague Park, Face Control, and 2011′s Sound Kapital. At least I had the pleasure of catching their live show at The Church. There has not been any mention if the band members, Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, are calling it quits as a couple as well. I am sure details will unfold eventually. This is definitely a band I was looking forward to more new music from. Terrible news to wake up to.
We all knew that Adam Yauch a.k.a. MCA of The Beastie Boys had been battling cancer since 2009 and sadly, his fight came to end today. MCA, age 47, was unable to attend the recent induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with his partners Adrock and Mike D. The pioneering hip hop trio have been an inspiration and influence to artists from varying genres and will always be considered one of the best in the music world. Yauch will be remembered for not just his music, but also his social activism, serving as a leader in making the masses aware of the struggles in Tibet during the 90′s. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and the surviving Beasties. R.I.P. Nathaniel Hornblower.
Details are still unconfirmed as to how the former NFL linebacker died. Junior Seau was a beast back in 90′s and played professionally up until 2010. TMZ reported that Seau was found dead in his Oceanside, California home by his maid, while other reports mention his current girlfriend. Early reports coming out are saying it was from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Adjusting to normal life after a career in sports may be difficult, but I would think Seau made enough dough over his 20 year career to live a pleasant life. Sad news for the sports world and the close friends & family of Junior.
I’ve been saying for a while that Mobb Deep aren’t what they once were. After several disappointing albums, lackluster solo offerings, and a prison stint, it appears Prodigy and Havoc are officially done with the partnership that Queensbridge united way back. Unexpectedly though, the first shots are coming via Havoc on Twitter, claiming that Prodigy was getting his man-fuck on while locked down. “I got niggas in the jail system to to back up that Prodigy was fucking homes in jail” was part of a tweet from Havoc, going on that he plans to expose his boy even further, if that’s possible. No response yet from P or any of his people, but I am sure this isn’t the last we’ll hear about these claims. This is probably one of the most disrespectful beefs in hip hop history, reminding me of the old Eazy E and Dr. Dre beef where he called Dre a “she-thang“.
Could this be someone hacked Havoc’s account or does he really have sources that know Prodigy was gettin’ his gay on in the pen? Regardless, it’s too bad the tracks won’t be exciting since neither of these guys are still lyrically significant anymore. GTS? I don’t think so, but I know people still respected what they brought to the game so…
UPDATE: Havoc called into a radio station today with claims that his cell phone was stolen and he did not tweet the statements about Prodigy being a homosexual while in prison. Even the hosts of the show, as well as Sway, are feeling it might be bullshit on Havoc’s part. I guess we’ll see how this plays out, but as of now, Hav informed fans that all is well between him & P. The Infamous have not split… yet.
The best live band in the game payed homage to the pop queen last night in L.A. Elle Varner blessed the crowd with “Saving All My Love For You.” This tragic story keeps getting worse with Whitney’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, being rushed to the ER at 10:30 this morning. She was staying at the Beverly Hilton with her mom the night of her death. Anxiety attack jawn.
Tear Jerker Jawns
Twista, like much of the music community, is speaking about the death of Whitney Houston. Whitney was found dead in a California hotel room yesterday with perscription drugs in the room. Most people have already made up their mind that drugs played a part in her unfortunate death, but the cause of death is still unknown at this time. Houston was 48 years old. Check out Twista’s tribute to the legendary pop and R&B diva with a nice sample from the Whitney herself. Never thought Bobby would outlive his woman.
We slacked off yesterday and missed the opportunity to pay respect to one of the greatest to ever do it, Big Pun. Pun was a lyrical beast and yesterday marked the 12 year anniversary of his death. I’m still a huge fan of both of his albums released while he was with us. Definitely gone too soon. Cassidy dropped this track with a sample from the big man. Check out “R.I.P. Big Pun”.
Jay Reatard was the stage name of Jimmy Lindsey Jr. who recorded music thru the 90′s and early 2000′s with the bands The Reatards and Lost Sounds. Under the moniker of Jay Reatard, he would find critical praise and a rising level of success before his untimely death in 2010, attributed to a drug overdose on cocaine. Today marks the two-year anniversary of the demise of Jay Reatard, but his music lives on and continues to be discovered posthumously by many fans of punk, garage, and indie rock music.
After the break up of both The Reatards and Lost Sounds, Lindsey released his debut solo album Blood Visions in 2006, leading to an exclusive deal with Matador Records after offers from some major labels. Matador would compile a collection of singles recorded by Jay during 2008. His final album, Watch Me Fall, was released just months before Lindsey’s death and included the single “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” that had promise to catapult the Jay Reatard to mainstream success. Unfortunately, that would never happen. Once again, drugs destroyed another promising career.
Here’s some awesome footage of Jay Reatard performing “My Shadow” outside of the Sailor Jerry store in Philly. The kids in Boystown look shocked in horror, but I would have been swinging from a tree like the crazy asshole helping record this. Glad to see Jay got to go off in Philly before his passing.
I’m honestly too angry to get into this too much, but I just heard that HBO has canceled one of their best shows, Bored To Death. Also to get the axe, Hung and How To Make It In America will not be returning for new seasons. While HBO will have another great comedy series with Angry Boys, I can’t believe they wouldn’t keep this show around. The writing. The cast. The storyline. The celebration of booze. Everything about it was great and it will be missed. I don’t say this much, but fuck you HBO.
Philly rapper Tommy Hill was a big name in the local rap community back in the late 90′s and early 2000′s with his group RAM Squad. Hill and company released the track “Ballers” that gave them a large following thanks to the help of local DJ Cosmic Kev and it looked as though they may have a future in the mainstream when they had the opportunity to tour with then super-famous southern artist Nelly. However, a lack of promotion from Universal Records kept the Philly natives from expanding beyond their popularity in their hometown. Hill would also release a solo record that featured some of the bigger names in Philly hip hop at the time, including the smash “Society Hill” featuring Freeway and “Corner Love” feat. Gillie Da Kid. Again, this was only a local success at bootleg stands and in the streets.
Tommy Hill was fatally shot during a robbery last Friday. He was pronounced dead on Sunday morning at Einstein Medical Center. Hill was known in local circles as a snitch because of his testimony against some fellow dealers in North Philly arrested on weapons charges. While he would serve two years in prison on drug charges himself, he never would lose the target on his back for being a rat. There has not been any confirmation if this played any part in his murder. Witnesses and police reports are accounting the events as a robbery outside of a bar in the Mount Airy part of the city. While he had been out of the public eye for quite some time now, it is still sad news for his fans and family. Unfortunately, it will probably be another unsolved murder for the PPD.
Pimp C is a legend of southern hip hop and will forever be a part of music history from his work in UGK. Along with Bun B, he helped pioneer southern rap into the mainstream success that it is today with classic albums like Super Tight and Ridin’ Dirty. It didn’t take too long before these Underground Kingz were lending verses to radio hits like Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’” and Three 6 Mafia’s “Sippin On Some Syrup”.
Pimp C would be somewhat off the radar for a good three years when he was incarcerated for violating his probation stemming from an aggrevated assault charge. A huge uprising in the hip hop community broke out and everywhere you turned you would see and hear “Free Pimp C”. Music was released during his 2002 – 2005 bid, but when he was reunited with Bun for the much anticipated Underground Kingz, you knew the two were back to own the game. This would prove to be the most successful release of Pimp C and UGK’s career, featuring one of my all-time favorite tracks “International Player’s Anthem” featuring Outkast.
Unfortunately, that would also serve as the last release of Pimp C’s short life. A couple posthumous albums have since come out of unreleased work by the Houston legend. His untimely death was attributed to an overdose on promethazine and codeine, the same mixture that helped put him on the map with “Sizzurp”. The Underground King has definitely turned into an icon and inspiration to the enormous breed of southern MC’s that have taken over much of rap radio. He is missed and well deserves a Gone Too Soon recognition. UGK 4 Life.
It was announced a short while ago that comedian Patrice O’Neal, who you recognize from different television appearances, major films, and his successful stand-up career, died yesterday due to complications from a stroke he suffered last month. Patrice was recently part of the Comedy Central Roast Of Charlie Sheen and took a pretty bad ass whooping about his weight, which most likely played a part in his health problems. I saw Patrice what seems like just weeks ago walking down Sansom Street leaving Helium and told him how mean that white jawn was on the Roast. He agreed. If you’re black, overweight, and even remotely famous, it’s time to take action on getting healthy. Shit is no joke. Get on that shit Rozay.
Short lived to the point that I can’t recall when they began and when they ended, Sony Connect Sets were definitely the shit for two reasons. The first being a song I don’t think I ever heard in a non-acoustic rendition. Copeland are apparently a band of Floridians that were around from 2001 – 2010. Thanks Wikipedia. They shouldn’t be remembered by anything other than their performance of “Don’t Slow Down” during a Connect Set. Never heard it? Deprive yourself no longer.
More importantly though, the Sony sets were responsible for one of the best mix-ups of original material and covers ever to be recorded, only bested in my memory by Nirvana’s Unplugged. Phantom Planet are immensely underrated as far as I’m concerned. Their Sony Connect Set included the stand out tracks from their self-titled, and best, recording session, but also four perfectly performed covers. PP took on a Guided By Voices classic “Game Of Pricks”, a lesser known track by Elvis Costello, a track that dates back to 1926, and closing with what has gone on to be labeled by NME as the best song of the last 15 years. The video below isn’t the studio footage, but it gives you an idea of how great it is to see Alex Greenwald and company cover Radiohead. That being said, I’m still not sold that ”Paranoid Android” is even Top 10 of the past 15 years, let alone number one.
This brings us to the one downside to Sony Connect Sets. Their kiss of death. Their fatal flaw. They were extremely secure in terms of being able to share the files. Once downloaded, the files were so encrypted that even modern sites like Soundcloud are recognizing the copyright restrictions put in place back in 2004. Damn the man, but not everything can be given away for free, I guess. Ask and you may receive.
Today marks the 7th anniversary of the passing of Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The famed Wu-Tang Clan member will always be remembered as one of the funniest cats in rap history. ODB was the second member of the Wu to release a solo album with Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, with successful singles like “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and “Brooklyn Zoo”. Most people will never forget MTV’s classic footage of Dirt Dog going to cash his welfare check with his kids, following the release of his successful debut. It’s safe to say Ol’ Dirty is a hip hop legend and his boys in Wu-Tang always make sure to pay respect to their fallen friend. Gone, but definitely not forgotten. Rest In Peace to Russell Tyrone Jones.
Heavy D aka The Overweight Lover passed away today at the young age of 44. D, like most big boned individuals, had some breathing problems and died from these respiratory issues. D was a legend in the game from his rapping, acting, and producing. Some quick facts that we didn’t about D: he was born in Jamaica, Heavy and the Boyz did the theme song for In Living Color, he performed this year at the BET Awards for the first time in 15 years. R.I.P Heavy D (Dwight Myers). Here’s a video of one of Heavy’s last interviews with Westwood.
Artists like Elliott Smith are few and far between. It’s rare that you find someone who has honestly never made a bad song. Each song written by Smith feels extremely personal and he sings every one perfectly. Discovering his music after his death still makes me feel like I missed out on experiencing my favorite singer-songwriter’s career, but I am thankful of the amazing material he did leave behind, as it serves as some of the greatest music ever recorded, in my opinion.
Elliott Smith started out in Heatmiser, a Portland based indie band in which he served as a co-vocalist along with Neil Gust. Smith began releasing solo material while still a member of the band, which caused some tension when his solo work began to receive more attention. His first release, Roman Candle, came out in 1994 and was the complete opposite of the grunge scene that was dominating not only the Northwest part of the states, but had taken over modern rock radio as well. Elliott then released two follow up full length albums, a self-titled LP in 1995 and Either/Or in 1997. It was around that time that famous film director Gus Van Sant requested that Elliott Smith assist with the soundtrack for his new film, the super successful Good Will Hunting. Smith would receive an Oscar nomination for his original song, “Miss Misery”. These years were the first that Smith’s depression began to become an apparent issue, with many stories of contemplating and even attempting suicide. 1998′s XO was another great record and saw Smith moving on to a larger label, receiving more promotion than prior releases. The same went for Figure 8, with Smith landing appearances on both Conan and Letterman. It was during the Figure 8 tour that Elliott became heavily addicted to heroin, what could be considered the true beginning of the end.
Smith has had a few post-humous releases and each of them are filled with great material. It’s sad that someone who made such beautiful music was so unhappy and depressed. Today marks the 8th anniversary of Elliott Smith’s suicide, which still has some mystery surrounding it. Smith and his girlfriend were arguing and she came out of the bathroom to find him standing with a knife in his chest. He had stabbed himself twice in the chest, leaving a brief suicide note reading, “I’m so sorry—love, Elliott. God forgive me.” The autopsy report did leave open the question of homicide, but given the character of Smith and his prior struggles with depression and addiction, I find it likely that Elliott would take his own life, as unfortunate as that is. He is one of the greatest singer-songwriters in American music and will forever be missed.
