Rising DJ and freestyle dynamo Jay Electronica kicked enough ass at Club Haze in Las Vegas last February to earn him a welcome back March 8th. As per usual, he tore up the show up in his usual fashion, driving the crowd wild and making the girls go crazy. Performing excerpts from his limited release of LPs, the hip-hop equivalent of a progressive rock album in the form of Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), which is, in the man’s own biography, “laced with movie samples and Beatles film soundtracks.” Shorter compositions like “Hard to Get” served as a bit of a break from the longer ones, with the crowd moving to every groove they could.

It makes for more than a captivating album apparently, and an equally riveting live performance; the crowd stood in awe of his on-stage stream-of-consciousness prose and filled in on what often seemed like the more difficult to memorize verses, when Jay’s wordplay was at its wittiest: “I got the rap game singing “At Last” like Etta James/Lames they got planes shot down like John McCain/It’s a dream, it’s a dream/ The flow is elegant like Miss Coretta Scott King/A lot of kings seen death and turned queen/Crack they 24 inch rims in the ravine.”

 

- Madlib goes to Africa. Play

- Def Jam wouldn’t let Method Man record Wu-Massacre on “hip-hop time.” HipHopDX

- Amy Winehouse to design line of Fred Perry crack stained wife-beaters. Billboard

- Buy Michael Jackson’s (RIP) sunglasses given to living Corey. Julien’s Auction

- James Brown’s body has been snatched!!! New York Post

- 160 arrested at Metallica concert riot. Spin

Today’s bloggin best…

- Jessica Simpson and Billy Corgan wrote a reality show theme song. The Tripwire

- You know the Beastie Boy approve of this Battlestar Galactica bootleg. LA Weekly

- The Optimo night is ending in Glasgow. Anyone have some frequent flier miles? Optimo

- Conan O’Brien is hitting the road. Billboard

- The Strokes are gonna play Lollapalooza. Stereogum

- Michael Bolton got a platinum record for Kanye’s College Dropout? Sound of the City

- What happened to Parental Advisory stickers on CDs? Westword

Germany’s Ulrich Schnauss has a knack for weaving together various forms of electronica, as he puts it in his Red Bull Music Academy interview, “in the widest sense of the term.” Schnauss is the self-proclaimed product of both 1980s German dance music, the likes of which had been started by Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk, and other bands from across the spectrum of shoegaze such as The Cocteau Twins and Slowdive. But it’s Schnauss’ sixth sense for fusing these elements together which makes it work, the result of years of obsessive practice and label-hounding. While some of it verges on the sentimental side, there’s gems like “Stars”, where dampened percussion and a sort of ambient drone enhances the lyrics of a vagabond narrator, while “Between Us and Them” best captures Schnauss’ knack for capturing something between melancholia and restlessness, giving a sort of spectral feel to music that needs no words.

Today’s bloggin best…

- Gorillaz like Katy Perry, but hate Russell Brand. Prefix

- Plastikman, Model 500 and Inner City all to headline Movement Festival. URB

- Someone let Insane Clown Posse onto Nightline…oh, to make fun of them. Videogum

- 13th Witness directed the new Deftones video. Hypebeast

- Kavinsky has a new track to rave to. Fools Gold

- Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins and Moby all appear in Canadian vampire flick. The Playlist

You can bet Jack White doesn’t like music blogs. It wouldn’t be surprising if the proudly retro guitarist-vocalist of The White Stripes doesn’t dig on YouTube either. So it would probably please him to no end that when he and partner Meg White played a series of off-the-cuff public shows in Canada (a bowling alley is Saskatoon, a YMCA in Toronto, a city bus in Winnipeg) during the band’s 2007 tour, this sort of obvious blog fodder flew under the radar of all but the most obsessive web citizens.

It’s that sort mystery in the age of full digital disclosure that first draws one in to The White Stripes tour documentary, Under Great White Northern Lights, which made it’s Los Angeles premier at Hollywood’s 1920s film palace, The Egyptian Theater, on Tuesday night. A visual diary of the White Stripes on the road in the most far-flung reaches of the Canadian north, film-maker Emmett Malloy brilliantly captures these rural outposts and the people who call them home, all while managing to stay focused on the visiting duo who one suspects are more comfortable in these environs than the modern world down below.

Of course, the simple stereotype of Northern Canadians as backwoods troglodytes is both unfair and unwarranted. But it’s hard to watch Jack and Meg interact with a group of Inuit tribal elders without considering the thousands of years of human history that came before the web’s instant gratification became the status quo. Such contemplation turns out to be the perfect context for The White Stripes tribal blues music as well as their sharp ‘50s inspired garb. Imagine if Mad Men followed a couple of kids from Detroit playing old juke joints instead of urbane ad men and you’ll get the ambience I’m talking about.

The timing of Under Great White Northern Lights couldn’t be better, coming at a point when cancelled tours and growing side projects leaves the status of the White Stripes in questions. But consequential events aside, the film morphs from tour diary into a celebration of the Stripes 10 year anniversary show which is captured at the end of the film. And in a closing scene too emotional to discuss here, one is left to wonder if this multi-layered celluloid document is a concert flick, an on-the-road tale, or a last testament from one of the most important rock bands of the Millennium. Here’s hoping it’s only the first two.

Lately there’s been a trend growing amongst filmmakers to reboot, remake, or re-imagine certain ideas. Most noticeable of them all: you guessed it — the SPIDER-MAN franchise. Since 2002, we’ve only known Peter Parker as Tobey Maguire, Mary Jane as Kirsten Dunst, and Sam Raimi in charge of capturing the world they live in. As of mid-January, that all changed. Marc Webb, who helmed 500 DAYS OF SUMMER is now the new director of the teenaged Spidey reboot. Right now there are no other details, but it brought about a good question—why all the remakes?

A big reason for the Raimi/SPIDER-MAN bust-up was creative differences as well as time constraints. It’s been said that Raimi told the studio he couldn’t make the film by summer, nor would he be able express himself creatively. Raimi felt that if he did the film the way the studio wanted, then he wasn’t being faithful to himself or to the character. Do you know what happens when you give Sony creative control? You get SPIDER-MAN 3. It seemed like Sony was having a hard time letting Raimi create his own vision for the fourth film so ultimately the director split. So: why not let Raimi have control?

One of the biggest arguments was over the villain in the fourth installment. Raimi was really pushing to have John Malkovich as the Vulture, but Sony wanted Anne Hathway as The Black Cat. Then they realized that Hathaway would cost too much money, and if they wanted to do it in 3D then maybe a lesser known actor might cut on costs.

The high school reboot has split a lot of Spidey fans. Some are open to fresh, new ideas for the webslinger along the lines of what the studio has planned. Then there’s the other half that would rather take a dip in a vat full of acid than watch someone like Zac Efron take on the part of Peter Parker. Currently, the lead role has not been filled, but everyone from Efron to Logan Lerman (PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF) to Joseph Gordon Levitt has been rumored. The reason for choosing Webb to direct might have a lot to do with how perfectly the director captures relationships. Webb helmed last year’s sleeper hit, 500 Days of Summer. So maybe he’ll be able to give a boost to the Peter Parker/Mary Jane relationship. Recently, Sony was looking into still doing 3D for the film and putting James Cameron on as a creative consultant. Ironically, Cameron wrote a treatment for SPIDER-MAN back in 1991, but it was scrapped.

The obsession with remakes stifles true creativity and robs the viewer of a real lasting experience. Most of the movies made now won’t be as memorable as those of the past, and if they are it will be for all the wrong reasons. Moviegoers are letting these things slip through the cracks. Films like AVATAR, which might be visually appealing, still tell a fairly popular tale. The bottom line is the more these types of movies get made the smaller the chance we have to let in the true visionaries with new stories to tell. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to hear a different story. Oh, and if you could please, don’t f*%k up Captain America.

Words by Niki Stephens, Photos copyright Marvel Comics, Renaissance Pictures and Sony Pictures

Since it was Medical Fetish night, the wheelchairs, hospital beds, anatomical models and I.V.s  brought by Al and team fit right in. However, I can’t help but wonder how many of those present were prepared for what happened once the party really got going. Perhaps they expected the rope bondage and suspension performance on the main stage, but what of the racing wheelchairs and their bruised and belligerent occupants? And what about the maniacal laughter of bedridden patients, and enough neck braces, oxygen tubes and arm slings to make the entire cast of Cronenberg’s Crash jealous? Let us not forget the screeching soundscapes and video montages of everything from vintage first aid instruction to surgery footage, projected on several massive screens. I imagine those raised a few eyebrows, too. But not for long! Soon enough, partygoers were lining up near the nurse station, happy to be examined and sternly reprimanded.

After a few hours in the midst of all the splendid debauchery, I was a convert, too. Art of Bleeding performances are not for the closed-minded or faint-hearted, but I think you guys can handle it. I believe in you! Sign up for the AoB mailing list to find out about the next paramedical funhouse experience.

Words and Photos by Zoetica Ebb

 

Today’s bloggin best…

- When did Beyoncé’s sister get to be so cool? The Smoking Section

- Here comes the new MGMT leaks. The Trip Wire

- Pavements drummer only dates Pavement fans. Pitchfork

- Weezer are bugs on Yo! Gabba Gabba. Stereogum

- LCD Soundsystem scores YSL runway show. BPM

- Of course Terry Richardson’s skate deck has hipster boobies. Format Mag

Hey all you blaspheming audiophiles! Here’s a nice and meaty list of new CD releases for March 9th.

Acrassicauda – Only The Dead See The End Of The War
Alberta Cross – Broken Side Of Time
Before Their Eyes – Untouchable
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
Broken Bells [The Shins' James Mercer and Danger Mouse project] – Broken Bells
Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
jj – jj n3
Liars – Sisterworld
Monica – Still Standing
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
New Young Pony Club – The Optimist
Numero Group – Good God! Born Again Funk
Pavement – Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement
Josh Rouse – El Turista
Standard Fare – The Novelle Beat
The Steel Wheels – Red Wing
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor