News broke this weekend that Beyoncé will play Etta James in the upcoming film, Cadillac Records, an exploration of Chicago in the 1950s. The obvious jokes about their respective weights and looks aside, I couldn’t really care less about the casting decision. I just hope it pays her well so she doesn’t have to hock cell phones using the worst commercial song of my lifetime.
But I thought this story would provide a lovely excuse for us to post a version of Etta’s 1967 hit, Tell Mama. There’s no moving picture on this video, but the audio is so awesome that it should suffice. Gotta fuckin’ love this tune.
The theft-endorsing version of Napster’s gone. The white-collar pigs shut down OiNK, presumably for good. Fuck, it’s a bad time to be a music freeloader.
But all that [supposedly] changes today. Qtrax, a five-year-old startup that claims to have struck deals with three of the big four record labels, will begin offering free and unlimited downloads from its 25 million-song catalog to music fans that have shown themselves unwilling to pay for them.
Sounds great, but this thing’s got more deceptive catches than Larry Centers. The downloaded songs are not yet compatible with Apple’s iPods, they all contain Digital Rights Management software, and you’ll likely be bombarded with a serious amount of advertising. Oh, and there’s one more issue: EMI, Warner Music and Universal are all denying they’ve inked deals with the peer-to-peer network.
Still, while it may not be as revolutionary as the company believes, keep an eye on Qtrax to see whether they can pull off something new. And, shit, we’ll be thrilled if we can just download Phish’s ‘Gin and Juice’, or their great ‘Marijuana’ song.
Ringo Starr recently kicked off his hometown Liverpool’s year as the European Capital of Culture with a live performance of Liverpool 8 in front of 20,000 people. Coincidentally, this week I booked a nine-day trip to England and Amsterdam for next month that’ll take me to the Capital to see Liverpool host Inter Milan in a crucial Champions League fixture. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip, the best team in Italy against the most historic in England; and the two clubs haven’t met since a controversial two-leg affair in the same tournament in 1965. Color me Scouse.
I imagine you don’t care terribly about this information, but as you look back at the week that was here at Hidden Track, know that your ol’ pal Ace is looking forward…
We’ve been closely following the New Jersey Festival Turf War between the promoters of Coachella (All Points West) and ACL/Lollapalooza (Vineland). Well, it appears Vineland folks have blinked. Our favorite scenesterscribe Mike Greenhaus reports that “co-producers Festival Republic and C3 Presents have decided to step back and launch Vineland in 2009.” We guess they ain’t goin’ to tha mattresses.
(Oh, and by the way, this makes me think APW really does have Radiohead…)
Seriously, if you don’t enjoy this week’s installment of the Friday Mix Tape, I’ll be reporting you to the authorities on suspicion of Communism and/or terrorism.
Just try me, motherbitches. Try to stream this 46-minute masterpiece and not enjoy it. Like my failing English, it’s just unpossible. We start you off with the unheralded geniuses of Cymande, move right into some rhythmic clapping from Dave Brubeck and then follow it up with six more dastardly deft tunes that’ll shake your kidneys so hard you’ll piss blood for a month. And you’ll thank me for it.
Note: Due to time constraints, there will be no mediafire download for this one.
It’s official, so get ready for The Neville Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Santana, Sheryl Crow, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Al Green, Diana Krall, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Raconteurs, Irma Thomas and thousands more. So The Raconteurs land on two festival bills in the span of a week — be careful, Young Jack, don’t step all over Franti/Keller Festival Territory.
Fantastic news for fans of that lovely brooding baritone emanating from the mouth of Leonard Cohen. The legendary Québécois songwriter “will tour with his band in Canada and the U.S. in May and in Europe in the summer, according to leonardcohenforum.com. Details will be announced in February.” Fucking awesome, considering I was like 14 the last time he toured in earnest — so I’ll be there, and I’ll pray they recreate this gem on stage:
Or you can save some cash, wait until Yom Kippur and switch out your local cantor’s sheet music with Seems So Long Ago, Nancy. All yokes aside, we hope this septuagenarian genius genuinely wants to tour and that this isn’t an old man trying to live right after being ripped off for millions by a trusted associate.
One of our loyal readers sent in this video and message, and because we’re in full Jessie Spano On Caffeine Pills Mode (there’s never any time!), we thought we’d just copy off his paper. So take it away Frank: “This video brought me great joy and thought I’d share. It makes me want to stand up, because Baba O’Riley is kind of like my national anthem. Also, it’s Dr. Seuss, who is the man.”
And we promise a full slate of regular postage tomorrow…or your money back.
Take it from famed New York Metropolitan Ed Kranepool and watch this short video as to the true origin of the band’s moniker. Our confidential informant Jesse Jarnow passed that clip along to us with the footnote: “What’s more amazing, is that the video was shot on the softball field in Hoboken, right by the Elysian Fields, where baseball was more or less invented in the 19th century.”
It’s been a good long while since we’ve gone rummaging through the Internet’s greatest bargain bin: the SugarMegs archives. So while my plate remains full with tasks related my daytime salaried position (read: piss off, freeloaders!), hopefully I can trust you fine folks to play quietly in the corner until things subside. The five gems below should occupy your time quite nicely, if you’ll allow…
And if these five ain’t your cup of tea, you can always take a musical time out and pay closer attention to your evaporating portfolio. We got the Recession Blues.
