kopoint:

Mitt Romney probably isn’t a hip-hop fan. If he were, the Presidential hopeful would have known that K’Naan wouldn’t be too keen on the idea that his song “Waving Flag” be adopted as the victory anthem for the potential GOP candidate. Now, the rapper may take legal action.

“Romney campaign debuts new victory song. ‘Wavin Flag’ by K’NAAN,” tweeted Jon Ward, a Senior Political Reporter for The Huffington Post, following the former Massachusetts governor’s win in the Florida Republican primary Tuesday night.

“My manager called me on the phone and was like, ‘Hey, Mitt Romney has just used your song and people are hitting me up like crazy,’” K’Naan told XXLMag.com. “Then I checked my e-mails and Twitter and, sure enough, it’s blowing up with crazy outrage.”

Full Story -»

Think of this not as a story about Apple, but about a commentary on Western culture and globalism.

kopoint:

Mike Daisey was a self-described “worshipper in the cult of Mac.” Then he saw some photos from a new iPhone, taken by workers at the factory where it was made. Mike wondered: Who makes all my crap? He traveled to China to find out.

Listen to the Episode -»

abcnewsradio:

(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) — Start with the economy, mix in the American public’s changing taste in music, overly large concert halls, and union-management struggles and you have the challenges of symphony orchestras around the country. 

Most recently, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra announced Tuesday they would be filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In early February, the 50-year-old symphony serving central New York set a fundraising goal that, to management’s delight, was surpassed by $100,000. But in early March, it came up just over $144,000 short in meeting another benchmark that would help ensure the continuation of operations.

“Certainly we were disappointed, but we’re also encouraged by the fact that we’re continuing to have a great deal of support from individuals and corporations and establishments that are interested in raising funds for us and assisting us in any way they can,” interim executive director Paul Brooks told ABCNews.com…

Keep Reading on ABC News Radio

Follow @abcnewsradio on Twitter

(Source: abcnewsradioarchive)

Serious.  

From @abcnewsradio:

(EARLIMART, Calif.) — A man was stabbed and killed in Earlimart. His attacker, however, wasn’t a human — it was a fighting chicken.

Authorities say the incident happened on January 30 at a venue in the vicinity of Avenue 24 and Road 128 Tulare County. Investigators say a chicken with a blade attached to its leg reportedly stabbed 35-year-old Jose Luis Ochoa in the calf. The armed rooster is believed to have been used for fighting. Authorities say Ochoa was rushed to Delano Regional Medical Center, where he later died. An autopsy report found that Ochoa died as a result of an injury to his right calf, according to a report by theBakersfield Californian. 

Authorities reportedly found evidence of cockfighting at the location, however, it is unknown if a cockfight was in progress when the incident occurred.

From The A.V. Club

Unlike with Radiohead’s previous record, 2007’s “pay-what-you-will” In Rainbows, you’re going to have to pay a fixed price this time: The King Of Limbs will be available digitally on Feb. 19 to those who pre-order the physical incarnation of the record (which won’t be shipped until May 9). 

This series - chronicling the rise and fall of alternative music in the 90’s - has been a brilliant joyride through the nostalgia of adolescence and rocknroll.  By the late-90s so-called ‘alternative’ rock was dead.  In this episode Hayden depicts one of the lowest points of contemporary popular music.   

creepysleepy:

The brilliant series Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation by Steve Hayden forThe AV Club continues with a look at American ‘cock rock’ of the late 90s.

Read Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,Part 6,Part 7, and Part 8.

…Grunge wasn’t just dead; its body was being chopped up so close friends and relatives couldn’t identify it. For the next several years, a new wave of bands systematically wiped away the gains alternative rock had made in the early ’90s. Grunge was consumed by a new beast, and vomited back up with the most rank, least edible chunks of metal and hip-hop. Whether it was called nü-metal or rap-rock (or far worse epithets by those that couldn’t fathom the ugly blitzkrieg of belching fury suddenly coming at them from the fleet of bright yellow muscle cars rapidly taking over Main Street in every American town), this was music that took the sludge and the self-pity of early-’90s rock and turned it into something leaner, meaner, and nefariously empowering. 

Nü-metal became the overture for what was about to come down in the ’00s, its inarticulate roar simulating the jet engines of George W. Bush’s America firing up and incinerating the grungy Clinton ’90s. Political correctness was the new establishment, and dismantling it became the first item on rock’s to-do list. Treating women like “bitches” and gays like “faggots” in song lyrics was now an acceptable form of rebellion, not to mention an easy way to get a rise out of bleeding-heart squares. Making money—and flaunting it—was okay again. Nü-metal beat grunge at its own game; you could feel sorry for yourself without worrying about other people. In fact, other people were the problem.It was the perfect state of mind for the American teenager bored with the comfort and affluence of the late ’90s, and resentful of bands pushing them to Rock The Vote and support Amnesty International. Soon, everybody wanted what nü-metal was selling, in all its various guises…

Keep Reading on A.V. Club

(Source: kopoint)

creepysleepy:

The brilliant series Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation by Steve Hayden forThe AV Club continues with a look at the brit-rock invasion of the late 90s.

Read Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,Part 6, and Part 7.

Transcending suckiness is the very essence of Definitely Maybe. Given what Oasis became, “Rock ’N’ Roll Star” might smack of the same old self-aggrandizing chest-thumping that people eventually tired of. But Noel Gallagher was a failed criminal and ex-roadie from Manchester when he wrote “Rock ’N’ Roll Star.” It’s a song about the dream of being famous by a guy seeking the freedom that great wealth has always represented to poor people locked into generations of boredom and decay. I didn’t grow up on the hardscrabble streets of Manchester, where dyslexic Noel struck out as an attempted house burglar at 18 and ended up carrying amps for forgotten Brit-rockers Inspiral Carpets, and his brother Liam eked out the equivalent of $100 a week painting fences after getting kicked out of school at 15 for fighting. But with three years of junior-high-school hell in my rearview mirror, I was all about escaping my past. Oasis had seemingly willed itself into becoming rich and famous.  I had a lot to learn from them…

Keep Reading Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation

(Source: kopoint)

The brilliant series Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation by Steve Hayden for The AV Club continues with a look in to post-Grunge.

/via @creepysleepy:

Read Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6

According to The Book Of Rock Lists by Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein (1981 ed.), the No. 1 most spectacular death in rock history ended the life of singer Johnny Ace, whose biggest hit, “Pledging My Love,” surged to the top of the Billboard rhythm and blues chart about two months after his untimely demise on Christmas day 1954. The Book Of Rock Lists gave Ace’s death “most spectacular” distinction based on a piece of mistaken information, repeating the legend that the shadowy balladeer killed himself during a game of Russian roulette played backstage at the City Auditorium in Houston between holiday shows with Big Mama Thornton. An eyewitness account from Thornton’s bassist Curtis Tillman contradicts this story. Tillman claimed that Ace had been drinking heavily and goofing around when he picked up the pistol. “It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded, see?’” Tillman recalled Ace saying as he pointed it at his head and, with a smile, pulled the trigger. 

Keep Reading Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation

(Source: kopoint)

Company presses your ashes into vinyl when you die

From Wired UK:

A UK company called And Vinyly is offering people the chance to press their ashes in a vinyl recording of their own voice, their favourite tunes or their last will and testament. Minimalist audiophiles might want to go for the simple option of having no tunes or voiceover, and simply pressing the ashes into the vinyl to result in pops and crackles.

How does it work?
The process of setting human ashes into vinyl involves a very understanding pressing plant. Basically the ashes must be sprinkled onto the raw piece of vinyl (known as a “biscuit” or “puck”) before it is pressed by the plates. This means that when the plates exert their pressure on the vinyl in order to create the grooves, the ashes are pressed into the record.