The new album, Yeezus (pronounced like a mix of Yes Jesus, probably intended by Kanye) is no different as it’s getting great reviews.  Listen to this song and you’ll shake your head in amazement at the beats, the lyrics and the craziness contained within.

Here’s “I Am A God” (lyrics NSFW)

There are those artists that lay low, live a normal life and release an album whenever the mood strikes them.

The first is Hanson, yes, that Hanson.  They may have started as a teen pop sensation, but they’ve kept their fans by doing it DIY with constant touring and exposure by playing the festival circuit.  They’ve even expanded beyond music with a pale ale called “Mmmhops“.  Their new album is called Anthem.

In the where in the world is Rick Moranis department is the coming out party, of sorts for Rick Moranis.  His IMDB page says the SCTV/Ghostbuster/Honey I Shrunk actor hasn’t been heard from since 2006 when he did the voice work for a Walt Disney video.

Well  Rick is back with an album dedicated to his love of…wait for it…”His Mother’s Brisket”.  Of course it is a comedy album and it’s nice to hear Rick back in the game.  Below is Rick’s interview for the Nerdist to learn about all things Rick.  If you do get the album, make sure to get the deluxe version with the purple velvet yarmulke 

That price is to the tune of $2 million per year in licensing fees for the song.  That’s a pretty sweet tune for Warner/Chappell.  The company paid $25 million in 1988 to acquire Birchtree Ltd., a small company whose musical holdings included the birthday song.

It might be the reason you hear “For (S)he’s a Jolly Good Fellow” in a movie or whenever you go to a restaurant chain they sing their own unique version of The Birthday Song (Yes, restaurants  or any public space could potentially be charged for performing the song).

A lawsuit was filed last week in New York charging that the song should belong in the Public Domain and therefore belong to the people.

As the New York Times reports:

Filmmaker, Jennifer Nelson, was producing a documentary movie, tentatively titled “Happy Birthday,” about the song,  In one proposed scene, the song was to be performed.

But to use it in the film, she was told she would have to pay $1,500 and enter into a licensing agreement with Warner/Chappell, the publishing arm of the Warner Music Group. Ms. Nelson’s company, Good Morning to You Productions, paid the fee and entered into the agreement, the suit says.

The lawsuit notes that in the late 1800s, two sisters, Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, wrote a song with the same melody called “Good Morning to All.” The suit tracks that song’s evolution into the familiar birthday song, and its ownership over more than a century.

This should be interesting to see how this plays out, especially since the lawsuit requests  that the firm return all the fees for the song it has collected in the past four years.

Thursday is the 2nd Annual Sunset & Dine. It’s taking place at the Academy Hollywood, the outdoor theater at the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) Pickford Center. The event brings together local businesses for an evening of food, drinks, booths and a movie screening — this time it’s the classic Hollywood film noir Sunset Blvd. Amoeba Records has tickets available for the event at $30, plus a $2 service fee. Tickets garner visitors access to beer and wine, plus free food samples from local businesses. Amoeba will be on hand at the event with a booth featuring Amoeba goodies and a DJ.

Here’s the opening clip from one of my top ten favorite movies.

It’s simply the best curated movie house in Los Angeles.  That movie house is The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax.

This weekend is especially exciting for The Cinefamily as they’ve got a new brand-new DCP video projector.  They’ll showcase this new projector with a free screening of one of my top 10 movies, “Singing In The Rain”.  You can register for the Friday screening here.  In case you don’t know, the Silent Movie Theatre is located, it’s about a 5 mile drive from this place.

On Saturday night, enjoy a Progressive Rock Party with a salute to Yes, Genesis and of course Mr. Roboto…wait, what?

To celebrate the publication of “Yes Is The Answer”, the first literary anthology devoted to prog rock’s legacy it’s a heady stew of rare 35mm prints, excerpted readings from the book by its authors, and video rarities up the wazoo. First up, the book’s local contributors read from their pieces, followed by killer footage of the bands in question — and then it’s onto the evening’s archival film prints: 1977’s sublime 45-minute Genesis: In Concert, filmed in expansive Cinemascope and unscreened in Los Angeles for decades — and 1983’s Kilroy Was Here, Styx’s 10-minute dystopian filmed “intro” to their worldwide tour of the same name. 

Domo Arigato indeed!

Oh yeah, and HappyFather’s Day

and for Emma….

The fun began for fans of Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada on Record Store Day when a fan discovered a new, unannounced Boards of Canada 12-inch at a New York record store. The artwork contained a mysterious sequence of symbols (“—— / —— / —— / XXXXXX / —— / ——”) and the vinyl itself played static, a bit of music, and a robotic voice reading six digits. Those numerals corresponded with the Xs.

Gradually the rest of the cypher became known through an elaborate series of clues.  As Spin Magazine details

 Music videos were hacked, secret links discovered and website source codes were examined while radio transmissions coming from the BBC and NPR dropped additional clues. Most recently, a Cartoon Network television ad filled in a few blanks.

At last, a new website for Boards was launched, Cosecha-Transmisiones.com, requesting a password in order to obtain entry (699742628315717228936557813386519225) grants access to a video that confirms the album info, then links to the Warp store’s pre-order. A press release confirmed the rest.

To watch the video without entering the code go here.

Of course you can always wait for the release day and hear about all that happened and just buy the record when it comes up but what’s the fun in that?

The fun is actually in listening to the album which might remind some of the latest Daft Punk (I’m sure somebody’s already called them the Scottish Daft Punk…actually I guess that would be me).   Give a listen and judge for yourself.

A more traditional way to use social media is releasing a video every Wednesday, let’s call it Wack Wednesday.  Let’s call the band The Lonely Island.    Let’s call this band the funniest, most immature bunch of 30 year olds this side of 1980s era Beastie Boys.

Let me “Spell It Out”

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Let’s just say I’m love this stuff; highly recommended

I think many people, including myself  think of Lou as humorless.  This perception is based on 45 years of music featuring characters of  debauchery, depravity and a general hatred of mankind.

Vicious from Transformer

I’m sure he’s a fine upstanding citizen but  it’s nice that The Onion  goes to extremes to show the humor of Lou Reed.  Enjoy!

Song About Heroin Used To Advertise Bank

“Perhaps Lou Reed put it best when he said, ‘Heroin will be the death of me / It’s my wife, and it’s my life.’ For Reed, life and love become the same as death, and this ‘living death,’ if you will, really resonates with the American buying public in a deep and powerful way.

First Aid Tips:

In the event of accidental drug overdose, call Lou Reed immediately.

• Dexedrine: While this simple medication of pure amphetamine continues to effectively treat ADHD and narcolepsy, it also caused 47 percent of patients in clinical trials to stay awake for five straight days listening to Lou Reed’s Berlin over and over

Report: $14 Trillion Spent Annually On Trying To Look Cool

“This is in contrast to, say, [musician] Lou Reed, who spent just $11 on looking cool in 2009 and remains as cool as they come.”

New Chemical Weapon ‘Ennui Gas’ Induces Listlessness, Dissatisfaction With Life

Recently disclosed Pentagon documents indicate that the gas has a dissemination radius of four to eight miles, and that neither protective masks nor a positive outlook on life can prevent infection. Symptoms include uncontrollable sighing, repeated utterances of the phrase “What’s the use?” a confusion and bitterness regarding one’s place in the universe, and an increased proclivity to listen to Lou Reed records.

Horoscope

Pisces The judge will declare a mistrial in your capital-murder case, not for any legal reason but out of a desire to listen to Lou Reed’s Mistrial.

New Liver Complains Of Difficulty Working With Lou Reed

NEW YORK—Just weeks after being transplanted into Lou Reed’s abdomen, a 3.5-pound donor liver voiced complaints to reporters Monday about the difficulty of working with the “temperamental” rock legend. “It’s really hard to get along with Lou—one minute he’s your best friend and the next he’s outright abusive,” said the vital organ, describing its ongoing collaboration with the former Velvet Underground frontman as “strained at best.” “He just has this way of making you feel completely inadequate. I can tell he doesn’t respect me at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s already thinking about replacing me.” The liver admitted it was considering ending its detoxification sessions with the 71-year-old recording artist and just letting him synthesize proteins and digestive biochemicals on his own.

Area Man Seated Next To Lou Reed On Roller Coaster

David Byrne and St. Vincent — Brass Tactics

Le1f — Fly Zone

The-Dream — Climax

Damo Suzuki —  Live at the TIR Club, Pskov, Russia

DJ Food — Kraftwerk Kovers

Death Grips — Ex-Military

Various Artists — Primavera Sound 2013 Preview

Various Artists — Adult Swim Garage Swim Compilation

Oval — Calidostópia

TG Olson — Blood Meridian for Electric Drone Guitar

John Vanderslice — Green Grow the Rushes

Various Artists — Death Waltz Records Fangoria Mixtape

Glass Candy — various albums

Various Artists — Tranquility Tapes Tabs Out Sampler

Clams Casino — Instrumentals Vol. 2

Mount Eerie — Seven New Songs of Mount Eerie

Jens Lekman — Presents for You

Captain Murphy — Duality

Angel Haze — Reservation

Mykki Blanco — Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Princess

STUDS WILL BE ALLOWED.  NO SPIKES or sharp edges, cans or bottles, alcoholic beverages, coolers or food or drinks, weapon(with or without a permit) sticks, balls, bats, chains or clubs, blow horns, balloons, bikes, skateboards, pens, markers, umbrellas, lawn chairs, small stadium seat or low back chairs!, No video equipment, squirt or water guns, unauthorized vending, concessions, merchandise, literature of promotions, no animals. (so if you act like one, we will kick you out)

  If you’re looking for something a little more mellow, you can head to Pasadena for the first Summer Nights of the year this Saturday evening. It’s free, it’s in an open air mall, they serve drinks and Silverlake band Hot As Sun is playing.  I’ve seen Hot As Sun and they like using the bullhorn so you know you’re in for a good time.  So as they sing, “just dahnce, dahnce, dahnce to the beat of the drum”

If you like Indie Music and Brunch then I suggest heading to the Federal Bar in North Hollywood on Sunday morning for Rogue Wave and Thao, yes it’s Thao from The Get Down Stay Down could there be any other Thao.  Enjoy Music Mimosas and Bagels.   It sounds perfectly delicious.

Sunday evening celebrate the 100th Birthday Bash for the Natural History Museum.  Your $25 ticket gets you kid friendly activities, workshops in the gardens, behind-the-scenes collection tours with our scientists and musical entertainment from The Ranger Band and Rhythm Child . Nature after dark is even more fun so join JPL’s Adam Steltzner for a discussion about Mars Curiosity rover, food trucks, garden tours, DJs in the Mammal Halls, and outdoor shows with DEVO and GZA/The Genius IN CONCERT ! Devo and GZA!  Now that’s a bash! I hope they bring cats.

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park is now singing with the band.  Oddly, there’s been no comment from Linkin Park or Chester’s future with Linkin Park.

The first song has been released and there’s been a promise of more to come.

Of course, Stone Temple Pilots are not the first band to file a suit against their lead singer or vice versa.  Here are a few others.

LIVE

On November 30, 2009, Live guitarist Chad Taylor revealed that what had initially been termed a “two-year hiatus” was more likely the end of the band, due to what he felt were inappropriate and possibly illegal actions by (lead singer) Ed Kowalczyk, which have resulted in a lawsuit being filed against him by the other three band members. In June 2011, Taylor revealed that he, Gracey and Dahlheimer were to reform Live without Kowalczyk, who confirmed that he would not work with the other three again. In March 2012, Chris Shinn, formerly of the band Unified Theory, replaced Kowalczyk as lead singer. [source Wikipedia]

Great White

March 2012

Jack Russell, the lead singer and founder of 1980s rock band GREAT WHITE claims his former band mates fired him and stole the group’s name after he recovered from surgery to repair a perforated bowel.

J. Geils Band

August 2012

J. Geils sues the J. Geils Band for  trademark infringement and deceptive business practices

Violent Femmes

August 2007

Bassist Brian Ritchie sued lead vocalist Gordon Gano on Wednesday, saying he was deprived of credit for some of the group’s songs and a proper accounting of its earnings.

Village People

February 2009

The Village People’s original policeman does not want anybody to think he is still in the band. The group’s former lead singer, Victor Willis, is suing the present incarnation of the group – alleging that they have used his image and voice without permission

Styx

October 1999

The ’70s band Styx is so bitter about their former lead singer that on their current tour, they won’t play the songs he made famous. “We’re avoiding the big Dennis DeYoung pop hits,” guitarist James Young tells the Palm Beach Post. Those include “Babe” and “Mr. Roboto.” “He and I are polar opposites … This is a rock band. This is not a band that does show tunes,” says Young. It all goes back to a lawsuit DeYoung once filed against his former band members, charging they used the Styx name without his consent. The suit was settled, but the bad feelings remain. [source Stereogum]