Month: February 2020

VALENTINE'S DAY: I've never been a big Valentine's Day guy, but I have always liked The Replacements' "Valentine" and Elvis Costello's cover of "My Funny Valentine."  Beyond that, my thoughts typically drift to the Velvet Underground's "I'll Be Your Mirror," The Beatles' "In My Life," and the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." I think it's probably very difficult to write a straight-ahead, universal love song, and these three are great.

LUCY DACUS visits KEXP.

ANDY SCHAUF played "Neon Skyline" and "Try Again" for Kimmel.

STELLA DONNELLY covers John Paul Young's "Love Is In The Air."

THE OPPOSING VIEW:  Ever Fallen In Love? Love Stinks. Love Hurts. Love Will Tear Us Apart. Only Love Can Break Your Heart. And don't forget to give me back my black t-shirt (nsfw)

THE 100 BEST LOVE SONGS, according to The Telegraph.

THE TOP 50 LOVE SONGS, as measured by Billboard.

VH-1's 40 Awesomely Bad Love Songs.

THE WORST LOVE SONGS, according to faculty members of the University of St. Thomas’ Music Department.

NINE SONGS ABOUT SEEING YOUR EX MAKING OUT, courtesy of The A.V. Club. A hardy perennial.

 

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Sonic the Hedgehog, which is currently scoring 65 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Downhill, which is scoring 44 percent; The Photograph, scoring 79 percent; and Blumhouse's horror version of Fantasy Island, which was not advance screened for critics.

NO TIME TO DIE: Billie Eilish has shared the theme song for the next Bond flick.

MEGXIT: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have laid off their London staff.

JAMES BROWN: Prosecutor may investigate claim the Godfather of Soul was murdered.

THE BATMAN: Director Matt Reeves revealed the first look at Robert Pattinson as Batman in a camera test.

ALADDIN: The live-action reboot is getting a sequel.

JENNIFER ANISTON spent more time chatting to Mad Men's Jon Hamm than Brad Pitt at an Oscars afterparty.

ROMAN POLANSKI: The entire board of the Cesar Academy, which awards France's equivalent of the Oscars, resigned Thursday just two weeks ahead of its gala ceremony after Polanski's new film "An Officer and a Spy" topped the list of nominations for this year's Cesar awards, which will be handed out on February 28.  It feels like fallout from the Gabriel Matzneff scandal rocking France.

A GOONIES RE-ENACTMENT is the subject of a new pilot.

HUGH JACKMAN meeting a Wolverine fan is the best thing you will see today.

 

KUPATA guards the school crossing.

MAN & CAT reunite after seven years.

PLANTATION OWNERS profit by not persecuting primates.

"IT'S NOT FULLY KNOWN, but it’s thought that males put their energy into looking for females, not growing."

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS don't want to go to "Chelsea."

MOUNT EERIE & JULIE DORION play a Tiny Desk Concert.

ALGIERS visits WFUV.

THE LOVE SONG I WISH I'D WRITTEN, with answers from Matt Berninger, Phoebe Bridgers, M. Ward, and more.

BARTEES STRANGE covers The National's "About Today."

 

NICOLE ATKINS shares "Captain," ft Britt Daniel.

12 ESSENTIAL 1980s ALTERNATIVE ROCK ALBUMS, according to PopMatters.

MUSIC: A Subversive History.

FACTORY RECORDS: Gareth Murphy speaks to the key figures behind one of the world's most iconic labels.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Donna Summer's toot-toot beep-beep sex-work anthem "Bad Girls."

 

SOPHIE TURNER & JOE JONAS are expecting their first child together.

PRINCE HARRY was in talks with Goldman Sachs.

WES ANDERSON's The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun has a trailer online.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX has his first post-Joker project.

ROSE McGOWAN wasn't impressed by Natalie Portman's Oscars "protest."

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is currently a bridesmaid.

RICK MORANIS is shrinking again.

TAIKA WATITI on the Oscars, Jojo Rabbit, Star Wars rumors, and more.

 

A WOODPECKER disturbed network coverage in California by storing over 300 pounds of acorns in a wireless antenna unit.

THIS COUPLE moved their rescued lamb into their house to help him walk again.

A MAMMAL that mates itself to death will struggle under climate change, scientists say.

PAUL COLLINS & PETER CASE, formerly of The Nerves, play "Hanging On The Telephone" in-store.

ANDREW BIRD visits KEXP.

OVERCOATS visit World Cafe.

MICHAEL KIWANUKA visits Morning Becomes Eclectic.

 

THE STROKES share "At the Door."

WITH THE BEATLES, by Haruki Murakami.

12 CLASSIC SKA-PUNK LPs, according to Brooklyn Vegan.

ARTHUR BRIGGS: The jazz trumpeter who traveled from Harlem to Paris and ended up in a Nazi prison camp.

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO founder Joseph Shabalala has died at 78.

 

SANDRA BULLOCK interviews JENNIFER ANISTON.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT was indicted Tuesday in Chicago by special prosecutor Dan Webb.

JON PETERS claims PAM ANDERSON married him to pay her debts.

THE OSCARS explains why Luke Perry was left out of the In Memoriam segment that aired during the ceremony on Sunday.

MACAULAY CULKIN & BRENDA SONG are planning a family of their own.

THE HUNT is muscling its way back on to the release calendar with a March 13 date.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Happy birthday to the 16th President of the United States. Even if you saw the Spielberg biopic, here are two things you may not have known about Honest Abe: (1) he was an early adopter of the telegraph; and (2) he once sported a punky haircut.

 

A BABY ELEPHANT's whole family helps him take his first steps.

A NEWLY-DISCOVERED T. REX is the "Reaper of Death."

A GUY drives 18 hours to save two baby cows.

THE BOOMTOWN RATS: Let's roll out "Rat Trap" and "Someone's Looking At You" for Twofer Tuesday.

THE CURE, live in Paris, 1979.

ELKHORN cover “Morning Dew,” "John Henry," and more in a Lagniappe Session.

BABY ROSE plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

JASON ISBELL returns with "Be Afraid."

PEARL JAM share a video for "Dance of the Clairvoyants."

 

U.S. GIRLS return with "4 American Dollars." 

AEROSMITH brings back Joey Kramer, without an audition.

ROBERTA FLACK: The Virtuoso.

ZIGGY MARLEY reflects on his father's legacy for his would-be 75th birthday.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Anita Ward's sexed up, absurdly catchy disco jam "Ring My Bell," and on the Disco Sucks movement that boiled up right after the song hit No. 1.

 

THE OSCARS reached all-time lows in the ratings, falling sharply from last year. And Ricky Gervais got in his licks on Twitter.

THE OSCARS' Snubs.

PARASITE may become an HBO series starring Mark Ruffalo.

BIRDS OF PREY: Marketing finally figured out it should be called Harley Quinn.

MEGXIT: The Duke, the Duchess, J-Lo and A-Rod.

LORI LAUGHLIN: The evidence in the college admissions scandal is mounting.

 

A BELUGA WHALE returns a women’s iPhone after she drops it into the water by accident in Hammerfest harbour, Norway.

THIS LITTLE BOY was terrified of dogs — until he met this senior pup.

BELGIAN MALINOIS, learning to fly.

WHEN YOU SWALLOW a firefly.

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD covers "People Get Ready."

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Shopping, the Lone Bellow, Khruangbin & Leon Bridges, plus more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENTwill point you to Isobel Campbell, Double Date with Death, a Boo Radleys reissue, and more.

GRUFF RHYS performs live at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio in Boston.

RADIOHEAD's ED O'BRIEN shares "Shangri-La."

 

TAYLOR GOLDSMITH & MANDY MOORE are joined by Phoebe Bridgers, Jackson Browne and more on the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

MICHAEL STIPE talks to The Current about his new solowork, REM, producing, and more.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS are profiled by The Ringer. And they pulled it off.

KEITH RCHARDS: The Lord of the Undead quit smoking.

APOLLO MASTERS—a manufacturing plant that supplies the lacquer used for making master discs, which are used to make vinyl records—suffered a fire on Thursday that will devastate the vinyl record business.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at the Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out," the final No. 1 single in a historic hot streak.

 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Birds of Prey tops the chart with 33MM, well below the 50-55MM tracking estimates and even the studio's 45MM lowballing of same. Nor is it likely to be big in overseas markets.  Granted, it had a lower budget (84-97MM) than the bigger comic book movies, but this will still hurt.  Bad Boys For Life places with 12.5MM on a leggy 33 percent drop.  1917 showswith 9.2MM on a verrry leggy 5 percent drop as people poured in to see it before the Oscars.  Dolittle takes the fourth slot with 6.7MM on a 123 percent drop that would be great if it weren't a bomb from its debut frame.  And Jumanji: The Next Level rounds out the Top Five with 5.5MM on an 8 percent drop as it creeps up on 300MM domestic.

THE OSCARS went to these folks. Congrats!

THE INDEPENDENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS went to these folks. Congrats! Especially to Adam Sandler.

THE RAZZIES nominations went to these folks. Congrats?

HARVEY WEINSTEIN and the women defending him.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 7 & 8: Christopher McQuarrie has an update, promising "We've figured out three obscene things that Tom Cruise will do that I'm terrified of."

ROBERT CONRAD, a television tough guy best known for his lead role in the mid-1960s series “The Wild Wild West,” died on Saturday at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 84.

ORSON BEAN, the witty actor and comedian, was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles, authorities said. He was 91.

 

TURTLES prefer the larger ladies.

OTTER attacks girl, dog in Lakeland home.

FOX causes havoc after breaking into parliament.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

…with JAMES BROWN! The Godfather of Soul, y'all, with his star time on the T.A.M.I. Show in 1964; your setlist includes "Out of Sight", "Prisoner of Love", "Please, Please, Please" and "Night Train."

MR. BUNGLE's first concert in 20 years, including "Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” and covers of the Circle Jerks, and Seals & Crofts.

HAYLEY WILLIAMS drops half her solo LP.

THE WOOD BROTHERS play World Cafe.

CALIFONE shares "Bandicoot."

KING KRULE shares "Alone, Omen 3."

 

MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND, "Blinded by the Light," Live in '75.

ARETHA FRANKLIN's estate has again been thrust into confusion.

JENNY BETH's solo album was inspired (sort of) by David Bowie.

GRETA VAN FLEET: The New Old Flower-Power Fantasy.

BEST COAST Almost Had No Future. Now Everything Has Changed.

 

BIRDS OF PREY is this weekend's wide release, and it's (surprisingly?) scoring 86 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN's first witness was a doozy.

THE JESUS ROLLS: John Turturro's upcoming The Big Lebowski spin-off has a trailer online.

HAMILTON: A potential franchise?

KNIVES OUT moves closer to a sequel.

FRIENDS moves closer to an unscripted reunion.

MAD MAX 5 is set to start filming in Australia this fall.

THE BEST ACTRESS OSCARS of the millenium, ranked.

THE BEST ACTOR OSCARS of the millenium, ranked. 

 

DOGGO vs Lemon.

MAN ACCUSED of releasing rodents in hotels in order to obtain free lodging.

A TINY ORPHAN KITTY gets spoiled by his new dad.

SAM COOKE & JACKIE WILSON unexpectedly meet up on "Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha."

THE CARS, Live at the Paradise Theater, October 1st, 1977. Including unreleased material.

DIRTY HONEY visits the Paste studio.

ANOTHER SKY plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

BEST COAST shares "Different Light."

 

SHARON VAN ETTEN shares "Beaten Down."

DESTROYER's Dan Bejar crafts an album from his kitchen.

MARLENA SHAW: More than "California Soul."

IVAN KRAL, a Czech-born musician whose integral role in the Patti Smith Group, along with his work as a filmmaker who chronicled the earliest days of the CBGB scene, made him a key figure in New York’s creative underground of the 1970s, died on Sunday at his home in Ann Arbor, Mich. He was 71.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff," her extremely horny attempt to create a disco/rock hybrid.

 

KIRK DOUGLAS, one of the last surviving movie stars from Hollywood’s golden age, whose rugged good looks and muscular intensity made him a commanding presence in celebrated films like “Lust for Life,” “Spartacus” and “Paths of Glory,” died on Wednesday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 103.Here are your bonus obits from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Aside from the big, obvious films, I always liked him in "The Bad & the Beautiful," "Seven Days In May," "Ace In The Hole," and "In Harm's Way."

MEGXIT: The Duke & Duchess are chill in the great White North. Prince Harry and Prince William have unfinished business.

SAM RAIMI is in talks to direct Marvel's Doctor Strange 2.

FRIENDS: Could Matthew Perry be more of a tease?

BRUTALLY HONEST OSCAR BALLOT is always a highlight of awards season.

 

A JUMPING SPIDER, in extreme close-up.

ARMY VETERANS may soon have better access to train and adopt service dogs.

A SALAMANDER didn't move for seven years.

TALKING HEADS: A vintage clip of "Psycho Killer" from the OGWT.

FLEETWOOD MAC, Live at the Capitol Theatre, October 17, 1975.

POLICA visits The Current.

SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG visits World Cafe.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS returns with “Man Without a Soul.”

SUMMER CAMP shares “The Ugly Truth."

 

JAMES ELKINGTON shares “Nowhere Time.”

SOUNDGARDEN's remaining members have responded to a lawsuit filed by late singer Chris Cornell's widow over alleged unpaid royalties and unreleased material.

CARIBOU Finds His Voice After Life-Changing Surprises, with Some Help from Four Tet.

THE ROLLING STONES: Coming to America again?

GANG OF FOUR: Remembering the late Andy Gill.

 

HARVEY WEINSTEIN jurors shown naked photos of movie mogul.

SHANNEN DOHERTY revealed she has stage 4 cancer, saying she's "petrified" about the grave diagnosis.

INDIANA JONES 5: “Harrison Ford will be involved, yeah. It’s not a reboot; it’s a continuation.”

FAITHFULL: Lucy Boynton has been confirmed to play British singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull in the forthcoming biopic.

QUENTIN TARANTINO's long-time producer has said the filmmaker's 10th and final feature is likely to still be a while off.

DON'T FORGET IT, JAKE: The Greatness of Chinatown.

 

THIS KANAGAROO wants more.

ALLIGATOR v BURMESE PYTHON: Who You Got?

JUVENILE STRIPED EEL CATFISH move together for protection.

THE BIRDS: In a Texas parking lot.

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED.  Okay, so it was yesterday, but the passing of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson in a plane crash outside Clear Lake, IA is still bringing people to the historic Surf Ballroom, as well as the Riverside Ballroom, where the Winter Dance Party made its penultimate stop. So it's worth linking to an MPR audio feature on the Winter Dance Party and a Weekend Edition piece on Buddy Holly's old classmates.. We'll start with some video of Buddy Holly playing "That'll Be the Day," and "Peggy Sue."  There's even less video of Valens, outside this lipsync of "Ooh, My Head!", but there's rare live audio of "La Bamba" and "Donna" on the Tube. And no survey would be complete without the Bopper's signature song, "Chantilly Lace."  The tragedy has echoed through the years in movies like The Buddy Holly Story and La Bamba.  The latter featured Los Lobos, who would make "La Bamba" a hit again almost 30 years later, with Marshall Crenshaw as Holly, who can be seen here covering "Crying, Waiting Hoping", introduced by Wolfman Jack.

LOW CUT CONNIE's Adam Weiner plays a Microshow for The Current.

THE LONE BELLOW visits World Cafe.

TEMPLES visits The Current.

BAT FOR LASHES covers Don Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer.”

 

THE BOOMTOWN RATS: Let's roll out "Rat Trap" and "Someone's Looking At You" for Twofer Tuesday  .

THE BEACH BOYS: Brian Wilson and Mike Love beef again!

THE 40 BEST SONGS TO SING IN THE SHOWER, according to Paste.

SMASHING PUMPKINS will release a double album this year.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Peaches & Herb's feathery soul ballad "Reunited."

 

HAMILTON: The House of Mouse buys the movie rights for 75MM.

STAR WARS will "absolutely" have a female director in the future, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy says. I'd joke that she should focus on getting good directors, but any random woman might do better than the last two dudes.

ZENDAYA and Jacob Elordi Prove They're More Than Just "Best Friends" With a Kiss.

MARTIN SCORSESE reveals the names of two big movies he turned down in the 80s.

QUENTIN TARANTINO on What Happened to Leonardo DiCaprio's Character After Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.

FAST & FURIOUS 9 has a trailer online.

DOLITTLE: The making of a bomb.

 

A LION hides in a tree after being chased by a herd of 100 angry buffaloes in Kenya.

A ROVING BAND of herpes-ridden monkeys now roaming northeast Florida.

BLACK BEETLES invade Tasmanian homes.

ANDY GILL, the guitarist with Gang of Four, whose sound influenced generations of post-punk bands, has died aged 64.  Gill was a genius guitarist who burned a route out of punk. Here's the NME obit. And here's footage from his final gigs.

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Drive-By Truckers, TORRES,Son Little, and more.

INDIE BASEMENT will point you to Destroyer, reissues from Cocteau Twins an Happy Mondays, plus more.

VILOENT FEMMES visit Radio Milwaukee.

THE PSYCHEDLIC FURS return with "Don't Believe."

 

THE VIOLET NINES' "Blue Sky in Brooklyn" detours onto Baker Street.

WIRE were the new Beatles?

JASON RINGENBERG on life as "the Mick Jagger of country-rock."

DESTROYER: Dan Bejar gives Fader a track-by-track guide to Have We Met.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Blondie's new-wave disco classic "Heart Of Glass."

 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Bad Boys For Life threepeats atop the chart with 17.7MM on a 48 percent drop, becoming biggest January new release ever, with 148MM domestic so far.  1917 shows with another 9.7MM, likely benefiting from being one of the few big Oscar nominees still in wide release.  Dolittle shows with 7.7mm on a 37 percent drop, but 126.6MM worldwide isn't going to cut it against a 175MM production budget.  The expansion of Gretel and Hansel takes the fourth slot with 6MM.  The Gentlemen rounds out the Top 5 with 6MM

THE RHYTHM SECTION, which opened 10th on this weeks chart, is the lowest opening ever for a movie debuting at 3000-plus theaters.

THE BAFTAs went to these folks. Congrats, especially to Brad Pitt's speechwriter.  I mean, really.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN's trial just went from terrible to grotesque, nightmarish horror.

MICK JAGGER seduced Rae Dawn when she was 15, allegedly.

LORI LAUGHLIN and Mossimo Giannulli have listed their LA home for 28.7MM.

PAM ANDERSON & JON PETERS split after 12 days of wedded bliss.

OWEN WILSON is joining the Marvel universe.

 

THERE ARE SLED DOGS, and there is this dog.

DOGGOS, figuring it out.

LOVED TO DEATH: Turks and Caicos' battle to save the queen conch.