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Get it? It has a double meaning. It means would you purchase poetry from this man, and also would you agree with the notion of this man writing poetry. Anyway, I'd have to give both queries the big fat no, homie. Why all of this Billy Corgan talk? Because his poetry book made the NY Times bestseller list, apparently, and because Billy has his first solo album coming out! It's called THEFUTUREEMBRACE. It'll be out on June 21. Will it be worth "getting"? THATDEPENDS.IFHEREMEMBERSHOWSTOWRITEGOODMELODIESAGAIN,THENMAYBE. According to Billboard, the album will include a cover of the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody with the Cure's Robert Smith on background vocals.

Tagged as: Music

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It's Baaaaaaack...

Posted on March 30, 2005 at 11:10 AM

Lollachicago? Chicagopalooza? Whatever you call it, it's back, and this time, it's personal! Or at least scaled down. Perry Farrell is bringing Lollapalooza back, but, following last summer's surprisingly dismal sales, for one weekend only. It's all going down on July 23rd and 24th in Chicago's Grant Park. The lineup won't be announced until the third week of April, but word is that multi-instrumentalist guero Beck, Bravery-baiting the Killers, the "we're not southern rock" Kings Of Leon and prepared-to-noodle-to-the-end-of-time Widespread Panic will all perform on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Here is what Grant Park looks like:

Grantparkweb

And here is what Lollapalooza looks like:

Lollapalooza_crowdweb

It could be a mashup of epic proportions.

Tagged as: Music

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Bright Eyes Hates You

Posted on March 29, 2005 at 12:16 PM

If you live in Texas, that is. On his fall tour to support I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, Conor famously dissed fans ("fans") at a Fort Worth show, telling them that he would rather die than live in their state. That's nice. This time, he's touring his more techy Digital Ashes In A Digital Urn, and so he's got the Faint as both openers and his band. Also in his band? Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And speaking of the YYYs, they just scrapped their recent recordings because it sounded too much like the first album. Perhaps they dumped the files in a digtal urn.

UPDATE: Even if you do not live in Texas, Bright Eyes might not like you. FYI.

Tagged as: Music

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Private Universe

Posted on March 28, 2005 at 11:29 AM

Farewell to Paul Hester, former drummer for Crowded House. Crowded House were that rare band that got better throughout their recording career. Hester was a tasteful, musical drummer whose parnkster personality was a welcome addition to a band led by the sedate and contemplative Neil Finn. He contributed several songs to the Crowded House ouvre, and seemed to be Ringo Starr reincarnate in Australia. The band played their final show in November 1996 outside of the Opera House in Sydney. Hester hanged himself this weekend in a Melbourne park close to his home. The Finn Brothers, featuring Neil Finn of Crowded House, played the Royal Albert Hall in London last night and paid tribute to Hester.

BBC: Crowded House Drummer Found Dead
Sydney Morning Herald: Farewell To The Clown Prince

Tagged as: Music

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Paula Abdul - What Went Wrong?

Posted on March 25, 2005 at 11:58 AM

News that Paula Abdul went apesh*t in Kuala Lumpur this week has left me a little depressed. I've always like that lil' Laker Girl, but i'm not sure i'm so into her now. Then again, I'll bet there are people out there who'd get a kick out of being scratched in the face by an unstable cheapskate, but i'm not one of them. Maybe it's time to get a new fetish.

Between Paula Abdul scratching her friend's face and revelations of Pat O'Brien licking Nancy O'Dell's face, this truly has been Face Week in Hollywood.

Stars - they're NOT like us!

Tagged as: Music

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The Brand New Sony PSP

Posted on March 24, 2005 at 06:03 PM

It is a testament to the sheer awesomeness that is the brand new Sony PSP that two people with desks within ten feet of the Fuseblog desk were up at the crack of dawn to wait on a long line just for the chance to fork over 250 somewhat hardearned smackers for said gadget. First impressions? It's !#$@ing gorgeous and the screen itself is worth the money. But enough talkin', let's start lookin':

Below: This was the line outside of Best Buy on 23rd Street in Manhattan. If we could bottle the anticipation, etc...

Below: We cleaned off a desk so we could show you the Gadget, and its accompanying ephemera...

Below: Holy crap. this thing rules!

Below: The aforementioned screen. Wow.

Below: This is what the back looks like.

Tagged as: Games

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What's Up WIth Whitney Houston?

Posted on March 24, 2005 at 02:20 PM

Let's take a quiz.

What's up with Whitney Houston?

A. Not much.
B. She's back in the studio
C. She's back on tour
D. She's back in rehab

The answer is D: rehab. Oh won't someone please think of Bobby Brown???

Tagged as: Music

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The Guns Of Brixton

Posted on March 23, 2005 at 11:18 AM

I would hate to have been a London-based Nas fan on Monday night. The Queensbridge rapper's show at the Brixton Academy was cut short after shots were fired, causing panicked fans to get the hell out of the Brixton Academy. Fortunately no one was hurt; the shots apparently were fired at the ceiling. The next Euro Nas show is scheduled for Thursday night in Dublin, where security will be tight. Especially since the Irish know a thing or two about explosives (oh snap!).

Nas.

Brixton Academy.

Photo: Kenny McLeish.

Tagged as: Music

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There They Go, La'...

Posted on March 22, 2005 at 12:08 PM

Has there been happier news in years than the word out of Liverpool that The La's are reforming? I think not. For those of you too young to recall the La's, they were (are!) a Liverpool four-piece led by mopheaded songwriting genius Lee Mavers. They released one self-titled album in 1990. The record was released without their permission by a label impatient with the band's perfectionist tinkering. The band dissolved during sessions for a second album, and Mavers was rumored to have spent much of the 90s obsessively re-recording the tunes from the album.

And of course, they wrote There She Goes. (mp3)

You may have heard this just-about-perfect pop song in the following movies:

So I Married An Axe Murderer (includes the original by the La's, and a cover by the Boo Radleys)
Snow Day (version by Sixpence None The Richer, who were christian but none the wiser)
The Parent Trap (with Lindsay Lohan, ooh!)

Additionally, it has been on an episode of Cold Case, apparently. The La's will play their first show since the early 90s in August at the Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo. Anyone with a yen, and the yen, should go.

UPDATE: Just announced: Three shows in the UK, including one at the Shepherds Bush Empire.

Tagged as: Music

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Pop Star Joel Checks Back Into Rehab

Posted on March 17, 2005 at 12:17 PM

Normally, word that Billy Joel was headed back into rehab would not be earth-shattering, Fuseblogworthy news. But something caught my eye as I read this BBC News piece on the Piano Man.

Check out this grab from the BBC article:

Billyjoelbbcweb

Notice the 'See Also' sidebar on recent articles on Billy Joel:

Let's see... on June 2, 2002, Billy left a rehab clinic. Sadly, the good times didn't last; on Jan 3, 2003, he rammed his car into a tree. Fifteen months later, he had recovered enough to write the children's book that kids of all ages had long dreaded. For this, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. This landed him a 23 year-old chick, who became his bride just last fall. Rehab or no rehab, I think we can all agree that Billy Joel leads a charmed life.

Tagged as: Music

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I Smell A New Hoobastank...

Posted on March 16, 2005 at 11:57 AM

All of you Hoobastank fans (and according to the record sales, there are millions of you) get ready, there's a new Hooba train a-comin. According to a post on the Hoobaboards by Dan Estrin, the band is working on new songs, but won't release them until they're completely satisfied with them. Old school fans need not worry: according to Estrin, this will not be an album of 12 The Reasons. But wouldn't that mean 12 times the sales? Hooba, get your head out of your Stank!

Tagged as: Music

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At Least We Know It's Not A Virgin Birth

Posted on March 15, 2005 at 11:52 AM

In a world in which 27 year-old Ashton Kutcher has allegedly impregnated 42 year-old Demi Moore, who is punk'd, and who is not? It's a metaphysical, trucker-capped riddle wrapped inside a washed up, muscular enigma.

Tagged as: Film

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Haven't They Found What They're Looking For Yet?

Posted on March 15, 2005 at 11:09 AM

Twenty five years after releasing Boy, their first album, U2 have pranced into the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame. Other inductees included The Pretenders, soul legend Percy Sledge, of When A Man Loves A Woman fame, and Ohio vocal gospel-style quartet The O'Jay's. U2 was inducted by Bruce Springsteen, who himself was inducted by Bono several years ago. An all-star jam session followed the ceremony, after which Bono ascended into heaven aboard a flaming chariot.

Tagged as: Music

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Coldplay Debuts New Songs, Trade Still Not Completely Fair

Posted on March 14, 2005 at 02:46 PM

Chris Martin and those crazy kids in Coldplay have been in Los Angeles for the past few days, rocking out and treating fans (and industry people with the right connections) to new songs. Saturday, the band played the Universal Amphitheatre as part of a benfit show for the awesome radio station KCRW. Friday was the big night, however. The band played the Troubadour, the legendary West Hollywood club with a tiny capacity. The band debuted five new songs, including White Shadows, Square One, What If, and Speed Of Sound, which will likely the new album's first single. The album will be called X&Y.

Tagged as: Music

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Open Up And Say Redneck Agenda!

Posted on March 14, 2005 at 11:31 AM

Did you think things couldn't get anymore bizarrely triumphant for Green Day this year? Then you were wrong. A nine year-old kid in Wales was in a coma. His family played him the American Idiot album. He came out of the coma. This was within an hour of hearing the album.Though he still is not speaking or moving, the good boys in Green Day sent him a box of CDs and merch. What else can go right for Green Day? Maybe Tre Cool will come up with a cure for cancer before the end of the tour.

Tagged as: Music

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Please Don't Make Me La La Tonight

Posted on March 10, 2005 at 02:45 PM

Is Ashlee Simpson a rock star? Not yet.

Tagged as: Music

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I Wonder If Destiny's Child Ever Found A Soldier?

Posted on March 10, 2005 at 11:06 AM

I was just wondering...

Tagged as: Music

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Farewell To The Get Up Kids

Posted on March 9, 2005 at 05:13 PM

After ten years, The Get Up Kids are calling it quits. Read all about it at their website. Final shows in Kansas City in the summer.

Tagged as: Music

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Thank Heaven For Little (Harlem) Boys (Choir)

Posted on March 9, 2005 at 03:51 PM

Did you know The Game had a charitable foundation? It's called Black Wall Street, which believes in black empowerment via business development.

How about 50 Cent? He's got G-Unity. They help people overcome obstacles. Realizing that their petty feud is peanuts compared to the the needs of the many, Fiddy and Game have a called a truce! The two megarappers will donate to the Harlem Boys Choir and the Compton Unified School District Music Program. Sounds like the "feud" has been Massacre'd!

Tagged as: Music

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Maybe We Now Know Who Hacked Into Paris's Sidekick?

Posted on March 9, 2005 at 11:31 AM

Russell Crowe says that Al Qaeda was seeking to kidnap him in 2001 in order to "culturally destabilize" America. As we all know, they ended up deciding to "everything destabilize" America.

Tagged as: Film

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A New Oasis Album? You Gotta Be Kidding! Hahahahaha!!

Posted on March 8, 2005 at 11:05 AM

Get out your Beatles records, turn up your amps and pluck your unibrows, Oasis are back! The Mancunian quintet (though all live in and around London these days) are set to release their sixth album proper, Don't Believe The Truth, in May. According to the Britain's NME, Noel Gallagher is happy with all the tracks. Which is fantastic news, as there is no way he could have said the same about Heathen Chemistry, or Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants. The first single is called Lyla. Hopefully, at least one tune on the album will be the equal of a classic Oasis track like Live Forever, or Shakermaker, or Wonderwall, or Hey Now, or Acquiesce, or Up In The Sky, or...

Tagged as: Music

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CBGB On Notice!

Posted on March 7, 2005 at 11:23 AM

The legendary New York club CBGB may be closing its doors this summer due to unpaid rent. In the 70s, the club served as a homebase for a burgeoning scene that counted the Ramones, Television and Talking Heads among its members. These days, CB's has drifted toward a more punk/hardcore/emo clientele. Read all about it in the New York Times:

HOME OF PUNK-ROCK BATTLES FOR ITS HOME

By Ben Sisario

For more than 30 years, CBGB, the eternally crumbling downtown nightclub, has with ragged pride withstood every hand the neighborhood and the music scene have dealt it: punk-rock, death metal, crack addicts, city inspectors and bad plumbing. But it may have met its match in one of the city's most respected charity group.

In a scrappy Bowery real-estate battle, CBGB has been in and out of court for much of the last four years with its landlord, the Bowery Residents' Committee, a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless. The dispute concerns enough unpaid rent to finance dozens of punk bands as well as numerous building violations that leave a paper trail as thick as the layers of fliers stapled to the club's walls.

In an arrangement known to few of the club's patrons, CBGB subleases its spaces at 313 and 315 Bowery from the organization, which shelters 175 homeless people in the floors above the club. In 2001, the organization began efforts to collect more than $300,000 in back rent from the club. Although much of that has now been paid, the club faces eviction over remaining debts of about $75,000, both parties say.

Both organizations have dug in their heels and claim a moral right to the property.

"We're an institution," said Hilly Kristal, the grandfatherly 73-year-old who started CBGB - with plans to stage "country, bluegrass and blues," not punk - in late 1973. "I think we're an important part of this community. The city uses us in their Olympics ad, along with the Statue of Liberty."

In the opposite corner is Muzzy Rosenblatt, the executive director of the Bowery Residents' Committee, who resents diverting the organization's money to legal expenses to get what he says is due from an uncooperative tenant.

"I am not going to subsidize CBGB at the expense of homeless people," Mr. Rosenblatt said.

The organization took a 45-year lease on the building in 1993, and subleased CBGB its spaces - the main club is at 315 Bowery, and its quieter Gallery and basement space are next door - for 12 years. That sublease expires in August, and Mr. Kristal said the organization offered to renew it, but would double the club's rent, to $40,000 a month, or about $55 per square foot. That would bring the space in line with the highest rate paid for new property on the white-hot Bowery real-estate market.

Mr. Rosenblatt declined to comment on the terms of the lease renewal. "I'm trying to get him to comply with the old lease," he said.

According to court documents from 2001, CBGB owed the Bowery Residents' Committee more than $300,000 in back rent and agreed to a monthly payment plan for its debt and all new rent charges. A stipulation in the agreement states that if the club did not make its payments on time, it could be evicted immediately.

CBGB has been paying back its debt dutifully, both sides say. But when the organization discovered that the club was not paying the annual rent increases scheduled in its lease, it gave the club notice to pay within seven days, as required by law, but the club has challenged the debt in court. A hearing is scheduled for later this month.

The case pits two of the most recognizable downtown institutions against each other in a battle for space that few considered very valuable until recently. The Bowery Residents' Committee has vans that trawl the city offering help to the homeless, and operates 18 rehabilitation centers and shelters. CBGB is the organization's only commercial tenant, Mr. Rosenblatt said.

In the 1970's, CBGB was the dank incubator for much of the punk and art-rock that came out of New York, with concerts by the Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie and the Talking Heads, among others. It has continued to present bands of every stripe - mostly of the loud stripe, though - and is one of the few rock clubs known by name throughout the world. CBGB Fashions, a company Mr. Kristal set up to sell T-shirts and other merchandise, grosses about $2 million a year, he said.

"Millions and millions of musicians in this world think of CBGB as a home base," Mr. Kristal said proudly.

But real-estate experts and people close to the situation say both sides have flawed cases, and that a judge's decision in the latest hearing will be difficult to predict.

Jerry H. Goldfeder, a lawyer who specializes in elections and landlord-tenant disputes, said the two groups' fame would be unlikely to sway a judge in either side's favor.

"Presumably, a judge would make the same legal determination," Mr. Goldfeder said, "whether it's CB's or a doctor's office or a bodega."

Tagged as: Music

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"The marriage is over for me now, but it will always be there, in the back of my mind... for the rest of my days..."

Posted on March 3, 2005 at 10:59 AM

It's over.

Tagged as: Music

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Jenny From The Schlock? Ouch.

Posted on March 2, 2005 at 03:19 PM

New York Newsday doesn't like the new Jennifer Lopez album. They think it could signal the end of her music career. As long as it doesn't signal the end of her hottness, who cares, really?

Tagged as: Music

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Somehow, I Think They'll Live Up To The Tour Name

Posted on March 2, 2005 at 11:16 AM

Motley Crue, they of the Red, White and Crue greatest hits compilation, have announced that their tour will hit Europe in the summer, then return to the states. Be sure to shout at the old guys on what they're calling the Carnival Of Sin Tour. But first, let's take a look back at the Crue, circa Theatre Of Pain, 1985 stizz...

Tagged as: Music

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This Is No Game, Even With The Game

Posted on March 1, 2005 at 10:30 AM

The Game was once a protege of 50 Cent, but no more. The Game was disloyal. 50 dropped him like he's hot. Someone from LA shot at 50 Cent's entourage in the lobby of Hot 97 in New York. And the beat goes on...

Tagged as: Music

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