Category Archives: News

By Chris Lee-Los Angels Times

Saturday night’s opening for the pop artist KAWS at Honor Fraser Gallery in Culver City was a mob scene: more like a rock concert than any cultural gathering La Cienega’s gallery row has ever seen. [Read More]

BY ED MORRISSEY -HOTAIR

More than a decade ago, California legalized marijuana used for “medicinal” purposes, leading to the establishment of pot clubs and setting off a confrontation with the federal government.  Now they want to end the medical pretense and make cannabis flat-out legal for personal use.  The Assembly will take AB390 under consideration, supported by those who see an economic benefit from bringing the industry out of the shadows.  Critics see a whopping hypocrisy from the nanny-staters: [Read More]

By Juxtapoz Magazine

RIPO has been working on a project continuously since 2006, called Reflect On.“I’ve been painting and installing mirrors (usually found) on the streets,” RIPO told us as he sent over an explanation of the project to help viewers to understand the project better: [Read More]

By Vice 

ord’s just officially getting out that Chief Bodega‘s shutting down for a while, since Saturday night the cops busted their party just as it was closing down. [Read More]

By Brooklyn Vegan

“Pretty soon, Other Music is going to be the only record store left in Manhattan. Blog Stupefaction reports that Etherea Records will shut down this February after 13 years in the East Village.” [Read More]

By Larry Neumeiser-The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — An artist who created a famous image of Barack Obama before he became president sued The Associated Press on Monday, asking a judge to find that his use of an AP photo in creating the poster did not violate copyright law.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said street artist Shepard Fairey did not violate the copyright of the April 2006 photograph because he dramatically changed the nature of the image. [Read More]

By Andre Torres-Waxpoetics

Wax Poetics has just debuted Issue 01 of Wax Poetics Japan. Read Editor-in-Chief Andre Torres’s Letter from the Editor:

Though I have written many of these letters over the course of the last seven years, this one is special because it marks the beginning of a new journey for Wax Poetics. We set out hoping to bring our message to the world, knowing there were people all over the planet who were passionate about their music just like us. We attracted a devoted international following very early on, though not all of them have been able to fully enjoy the magazine. We knew our fellow Japanese heads enjoyed our visual stylings, and we felt Japan would be the best place to start if we were able to reach an even wider international audience. [Read More]

By Camille Dodero-The Village Voice

Let’s assume you’ve plucked this fine publication, at least once, from one of its many red news boxes on New York City sidewalks. You might not have noticed that the container had been mischievously assaulted with a frantic array of crudely drawn stickers. Maybe it was a postal label hand-cut into a graffiti tag, a cockeyed teddy bear, or an anthropomorphic toilet. Could have been a United States Postal Service marker that asserted, in the unsettling third person of a prehistoric Facebook status update, “KOSBE FEELS LIKE SHIT TODAY.” Or a slogan meant much more sardonically, like the tech-ennui dictum “SEND ME TO VOICEMAIL,” scrawled on a rare Japanese mailer and signed by well-known graffiti marauder Neckface. Whatever the piece was, photojournalist Martha Cooper probably owns it now. “Sorry, everybody,” she says impishly. “I stole them.” [Read More]

By Greg Sandoval-Cnet News

LOS ANGELES–For anybody wondering why Microsoft and the top record labels continue to promote subscription music services, the answer was revealed Thursday.

David Ring, executive vice president of business development for Universal Music Group’s digital arm, said at the EconMusic Conference that the recording industry simply can’t sustain itself with download sales alone. [Read More]

By Nate Chinen-The Newyork Times

At a recent 70th-anniversary reception for Blue Note Records at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson played his trademark hit, “Alligator Boogaloo,” from 1967. Norah Jones, who made her multiplatinum debut in 2002, mingled at the bar. And presiding over the evening was Bruce Lundvall, who has run the label for the last 25 years. [Read More]

By BBC News

Epic Records, the home of stars like Michael Jackson and George Michael, has named British singer and songwriter Amanda Ghost as its new president. [Read More]

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS-Associated Press Write

BOSTON – Fourteen news organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times Co., are urging a federal appeals courtto allow online streaming of a hearing in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student.

The brief filed Thursday in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that allowing webcasting of the Feb. 24 hearing is in the public interest, and is in keeping with camera access already granted in the courts. [Read More]

By Neda Ulaby-NPR Music

The days of waiting patiently for a favorite music video to appear on MTV are long over, swallowed up by the instant gratification of the smaller screen. But as MySpace, iPhones and Youtube allow music videos to be seen anywhere and anytime, directors are discovering that viewing habits aren’t the only things changing. [Read More]

By LAUREN JOHNSTON-DAILY NEWS

Cause this is Thriller – Thriller matinee?

It looks like the zombies of Michael Jackson’s legendary album and hit single “Thriller”are shifting dayside and trading the graveyard for Broadway.

Get ready for “Thriller the Musical.” [Read More]

By JIMMY WANG-The Newyork Times

BEIJING — A week before Americans tune in to the Super Bowl, another televised mega-event will kick off on the other side of the globe. On Sunday more than half a billion people here are expected to watch the annual Chinese Lunar New Year gala. Organized by the state-owned China Central Television, the marathon event showcases the country’s musical diversity with an extensive lineup of Chinese pop stars performing hit songs. But one genre audiences are unlikely to see is Chinese hip-hop, despite its growing popularity among the country’s urban youth. [Read More]

By Mr. Bordash-internetdj.com

Welcome to a truly chic adult clubbing experience. Ministry of Sound the world’s most recognized and respected name in Dance Music begins its flagship US Residency in New York Friday January 30th. Be prepared for a night of aural and visual amazement with top performers from around the globe. This is the first fully produced residency by the UK brand which will include costumes, visual design and music programming. “We are super excited to be partnering with Ministry of Sound to bring New York a incredible clubbing atmosphere.” says Mark Baker, renowned nightlife aficionado & Co-Director of the evening.”We are combining the worlds best music with a sexy entertainment in a chic environment.”  [Read More]

By Ian Youngs –BBC News, in Cannes

The music business has finally come to terms with file-sharing, according to executives at the Midem conference in Cannes. But now they have a different problem. [Read More]

By JOHN ELIGON-NY Times

It would be easy for most people to walk past the green, boarded-up, graffiti-laden storefront on Bedford Avenue, near Quincy Street, in Brooklyn without so much as a second look — or the stoop in front of 918 Fulton Street, or the bodega half a block away at the corner of Washington Avenue.

[Read More]

By  Jamie Coomarasamy -BBC News, Detroit

If you didn’t know it was the 50th anniversary of Motown, you would find it hard to tell from a casual drive around Detroit, the city which gave the pioneering record label its name.

There are no signs indicating that this is a year of celebration.

But Detroit has not been Motown’s headquarters since 1972, when founder Berry Gordy’s ambitions to break into Hollywood led him to relocate to Los Angeles.

He had success there, but it was nothing compared to the label’s 1960s heyday when it produced a string of hits.

Its spiritual home has remained at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, the house where the Gordy family lived and where Mr Gordy – as most Motown artists still call him – built one of the most successful empires in musical history, kickstarted by an $800 loan from his father.

Gordy decided to call the label after a nickname for Detroit. Motown – or motor town – reflected the city’s then flourishing motor industry.

“The day he started, he asked us to join him – we casually said no,” reflects Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of one of Motown’s most popular bands, The Four Tops.

“We knew him, but we didn’t think a black man could have a chance in the music industry in Detroit.”

[Read More]