Modern Talking Pictures

Beastie Boys To Reissue “Paul’s Boutique” With Original Artwork, Song Commentaries

It’s too late to make David Fricke’s top reissues of 2008, but next year’s list has an early contender: Beastie Boys will reissue their epic Paul’s Boutique on January 27th to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary. The classic LP has been digitally remastered for the first time, with all three Beasties overseeing the 24-bit process. The album’s original vinyl artwork will be restored in an eco-friendly, eight-panel digipak displaying a panoramic view of the intersection at Rivington and Ludlow in New York City’s Lower East Side. A foldout poster will also be included in the package, plus the reissue gives fans access to a free download of a “track-by-track” album commentary, with Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA talking about the songs while the track plays in the background, much like Director’s Commentaries on DVDs. Despite a four-star Rolling Stone review, Paul’s Boutique was deemed a critical failure upon its release in 1989. But the Beastie Boys’ second album (and follow-up to the massively successful License to Ill) has gone on to become a cult classic and is recognized as one of the greatest rap albums of all time. With sample-heavy production courtesy of the Dust Brothers — who would go on to produce Beck’s Odelay — the post-modern lyrics on the album would touch on everything from Steve McQueen to The Empire Strikes Back to Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, and that’s just in the song “High Plains Drifter,” itself a reference to a Clint Eastwood film. As for the Beastie Boys in 2009, the trio is reportedly working a new album that is expected out in May. The band last released their instrumental The Mix-Up in 2007. Related Stories: • Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson Rock for Votes in Virginia • 1987 Feature: Rude Boys • Beastie Boys Back in Studio; More on Adam Yauch’s Film Biz

Published: 2008-12-29 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Jessica Simpson Heads to Nashville, Lil Wayne Announces “Carter III,” Natalie Portman Makes a Mixtape

Pop music is set to lose another of its starlets to country music. Jessica Simpson is leaving the not-so-friendly confines of Los Angeles and hunkering down in Nashville to start work on her next country-flavored album with John Rich of Big & Rich serving as writer. Previously, Kelly Clarkson NASCARed over to the red states to begin work on her own, Reba McEntire-backed country album. Actress Natalie Portman is a compiling a mix tape that will change your life on iTunes, with proceeds benefiting FINCA. The comp will feature exclusive tracks from Devendra Banhart, Beirut and, of course, The Shins. Like any artist in modern music, Lil Wayne is aware of album leaks. Going on the offensive, Lil Wayne will release Tha Carter III: The Leak on December 18th, which will feature Weezy’s tracks from mixtapes and the Internet. Then in February, Wayne will release the proper, still-unleaked Tha Carter III, which boasts appearances by Kanye West, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. After volleys of album delays and shit-talking, the battle between Clipse and Jive Records has finally ended. But instead of going all Radiohead on us, Clipse will join forces with Columbia Records, who, under the watchful eye of Rick Rubin, will hopefully treat them better. AT&T’s Blue Room will stream (presumably unedited) performances from this weekend’s Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas. It’s a big music weekend: Voodoo Music Experience will take place in New Orleans and San Francisco hosts Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit. Check back Monday for photos from all three events.

Published: 2007-10-27 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

Nas Modifies Album Title, Trades “A” For “Er” And a Controversy To Be Named Later

Rev. Jesse Jackson can breathe a sigh of relief: Nas’ new album will no longer be titled Nigga. It’s Nigger now, according to the Illmatic MC. Regarding all the controversy surrounding his provocative choice of album titling, Nas said, “Stay out of our business. You ain’t got no business worrying about what the word ‘nigger’ is or acting like you know what my album is about without talking to me.” The comment, made to MTV News, was aimed at Fox News, who quoted the NAACP and Jackson following Nas’ shocking announcement. So why, in the post-Imus era, is Nas electing to ruffle feathers? “I wanna make the word easy on muthafuckas’ ears. You see how white boys ain’t mad at ‘cracker’ ’cause it don’t have the same [sting] as ‘nigger’? I want ‘nigger’ to have less meaning [than] ‘cracker,’” Nas explained, though his rationalization doesn’t factor in that you could put Cheez-Whiz on a cracker, there are firecrackers and Cracker-Jacks, thus making “cracker” less potent as a racial epithet in modern society. If Nas can find another everyday use for the n-word, then he might be on to something. Nas also denies the denial from Def Jam boss L.A. Reid, who reportedly said the album wasn’t even on the label’s release schedule. “None of us knows where that came from,” says Nas, who insists his album, his second for Def Jam, will be released on December 11th. But this album is not just about making waves; it’s also about the music (he also said a bunch of stuff about civil-rights leader Medger Evers and his daughter, though). Nigger, or the N-Word Album for the squeamish, will feature appearances by Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp and Nas’ frequent collaborator Salaam Remi. Nas expects to release the first single from the album a day or two after his Greatest Hits come out on November 6th. Related Stories: Nas Announces Controversial Album Title Hip-Hop On Trial

Published: 2007-10-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Brian McFadden defends “homophobic” comments

Oh dear, Brian McFadden is in big trouble after making some rather alarming remarks on a New Zealand radio show – but he claims they were taken out of context. During an interview on More FM, Brian was talking about men who wear pink. “Saying pink is a form of red is the same as saying homosexual is a form of male,” he said. “In the old days, there was no such thing as gay. It was frowned upon, the church would burn you at the stake. Modern day, if you are not gay, a man should not be wearing pink, unless of course you're in the America's Cup and you're one of these pansies who walk around with Gant T-shirts with your collars up, and you wear pink and you wear white trousers with those dirty brown slip-on shoes. Then you're just an idiot.” Um, who’s the idiot, exactly? Since incurring the wrath of gay groups down under, he’s issued a statement furiously denying that he was being offensive. “To come to the conclusion that I am homophobic from these sentences is far from the truth,” he says. “Some of my friends and colleagues are gay and if I was truly homophobic then I have picked the wrong industry.” Hmm, what do you think? Oh, and do cast your eye over the picture we’ve dug up of Brian wearing… what’s that?... pink. What. A. Numpty.

Published: 2008-09-23 Provider: Heat

'Modern Family': Hank Stuever discusses mockumentary TV

When he looks at the camera and expounds on his real estate prowess, or describes his delicate approach to marital diplomacy, to whom is "Modern Family's" Phil Dunphy talking? United States - Television - Government - Arts - Joaquin Phoenix

Published: 2010-05-15 Provider: Washington Post

FLOCK TO A FLICK

'IF THEY dropped a bomb, we'd all be doomed!" What the rather dizzy person who uttered this statement meant - aside from the obvious fate of people in the way of a bomb - was that the Museum of Modern Art was packed to the rafters Sunday with...

Published: 2007-11-06 Provider: New York Post Keywords: Cruise, Streep, movie, yet, Redford, Meryl, cable, talking, Katie, Lambs, Lions, Miss, Robert, TV, Tom, liz

Communication Studies [The Twits]

This colorful chart details the 10 levels of intimacy in modern communication from talking to Twitter. We have one gripe: shouldn't letters be higher on the intimacy scale, with their evidence of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Published: 2009-08-12 Provider: Jezebel

Flowers for Heath

Photo: Melissa HomAbove is a snapshot of the flowers, candles, and cards that are already amassing on the doorstep of Heath Ledger's Soho apartment. Fans and curious passersby are still stopping by the block on Broome Street where the actor died yesterday afternoon. We know we should be used to this phenomenon, being bloggers and all, but we're still awed by the speed with which the news spread yesterday. The 28-year-old's body was found at around 3 p.m. Less than two hours later, it was being reported on television and on the Internet nationwide. While this isn't surprising in terms of the capability of the modern media, what struck us is that people passed the information to one another with incredible speed. Something about Heath Ledger, be it his youth, his popularity, or the mere unexpectedness of his death, caused people to IM friends, shout out in open office spaces, and call relatives. Ledger had grown into an iconic New York figure in recent years. What was your reaction? Since it's all anyone is talking about today, we'd love to hear what you have to say. Drop us a note in the comments. Earlier: Heath Ledger: Covering the Coverage Related: Terry Gilliam's Heath Ledger Movie: What Happens Now? [Vulture]

Published: 2008-01-23 Provider: New York Magazine

Peaches Geldof Digs Deep To Continue Bob Geldof’s Work

“PEACHES: YOU WILL DIE LIKE YOUR MUM.” The Star’s front-page juice is that Peaches Geldof might have been getting stoned and needs to can it or she will fall from the family tree like her fruity mum Paula Yates. Indeed, dear reader, who cannot read the Star’s front-page headline and wonder: But where’s the pun? It’s much the same on the Mail’s cover where its readers learn: “Police to question Peaches on ‘drug deal’ film.” No pun, although Mail readers may wonder if modern life really has turned into a Clockwork Orange, albeit with fuzz-faced Stoned Peaches running amuck. The Mirror continues the Dadaist theme by saying how “Peaches will be grilled by detectives”. What has become of a country where coppers go to work on toasted Peaches and not eggs or the more traditional kidneys, liver and backs of legs? “Peaches doing her drug deal,” says the Sun, shocked out of a pun but pragmatic enough to transcribe the incredible talking Peaches. (more…)

Published: 2008-05-05 Provider: Anorak

BWE Panelists Cheat At Mini Golf…For Children

This weekend, Best Week Ever panelists Michael Colton and John Aboud will be employing their sneakiest, most unsportsmanlike putt-putt tactics to win a charity Mini Golf tournament hosted by 826LA, an organization founded by author Dave Eggers to teach underprivileged children how to read and write. The best part about this competition (other than benefiting charity, of course) is that cheating and trash-talking are actually encouraged, which, based on our own experience with these unsavory Modern Humorist characters, means the guys stand a better than average chance of taking the whole thing home and helping out a couple of kids who can't read good in the process. So if you can find it in your hearts to cough up a couple of bucks to sponsor our panelist pals, think of all the future clever self-reflexive memoirs of the world you might also be sponsoring.

Published: 2007-08-15 Provider: Best Week Ever Keywords: Entertainment

Kristin Davis Talks Sex

Kristin Davis is talking about the much-anticipated sequel to the Sex and the City movie. She says: "We did the first one, and those were our pent-up things that we hadn’t finished in the show, so now we’re just starting fresh in a way, which is really, really exciting." Davis also told reporters at Modern Bride’s [...]

Published: 2009-05-12 Provider: PerezHilton Keywords: Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex & The City, Kristin Davis

Sarah Palin: Mean John McCain Made Me Pay My Own Legal Bills (Also, You Betcha, Etc) [Money]

Today in "what on earth is Sarah Palin talking about": is John McCain responsible for all those legal debts she accrued that forced her to stop governing Alaska and instead write a steamy political romance-thriller? The AP got a copy of Goin' Rogue, Also: Modern Warfare 2 and they totally read it even, which is probably more than Sarah can say. "... [S]he says that most of her legal bills were generated defending what she called frivolous ethics complaints, but she reveals that about one-tenth

Published: 2009-11-13 Provider: Gawker Keywords: Money