Thanks again,
Who’s Who:
Latest Release: Wall of Arms (2009)
Formed: 2005 in
Label: Fiction/Polydor
Website: www.themaccabees.co.uk
-Julie McCollum
Listening to “No Kind Words” by The Maccabees
This content is solely the property of The
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Artist of the Day: The Maccabees
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Bow Wow is a Millionaire
Child rapper-turned-actor Bow Wow has returned to the rap game under a new label---Cash Money Records.
The label, which is home to other MC’s such as Lil’ Wayne, Yo Gotti and Drake, will be home to the young rapper after posting the news on his Twitter page saying,
“It's official, I'm a Cash Money Millionaire.”
Earlier in the year, Bow Wow announced that he would be focusing solely on his acting career, but it seems that endeavor hit a snag somewhere along the way.
His last record New Jack City II only sold 80,000 copies in the US and peaked at #16 on the Billboard Charts. With the success of rapper’s like Lil’ Wayne and Drake, here’s to hoping Bow Wow is able to find his niche under the guidance of Birdman’s label.
Bow Wow was previously signed to Columbia Records.
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: "Blueberry Yum Yum - chopped & screwed" by Ludacris from the mixtape Swishahouse: Something 2 Smoke 2 2k9
Friday, August 14, 2009
Weezer announces new record release date
Weezer will return with a new album on October 27, according to a report posted on the band's official website.
Track listing and length are still unknown, but reports confirm that Irishman Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, US, R.E.M) has manned the production side of things and that the album is in the final mixing stages.
At about 16 months, this is the second shortest gap between Weezer records (the shortest being between 2001's self-titled project and 2002's Maladroit). The rush is no surprise, however: the currently unnamed album follows up the band's 2008 self-titled "red" album which, while still producing solid sales, was mostly greeted with a collective yawn from critics and fans alike.- Alec Wooden
currently listening to "Don't Make Me A Target" by Spoon
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Johnny Cash Lives On...In Guitar Hero 5
The “Guitar Hero” website has confirmed Johnny Cash will be a character in the new game, Guitar Hero 5. Some say if Cash had lived to see this, he would have said, “What the shit is this?” (NME) Other characters such as Carlos Santana and Garbage’s Shirley Manson will appear in the game with Cash. Cash will be an unlockable character who will sing his famous “Ring of Fire.” The game is due out September 1st.
Watch a younger Cash jam to his tunes below.
-Sarah Saltzman
Currently listening to: “Freakshow” by Britney Spears
Innovator Les Paul Dies at 94
American Jazz guitarist Les Paul has died from complications of pneumonia at White Plains Hospitals in New York. Paul was a pioneer with the electric guitar and has been quoted for “making the sound of rock and roll possible.” His recording innovations include overdubbing, delay effects, tape delay, phasing effects, multi-track recordings and his famous solid-body electric guitar, known as “The Log,” built in 1939.
Paul became interested in music at age 8 when he began to play the harmonica and the banjo then eventually the guitar. In 1948, Paul was in a near-fatal automobile accident and doctors told him he would never be able to regain movement in his elbow. However, he told the surgeons to resent his elbow in a way that would at least allow him to cradle and pick the guitar.
In 1950, Paul hosted a fifteen-minute radio program called The Les Paul Show, which featured himself, Mary Ford (his wife) and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton. Paul is remembered for his unique guitar style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing that many guitarists admire.
Paul was an Honorary Board Member for nonprofit Little Kids Rock known for bringing free musical instruments and instruction to schools in need throughout the nation.
-Sarah Saltzman
Currently listening to: "Use Somebody" by King of Leon
This content is solely the property of The Athens Blur Magazine and may not be re-produced without expressed written consent. The Athens Blur Magazine is an 8 issue/year music & variety publication proud to be based in the Classic City of Athens, Ga. For more information, please contact editorial@athensblur.com
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Fans Angry Over Kelly Clarkson Photoshoot
A few weeks ago, VH1 declared the “VH1 Divas” show would be airing on September 17th. Since Clarkson is back in the spotlight, questions and concerns continue to bombard the singer about her constant weight change. Clarkson recently told Self magazine in an interview, “When people talk about my weight, I’m like, You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t. I’m fine! But I’m never trying to lose weight – or gain it. I’m just being!”
Self magazine put Clarkson on the cover and photoshopped her making her look skinnier than she really appears. Readers of the magazine are angry and writing their opinions on the magazine's website and to the editor. The editor has written a statement back and told readers of course the pictures in the magazine are altered in order to make the models look their absolute best.
What do you think? Is it ok to make the cover model on a fitness magazine skinnier than she really is?
-Sarah Saltzman
Currently listening to: "Crush" by DMB
Sign up for the Open Mic
Calling all musicians in the
The competition series begins on Monday, August 24th and will last for six weeks at Rye Bar on
The series will be judged by three judges from the local
- vocal ability
- instrumental ability
- songwriting
- performance
Each act will be given a personal judgment sheet following their performance that will offer constructive and positive criticism on your set. If you are the winner on the night you perform, you will be awarded with a final 30 minute victory set and be given a spot to compete on the series’ final night where the winner will receive:
- A $200 cash prize
- A 3 track EP recorded at Sugarbuzz Studios
- Weekend headline show at Rye Bar
- Coverage in The
Now, that we’ve got your attention, you must be wondering how you can enter . . .
Interested acts must send in their:
- Name
- Contact phone
- E-mail Address
- Name of your act
- Instrumentation
- One sentence description of your music
to Lindsey Lee of Blur Magazine at openmic@athensblur.com between August 1st – August 17th.
There will also be a $5 submission fee collected on the night of your performance.
So what are you waiting for? This is your opportunity to get heard, so don’t let it pass you by! ---Not a musician? That’s ok. Come to support your fellow Athenians and spread the word to your friends. You never know---There might be a hidden rockstar sitting right next to you!
Slots are filling up quickly. Sign up today.
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: Your Band!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
David Gets a Lesson in "Swagger"
David Guetta, a French DJ famous for helping Kelly Rowland with her hit “When Love Takes Over,” wants to learn how to use hip-hop slang correctly in his speech and music.
According to rap-up.com, Guetta revealed, “I’m not familiar enough to use a lot of American slang. Sometimes I ask [about the words], especially hanging out with all those hip-hop guys. They’re always using terms that I didn’t know.”
Recently, Guetta recorded for the latest Black Eyed Peas album The E.N.D. and became a student as Fergie taught the ways of hip-hop vernacular to him. When Guetta asked Fergie what swagger meant in “Boom Boom Pow” Fergie just laughed. Pshhh, what a bad teacher! On August 25th, Guetta’s latest album will be released featuring Akon’s new single “Sexy Bitch.”
-Sarah Saltzman
Currently listening to: “On the Radio” by Regina Spektor
Artist of the Day: Thrice
Started as a high school band in California in 1998, Thrice still exists today and even has a hot top-selling album out called Beggars on iTunes. The band’s music early on consisted of distorted guitars, electronic beats and keyboards, specifically heard in the second and third albums, The Illusion of Safety and The Artist in the Ambulance. The Alchemy Index, the band’s fifth album, was based off of themes fire, water, air and earth. The themes are heard throughout the album's lyrics with song titles such as “Silver Wings” and “Open Water” demonstrating slow, yet catchy beats. Beggars was released this morning and has already received spectacular reviews from fans, one fan saying, “Beggars is consistent from start to finish focusing on making each song’s message obvious through the lyrics and music. As long as I can remember, Thrice has had this insatiable need to tell it like it is often pointing fingers at themselves as much as others.”
Who’s Who:
Dustin Kensrue (guitarist/vocalist)
Teppei Teranishi (guitarist)
Formed: Irvine, California 1998
Label: Vagrant
On the web:
www.thrice.net
-Sarah Saltzman
Currently listening to: “Open Water” by Thrice
Ashley Greene: gorgeous? Yes. Victim? Nope.
It's an exciting day for those with not much else to do in their lives but lie in wait for nude pictures of celebrities to "leak" onto the internet. Photos of "Twilight" star Ashley Greene, better known for simply being one of the most gorgeous specimens on the planet, have been posted in every possible nook and cranny of the world wide interweb.
Let's first point out the joyous aspect of this story: one less before it happens to Miley Cyrus! (Yikes! How old is she? Can I joke about that?)
It's the surface story that matters and, when you break it down, Greene's outrage and "I'm a victim" stance are a sham. SHAM. If you've seen them (and I haven't really — just the blurred out versions on news websites), these pictures are not accidental. This is not a case of some creep doing something like, say, peeping through a private hotel room against her will. Rather, Greene's though process is played out in the racy pics — it's clearly "Oh! Camera! Let's lose a shirt. And some pants..."
Listen. Greene is 22 (Miley's elder, if you will). If she wants to have nude pics taken of herself, so be it. It's her right and probably (I wouldn't know) pretty liberating. But hey — choices have consequences, especially when you make your life being under the public microscope. Sorry Ashley — I give all my sympathy to cases like Erin Andrews. But not a shred to cases like this. You're a big girl (even if you did just win 600 teen choice awards). You made a big girl decision. Not deal with your big girl repercussions.
A word to you web geeks out there: Greene and her lawyers intend to sue to any posters of said pics. Hurry kids, "Save File As" while you still can!
By the way, I was kidding about Miley. Please don't sue me.
- Alec Wooden
currently listening to "Azar One" by Venice is Sinking
Brooks and Done...
One of Country music's most successful duos will call it quits after one more tour, according to the Brooks & Dunn's website.
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn first teamed up in 1991 and found instant success — their first four singles all reached the summit of Billboard's country chart. A sign of things to come, they would tally over 20 #1 singles to date.
The split was mutual, they say, and neither hinted to their respective futures after next years "Last Rodeo" farewell tour, which is slated for 2010 but unbooked as of now.
They will also release a compilation called "1's . . . And Then Some" on September 8.
—Alec Wooden
Currently listening to....nothing, actually.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Merry Christmas from Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan has been a busy man this year. He performed at the Rothbury Music Festival in early July, he released his 33rd studio album entitled Together Through Life in April, he embarked on a European tour that began in March and ended in early May and he is in the midst of The Bob Dylan Show Tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp which doesn’t end until October.
The 68-year-old folk legend seems to not know the meaning of ‘down time’ because Billboard has reported that he is now in the process of recording a Christmas album. Wow. The irony begins with the fact that Dylan was born Jewish, but there’s nothing wrong with spreading a little holiday spirit, no matter what religion you are.
Some tracks already set to make the final holiday fueled cut are "Must Be Santa", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", and "O Little Town of Bethlehem". A full song list has yet to be announced, but Bob Dylan singing Christmas songs. Who would’ve thought we’d live to see the day.
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: "Bodysnatchers" by Radiohead (I'm going through a Radiohead phase. It's fantastic!)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Ryan Gosling to Release Album
There have been several successful actor-turned-singer stories: Zooey Deschanel, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Jenny Lewis, Jared Leto--- and there have been even more unsuccessful actor-turned-singers: Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Hasselhoff, wait can I stop there? I think Hasselhoff takes the cake.
And now there is a new actor (who stole every woman’s heart as a poetry reading romantic in The Notebook) who hopes to make his way into the music world: Ryan Gosling.
The 28-year-old actor has paired with friend Zach Shields to form the band Dead Man’s Bones which is set to release their self titled debut on October 6.
The album will feature the Silverlake Conservatory Kids Choir from
The most peculiar part of this group is the way in which the band describes their musical style: It’s “Disney haunted mansion, doo wop and 60s girl groups.”
That description alone has peaked my interest, but we will have to wait a couple months before we see which category Dead Man’s Bones will be put in---I’m hoping for ‘successful’. Noah from the Notebook deserves a happy ending.
To listen to a live recording of the Dead Man's Bones track "In the Room Where You Sleep" you can go to the band's Myspace page by clicking here.
Or check out their official site at www.deadmansbones.net.
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: “House of Cards” by Radiohead
Steven Tyler Injured at South Dakota Show
The Aerosmith summer tour has taken an unfortunate detour after frontman Steven Tyler was flown to the hospital yesterday (August 5) when he fell off the stage during a show.
The band was playing a gig in
The associated press reported that
After the incident, guitarist Joe Perry explained to fans that the show was over.
Aerosmith still have about 20 more dates scheduled for their Guitar Hero tour. No news has yet surfaced on whether they will be rescheduling any of these dates. Their next stop is slated for Friday, August 7 at Canad Inns Stadium in
On another note---I know Steven Tyler falling and getting hurt is not funny, but while I was reading this news online I looked at an advertisement on the right of the screen that was selling Fall Alarms for Seniors. I mean
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: "4 Minute Warning" by Radiohead
Artist of the day: Dr. Dog
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Heath Ledger Directs Modest Mouse Video
Come and take a disturbing whale-occupied ship ride into the mind of the late Heath Ledger.
Our favorite Joker had several different projects he was working on before his untimely death in January of 2008, which included directing an animated music video for Modest Mouse's "King Rat." Though Ledger was only able to work on the first half of the video, the rest of the production was finished with his vision in mind.
In Modest Mouse music video tradition, this is another unsettling look at the human vs. animal dynamic, much like the group's 2004 animated video for "Float On."
Warning: If you don't dig on the gore factor, you may want to sit this one out, but those of you steel-stomached adventurers, click on the link here to view the video exclusively on Myspace.
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: "Walkin' After Midnight" by Patsy Cline
This content is solely the property of The Athens Blur Magazine and may not be re-produced without expressed written consent. The Athens Blur Magazine is an 8 issue/year music & variety publication proud to be based in the Classic City of Athens, Ga. For more information, please contact editorial@athensblur.com
Artist of the Day: Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl rarely disappoints. He was the drummer for the biggest grunge band ever (Nirvana), and afterwards he has managed to front as singer/songwriter of a rock band that has seen over a decade of success (Foo Fighters). Instead of burning out and settling down, he's also jumped on to contribute to albums by bands like
-Julie McCollum
Listening to “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters (my resident favorite song since approximately 1999)
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Radiohead releases song in tribute to WWI veteran
Paula Abdul Not Returning to Idol
Freed journalists have chance to "finish the story"
But everyone - anyone - in any line of work that permits (or demands) the title of Journalist, has been fighting a panging nausea in the back of our collective throat since the news of Laura Ling and Euna Lee's capture while reporting on North Korean defectors many months ago. And all of us - ALL of us - were able to breathe a sigh of relief last night with the news of their release.
This story was a perfect storm scenario of time and place for two simple reasons. The first, wholly the most obvious and far-reaching, is the nationalistic tensions between our country and North Korea. Our journalists taken by their armies. We're trained, as of late, to attach a certain degree of mistrust or skepticism to anything under the North Korean umbrella. This was no exception. Journalists, biologists, baseball players....it was almost irrelevant who was taken to most people. The outrage was already built in for us.
The second, and, in my humble opinion, the far more interesting reason, is the sense of concern among the culture of citizen journalists around the world, regardless of nationality or status. The term journalist is now, at it roots, more gelatinous than ever before. Any schmoe with a blog is, in some sense, a journalist (that noise you're hearing is the venerable Mr. Cronkite rolling in his grave, God rest his soul), and this allowed for a more widespread feeling of personal stake in this story. Any journalist taken by any army. The thought is more chilling, and the news of the plight more readily available, than ever before.
The world - the citizen journalists of the world - helped us stay connected to this story, and all are sharing in the victory of these women's return. But what now? Now that everyone is watching, what's the next move? For my part, I hope Laura and Euna spend every available second of the next month with their families, counting their blessings for being alive and able to see their loved ones again. And then? Go back to work quickly and vigorously. Go back to work doing what the vast majority of people in this world lack the courage to do - and counting their blessings for the opportunity to finish the story.
But hey, what do I know? I'm just a music guy. Welcome home, Laura and Euna!
- Alec Wooden
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Does Anyone Still Care About Music Videos?
The VMA nominees were announced today. Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Beyonce led the pack, with other nods to artists including Eminem, Kanye West and Green Day. I can’t help but wonder, is an awards show honoring music videos still relevant? The network holding the now 26-year-old ceremony is currently airing a show called "Parental Control" while I’m typing this, which is a dating series in which parents select dates for their kids, followed by "True Life: I’m in a Love Triangle." The show on MTV’s 10 p.m. prime time slot is "Paris Hilton’s My New BFF." Yikes. I know the “where are the music videos, MTV?” complaint is tired, and for the most part I didn’t really care very much. But then, earlier this summer after the passing of Michael Jackson, I was sitting in a little bar in Atlantic Beach called Fly’s Tie, where every Sunday they set up big screens and play whatever music video you request (really, anything you want). Of course, Michael Jackson’s classics were in heavy rotation. Being a toddler in the 80s, I hadn’t actually seen many of his videos in their entirety. I was transfixed. I couldn’t stop watching…and looking around, everyone else was too. You would think we were watching the last minute of the GA/FL football game in overtime. The whole experience reminded me that videos can be entertaining, and they can also offer a unique point of view and visual expression from an artist who you would otherwise only hear. Everyone is still making them, so are people just watching them online instead? Perhaps music videos aren’t irrelevant, and music television is. Either way, MTV keeps up their charade every year, having an awards ceremony for videos they don’t actually air on their network between the hours of 9 AM and midnight. Will anyone be watching? Maybe if they pay that kid from the Twilight movies to make an appearance. Or maybe people will just watch it online instead.
-Julie McCollum
Listening to: “Gronlandic Exit” by Of
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Monday, August 3, 2009
Second Annual Mule Fest August 21-23
Red Hot Chili Peppers End 2-year Hiatus
In more band return news, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced that they will end their two-year hiatus this year.
The band plans on re-grouping in October to begin work on a new album (the follow-up to 2006’s two-disc Stadium Arcadium), though, according to the Pepper’s drummer Chad Smith, they are unsure of whom their producer will be.
"It'll be two years in September, so now we're ready.” Smith told Billboard. “You can't force people to play when they don't want to play or aren't ready to play or whatever – not in our band, anyway."
The band’s usual songwriting process is a mix of improvising and jamming. Through these sessions is where the Peppers plan to find material for their new album. “That's what we usually do. I don't know why it would be different,” explained Smith.
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations
Limp Bizkit in the Studio
It has been a long time since Limp Bizkit has requested that we take a cookie and stick it up our . . . well you know, but Bizkit fans can rejoice---a new album is in the making.
The band’s last album was released in 2005, entitled The Unquestionable Truth Part 1 which sold a little over 100,000 copies in the US. But there are high hopes for the band's upcoming release.
In the next few weeks the Bizkit boys will be gathering in the studio to record their latest album after playing a set at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth on August 2. The news of the band reuniting came from an interview by NME.
"We're about to go into the studio in a couple of weeks and record our new album," said our favorite Yankee cap wearing rocker, Fred Durst. "We feel very confident about that."
When asked about the songwriting process and how the group put the new songs together, guitarist Wes Borland explained, “It takes all shapes and all forms. We've written songs during shows in the last tour.”
“Sometimes it's spontaneous, sometimes it's like trying to take down a Tyrannosaurus Rex.”
To see the entire interview, you can view the video at http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1670076655?bctid=31530039001.
Hey Wes, where’s the face paint??
- Jessica Cole
Currently Listening to: “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake
This content is solely the property of The Athens Blur Magazine and may not be re-produced without expressed written consent. The Athens Blur Magazine is an 8 issue/year music & variety publication proud to be based in the Classic City of Athens, Ga. For more information, please contact editorial@athensblur.com
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Big Boi Answers Famous Question
While vacationing with family in Orlando, Florida, Big Boi, also known as Antwan Andre Patton from Outkast, finally is able to answer to the question... what is cooler than being cool? for himself. The answer ICE COLD is is exactly what Big Boi found out when he met a penguin for the first time at Seaworld. The penguins live in 45 degree fahrenheit water and 30 degree fahrenheit air.
-Sarah Saltzman
Currently listening to: "We Will Become Silhouettes" by The Postal Service
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