Circulated heavily around the Internets this week was a sex tape allegedly featuring Meg White of rock group The White Stripes, which after much speculation turned out to be a fake. Many suspected the tape to be a fake when it was clear the video look-alike could actually keep a beat.
Amazon.com opened up a brand new online mp3 store this week, which sells songs files that at the cheaper-than-iTunes price of 89 cents and are all completely DRM-free. This is really great news for those of you that are not hip enough for vinyl, not immoral enough to download illegally, and too lazy to actually buy the CD.
Nominations recently put forth for the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, the Beastie Boys, Chic, the Dave Clark Five, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Donna Summer, and the Ventures. You read right, 2008 apparently marks the year that standards have dropped enough to let Madonna (as seen on Austin Power soundtracks and Kabala centers sporting a fake British accent) be considered a “legendary” Rock and Roll artist.
Neither Kanye West nor 50 Cent held top spot this week on the Billboard charts; that honor belongs to the equally hard Reba McEntire and her newly released collection of duets. The only fruitful pun I can get out of this situation goes something like this: Guess it’s time for 50 Cent to McRetire about now, huh? Wow.
In recent formally retired past their prime rapper / CEO news, Jay-Z is trying to rename the Nets’ arena from Continental Airlines Arena to something more Rocawear related. Meanwhile, although not as rich as former buddy Jay-Z, Damon Dash still has some dignity.
The Arcade Fire lost some pretentious Canadian award (Polaris Music Prize) and the $20,000 that comes with it to another Canadian musician that less people have heard of called Patrick Watson. On the bright side, the anguish of such a tragic loss will give them fuel for at least another solid album.
After five months of testimony, the jury on legendary producer Phil Spector’s murder trial couldn’t reach a verdict. This mistrial was probably centered on the debate of whether the goodwill generated from producing a couple Beatles tracks and some Ramones is enough to theoretically cancel out murdering some girl.
Sources: Pitchforkmedia.com, Idolator.com, Stereogum.com, and paperthinwalls.com
