News Roundup: 11/19/2008
November 19th, 2008 | 1:00 pm est |
Hot Chip has teamed up with Soft Machine’s Robert Wyatt to record new versions of “Made In The Dark,” “Whistle For Will,” and “We’re Looking For A Lot Of Love.” The songs comprise 75% of an upcoming EP, which fans can download for free starting December 15. [NME.com]
Taylor Swift’s Fearless went gold during its first week of release, moving over 500,000 units and swiftly doubling the sales of the No. 2 artist, David Archuleta. The album’s first-week performance is the best of any country record since the Eagles’ Long Road Out of Eden, which sold 711,000 copies upon its release in November 2007. [Billboard.com]
?uestlove recently announced the Roots’ decision to retire from extensive touring. Instead, the group plans to serve as the house band for Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Night” show on NBC. Although the video containing ?uestlove’s statement has been removed from the internet, a transcript of the interview confirms his intentions to take up near-permanent residence at 30 Rock. [VH1.com]
Britney Spears will discuss her public meltdown and attempted comeback during For The Record, an MTV documentary that airs on November 30th. [Guardian.co.uk]
Upset with the confusion regarding his band’s latest single, “Human,” the Killers’ Brandon Flowers continues to defend such grammatically challenged lyrics as “Are we human, or are we dancer?” Talking to Rolling Stone, the singer lamented that “people don’t seem to understand “Human.” They think it’s nonsense. But I was aching over those lyrics for a very long time to get them right.” [RollingStone.com]
“Are we human, or are we dancer?”
We are DEVO
The whole human thing is apparently a really poor reference to the late great Hunter S. Thompson’s idea that we are raising a generation of dancers, something he said close to his death which Flowers mentions in the RS article. However, whether or not raising a generation of dancers removes one’s humanity is really up for debate, and was likely not what the good doctor had in mind when he made the original statement. The thing of it is, the Killers are a pop band, one never known for Flowers’ lyrical brilliance but rather hook laden melodies and cold, detached synth driven beats. The fact that people are even talking about this still boggles my mind, and if HST’s legacy wasn’t suddenly attached to a crappy pop song, I know I wouldn’t be talking about it at all.
Let the good Doctor rest in peace, please. As for the Killers, maybe try and come up with some music that is half as good and consistent as Hot Fuss. Sam’s Town was an overproduced nightmare without more than 3 good songs. I like the idea of wearing your influences on your sleeves, but if you’re going to keep ripping off the Boss and U2, try and do it with more passion. I’m post-irony now. Give me substance over style, and maybe then your lyrics would have more strength and power.