sonic slang

Blender Makes us Hate American Music

Blender has compiled its list of the "100 Greatest American Albums of All Time."  Things start out promising - Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, The Replacements...but once I saw Kid Rock's masterpiece of lyrical poetry, Devil Without a Cause ("And I'm a Kid Rock it up and down your block/With a bottle of scotch and watch lots of crotch"), they lost me.  Madonna's Immaculate Collection (a greatest hits disc? does this count?) came in at the top spot.

Dylan Set to Release Illustrated Children's Book

Bob Dylan becomes the latest celeb to jump on the children's book bandwagon, with tomorrow's release of Forever Young.  Based on the 1974 song of the same name, we only hope that somebody ponied up for a spell checker this time.

Check out the brand new animated video for Forever Young after the jump

Bob Dylan in The New Yorker

The September 22nd edition of The New Yorker (on newsstands today) features two numerically-titled (and apparently spell-checker-averse) Bob Dylan originals - 17 and 21, both of which you can read online. 

Jem Graces Cover of Latest Ragged

Vintage SS interviewee Jem is on the cover of RAGGED #5, the brainchild of our long-time friends at Filter Magazine and American Rag Cie clothing.  She's finally got a new album (Down to Earth) on the way this month, so download the latest issue and give her another look!

Paste Gives Us "The Best of What's Next"

Paste has long been one of my favorite sources for new music, possessing impecible taste, and a shared semi-obsession with Ryan Adams. So when Paste comes out with "The Best of What's Next," I take note.  You should too. The full list is after the jump, full of acts bound to be taking up lots of blogger bandwidth in the near future.

Rolling Stone Decides Less is More

On October 17 Rolling Stone will debut a slimmed down design, in keeping with the standard 8x11 size seen on most newsstands, as well as a glossier paper style. 

The move makes sense, and is probably long overdue, but the Lester Bangs wanna-bes of the world will probably have a fit. 

[New York Times]

Ryan Adams Signs Book Deal

Rumors of that book of poetry from Ryan Adams have been confirmed by the New York Post, as Page Six is reporting a deal with Brooklyn-based Akashic Books for a 2009 release. 

PS - Apparently Ryan Adams is an "emo rocker" to the print media world.  I know blogs aren't exactly known for thorough fact checking either, but maybe the post should have picked, I dunno, a music fan to write this one?  Sheesh.

PPS - There's been some debate about whether this will be a book of "prose," as reported by Page Six, or poetry as reported here.  By all accounts on Ryan's now defunct blog, and his official site, this will be a book of poetry.

Tila Tequila on This Month's Blender Cover

And yet some of us actually still wonder why music and magazine sales are in the crapper...

Ben Gibbard on this Month's Paste Cover

I suppose Ryan Adams' adventures in blogging weren't enough to get him on the cover of this month's issue of Paste, but Ben Gibbard in the woods reflecting on the meaning of life should at least inspire a few indie kids to get depressed and go camping.

"At some point I thought that, as I got older, I’d come to terms with a lot of things," Gibbard writes. "I’d solve some big problems, and eventually I’d become content. It’s almost more depressing to think that the older you get, the more your problems multiply."

The new issue of Paste is out 4.15, and Death Cab's latest LP, Narrow Stairs, hits stores on 5.13.

Maxim Closes Eyes, Throws Dart for Black Crowes Review

It's doubtful that anyone has been looking to Maxim for the final word in music criticism, but this actually surprised us: It seems the music editors at the popular boobs and gadgets laddie mag have seen fit to grant The Black Crowes a 2 1/2 star review for the band's latest LP Warpaint, without actually hearing the disc. 

via the AP:

"The writer — who has not heard the album since advance CDs were not made available — wrote what appears to be a disparaging assessment anyway, citing, `it hasn't left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth,'" said a statement on the band's official Web site.

The band's manager, Pete Angelus, said the magazine explained that its review was an "educated guess."

Only one track from Warpaint, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution," has been released thus far.   The LP is due on 3.4