As always the e-mails come in, "Kat, where are you?" Guys and gals, this ain't a daily blog.
I've been grooving on The Black Eyed Peas and living the life. I also spent a lot of time on the phone this week with Cedric who put together this amazing thing about a friend who had passed away. Cedric runs Cedric's Big Mix and I'm sure everyone knows that already. So hopefully they know that as a function for his church, he'd agreed to visit some members who were in a nursing home. Cedric really enjoyed doing that and became friends with four really great men. But one of them, Vern, passed away last week.
Cedric really felt like he had to honor Vern's memory in the best thing possible and he worked and worked on writing a thing that captured Vern's life. When he finished his final "final draft" and read it to me over the phone, I was in tears. I told him I felt like I knew Vern and that it was beautiful.
If you're jonesing for music news, I'll post my section of "The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review" here. There's a lot of music news in that.
Kat: Fiona Apple's long supressed album, Extraordinary Machine, will be released October 4th. Track samples are available online at her web site. The album Sony had to be forced into releasing by Apple fans will be released in the dual disc format. Other upcoming albums include the September 6th releases of Joan Baez's live CD Bowery Songs and Another Run Around the Sun by Ben Taylor, son of Carly Simon and James. From the Joan Baez web site, September 30th, she will performing in concert at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, CA. followed by performing at a free festival on October 1st at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Baez spent several days last week performing for free at Camp Casey in Crawford, TX. Photos from Camp Casey can be found at the Not In Our Name web site. In other upcoming album release news, October 11th brings the release of Alicia Keys' MTV Unplugged album featuring Common and Mos Def. Rolling Stone reports that August 30th, when Kanye West's Late Registration is released, West will be at Tower Records in NYC signing copies. Spin reports that Slash and Duff of Guns 'n Roses have sued Axel Rose over Rose's attempt to get ASCAP to send royalties due Slash and Duff to Rose. Spin also reports that Bjork has donated the swan dress she wore to Oscars in 2001 to Oxfam for a charity auction. As reported by the Buffalo News, Ani DiFranco has cancelled her tour which was due to begin next month due to tendonitis. She will be taking a year off from touring. Professional nuisance and one time acne medication schill, Pat Boone has taken to denouncing Cindy Sheehan. Whether that will win back any of his small number of fans is unknown though it's hard to think they've forgiven Baffoon for his desperation foray into heavy metal in 1997. Message to Baffoon, Jesus forgives but Rock 'N Roll never forgets. Pat Bafoon hasn't had a political crush like the one he has for Bully Boy since Nixon was in the White House.In the real world, as ABC reports, the most requested video on MTV is Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends." October 13th, Wilco will play a benefit concert for Riley Hospital for Children reports Indianapolis' The Indy Star. Finally, the latest issue of Rolling Stone which features a cover story on Jack White of the White Stripes also features a sixteen page fashion layout featuring the Black Eyed Peas. It also contains an article by Matt Taibii where he once again makes a complete ass of himself.
C.I.: Taibii recently won praise for addressing the Ohio voting issue after dismissing it. What's your opinion of the article itself?
Kat: Junior gatekeeper has mistaken himself for a voice of authority. A beat at the New York Press don't impress real much. He can be funny but he's pulls whatever brain muscles he does have when he attempts actual thought. Confronted with actual Americans, on both sides of the issue, Taibii runs like a scared rabbit while attempting to toss off pithy remarks over his shoulder. It's the worst article Rolling Stone has run since their hideous Bug Chasers article a few years back. Hopefully, readers will weigh in and inform Jann Wenner that Rolling Stone doesn't need to attempt to fill the pomposity vacuum created by the retirement of William F. Buckley and that pieces like this don't belong in the magazine.
