Month: August 2021

After getting roasted by CNN, you’d think Ted Cruz would have paused before issuing more criticisms of the Afghanistan withdrawal, but nope, the Texas senator was back at it on Monday evening. While sharing a video about a Texas family that the right wing RNC Research Twitter account claims is “abandoned” in Afghanistan, Cruz tweeted, “This is horrifying. And wrong. America doesn’t leave Americans behind.”

However, Americans are not being abandoned. While the military withdrawal is over, the Biden Administration is still actively working to get people out and said as much hours before Cruz’s tweet. Via CBS News:

“The diplomatic sequel to that will now begin,” [General Frank] McKenzie said Monday. “And I believe our Department of State is going to work very hard to allow any American citizens that are left, and we think the citizens that were not brought out number in the low, very low hundreds — I believe that we’re going to be able to get those people out.”

He added, “I think we’re also going to negotiate very hard, very aggressively, to get our other Afghan partners out. The military phase is over, but our desire to bring these people out remains as intense as it was before.”

With that settled, if you know anything about Cruz, then you know exactly where this is going next: Cancun, baby. The Texas senator was lit up on social media for accusing the Biden administration of abandoning Americans when Cruz did exactly that earlier in the year. He famously flew to Cancun while his state’s power grid was frozen during an unprecedented winter storm, and when he got caught, he blamed his kids for the trip.

If Cruz thinks people forgot about that whole debacle, guess again.

Last month, jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington covered Metallica‘s “My Friend Of Misery” at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, bringing in special guests Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo to play onstage with him. Now, Washington has shared the studio version of that cover, which does not include any Metallica members but will be available on The Metallica Blacklist, a 53-artist tribute to The Black Album, dropping September 10.

The Metallica Blacklist will also feature tributes from Miley Cyrus (who shared a cover of “Nothing Else Matters“), Elton John, Ghost, Volbeat, Weezer, Corey Taylor, Biffy Clyro, Royal Blood, Pup, St. Vincent, Idles, and more.

“The Metallica Blacklist offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to Metallica – and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes,” the band has said of the tribute project. “The [album’s] 53 tracks find singer-songwriters, country artists, electronic and hip-hop artists sharing their love of these songs alongside punk rockers, indie darlings, icons of rock, metal, world music and many, many more… The Metallica Blacklist is a fitting and limitless homage, one that features bands who’ve shared stages with Metallica alongside artists who are younger than the original album.”

The Metallica Blacklist also joins a fully remastered Black Album reissue, also dropping in September. Pre-order both here.

Hurricane Ida recently tore through areas of Louisiana, leaving a devastating path of destruction in its wake. Communities have begun the task of cleaning up debris from the massive storm, which led to millions without power and was responsible for the death of at least four people. The hurricane also hit parts of New Orleans, which destroyed several businesses, including one of the clubs that helped Louis Armstrong get his start in music.

According to a report from CNN, Hurricane Ida’s winds were so powerful that it ripped through the side of The Karnofsky Tailor Shop and Residence, a historic jazz landmark that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In a video captured by meteorologist Ed Bloodsworth, The Karnosky was essentially reduced to a pile of rubble in the storm’s wake Sunday.

The Karnofsky acted as a second home to Armstrong as he was rising in the ranks of the jazz world. The musician would frequent The Karnosky to eat meals with the owners, and oftentimes considered the site his second home. The Karnosky’s even lent Armstrong money to purchase his first trumpet. While the historic site hasn’t been in the best shape for the past two years, plans to renovate the building had been announced in 2019.

Mike Richards was the host and executive producer of Jeopardy! for one day — now he’s neither. Last week, Richards stepped down as Alex Trebek’s replacement on the legendary game show following accusations of discrimination and resurfaced offensive comments made on a podcast. He was still employed as an executive producer… until today when he was fired from both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

“I’m writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately,” Suzanne Prete, executive vice president, business and strategy, for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! wrote in a message to the show’s staff. “We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened.”

Here’s the full message:

Richards’ firing comes after a damning Wall Street Journal report that basically no one enjoyed working with him. “Many longtime staffers have not taken to him since he succeeded the beloved Harry Friedman, who ended his long run as executive producer in 2020,” it reads. “Mr. Richards has a force-of-nature type of persona, with sharp elbows that rub many of the Jeopardy! veterans the wrong way, people close to the show said.”

A full-time host for Jeopardy! has not been announced yet.

Oh boy. I’m not sure where to start here because two 1980s pop-culture figureheads began fighting (Monday) on Twitter, and it’s still going strong with a losing party in full view. Let’s back up a little bit.

The situation in Afghanistan’s a disaster, straight-up, and there’s no debate on that fact, but people disagree on where to place the overall blame. Clearly, President Biden didn’t handle the withdrawal aspect well, although pop-music-sensation/hair-icon Richard Marx found himself pointing out (to Happy Days actor Scott Baio, who has “Chachi” in his Twitter bio) that the War in Afghanistan spans several administrations. The right wing would love to blame Biden for all of it, somehow (and Don Jr. has been gloating over the timing), although the right-wing doesn’t want to talk about the dodgy Trump deal that contributed to the catastrophe.

For whatever reason, Baio decided to call out Marx while asking of celebrity leftists to ask, “Where are you now?” about a Fox News headline about reported Taliban targeting of U.S. allies. This led Marx to ask, “When your racist draft-dodging hero was calling our own military servicemen and women ‘losers and suckers’ where the f*ck were you? You disingenuous [redacted] little twerp.” This led to a “Dick Marx” comeback, of course.

And this eventually led Marx to explain that what he’s been doing lately is tending to a family tragedy, which is a significant one. Marx’s mother, singer Ruth Marx, has passed away. She’s been beautifully eulogized by the LA Times‘ Maureen McDonnell.

Scott Baio didn’t stop firing back after Marx’s mention of a tragedy. He went on to call Marx “the barely 5’3 lil man that allegedly f*cked another woman while being married, sh*thead! Your 4 inch feathered hair didn’t fool anyone lil guy……”

In response, Marx wrote, “People actually get divorced without cheating, little Nazi. Multiple sexual assault claims against you, both male and female. All liars? No wonder you love Trump.” He added, “You mocked parents of murdered children, you degenerate fuck. You’re what scum scrapes off the bottom of its shoe.”

Then Marx addressed the height-obsession coming from Baio. “Google also says the great Sammy Hagar is 5’ 10. But seriously…this is some childish-ass sh*t,” Marx remarked. “And Scott Baio is absolutely a guy who would mock the height or appearance that his lord and savior chose for people. Cuz…he’s a ‘Christian.’”

Here’s Baio’s reply: “You’re a tiny angry lil troll.”

That led Marx to put it out there: “Look. At. Your. Responses.”

Well, let’s just say that people are here for it, meaning that they’re here for Marx handily winning this feud (even if cheap shots are being taken by both of them).

We’ll be, you know, “right here waiting” for more.

Jpegmafia has unveiled a run of fall tour dates, kicking off in October in Santa Ana, California. On top of that, the Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-based rapper has shared a jittery new single and video for “Trust!,” which is set to appear on a new, currently untitled album. At its peak, the “Trust!” shares similar everything-all-of-the-time vibes to Bo Burnham’s “Welcome To The Internet.” Check it out above.

Last year, Jpegmafia shared a handful of singles, which eventually were grouped into this year’s EP2!. Have a look at Peggy’s tour dates below.

10/08 — Santa Ana, CA & The Observatory
10/09 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/10 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
10/14 — Dallas, TX @ Trees
10/15 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/16 — Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10/19 — Miami, FL @ The Ground at Club Space
10/20 — Orlando, FL @ The Abbey
10/22 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell Stage)
10/23 — Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
10/26 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/27 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
10/29 — San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Festival
10/31 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/02 — Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
11/03 — Boston, MA @ Royale
11/06 — Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
11/07 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/09 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
11/12 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
11/14 — Denver, CO @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
11/18 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/19 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
11/20 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
11/24 — San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
12/04 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
03/12/22 — Stockholm, Sweden @ Fryshuset
03/13/22 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ Amager Bio
03/14/22 — Berlin, Germany @ Säälchen
03/16/22 — Cologne, Germany @ Club Banhof Ehrenfeld
03/17/22 — Antwerp, Belgium @ Zappa
03/19/22 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso (Main Room)
03/20/22 — Paris, France @ Le Cabaret Sauvage
03/23/22 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Birmingham
03/24/22 — Brighton, UK @ Concorde2
03/27/22 — Bristol, England @ SWX
03/28/22 — London, England @ 02 Forum Kentish Town
03/30/22 — Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands
03/31/22 — Manchester, England @ 02 Ritz
04/02-03/22 — Dublin, Ireland @ Academy Dublin

Jpegmafia’s new album doesn’t have a release date yet, but a press release promises that it’ll arrive in the fall on EQT/Republic. Pre-order it here.

This week, the music world was eclipsed by a single release: Kanye West finally dropped his much delayed album Donda. But of course, it wouldn’t be a Kanye album rollout without at least a little controversy, which he delivered when he invited accused abuser Marilyn Manson to the stage. That still didn’t stop the rapper’s fans from listening to the album so much that it’s dominating on both Spotify and iTunes. Apparently, Kim Kardashian has also been boosting the album’s streaming count without actually listening to it.

Kim tried to show support for her soon-to-be ex-husband’s new work by promoting it to her over 249 million Instagram followers. She screenshotted a few of his tracks like “Hurricane” and “Lord I Need You” and posted them to her Stories. But one fan pointed out that she had the volume turned all the way down on her phone, meaning she wasn’t really listening to Kanye’s music.

Though Kim might be streaming Donda on mute, there is a lot of evidence that she has actually heard the album at one point or another. She has been spotted at all the Donda listening parties that Kanye hosted, and she recently shared a video for his “Come To Life” track which featured audio from one of the events.

Donda is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

Soulja Boy — who is apparently still ticked off at Kanye West about being left off of Donda‘s final tracklist, despite Kanye’s protests that Def Jam released the unfinished album without his permission — has escalated his trolling campaign against the producer, now resorting to throwing jabs over Kanye’s impending divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian. While Soulja Boy tagged Kardashian in a tweet during yesterday’s tirade against Kanye, today, he’s outright suggesting that, like Ray J, he hit it first. He posted a throwback photo on Twitter posing with Kim from what looks like sometime in the late 2000s, captioning the photo: “I was the first rapper wit @KimKardashian not u.”

Aside from being, well, gross, the post is just the latest from Soulja Boy expressing his anger at being omitted from the Donda release that hit DSPs over the weekend, whether it was by Kanye’s design or not. He previously posted an in-studio video from his and Kanye’s recording session playing back his verse and has been retweeting fans’ posts decrying Kanye for leaving him off the album. In an interview with TMZ, he said that his frustration stems from not being told personally that he wouldn’t be on the album and only finding out when it dropped.

Still, that’s no excuse for the sophomoric stuff he’s doing right now. Women aren’t props for men’s petty grievances, and nobody cares if you hit it or not, dude — except for, probably, Kanye, who is almost certain to never work with Soulja Boy again after this, if his current feud with Drake is a measure of his own vindictiveness.

You can read Uproxx’s review of Donda here.

Ever since Madden 18, the presence of college football has been a significant part of EA’s Madden series. Anyone that took part in their Face of The Franchise feature would get the opportunity to play out a short college career at a college of their choice, as the star QB. The mode wasn’t super in-depth, it really just amounted to two games of Madden with pre-built characters wearing college football skins, but it was a welcome sight for fans missing out on EA’s former college football series.

That feature did not go away in Madden 22, with players still able to take part in the college football playoff, but the shine of the mode has largely worn off, especially with a new college football game on the way. However, on Tuesday, EA Sports announced that they will be expanding their use of college football in the game. Superstar KO will be adding a limited-time college football legends feature where players will be able to play as up 10 college football teams with actual former players.

“Throughout the football season, we deliver new content and enhancements to our Madden players and we’re really excited to bring the fanfare of college football to the millions of players already enjoying Madden NFL 22 to one of our most accessible ways to play in Superstar KO,” said Seann Graddy, Executive Producer, EA SPORTS Madden NFL.

The college legends mode will allow players to play as teams such as Florida, Miami, USC, and Texas. However, unlike previous years where the teams were filled with generic names and players, this time it’s going to feature all-time college greats like Vince Young, Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow, and Ed Reed. It will also use college rules such as only needing to get one foot in bounds on a catch. While it’s not a full-on college football video game, it’s the closest we’ve had to one since NCAA 14.

One of the benefits of having a mode like Superstar KO is that the developers of Madden can have cool limited-time events like this. However, while this is exciting, it’s still not the college football game that many are likely hoping it will be. This is still a game in Madden’s engine with Madden’s physics. While the names, uniforms, helmets, and everything else look like college football it still isn’t going to feel like college football. Those of us who want that are going to have to wait for the game currently in development.

However, this mode does point to some positive signs. For starters, a lot of this shows the potential for what a new college football game can look like. While everyone involved is a current or former NFL player, it’s still a full roster of actual players. One of the most challenging parts of EA Sports College Football is going to be the roster. Even with NIL rules in effect, college players don’t have a union that EA can work with to get real players in the game. This game is a sign that, even if getting current college players in the game is going to have its challenges, we should be able to use legends at least. Maybe even some teams that we missed out on over the last decade.

As Tame Impala prepares their upcoming US tour dates, leader/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker has announced that all show attendees must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. “My beliefs on this matter align closely with the word of science, which is that the vaccine undeniably helps prevent serious illness and death from covid 19,” he wrote in a lengthy post on Instagram. “If this isn’t your view I urge you to re-evaluate.”

Parker continued, explaining how they arrived at this decision: “I have talked about this with my cohorts extensively and whilst the last thing I want to do is divide people based on what they believe and don’t believe, now is not the time to be putting everyone at risk for the sake of being nice.”

Tame Impala have not yet had the chance to tour their 2020 album, The Slow Rush. The psych-pop outfit had originally intended to hit the road in April 2020, but had to postpone for obvious COVID-related reasons. Now, the tour is scheduled to kick off in September, starting with Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee.

“There’s still time to get fully vaxxed before most of the shows (and a single J&J jab before all of them),” Parker wrote. “So get a move on if you’ve just been putting it off.”

Look into Tame Impala tickets here.