Month: September 2021

Radiohead are celebrating 21 years of their landmark fourth and fifth albums, Kid A and Amnesiac, with an LP of unreleased songs, titled Kid Amnesiae, out November 5 via XL. Along with “alternate versions and elements” of Kid A and Amnesiac album tracks and B-sides, Kid A Mnesia features two new songs: “If You Say The Word,” which is out today as a digital single, and the previously unreleased studio recording of “Follow Me Around.”

Back in 2009, Radiohead released a special collector’s edition of Kid A, and last year, to mark its 20th anniversary, the band dropped an extended version of “Treefingers.” Meanwhile, in 2017, Radiohead reissued Kid A‘s predecessor, OK Computer, as OKNOTOK 1997 2017.

As Uproxx critic Steven Hyden has previously noted, Radiohead originally considered releasing the songs from Kid A and Amnesiac as a double LP, but instead opted to put out Kid A in the fall of 2000, and Amnesiac the following summer: “When Kid A was released, some critics were disappointed that the more conventional ‘Radiohead-sounding’ songs performed on the band’s summer European tour — including ‘Knives Out’ and ‘Pyramid Song’ (then dubbed ‘Egyptian Song’) — didn’t make it on the record. Kid A was deliberately sequenced as a monochromatic mood piece with a heavy emphasis on suffocating emotional paralysis. The more dynamic material was reserved for Amnesiac, which also became a clearinghouse for Radiohead’s weirdest songs from the sessions. The result was a willfully inconsistent (though often thrilling) listen.”

Listen to “If You Say The Word” above. and find the Kid A Mnesia tracklist below.

1. “Like Spinning Plates” (‘Why Us?’ Version)
2. “Untitled V1”
3. “Fog” (Again Again Version)
4. “If You Say The Word”
5. “Follow Me Around”
6. “Pulk/Pull” (True Love Waits Version)
7. “Untitled V2”
8. “The Morning Bell (In The Dark Version)”
9. “Pyramid Strings”
10. “Alt. Fast Track”
11. “Untitled V3”
12. “How To Disappear Into Strings”

Kid A Mnesia is out 11/5 via XL. Pre-order it here.

Eminem has always shown up for his Detroit hometown, consistently donating money to organizations in the city through his Marshall Mathers Foundation. But the same sentiment apparently isn’t shared by everyone in the city, as someone completely vandalized a new mural of Eminem in Detroit less than 24 hours after it was finished.

According to a report from The Detroit News, Chicago-based street artist Chris Devins spent all of last Saturday painting a giant mural of Eminem in Detroit’s Cass Corridor. Devins claimed passersby showed their support of his work by snapping photos and honking their car horn as he painted. However, Devins came to find out that someone had completely defaced the artwork less than a day after it was completed.

Devins said he was already back in Chicago by the time he heard the news of the mural’s vandalization. “I felt terrible,” Devins said, calling the graffiti “disrespectful.” He continued, “I was devastated. Who would do that? That’s against the rules of street art. […] I want to restore it to its original value. I would like to re-present it to the community in its unblemished form.”

Devins wasn’t commissioned by Eminem to paint the mural, but was visiting Detroit with his family for Labor Day Weekend and thought the empty wall could “use some beautification.” The painting is based on a photo of Eminem by photographer Nitin Vadukul.

The artist currently plans to return to Detroit to fix the mural soon. Even still, he’s offended that someone had the audacity to deface his artwork so soon after it’s completion. “You can’t give some people anything good,” he wrote on Instagram.

British grime godfather Wiley has been charged with burglary and assault after allegedly attacking another man in London, according to BBC. Billboard also reports that Wiley will appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court next week after being arrested on Monday, September 3 in connection with the August 28 incident. Allegedly, Wiley broke into the home of kickboxer Ali Jacko, causing what BBC called “a minor injury” for which “paramedics had not been needed.” However, Wiley will be charged with assault by beating and burglary with intent to cause criminal damage for the incident.

Incidentally, the last time Wiley was in the headlines, he didn’t fare much better. He was banned from Facebook (and Facebook’s subsidiary Instagram) last summer for making anti-Semitic comments on the platform just days after receiving a similar suspension on Twitter. Wiley also got dropped by his management company, capping his fall from grace — which, ironically, came at just about the height of his recognition after a decades-long career spent pioneering the UK grime scene.

His position at the forefront of the scene initially lent at least a little credence to his accusations of cultural appropriation against dabblers in the scene like Drake and Ed Sheeran, but quickly swerved into salty old man-ism when he included new wave leader Stormzy in his tirades. After a back-and-forth battle between the two, Stormzy appeared to come out on top by default as Wiley self-destructed his public image.

Big Thief hit the road for a month-long US tour today, and in conjunction with the tour launch, the indie favorites have released a lovely new single, “Certainty,” which features harmonies from Hannah Cohen and was written during a three-day power outage while recording at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Studios in the Catskills. The track follows “Sparrow” and “Little Things,” which dropped earlier in August.

“On the third day of the outage, I found Adrianne on the porch writing a new song, so I sat with her and we finished it together, with the rain falling from the gutters splashing over our guitars,” band member Buck Meek said. “James and Sam saw us writing, and quickly set up a four-track tape machine in the kitchen, powered by the F250 cigarette lighter out in the yard. They set up the drums by the sink, and Max plugged his bass into a bluetooth speaker set on top of the stove. Take two had a great bark from Sam and Hannah’s pup Jan during the solo, but we ended up going with take three because it took us about that long to learn the chords. Then we made pancakes and sausages and ate breakfast for dinner.”

In 2019, Big Thief released two critically acclaimed albums, Two Hands and U.F.O.F. They’ve been working on their fifth album over the past year. Meek, who is also working on a solo album to follow 2021’s Two Saviors, told Guitar.com, “Lockdown was a well-needed respite, I needed a break. And then Big Thief ended up making new music for nearly six months, which was really nice because we’ve been touring so hard we’ve had little chance to record in the last couple of years.”

Listen to “Certainty” above.

House Republicans have a lot on their minds right now, what with doing everything they can to avoid any further investigations into the Capitol insurrection of January 6th and what part some of their own members might have played in egging on protestors. So it makes sense that, in their desperate bid to beg petition the world’s biggest tech companies to not share any of the private communications of the particular individuals the House select committee has requested be turned over, they didn’t have time to confirm the best people to contact about these matters. Case in point: The September 3rd letter a group of 11 House Republicans sent to Marissa Mayer, the president and CEO of Yahoo!… who hasn’t been president and/or CEO of Yahoo! since June 2017, when she left the company.

As Mediaite reports, the letter states that:

The 11 Republicans – Jim Banks, (IN), Andy Biggs (AZ), Lauren Boebert (CO), Mo Brooks (AL), Madison Cawthorn (NC), Matt Gaetz (FL), Louie Gohmert (TX), Paul Gosar (AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Jody Hice (GA), Scott Perry (PA) – are seeking to prevent companies from cooperating with records requests and subpoenas as part of the select committee’s investigation.

“You are receiving this letter because news reports indicate that your company received a request to turn over your clients’ private and confidential data to Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives,” the letter begins.

How many people read this letter before it was sent? And not one of them recalled the big deal that was made four years ago when Mayer left her role?

One person whose signature was noticeably absent was that of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, whose communications are among those being sought by the committee. While he didn’t sound off here with his fellow GOPers, he has otherwise been a very vocal opponent of this committee and all it stands for… or all it stands to learn.

According to the letter, obtained by Mediate, the Three Gormless Gs (Gaetz, Gohmert, and Greene) and their equally deluded cohorts claim that “Congress has no general power to inquire into private affairs and to compel disclosure in order to expose for the sake of exposure,” and threatens that they “will pursue all legal remedies” if private information is turned over to the government body investigating an outright coup on the Capitol building.

So, surely they have nothing to hide, right?

(Via Mediaite)

Janet Jackson is getting ready to give her fans a behind-the-scenes look at her storied career and rise to fame. Her upcoming documentary Janet is set to feature archival and unseen personal footage, home videos, and exclusive celebrity interviews, which she has previewed in a teaser of the film’s new trailer.

Jackson debuted a one-minute teaser of her Ben Hirsh-directed documentary this week. Along with telling Jackson’s story, the film features some talking head commentary by friends and collaborators like Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, and more.

“This is my story, told by me, not through someone else’s eyes,” Jackson says in the trailer. “This is the truth — take it or leave it. Love it or hate it. This is me.”

Janet is set to be released live on A&E and Lifetime in January 2022. The full documentary will be a two-part event, with the entire four-hour film premiering across two nights.

After sharing the trailer, fans showed an outpouring of support for the singer. That included Missy Elliott, who praised Jackson’s talent. “You are the BluePrint of what a SuperStar is,” she replied. “40 years in the game & still counting! You are UNBREAKABLE! I Love you Jj you already know.”

Watch the full Janet teaser above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After reaching a plea deal last week, it seemed like the story of Jacob Chansley (a.k.a. The QAnon Shaman) had come to an end. His attorney had effectively argued that Chansley has denounced his QAnon ways and reached a deal with federal prosecutors that would lessen his charges for storming the U.S. Capitol building in a Chewbacca bikini. However, new details have emerged, and it appears that Chansley, who no longer wishes to be called the QAnon Shaman, had a much deeper connection to Donald Trump than anyone knew. Although, committing outright insurrection and howling for hours inside a government building in service to the former president should’ve been a clue, Chansley’s feelings for Trump are reportedly much, much deeper.

During Chansley’s plea deal hearing on Friday, his attorney Al Watkins essentially argued that the former QAnon devotee was in “love” with Trump, and CNN’s Jim Acosta couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Via Mediaite:

“Take a listen to what [Chansley’s] lawyer says about his client’s view of Donald Trump,” Acosta said. “I think it’s pretty telling.”

“He had a fondness for Trump that was not unlike the first love a man may have for a girl, or a girl for a man, or man for a man,” Watkins says in the video clip. “The first love always, always maintains a tender and soft spot in the heart of the lover.”

“We can’t blame all of this on love, can we?” Acosta asked [Wisconsin Congresswoman Barbara] Comstock. “What a bizarre comment.”

It probably didn’t help that Chansley’s family are also deeply ensconced in all things Trump. According to CNN’s Marshall Cohen, the Shaman’s family “were urging him not to plead guilty today because they believe Trump is going to be reinstated and then will grant him a pardon.”

The belief that the former president will somehow be reinstated has continued to run rampant in the QAnon world and the rantings of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has incorrectly predicted Trump’s return several times. He now claims Trump will be back in the Oval Office by the end of the year, so you can go ahead and count on that not happening.

(Via Mediaite)

Paul Pierce is getting set to go into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this Saturday — the second such ceremony of the year after the 2020 induction was moved to earlier this spring. That will mark the next time we see Pierce on television, but what his future is in terms of being a public figure in the basketball world remains to be seen after his departure from ESPN earlier this year.

Pierce was let go by ESPN in April after a wild Instagram Live video went viral of Pierce at a party with dancers, smoking weed, and talking to the camera (taking away any excuse of an accidental post). The Truth apparently was unaware that IG Live videos could be recorded and reposted, thinking when he deleted the video after going Live, all was well. That wasn’t the case and ESPN took that opportunity to let Pierce go early, although the two appeared headed for a breakup soon anyways.

According to Pierce, who recently spoke with SI’s Chris Mannix ahead of his Hall of Fame induction, he and ESPN weren’t a good fit for a number of reasons, among them the constant coverage of a certain former rival.

“I was done with them, anyway,” says Pierce between pulls of lemon mint. “It wasn’t a great fit. There’s a lot of stuff over there that you can’t say. And you have to talk about LeBron all the time.”

Pierce’s lack of fondness for LeBron James is pretty well known. After struggling to get by Boston in his first stint in Cleveland, James would eventually beat up on the Celtics and successfully recruited Ray Allen to leave Boston for Miami, ultimately destroying the core of that 2008 title team. He would then go on to spoil Pierce’s jersey retirement night, as he lit up the Celtics in his second stint with the Cavs, as Pierce sat courtside. It is rather funny that Pierce was so frustrated by having to talk about James constantly that he was fine tanking his own career at ESPN, because at least it means he doesn’t have to have LeBron debates on air anymore.

This article first appeared on 9.15.17.

Via YouTube

Via YouTube

Cavemen must have been perpetually late, given that humans didn’t get around to inventing the sundial until 1500 BCE. The first attempts at measuring time via sun movement were shadow clocks created by the Egyptians and Babylonians. These led to the sundial, an instrument that tells time by measuring shadows cast by the sun on a dial plate. Sundials were our preferred method of timekeeping until the mechanical clock was invented in 14th-century Europe.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user Sara Bogush

In 1972, Hamilton introduced the world’s first digital watch. Its $2,000 price tag was hefty, but by the ’80s, digital watches became affordable for the average person. Now, both technologies have merged in a cool invention, the digital sundial. Created by French Etsy seller Mojoptix, this outdoor clock uses the patterns on a suspended wand to mold natural shadows into a digital-looking time readout. The digital sundial has two major drawbacks: It only reports the time in 20-minute intervals, and it’s not very effective after sundown. But it sure does look cool.

Here’s the digital sundial in action!

Timelapse: Digital Sundial

www.youtube.com

This article originally appeared on 08.16.18

Lately, art history majors have become something of a pop culture punching bag. Not only has the phrase become short-hand for “unemployable in today’s economy,” they’ve also been ridiculed by President Barack Obama on national television. But will the gentle art of aesthetic study finally get the last laugh?

Middle Earth Organics is known for their organic pasta sauces, each label featuring a famous Italian painting. While this would normally be an NBD, the painting they chose for their tomato and porcini mushroom sauce has been stirring up controversy online.

The woman in the painting above is not staring with intense concentration at a pot of delicious, simmering sugo.

assets.rebelmouse.io

The image is “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” a painting by Caravaggio. Judith, seen above, is not making an al dente delight. Judith is cutting off some dude’s head.

As 11points.com noted, “That unfortunate painting selection could’ve been avoided if they’d just hired an art history major.” You heard it here folks. Pasta sauce companies: the future of global arts employment.