Month: January 2022

The Golden State Warriors have been patiently waiting for the return of Klay Thompson, who has been steadily working his way back from a torn Achilles suffered prior to the start of last season (just as he was getting back in game shape coming off a torn ACL).

There was hope prior to the season that he could get back on the floor before Christmas, but as that day approached, Thompson was apparently not back at full capacity to play his regular minutes load, which is what he and the Warriors have both said is the goal for his return immediately. Thompson will be back in the starting lineup whenever he comes back, and while back-to-backs could be limited for him, Thompson is adamant that he wants to be able to play 30-plus minutes from the start.

As his target date shifted from pre-Christmas to January, there were a few dates circled on the calendar, as his return has always been booked for a home game. One of those is this coming Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a familiar foe for Thompson (although with a roster he’s barely ever faced), and on Monday ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski added fuel to those rumors by indicating there is “optimism” in the Bay that will indeed be the date Thompson makes his debut.

As has been the case throughout this season, this report on Thompson’s return is filled with cautious language, as there isn’t anything firmly decided and likely won’t be until Friday or Saturday. If Sunday isn’t the day, Thompson would have to wait until January 18 for the next Golden State home game for his return.

All many people know about NFTs (short for “non-fungible tokens”) is that they can command high price tags, even if they don’t really know what they’re for. Indeed, NFT art has become a bit of an internet craze in recent months, one that Eminem has reportedly gotten in on, and it cost him quite a bit to do so.

Hypebeast reports that the rapper bought a Bored Ape NFT art piece that was created to resemble him (it’s called “EminApe”) for 123.45 ETH on the night of December 30. While it’s not clear at exactly what time Eminem bought the NFT (which has substantial implications on the value of the purchase in dollars), at 7 p.m. ET that day, one ETH was worth about $3,713.85 (according to CoinMarketCap), meaning the 123.45 ETH the NFT sold for was worth around $458,474.78 at that time.

GeeGazza, the artist who created and sold the NFT, shared the illustration on Twitter in early November 2021 and wrote, “I still think @Eminem is destined to buy my @BoredApeYC one day.” After the sale, he tweeted, “I’m living in a simulation. Thank you @Eminem for buying my ape and joining the club! Madness. Let me write a lyric in your next single [crying laughing emoji].” The rapper has since made the art his Twitter profile picture.

Hypebeast also notes that Eminem’s latest purchase adds to his existing collection, as he owns 15 NFTs on OpenSea (the leading NFT marketplace) under the name “Shady Holdings.”

Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in January. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.

Friday, January 7

• Canyon City — Matinee EP (Nettwerk)
• David Bowie — Toy:Box (Warner)
• The Dollyrots — Down The Rabbit Hole (Wicked Cool Record)
• Eric Nam — There And Back Again (The Eric Nam Company, Inc.)
• Sis — Gnani EP (Native Cat Recordings)
• Spector — Now Or Whenever (Moth Noise)
• Twin Atlantic — Transparency (Virgin EMI Records)
• Vulfpeck — Vulf Vault 005: Wong’s Cafe (Vulf Records)
• Waxahatchee — El Deafo Soundtrack (Merge Records)
• The Wombats — Fix Yourself, Not The World (AWAL)
• Yard Act — The Overload (Island Records)
• Years & Years — Night Call (Polydor)
• Young Mountain — If You Leave EP (Young Mountain)

Friday, January 14

• Anna von Hausswolff — Live At Montreaux Jazz Festival ((RED) Southern Lord)
• Before Breakfast — I Could Be Asleep If It Weren’t For You (After Dinner)
• Bonobo — Fragments (Ninja Tune)
• Broken Social Scene — Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities (Arts & Crafts)
• Buffalo Revisited — Volcanic Rock Live (Vertigo Records)
• Cat Power — Covers (Domino Recording Company)
• Drew Holcomb And Ellie Holcomb — Coming Home: A Collection Of Songs (Magnolia Records)
• DVR — Dirty Tapes EP (XL Recordings)
• Earl Sweatshirt — Sick! (Tan Cressida/Warner Records)
• Eliza Gilkyson — Songs From The River Wind (Howlin’ Dog Records)
• Elvis Costello & The Imposters — The Boy Named If (EMI/Capitol Records)
• Fickle Friends — Are We Gonna Be Alright? (Polydor Records)
• Garcia Peoples — Dodging Dues (No Quarter Records)
• Grace Cummings — Storm Queen (ATO Records)
• Jamestown Revival — Young Man (Jamestown Revival Recordings)
• The Lumineers — Bright Side (Dualtone)
• Magic City Hippies — Water Your Garden (Wasserman Music)
• The Ophelias — Bare Bodkin (Darla Records)
• Orlando Weeks — Hop Up (Play It Again Sam)
• Punch Brothers — Hell On Church Street (Nonesuch)
• Reiko & Tori Kudo — Tangerine (Forced Exposure)
• Sea Girls — Homesick (Polydor)
• Skillet — Dominion (Atlantic)
• Steve Roach — Zones, Drones & Atmospheres (Projekt Records)
• Sun June — Somewhere +3 (Run for Cover Records)
• Tall Heights — Juniors (Terrorbird)
• Token — Pink Is Better (Never Too Different)

Friday, January 21

• Anna Ash — Sleeper (Black Mesa)
• Anxious — Little Green House (Run For Cover Records)
• Aoife O’Donovan — Age Of Apathy (Yep Roc Records)
• Artsick — Fingers Crossed (Slumberland)
• Ben Abraham — Friendly Fire (Secretly Canadian)
• Billy Talent — Crisis Of Faith (Warner Music)
• Boris — W (Sacred Bones/KiliKiliVIla)
• Boy Harsher — The Runner (Original Soundtrack) (Sacred Bones)
• Brad Barr — The Winter Mission (Secret City Records)
• Brothers Osborne — Skeletons Deluxe (EMI Nashville)
• Diamond Dogs — Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous (Wild Kingdom)
• Eddie Berman — Broken English (Nettwerk Records)
• Fast Eddy — Take A Look (Spaghetty Town Records)
• The Ferrymen — One More River To Cross (Frontiers Music)
• Fhunyue Gao And Sven Kacirek — Hoya (Atlin Village & Mine)
• Greensky Bluegrass — Stress Dreams (Thirty Tigers)
• Inside Voices — Liminal Space EP (Funnybone Records)
• Jake Xerxes Fussell — Good And Green Again (Paradise of Bachelors)
• Jesper Munk — Taped Heart Sounds (Billbrook Records)
• John Mellencamp — Strictly A One-Eyed Jack (Republic Records)
• Julie Christensen — 11 from Kevin: The Songs Of Kevin Gordon (Wirebird Records)
• Keb’ Mo’ Bridges — Good To Be (Rounder Records)
• Kiefer Sutherland — Bloor Street (Cooking Vinyl)
• Kids On A Crime Spree — Fall In Love Not In Line (Slumberland)
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Butterfly 3001 (KGLW)
• Kyla La Grange — While Your Heart’s Still Beating (Night Heron)
• LALU — Paint The Sky (Frontiers Records)
• Linda Draper — Patience And Lipstick (South Forty Records)
• Michael Rother And Vittoria Maccabruni — As Long As The Light (Groenland Records)
• Miles Kane — Change The Show (Blood Records)
• Mud Spencer — Fuzz Soup (Argonauta Records)
• Night Crickets — A Free Society (Omnivore Recordings)
• Pan Daijing — Tissues (PAN)
• Penny And Sparrow — Olly Olly (I Love You)
• Robert Stillman — What Does It Mean To Be American? (Orindal Records/KIT Records)
• Silverbacks — Archive Material (Full Time Hobby)
• Tammy Rogers And Thomm Jutz — Surely Will Be Singing (Mountain Fever Records)
• Teddy Swims — Tough Love EP (Warner Records)
• The Whitmore Sisters — Ghost Stories (Compass Records)

Friday, January 28

• Adam Shoenfeld — All The Birds Sing (Lozen Entertainment)
• Alice Glass — PREY//IV (Eating Glass Records)
• Amber Mark — Three Dimensions Deep (Interscope Records.)
• Anaïs Mitchell — Anaïs Mitchell (BMG Rights Management)
• Big Big Train — Welcome To The Planet (English Electric Recordings)
• Black Flower — Magma (Sdban Ultra)
• Brent Cobb — And Now, Let’s Turn To Page… (Ol Buddy Records)
• Carsen Gray — Each Moment EP (Nettwerk)
• Combo Chimbita — IRÉ (ANTI-)
• Earthgang — Ghetto Gods (Dreamville Records)
• Eels — Extreme Witchcraft (E Works Records)
• Eric Gales — Crown (Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group)
• Immanuel Wilkins — The 7th Hand (Blue Note Records)
• Kyle — It’s Not So Bad (Independent)
• Lady Wray — Piece Of Me (Big Crown Records)
• Maddie & Tae — Through The Madness Vol. 1 (Mercury Nashville)
• Mathis Picard — Live At The Museum (Outside In Music)
• Maverick Sabre — Don’t Forget To Look Up (Famm)
• Maya Shenfeld — In Free Fall (Thrill Jockey)
• Michelle — After Dinner We Talk Dreams (Canvasback Music/Transgressive)
• Mø — Motordrome (Columbia Records)
• North Mississippi Allstars — Set Sail (New West Records)
• Our Lady Peace — Spiritual Machines II (Shelter Music Group)
• PJ Harvey — Let England Shake — Demos (UMe/Island)
• Pinegrove — 11:11 (Rough Trade Records)
• Roedelius & Story — 4 Hands (Erased Tapes)
• Ryan Culwell — Run Like A Bull (Missing Piece Records)
• Sad Daddy — Way Up In The Hills (Red Yeti Records)
• Sam Moss — Blues Approved (Schoolkids Records)
• Scarlet Rebels — See Through Blue (Earache Records)
• Simone Felice — All The Bright Coins (Chrysalis Records)
• Squirrel Flower — Planet EP (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
• St. Paul & The Broken Bones — The Alien Coast (ATO Records)
• Thyla — Thyla (self-released)
• Wasuremono — Let’s Talk Pt. 2 (The Wilderness Records)
• Willie & The Bandits — When The World Stood Still (Fat Toad Records)

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

This morning, The Weeknd announced that his new album is called Dawn FM and that it’s coming out this week, on January 7. Aside from the impending new music itself, perhaps the biggest takeaway from the news is the fact that Jim Carrey — who, like The Weeknd, is one of the biggest icons in Canadian entertainment history — features on the project. Now it appears the two listened to the upcoming album together yesterday and Carrey is a big fan of the project.

Carrey tweeted today, “I listened to Dawn FM with my good friend Abel @theweeknd last night. It was deep and elegant and it danced me around the room. I’m thrilled to play a part in his symphony. ;^•.” The Weeknd shared the tweet and added, “Thank you for being a part of this. It’s kismet. Full circle [single tear emoji].”

Carrey has had the occasional brush with the music industry over the course of his career. He has a couple of singles on Spotify: 2014’s “Pecan Pie,” which originated from a 2003 Michel Gondry short film of the same name (the song was released as a single after Carrey performed it on Saturday Night Live). There’s also 2013’s “Cold Dead Hand,” which he recorded with Eels as part of a Funny Or Die sketch in which Carrey portrays Charlton Heston.

He also had some international success with a couple of songs from his movies: 1995’s “Cuban Pete” from The Mask charted in Australia and the UK, while 1996’s “Somebody To Love” (a Jefferson Airplane cover from The Cable Guy) charted in Australia.

If one of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s new year’s resolutions was to get booted from major social media platforms, she’s doing a fine job. On Sunday, the controversial Georgia lawmaker and bad idea-haver was permanently banned from Twitter because she couldn’t stop sharing COVID misinformation. But she wasn’t done yet. The very next day she got a lighter sentence from an even more hated platform.

As per The New York Times, Greene was handed a 24-hour suspension by Facebook, where they once allegedly vowed to not fact-check former president and serial fibber Donald J. Trump. What landed Greene in hot water? A lengthy post from Saturday about American life “Before COVID” and “After COVID,” in which she wrote falsely about “extremely high amounts of Covid vaccine deaths.” As per NYT:

Ms. Greene’s post cited misleading information from a government database of unverified raw data called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, a decades-old system that relies on self-reported cases from patients and health care providers.

Greene dropped the post on her personal account. However, her government account remains active, as is also the case on Twitter.

A spokesperson for Facebook said in a statement that while they removed Greene’s post, deleting the account entirely is “beyond the scope of our policies.”

The platform has repeatedly altered their content policies since the start of the pandemic. Last December, they announced they would delete posts that had been debunked by the World Health Organization or government agencies.

By Tuesday, Greene’s personal account will return to its regularly scheduled programming, but her personal Twitter account will likely never return, meaning she’ll have to find somewhere else to attack fellow rightwing politician Dan Crenshaw.

(Via NYT)

At the moment, the 64th Annual Grammy Awards are set to go down at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on January 31, but that may not be the case for long: Billboard reports that “according to multiple sources,” the 2022 Grammys may be postponed, with a “source with direct knowledge” noting it’s “looking likely.” The publication reached out to The Recording Academy, who did not confirm the reports or announce a new date for the show.

It was around this time last year that it was announced that the 2021 Grammys would be delayed. On January 5, 2021, the Grammys shared a statement in which they noted, “After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our host and artists scheduled to appear, we are rescheduling the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards to be broadcast Sunday, March 14, 2021. The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.”

Find the full list of 2022 Grammy nominees here.

It’s hard to keep track of Donald Trump’s many legal and financial headaches, from him trying to block the Jan. 6 committee from seeing his White House records to his sketchy social media service. But don’t forget about this one: The New York State attorney general’s office is in the midst of a civil investigation into the former president’s family real estate business. And on Monday, that one took another hairpin turn.

As per ABC News, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a subpoena demanding two of Trump’s children, Don Jr. and Ivanka, who were named as respondents in the office’s inquiry. And already both Trump kids have said they will not comply, revealing that they plan to file motion to quash the subpoenas.

It’s a classic Trump move: sabotage investigations into possible wrongdoing by tying things up in legal red tape, hoping the problem will go away (or that the public will lose interest). Of course, it could also blow up in their face. Trump allies who’ve ignored subpoenas, such as Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, face jail time. Meanwhile, the investigation has already resulted in longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg being indicted.

Both Don Jr. and Ivanka have denied any wrongdoing and have predictably claimed the investigation is purely political. Still, how long will it be until the former records one of his beloved late night hotel rants?

(Via ABC News)

It’s an odd time for celebrity endorsements. Famous people have been lending their names to products (and making extra dough) since advertising began, but a couple new, bizarre ones have been turning heads. First there was AMC’s expensive ads featuring Nicole Kidman beckoning people back to movie theaters. Now there’s Matt Damon shilling for one of the most questionable products in existence: cryptocurrency.

The ad finds the actor and Oscar-winning screenwriter strolling through a white-walled lair-of-sorts that kind of looks like the teched-up version of the Batcave from Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies. “History is filled with almosts,” Damon crows, “with those who almost adventured, who almost achieved, but ultimately for them it proves to be too much.” He then points to those who did the unthinkable: mountaineers, the Wright brothers, astronauts, and, uh, people about to make out in a nightclub.

What exactly is Damon selling? The ad saves that for the end: It’s for cypto.com.

Given that crypto has attracted thieves, that it can have troubling glitches that make people think they’re briefly trillionaires, people were primed to slam Damon for hopping on-board. Some dragged him for not only shilling for crypto but also comparing those involved with it with history’s greatest innovators.

Others just made fun of him.

Others lamented that the future is nowhere close to as cool as people once thought it would be.

On the other hand, at least Damon isn’t singing about the glories of NFTs. Yet.

Although the Los Angeles Lakers won their second straight game Sunday evening, defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-103, it wasn’t Russell Westbrook’s finest outing. He recorded nine turnovers — already his third game of the year with at least nine — and scored 20 points on 51.2 percent true shooting.

After the win, Westbrook offered insight into how he views those components of his game. When a reporter suggested Westbrook struggled prior to some important plays late, Westbrook pushed back against that notion under the belief “that’s all a part of the game.”

“My game is not predicated on shots or if I turn the ball over. I miss some shots, that’s part of the game,” he said. “I’m allowed to miss shots. I can do that. Like any other player, I can turn the ball over too.”

Here’s the thing: I think Westbrook is largely correct in his assessment. Of course, nine turnovers is suboptimal, but he’s constructed a Hall of Fame career through constant aggression and applying pressure on the defense to create for himself or others. Turnovers come with the territory of a style like that. One fewer turnover per game or so would be preferred, but they’re not soul-crushing plays.

Stagnant possessions leading to missed shots can serve the same purpose as Westbrook giving the ball away while trying to make something happen. His playmaking has been hugely beneficial to the Lakers and is helping LeBron James have his best scoring regular season in recent memory.

I also side with Westbrook on scoring efficiency. Even during his MVP campaign and All-NBA seasons, his true shooting hovered around league average. It’s about 3.5 points below league average this season, which is in line with his production as a member of the Houston Rockets in 2019-20 and substantially better than last year’s mark of 6.3 points below league average. His turnovers per 100 possessions this season are also similar to his prime last decade.

So, yeah, turnovers and sterling scoring efficiency are not what make him an excellent player. Ideally, they’d both be cleaned up, but Westbrook isn’t off-base or just aiming to save face when he says he’s “allowed to miss shots” and “can turn the ball over.” Those flaws are simply part of his nature and while they’re frustrating, harping on them overlooks his exploits: passing, rebounding, transition play and driving.

The one-year anniversary of the Capitol siege is drawing near, and it appears the House committee investigating that fateful day still have some snooping (and maybe some jailing) to do. Among the intel they seek are Donald Trump’s White House documents. One problem: The former president has been aggressively blocking access to them, citing “executive privilege” — an erroneous claim, one judge pointed out, considering he’s no longer in office. But he may have some other reasons for making sure no one sees them.

The Daily Beast spoke with Don W. Wilson and John W. Carlin, two former heads of the National Archive, which is where each presidential records are sent after their tenure ends. While Wilson and Carlin haven’t seen those documents, they’re sure they’re deeply incriminating.

“Given how frantic they are… there are things in those records that are going to make real trouble. I’m talking about prison time,” Carlin told The Daily Beast. “It reinforces the fact that they know they’re in real trouble if these things are released—particularly if they’re released soon.”

Some of the records the Jan. 6 committee seek are stored on personal e-mail accounts and cellphones. Former chief of staff Mark Meadows has tried to block access to them, citing “presidential privilege.” But Wilson says that’s a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

“You aren’t supposed to conduct personal business on your cellphone. If it is, then it’s an official record. Is this official business? If it is, then it’s technically a presidential record, even if it’s on your personal cellphone,” Wilson said. “All of it is supposed to be turned over at the end of the administration.”

Among the things Trump’s records may show is whether or not he tried to use the Department of Justice to intimidate states to contest the 2020 election results. They could show whether or not he plotted with Republicans to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s win. They could show whether or not he schemed with rally organizers to lure his supporters to the Capitol building, which they then violently stormed, resulting in five deaths. Whatever the case, for Trump and his allies to try to block the truth from coming out seems awfully fishy.

(Via The Daily Beast)