Month: August 2022

For most bands, aging gracefully is an impossible task. It’s something that a group doesn’t have to think about for their first decade, but as albums start hitting their 10 and 20-year anniversaries, the choices of how to proceed with a (Pavement voice) career become more narrow, regardless of the quality of said band’s newest material. You can double down on the new stuff in concert, aware that a good chunk of your audience might still be drawn to the tunes that made them fall in love in the first place. Or, you can go full-nostalgia mode and tour full classic albums or mostly ignore the recent material in live shows.

Or, if you are Kentucky greats My Morning Jacket, you find the perfect middle ground, where a concert distinctly feels like entering a greatest hits phase while still showcasing where the later songs fit in. This was the energy MMJ brought to Los Angeles on Wednesday, playing the iconic Hollywood Forever Cemetary in front of a sold-out crowd of sitting picnic-ers, standing superfans, and venue regulars mostly there for the vibes. Bandleader Jim James, who has lived off and on in LA for years now, clearly knew the score, shouting out the venue’s movie program early in the set, where he remembered seeing The Wizard Of Oz and then visiting its star pup, Toto, whose grave in on the property.

But in scanning the band’s recent setlists, other artists should note how the band walks this tightrope. The set changes dramatically each night, with much of their beloved material on the table. And generally, all eras of the band come to light. Sure, neither of the first two albums featured on this night, but shows on both sides of the Hollywood date found At Dawn and The Tennessee Fire still figuring in. And while Z and It Still Moves will always be the fan faves, the set also highlights just how well the singles from Evil Urges and Circuital have aged.

The past work is so strong — though it clearly isn’t a perfect fit for the streaming age, where the band’s singular indie-country-jam hybrid doesn’t fit neatly in background music playlists — that a spattering of tracks from the band’s recent, quite good two albums fit in neatly. Both dropped during the pandemic, The Waterfall II and My Morning Jacket find the band still operating with command and ease. In an interview with Uproxx for the latter, James noted that there was a chance that the band was done prior to its creation, and this tour behind it has that borrowed time sensibility. These are the performances of a band not just wanting to share their latest offerings, but also to celebrate their own existence and survival.

As such, MMJ’s biggest tunes soared: “One Big Holiday,” “Off The Record,” “Victory Dance,” “Evil Urges.” MMJ also honored their frontman’s solo endeavors by offering the surprising “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.).” Z‘s closer, “Dodante,” was a particular highlight, all tension and release that showed a band’s ability to pivot from nuance to bombast on a dime. And a song like “Complex,” off their latest, exemplified the Kentucky outfit’s ever-evolving sonic sensibilities, and how all roads lead back to their Southern rock roots.

My Morning Jacket’s recent years might have some wondering how much they have left in the tank, especially after James has noted that the end felt imminent at various stages of the last few years. But, you’d never know it at a My Morning Jacket concert. They’re known for their elite-level live shows and that’s still exactly what they deliver. And at these shows in 2022, the past and present hardly have borders. It’s as graceful as aging in music can be, and their rock peers would be served to follow suit.

House of the Dragon pulled off a streaming miracle on Sunday night while crashing servers at HBO Max, and one character held instant intrigue for fans. That would be the so-called “rogue prince” himself, Daemon Targaryen. He’s portrayed by Matt Smith, who already warned the world that he might have too many sex scenes. Certainly, his introduction into that realm was something else. Daemon had performance issues, it seems. Daemon’s very distracted by forever lurking in the shadow of his brother (although he’s one of Our Contenders) for the throne, so who could blame him?

Prince “HotD” (or lack thereof) moniker aside, people love to make comparisons, and after watching one episode, a lot of people are already ready to slap the chaos-causing character with a label. Because Daemon is such a presumptive butthole who’s maneuvering like crazy, and people already love him, Homelander of The Boys is already popping up in Twitter conversation.

Is this an accurate comparison? Give it time, everyone. Certainly, Daemon is morally grey, but Homelander is straight-up amoral. It’s too (extremely) soon to call this one, but there’s something to be said about the discussion that’s already ongoing, and of course, there are also fears (as you’ll see below) that this could turn into a situation where some people realize (in a few seasons) that they were rooting for someone terrible. Again, there’s no way to predict what shall happen, but it’s nice to already have a new batch of characters to obsess over, so soon after Better Call Saul ended. And yes, someone threw out a Gus Fring too…

HBO’s House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

Love or hate Harry Styles’s music, there’s simply no denying that he’s got pop culture in a chokehold. His latest Harry’s House single, “As It Was,” throttled the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks in a row until being dethroned on the most recent chart by Nicki Minaj and still landed at No. 2 only losing less than a percent of its streams last week. Meanwhile, Harry’s House itself was a massive hit overall, with a jaw-dropping pure sales total (330,000) and over a half-million equivalent units in its first week.

But even with all those accolades to his name, there are plenty of folks who believe that Rolling Stone UK overstepped its bounds in calling Styles “the new King of Pop” — a title that was originally reserved for the one-and-only late, great Michael Jackson. And let’s keep all the way funky; however impressive Harry Styles’ current level of success is, it still pales in comparison to MJ’s heights, which may never be achieved again, even with the advent of streaming (or maybe because of it). Thriller is 34× Platinum certified by the RIAA and is still the best-selling album ever.

This is why it makes sense that there were those quick to shut down Rolling Stone‘s proclamation, including MJ’s nephew Taj Jackson, who settled the debate succinctly on Twitter, writing, “The title has been retired. No disrespect to Harry Styles, he’s mega talented. Give him his own unique title.” Plenty of others agreed with him, censuring Rolling Stone UK for its audacity.

In early 2020, a mother of a young boy with dwarfism named Quaden Bayles was fed up with his school not doing anything to combat bullying, so she decided to film him tearfully explaining that he was being bullied by classmates and friends. This video quickly went viral, and suddenly celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Mark Hamill came to send love to Bayles, who then became an overnight sensation. Now, almost three years later, Bayles is about to make his big-screen debut thanks to George Miller.

Bayles will have a short cameo in Miller’s upcoming movie Three Thousand Years Of Longing, alongside Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. Miller reached out to the family after seeing his viral video, and then invited him to have a small role in the film. “It was good for us and it was good for him,” Miller told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Not only will Bayles be seen on screen in Three Thousand Years Of Longing, but he also secured a spot in the highly-anticipated Mad Max prequel. “He did such a good job that he’s got a small role in Furiosa,” Miller explained.

Furiosa will star Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular heroine, set years before the events of Mad Mad: Fury Road. The movie is slated for a 2024 release when Bayles will get his second on-screen role.

The moral of the story is that bullying is bad, but acting in a dangerous dystopian thriller is just fine and even encouraged! Good work by everyone here.

(Via EW)

It seems like yesterday that New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap appeared to be on top of the world, flying high on the success of singles like “Trap Queen,” “679,” and “My Way.” But that was actually seven years ago and today, Fetty Wap — real name Willie Junior Maxwell II — is facing up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances, according to the New York Post. Fetty and others had an agreement to move around 500 grams of cocaine; Fetty’s attorney made sure to tell reporters that he was not cooperating with police for a shorter sentence.

According to federal prosecutors, the group in question was picking up the cocaine in Suffolk County, then moving it to New Jersey to distribute it. Had the case proceeded to trial, prosecutors said they had both video evidence and witness testimonies that could prove their case. Meanwhile, Fetty’s lawyer said she is “very concerned about his housing” since he’s in a special housing unit in Brooklyn due to his celebrity and requested a transfer to another jail to await his sentencing hearing.

Fetty was arrested last October ahead of Rolling Loud New York at Citi Field and was released on a $500,000 bond, but was later re-arrested on a separate infraction at Newark airport. The FBI said that 16 kilos of cocaine, 2 kilos of heroin, and a variety of firearms were recovered during their investigation into the conspiracy, in which US Postal Service trucks with secret compartments were used to move drugs from the West Coast to New York and New Jersey.

If ever there were two politicians who most definitely deserved each other, it might be Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz. So it should hardly be a surprise that Trump, who has long championed Gaetz and his political aspirations — no matter how poorly the 40-year old Florida congressman has behaved — has officially endorsed the incumbent to retain his political position.

As Forbes reports, Trump made his support of Gaetz officially known on Saturday on the former president’s social media platform, Truth Social. As Brian Bushard wrote:

Trump, who has supported Gaetz in the past, praised the Republican incumbent ahead of Tuesday’s primary as a “champion of our MAGA agenda” who works “tirelessly” to “drain the swamp,” defend the Second Amendment, stand up to the “woke mob,” and “fight the never-ending witch hunts from the radical left.”

This imagined war with the “woke mob” and “radical left” is just one of the many things Trump and Gaetz have in common. Being accused of sexual predation is yet another.

Trump, who just made history by becoming the first president (former or sitting) to have his private home raided by the FBI, has a decades-long history of being accused of sexual misconduct, which range from harassment to rape. In 1989, Trump’s ex-wife Ivana — who he may or may not have buried at his New Jersey golf course, but most definitely attempted to fundraise while announcing her passing — accused The Donald of rape, then later recanted her statement. Gaetz, meanwhile, is currently embroiled in a scandal involving the sex trafficking of a 17-year old.

Mark Lombardo, another Republican who is facing off against Gaetz in tomorrow’s Florida primaries, has made the charges lodged against his opponent a key part of his campaign strategy. As Forbes reports, in a recent ad, Lombardo labeled Gaetz a “liar who doesn’t respect women,” “generates falsehoods” and “promotes conspiracy theories.” He also suggested that it was Gaetz who ratted Trump out to the FBI.

Gaetz’s response? To accuse Lombardo of having financial ties to liberals — which is apparently as unforgivable a sin in MAGA World.

(Via Forbes)

Vladimir Putin faced another devastating setback to his plan to invade and conquer Ukraine over the weekend when the daughter of his key war advisors was killed by a car bomb.

Darya Dugina was the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a leader of Russia’s far-right who was commonly known as “Putin’s Brain.” Dugin holds such a strong influence over Putin’s fascist views that many Russians blame him for the president’s decision to invade their democratic neighbor. Dugina was a pro-Kremlin TV pundit who was outspoken in her support of the Ukraine invasion but she likely wasn’t the target of the car bombing. Both Dugin and his daughter attend a pro-traditionalist Russia festival where authorities believed the bomb was planted on Dugina’s car. Dugin was supposed to ride with his daughter but switched vehicles at the last minute. As the Daily Beast explains, he was following her car for 10 minutes before the bomb exploded and most of the videos and photos circulating social media at the moment show Dugin standing shocked at the scene while his daughter’s car catches fire.

Naturally, plenty of pro-Kremlin supporters are trying to frame this as an assassination attempt by Ukraine but new reports coming from Russia suggest the culprit of the attack might reside closer to home. In fact, in more bad news for Putin, there’s speculation that the bombing was the work of his own security agents who are sick of the despot’s obsession with Ukraine and see him as weak after reports that his health is failing.

“The blowing up of the car of the famous Russian fascist and ideologist of the Putin regime, Alexander Dugin, was organized, it seems, by the Russian security services,” historian Yuri Felshtinsky told The Daily Beast. “The Ukrainian special services, involved in a deadly battle with the aggressor on the territory of Ukraine, are unlikely to be able to send their officers to Moscow to organize terrorist attacks there.”

Apparently, plenty within Russia despise Dugin, calling him “Putin’s Rasputin” and blaming him for the six-month-long standoff with Ukraine — one that’s cost the country thousands of lives including those of some of its top military generals. There’s precedent for this too, according to Felshtinsky, who referenced the apartment building bombings of the late 90s that lead to Russia’s war with Chechnya and Putin’s rise to power.

Whether Putin ordered the hit or not, those within his inner circle are now worried they might be next, especially considering threats issued by Russian Resistance movements like National Republican Army. In other words, things are looking bleak for Putin and his cronies the longer this war with Ukraine goes on.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Fox Nation is getting into the (lady) movie business. After realizing that movies are the “unsung heroes” of streaming services, the right-wing platform is rolling out four films geared towards female Fox News fans. Think Lifetime movies, but everyone’s armed to the teeth, probably. According to a Fox Nation spokesperson, the filmmaking idea was sparked after the success of Duck Family Treasure, which for the record, isn’t a movie, but man, if it didn’t boost streaming views amongst women, somehow.

The first project to capitalize on this new strategy is an adaptation of the Nancy Neigle novel, The Shell Collector, which will apparently try to connect with the same audiences who watched the cast of Duck Dynasty look for buried treasure in real life. (No lie, that’s the premise of the show.) Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“I think first and foremost, we saw the success of film, and it fits into the whole idea of expanding into a lifestyle and entertainment service,” Klarman says, adding that by having direct control over the development process Fox can pick individual projects in genres that best fit with their strategy. And that strategy, at least with films, is about reaching female viewers.

“These films are definitely targeting the female Fox News fan, and we know that this is the kind of title [The Shell Collector] that will absolutely attract her, and creating unique originals that she can’t get anywhere else is certainly part of the strategy to drive growth,” Klarman says.

Will the same people who watched the Duck Dynasty family hunt for treasure actually watch a feature-length movie based on a book? Who knows? But hey, if that’s what Fox Nation says female Fox News viewers want, it’s their money.

The Shell Collector premieres September 1 on Fox Nation.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Now that Megan Thee Stallion has released her second album, Traumazine, she argues she should be done with her record deal, according to new legal filings in her lawsuit against 1501 Certified Entertainment reported by Rolling Stone. Not only that, but she’s now also demanding $1 million in damages from the label after previously only asking for non-monetary relief.

Megan initially sued the label in February, asking the court to grant her a release from her contract with 1501, arguing that her 2021 release Something For Thee Hotties should count as her fourth obligated album. The label later countersued on the grounds that the compilation project was not made up of original recordings and couldn’t be considered an album under the terms of the contract. For what it’s worth, she’s now released seven projects under 1501 including her breakout EP Tina Snow and her official debut album Good News.

Meg’s amended suit maintains that 1501 has not paid her share of royalties from her music. Furthermore, she’s also accusing the label of leaking Traumazine, forcing her to release the album early. She says she’s hired forensic investigators to get to the bottom of the leak. Meanwhile, 1501 founder Carl Crawford has asserted his own view that Megan has yet to share percentages of profits from touring and merchandise, which he says their contract entitles him to.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For MyPillow Man Mike Lindell, a “moment” lasts approximately 48 hours. Over the weekend, the unhinged pillow magnate hosted the Moment of Truth Summit, which he promoted as an “historical” two-day event where no conspiracy theory was too bonkers to share (no, Lindell didn’t say that last part). Among the many planned events, was something called “The Trial of the Machines,” where Lindell presumably argued with a bunch of inanimate objects that could not respond to his inanity.

While it was Lindell who did most of the talking, he also welcomed plenty of MAGA ride-or-dies to the stage, including Donald Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who claimed it was God who wanted to see her overturn a totally fair election in Trump’s favor and upend democracy as we know it; Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who doesn’t serve on any committees, so really had nothing better to do; and Steve Bannon, who hosted two special episodes of his podcast, The War Room, from the event.

While Bannon was consistently positive about the event and what it would reveal (spoiler: it didn’t reveal anything), even his guests couldn’t help but notice that they were surrounded by a truly, well, unique group of people. At one point, Liz Harrington — Trump’s official spokesperson — sat down with Bannon and commented on the crowd that had gathered.

“You can tell they’re innervated by what they’re finding and that they know they’re having an impact,” Bannon said of the attendees, while Harrington nodded in agreement. Then, in what was presumably meant to be a compliment, marveled at how “everyone’s from all these different walks of life, yet — I was telling someone last night, it’s almost like The Island of Misfit Toys.” (To save face, she noted that she included herself in that descriptor.)

As for the rest of the Summit, it seemed to be as action-packed as Lindell had promised: