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January 8 would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday, so Amazon Music is celebrating all month long with their [RE]DISCOVER campaign. Today, that celebration manifested itself with a cover of “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” a highlight from Bowie’s 2016 album Blackstar, by Spoon.

Britt Daniel says of the recording, “‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ is a tune Alex and I have been playing since we learned it for an acoustic and piano show in Mexico City in 2016. It’s just a fantastic song, and as the last song on Bowie’s final album, it doesn’t disappoint. We recorded this version live in December 2021.”

In 2019, Daniel told Stereogum of covering the Bowie track, “I just found it to be a very, very moving song. I can’t remember why that ended up being the one Alex [Fischel] and I did. I guess I must’ve really just loved it.” In 2017, he also told Spin, “I ended up listening to even more Bowie than usual last year. [Tarbox Road Studios is] out in the middle of the woods, nothing happens. The control room’s nice, but the living quarters — if you wanna listen to music, there’s only one way: It’s on this jambox, and you have to play a CD. So we burned maybe six, seven CDs, Bowie’s Lodger was one of them, and they got played constantly.”

Listen to Spoon’s “I Can’t Give Everything Away” cover above.

Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Brian Kilmeade were well aware of the severity of what happened a year ago at the Capitol Building in Washington DC, but you wouldn’t know if you were watching Fox News that day. In private, they were texting Trump’s former-chief of staff Mark Meadows to urge the then-president to speak out against what was happening (“This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy,” Ingraham wrote). But in public, “on various programs, they played down the violence and, in some cases, suggested that antifa may have been to blame,” according to PolitiFact.

A review of their on-air and social media comments show that on Jan. 6, Ingraham, Hannity, and Kilmeade broadly condemned the attack while at the same time questioning whether those who stormed the Capitol were Trump supporters. Ingraham and Hannity also minimized the event, likened it to protests from the summer of 2020, and entertained the conspiracy theory that antifa instigated it.

This dangerous discrepancy was highlighted in a new video from The Daily Show that pairs footage of the failed coup on January 6th with Fox News hosts discussing Black Lives Matters protests. “It’s not a protest. These aren’t children, these are adults, and they’re destroying our children,” Tucker Carlson said… the same Tucker Carlson who also asserted that January 6th “was definitely not a violent terrorist attack.”

You can watch the video above.

In recent months, Britney Spears hasn’t hesitated to take shots at her family following the whole conservatorship saga. Yesterday, she was at it again in a new Instagram post, in which she revealed that she just had her “first glass of red wine last weekend.”

Spears has been sharing videos of herself dancing to Madonna songs lately (like this one and this one), and she addressed those in a new post, writing, “I’m sure it looks weird me dancing to @madonna so much [shrugging emojis]… I see it … it’s like I’m not trying as much like I’m INDULGING [crying laughing emoji] ….. well thats exactly what her music does to me !!! I mean I had my first glass of red wine last weekend !!! I’ve waited 13 years … that’s long enough !!!”

She then went after her family, saying, “The sarcasm of me me me … my family taught me well by their actions … to be selfish and love thyself … play on [red rose emojis]!!! In a world where we all have the right to speak … drive … buy alcohol … party … have cash … I apologize for INDULGING in front of the masses … and dancing a touch slower !!! I mean what was I thinking [crying laughing emoji]?? Nobody’s perfect !!!”

This comes after she recent unfollowed her sister Jamie Lynn on Instagram.

Last October, Sasami announced her new album, Squeeze, promising an exploration of sounds from metal to folk pop and beyond. We got exactly that on the indie-pop, guitar-driven “The Greatest” and the explosive nu-metal assault of “Skin A Rat,” with co-production from Ty Segall on both, and drums from Megadeth’s Dirk Verbeuren on the latter. Now Sasami has introduced a new wrinkle on her latest track, “Say It.”

The industrial vibes are strong on this track that feels inspired by Nine Inch Nails or even KMFDM. It has Kyle Thomas of King Tuff (who engineered Squeeze) on guitar and bass, and co-production from Moaning’s Pascal Stevenson. The track opens with a basement club bang, before pulling back to let Sasami’s vocals be front and center as the flashing drum beat remains.

“‘Say It’ is a rage anthem dance track about spinning out because someone isn’t communicating with you,” Sasami said in a statement. “I feel like when I hear the song I see a hot femme with a mystical flamethrower engulfed in emotional blue flames throwing elbows alone in an industrial dance club in outer space.”

Gotta love that imagery. Listen to “Say It” above and check out Sasami’s headlining and Mitski support tour dates here.

Squeeze is out on 2/25 via Domino. Pre-order it here.

Kevin Porter Jr. saw what started as a rather dreadful week turn around in a big way on Wednesday night when he hit a sidestepping, game-winning three at the buzzer to give the Rockets a much-needed win over the Wizards on the road.

The shot stopped an 8-game losing streak for Houston, but also saw Porter Jr. bounce back from his one-game suspension for an argument he had with an assistant coach during a loss on Saturday in which he reportedly threw something and then left the arena entirely at halftime. It was a redemptive moment and the kind of response Stephen Silas and the Houston coaching staff were certainly hoping for when they sent the message to Porter Jr. and Christian Wood with their suspension for poor behavior — Wood had 22 points in the win.

However, on the home feed of the game, the Wizards broadcast marred the moment with some of the worst, most unnecessary commentary you’ll ever hear in such a moment during the replay, saying, “Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time.”

Now, the only possible, somewhat acceptable explanation is that they thought Porter’s father was the former Washington Bullet, Kevin Porter, who played in the 70s and early 80s. That is not the case. Porter Jr.’s actual father was a basketball player from Seattle, but his story makes the reference truly horrific.

Porter Jr. lost his father when he was four after he was shot in a Seattle bar in 2004. Eleven years prior, his father was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter, initially pursued as first-degree murder after a witness claimed he shot the girl purposefully, but later dropped to manslaughter after the witness recanted, and Porter Sr. saying he was handing the girl his semiautomatic weapon and it accidentally discharged, killing her.

If it was purposeful to reference that, it is an abjectly horrible thing to bring up so casually and callously in any situation, but particularly during a basketball game in one of the biggest moments of Porter Jr.’s young career. If an accident and a case of mistaken identity, it is the worst coincidence ever and, in any case, a sincere apology is in order.

The Blazers and Heat met on Wednesday night in Portland with both teams down two stars, as Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo were all out of action. After Kyle Lowry got tossed on an incredibly soft second technical foul in the second quarter, there wasn’t a ton of star power on the court, but the two teams did battle til the end of a game that became very chippy late.

With a minute to go and the Heat up 10, Jusuf Nurkic knocked Tyler Herro down with a legal but hard screen and then admired his work for a second, standing over Herro, before eventually rolling to the rim. As he rolled, Herro popped up and ran after Nurkic, shoving him in the back and setting off a brief kerfuffle, with Nurkic pawing at Herro’s face before players and referees stepped in to separate everyone getting a bit chesty.

It’s hard to know if it was the screen itself that angered Herro or Nurkic standing over him and maybe saying something to him about it, but it is a touch ironic that a member of the Heat would be shoving someone from behind given how upset they got as a team about Nikola Jokic leveling Markieff Morris from behind earlier this season (to be clear, it wasn’t a good move from either player). In Herro’s case, he happened to be shoving a much larger man, meaning all he did was poke the bear and anger Nurkic rather than sending him to the court.

Both players were tossed, rightfully, for their actions — Nurkic grabbing/slapping at Herro’s face and Herro for the shove in the back. The game got tight from there, but Miami ultimately hung on for the win despite all of the absences and ejections.

The good people over at Bourbon Pursuit podcast just dropped a new whiskey (their third). This time, it’s a Blended Straight Rye Whiskey that’s part Kentucky and Maryland rye whiskey. Both of those places are great for rye whiskey production, so I’m intrigued.

Since this is a rye whiskey being made by bourbon experts and part of the whiskey comes from Kentucky rye, I’m going to assume from the jump that this is going to be a bourbon-y expression. There’s not a single thing wrong with that. Rye is as varied as any style of whiskey, and I tend to love the fruitier ones from Kentucky over the spice bombs from Indiana.

Okay, let’s get into what’s in the bottle and review our first whiskey of 2022!

Pursuit United Blended Straight Rye Whiskeys

ABV: 54%

Average Price: Sold Out Online (Available at select stores in KY)

The Whiskey:

This release is a blend of whiskeys from Kentucky and Maryland (which is the source of America’s rye whiskey heritage). The Kentucky rye is from Bardstown Bourbon Company (a 95 percent rye), which is contract distilling and aging whiskey for Pursuit United. The other rye is from Maryland’s famed and beloved Sagamore Spirits (a 52 percent rye), which makes some of the best ryes in the country. Kenny Coleman and Ryan Cecil took barrels from each warehouse and masterfully married them to create this expression with a touch of water to bring the proof down a notch.

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a big Kentucky rye vibe of cherry syrup spiked with loads of cinnamon and nutmeg next to an almost buttery note that’s part brown sugar streusel and part caramel candy beside a slight hint of leather. There’s also a touch of vanilla extract lurking in the background of the nose. The palate is so soft and builds from that cherry spiced syrup towards a hint of wet wicker to an apple tree that ends on the stems and core of an overripe Granny Smith. The finish takes its time and has a light touch of dark spice that’s more on the sweeter side than “hot,” while the apple gets woodier and hints at the brown sugar and vanilla very late.

The Bottle:

The rounded bottle is an eye-catching shape. It’s sort of a cross between a stubby and port bottle. The label is underplayed and, thankfully, not cluttered with too much information [though it does look like an airline logo — ed]. Still, this feels more like a rail bottle than a bar cart centerpiece bottle at the end of the day.

Bottom Line:

This really feels like a bourbon lover’s rye whiskey. There’s a nice, svelte nature to the sip that makes it super easy to sip neat. While there were no big surprises, I can’t wait to try this in an old-fashioned or Manhattan.

Ranking:

89/100 — This is a really nice rye whiskey. Still, it felt like a bourbon drinker’s rye more than a big and bold rye that might expand on or build on someone’s ideas of the style. That being said, this is going to make some killer cocktails later.

Kyrie Irving played in his first game of the season on Wednesday, scoring 22 points in a 129-121 win for the Nets in Indiana. We won’t see Irving back on the court until January 10 because Brooklyn’s next two games are at home and Irving still cannot play in home games as he continues to refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine and does not meet New York City’s mandate.

After the game, Irving, who recently said he knew the potential consequences of his actions but at the same time wasn’t prepared for them, was asked if he’s changed his stance and may get the vaccine soon to be able to play in all games. As was the case when he spoke at length about his decision not to get the vaccine in the first place, Irving said an awful lot of words — including some weird sports cliches that don’t make a lot of sense in this situation — to effectively just say “no.”

I honestly do not know what “I’m just taking it one day at a time” means regarding a vaccine, but that’s what Kyrie is going to be doing. He talks about hoping for a “collective agreement” with the league, but the NBA isn’t the issue here, as it’s a city mandate that’s keeping him out rather than an NBA rule. As for the “However it looks later in the season, we’ll address it then” part, that is almost certainly Irving knowing that while it’s one thing for him to play in only road games during the regular season, that’s not a very tenable situation come playoff time — particularly for a Nets team that will likely have homecourt advantage for two rounds, if not through the NBA Finals should they make it there.

In total, nothing has changed with Kyrie.

The new year is already off to a bizarre start (though it could have been even weirder). So here’s another news story that’s perhaps too random even to be considered Mad Libs-y: As per The New York Times, the FBI arrested a young man who had allegedly been scamming hundreds of people in the publishing industry out of unpublished manuscripts by the likes of Ethan Hawke and Margaret Atwood. Why? The feds will have to figure that one out, too.

That man is Filippo Bernardini, a 29-year-old who works as a rights coordinator for Simon & Schuster UK, who over the span of five years “impersonated, defrauded, and attempted to defraud, hundreds of individuals” out of hundreds of manuscripts. He’s been charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Bernardini certainly went above and beyond:

According to the indictment, to get his hands on the manuscripts, Mr. Bernardini would send out emails impersonating real people working in the publishing industry — a specific editor, for example — by using fake email addresses. He would employ slightly tweaked domain names like penguinrandornhouse.com instead of penguinrandomhouse.com, — putting an “rn” in place of an “m.” The indictment said he had registered more than 160 fraudulent internet domains that impersonated publishing professionals and companies.

Mr. Bernardini also targeted a New York City-based literary scouting company. He set up impostor login pages that prompted his victims to enter their usernames and passwords, which gave him broad access to the scouting company’s database.

Bernardini’s phishing emails spanned the globe, hitting targets in the United States, Sweden, and Taiwan. The case has haunted the publishing industry for years, and it was so wide-spread, NYT pointed out, that some assumed it couldn’t possibly have been the work of one person. Not only is no motive yet known, but it’s not clear what Bernardini did with his pilfered manuscripts. None showed up on the black market or the dark web, and ransom demands were never issued. Perhaps the guy just really wanted some free books.

(Via NYT)

The Miami Heat were already down two stars when they arrived in Portland on Wednesday, with Bam Adebayo still out after thumb surgery and Jimmy Butler sidelined after hurting his ankle on Monday against the Warriors, and after a bizarre sequence in the second quarter, will have to finish the game without a third.

Kyle Lowry picked up an early technical foul against the Blazers, arguing a call with the officials, and quickly added one of the weakest second T’s you’ll ever see after tossing the ball back to the official after a foul call, who seemed startled by it and immediately ejected Lowry from the game.

There is the slightest hint of frustration from Lowry in the toss, but he doesn’t launch the ball at the referee. It just happens to catch the ref off guard and, somehow, that ends in Lowry getting tossed from the game. There are times where we don’t know things that are said and what magic words earn players technical fouls in what otherwise looks relatively tame, but this one is just inexcusable. Lowry isn’t trying to hit the ref or fire the ball at him, but rather seems a little upset about the situation as a whole with a foul being called and lobs the ball underhand back to the ref with the slightest bit of pace.

This might be a technical that, upon review tomorrow, gets rescinded to save Lowry the fine and take it off his record for the season, but that won’t get him back on the floor for the second half and Miami’s task in holding onto their 11-point lead will be quite difficult.