Facing Lockup, Rapper Prodigy Turns Video Blogger

Prodigy, one half of the pioneering Queens duo Mobb Deep, doesn't have much time left before the January 9 onset of the three and a half year sentence he'll serve following a 2006 gun charge. Like anyone might, he's not wasting any time, charging ahead on a new album called H.N.I.C. 2-- tentatively scheduled for a spring release-- and hanging around with those closest to him. And, through the magic of modern technology, we too can kick it with the Mac during his final days of freedom for a while.

Over the last few weeks, P's been posting a bunch of video over at kyte.tv and his own HNIC2.com. There's quite a bit of film of Prodigy in the studio working on H.N.I.C. 2, and a healthy dose of Prodigy clowning into the camera. There's also a few videos of Prodigy shedding some light on his current situation via monologue, seeming dismayed but resigned by his impending incarceration. And, then, there's the video of Prodigy peeing, and Prodigy and his wife in various states of undress. Tender moments for all the world to see! Also, NSFW.

Real talk, though: it's a fairly illuminating portrait of one of the realest rappers to ever do it keeping it unerringly real, and it should be interesting to see how the next few days play out. And, if you're feeling particularly forward about your own voyeurism, you can submit comments and video responses to P's dispatches.

Radiohead Manager Explains Amplive Remix Snafu

It was only yesterday when we left you with the sad tale of Oakland producer/DJ Amplive and his awfully sticky run in with some red tape.

Amplive, as you may recall, recently whipped up a little treat entitled Rainydayz Remixes using Radiohead's In Rainbows as the jump off. He planned to give the thing away to any interested parties willing to prove they'd ever done something (for instance, screaming real loud) to merit an e-mail from Radiohead's W.A.S.T.E. online store. Things were both peachy and keen until December 18, when Amplive was contacted by Radiohead publishers Warner/Chappell informing him he'd better cease and desist, or else. He did, and that's where we left off.

Today, Radiohead's manager Bryce Edge explained to Gigwise (via ateaseweb) just exactly what's up with the missive fired in Amplive's direction. After declaring that he wasn't aware whether or not "the band have even heard [Rainydayz Remixes]," Edge claimed the Radiohead machinery took some umbrage with the fact that Amplive posted an image of Thom Yorke on his website when promoting Rainydayz Remixes, which they claim implies the man's participation in the project.

He went on to add, "When we heard that you had to send a confirmation email from W.A.S.T.E to get the album, we thought, 'That's a bit naughty!'" Never mind that the point of that "naughty" gesture was, ostensibly, only to get this material into the ears of bona fide Radiohead fans. Or that Amplive was giving away something for free to a bunch of people who probably didn't pay a cent for it and almost certainly already owned it in its original form.

Edge also noted that "Amplive had never even come to the band telling them about his idea, which would have been nice. I know he had good intentions, but I think he's misled people." Leaving well enough alone the feasibility of a relatively obscure Oakland DJ getting a word in with one of the biggest bands in the world about his pet project, is this argument really about a friggin' JPEG?

Edge wraps his comments by proposing that "what needs to happen is that [Amplive] needs to make a statement on his website telling people that the album has nothing to do with Radiohead and he should advise [the band] to listen to the album there." Amplive has already complied with the first part of the suggestion (see: his MySpace), but the second, one reckons, is contingent on further directives on the matter from Radiohead or the hungry phalanx of lawyers that follows them around.

Beyonce PWNS Kanye in Connect Four
Connect Four : Kanye West :: Chess : Wu-Tang Clan?

Kanye West returned to the blogosphere January 2 with his first post since the death of his mother, Dr. Donda West, in November. It's a fun post full of details about pal-ing around with his famous friends, the specs of Jay-Z's new 40/40 club in Vegas, and epic sessions of... Connect Four... against Beyoncé!

Kanye is apparently an avid Connect Four player, and he chronicles his road to grand champion Beyoncé in the post, which we've reprinted below in its unedited entirety:

"THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT

When I was in Europe I would play this game for hours and hours... it helped me zone out. Everybody would get envolved... Derrick Dudley (Common's manager) and Consequence were the best other than me... I beat Lexi... Don C beat Jay... Tony Williams beat Common... but every now and then people would speak of this legendary connect 4 champion........... BEYONCE!!! I had 2 play her!...so last night at Jay's new 40/40 club in Las Vegas (which is sidebar, crazy big w/ 24krt gold flooring, Black Jack tables, $500 slot machines,the biggest projection screen in the universe and the best turkey burgers I've ever had in my life) she beat me 9 times in a row! (and I didn't even spaz lol) here's a photo of the only game I won!"

Kanye's winning photo is the one above, and below the jump are two more pics from the battle, with both superstars deep in strategic thought. Also after the jump are Kanye's remaining live dates, which all take place at the previously reported Good Vibrations Festival.

In other Kanye news, that book of his should ship soon, and the reissue of Thriller that comes with his remix of "Billie Jean" hits stores February 11. [MORE...]

Minor Threat Turns Condiment, But Ian Doesn't Mind
Ad: "We may never fully understand Minor Threat's ability to take sandwiches, grilled meats, corn chips or eggs to the next level without annihilating your esophagus in the process."

Next time you get the urge to reach for the Tabasco, consider reaching for the Minor Threat instead. Yep, the seminal, Ian MacKaye-fronted straight edge hardcore legends-- who, on stage and record alike, were anything but mild-- have been immortalized as a hot sauce that is, well, something less than hot.

"Made from a rare, mild breed of habanero [pepper] grown specifically for us, Minor Threat...mysteriously privileges the pepper's fruitiness over its notoriously overwhelming heat," reads the product description from Brooklyn-based sauciers (and picklers) Wheelhouse Pickles.

While "fruitiness" and Minor Threat should probably never be uttered in the same sentence, the sauce was indeed inspired by the DC giants, according to a recent Gothamist post (via The Daily Swarm). Wheelhouse chief pickler Jon Orren picked the name because of his affinity for the band, and also because it made sense (a mild pepper is, after all, less threatening than, say, a medium or hot one).

And MacKaye is into it, having asked only that an original label design parodying the famous "Bottled Violence" image be nixed. "I don't have an occasion to eat a lot of hot sauce," he's quoted in the Gothamist story as saying, "but I also thought the Minor Threat stuff was nice."

And really, who can grumble when the odd branding choice leads to descriptive gems like this one? "We may never fully understand Minor Threat's ability to take sandwiches, grilled meats, corn chips or eggs to the next level without annihilating your esophagus in the process."

Please, someone name a food product after Merzbow next.

Final Fantasy Song Jacked for Ad Leads to Anger Lawsuit Totally Sweet Music Festival
Pallett-curated traveling shindig boasts Deerhoof, Dirty Projectors, Frog Eyes, Six Organs

Once upon a time, a Vienna-based public works company called Wiener Stadtwerke wanted to use a Final Fantasy song ("This Is the Dream of Win & Regine" from 2005's Has a Good Home) in a commercial. The song's creator, Owen Pallett, politely declined, on the grounds that Wiener Stadtwerke was not in fact publicly owned.

Recalling what they learned about tenacity in business school (and ignoring what they learned about scruples), Wiener Stadtwerke went ahead and used the song anyway, soliciting an unauthorized cover version with a few swapped out lyrics and a new title, and crediting the whole thing to some mysterious entity called N.A.S.C.O. The commercial features ordinary citizens being attacked by white wispy graphics over Pallett's familiar string sorcery; you may view it right here:


Pallett caught wind of the devious move and was, naturally, less than pleased. But here's where things go all Disney ending. Rather than sue the asses off the shady company, Pallett was prepared to let the whole thing slide-- until Wiener Stadtwerke approached him, hat in hand, with an even better offer. The company agreed to help finance a festival co-curated by Pallett and his European booking agent.

Wait a minute, a festival?? You bet. "So far I think we've got all the 'best bands in the world', plus my lousy excuse for a band," Pallett joked in an email to Pitchfork, and indeed the folks already lined up for this thing make for a fine bunch. Dirty Projectors, Frog Eyes, and Six Organs of Admittance will play all three dates of the fest (in London, Vienna, and Berlin), while Deerhoof will headline the latter two. A bill-topper for the London gig has not yet been named.

All three events-- collectively dubbed the Maximum Black Festival-- go down as February turns to March next year. Many thanks to reader Christian Prügger for the tip.

Apart from finding himself on the good side of karma, Final Fantasy hasn't done too terribly much since unleashing a Zach Condon-boosted Tomlab 7" last month and, um, doodling. Most signs, however, point to a He Poos Clouds follow-up sometime in the '08. [MORE...]

Too $hort(!) Contributes to In Rainbows Remix Record

Oakland DJ and producer Amplive (of Zion I) is a big Radiohead fan, which is odd considering the band hasn't released anything since 2003's Hail to the Thief. Psych! They totally put out this record called In Rainbows that basically invented God, made time travel possible, and brought the Orange Julius back to previously unimaginable heights of popularity.

Anyway, Amplive was such a fan of In Rainbows that, unlike most of us, he actually did something about it. He created an eight-track (but not like that) remix record called Rainydayz Remixes, featuring collaborations with Too $hort, his Zion I partner Zion, and others. Yep: Radiohead and Too $hort, together at last.

On January 10, Amplive will release the online-only album for free as a .zip file with 320 kbps mp3s and high-resolution artwork, but to get your digital hands on it, there's a bit of a catch. You need to forward any email from Radiohead's W.A.S.T.E. online store (like but not at all limited to the ones confirming the purchase of In Rainbows) to amplive@onesevensevensix.com. It's fairly simple, but a little tricky, especially considering that the In Rainbows download option ends December 10. Better hop on the free train while you still can, folks!

Devin the Dude + France + Architecture in Helsinki = !?
So, a rapper and some indie rockers walk into a French club...

So, where to begin with this one? Let's start with Devin the Dude. Know the guy? He likes his weed, in case you hadn't heard, and he put out one of 2007's best rap LPs, Waitin' to Inhale. Seems Devin has also been spending some time in France (perhaps en route to Amsterdam?), or at least jamming to some French club fare. That might explain why he's hooked up with Paris-based party starter and TTC member Teki Latex to record a track "presented by" NYC trio 33Hz.

While they were at it, 33Hz also enlisted a regular rogue's gallery of remixers, including Architecture in Helsinki, Curtis Vodka, Gentlemen Drivers, Max Pask, and In Flagranti to rework the track. So, hip-hop act? Check. Dance/electronic act? Check. Indie rock act? With Architecture, checkeroony. As far as genres we at Pitchfork fill our pages with go, this is like hitting for the cycle.

And the track? It's called "Paris, Texas". Yep, like the city and the movie and the pop punk band. It's out now in CD, 12", and 7" formats thanks to Brooklyn's Dither Down imprint. Let the mash-ups begin.

Shia LaBeouf Working on Cage Biopic
Plus: Cage album update

As the star of '07 summer blockbuster Transformers, Shia LaBeouf has quite a few options when it comes to future projects. Already, he snagged a role in fourth Indiana Jones flick Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull alongside Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett, so what could be next? A movie with Martin Scorsese, George Clooney, or Hilary Swank? Maybe a stint on Broadway? Alas, no. Instead, it seems LaBeouf will travel down the tricky, so often indulgent road of the "pet project." And his pet project is... a Cage biopic.

Yep, you read right. LaBeouf is looking to play Def Jux rapper Cage, aka Chris Palko, in a forthcoming film about the MC's life, according to an article in the December issue of SPIN. "I have been listening to Cage since I got into hip-hop when I was 12," LaBeouf said. "I grew up on the West Coast listening to a lot of 2Pac and Eazy-E, so when I found out that Cage was white, it was incredible. I'd never heard anything like that."

After having gained a measure of fame due to his roles in tween hits Holes and Disney Channel show "Even Stevens", LaBeouf contacted Cage about making a documentary about the rapper, and Cage allowed him to film his tour in 2006. (Whoa... could Shia LaBeouf have been at the Pitchfork Music Festival last year?) According to SPIN, at some point along the way, the prospect of drawing from Cage's history of drug abuse and psychiatric problems for a biopic became more enticing than a straight documentary. And thus, the idea was born.

As Tom Breihan wrote in the Pitchfork review of Cage's 2005 album Hell's Winter, "Cage has the kind of life story most aspiring new-schoolers just lie and make up. He was abused by his dishonorably-discharged junky father and his stepfather, kicked out of high school, overmedicated in a mental hospital, became a white-rap wunderkind in the early 90s, almost put out an album on Columbia, kicked around the major label system, got hooked on drugs, had a kid, got dissed on the first Eminem album, and found himself a home in underground rap." Sounds like a promising story arc to us.

Talking to SPIN, LaBeouf made it clear that this will be a chance for him to subvert Hollywood's expectations of him as a squeaky clean boy next door, saying, "It's kind of like how no matter what film De Niro was making, he was always ready to pull Raging Bull out of his back pocket. Cage is my Jake LaMotta." It seems the movie will also allow LaBeouf to explore themes of delusion and overstatement.

Despite all the talk, the movie is still very much in its beginning stages. LaBeouf is producing it (probably under the umbrella of his own Grassy Slope production company), according to a recent Cage interview with LAist.com, but the two are still looking for a writer and a director.

As for the specific content of the movie, Cage claims in the LAist.com interview that "it [covers] from birth to about '98 or so, after I dropped 'Agent Orange'." He also didn't rule out the possibility of making a cameo.

Today, Cage posted the following message on his MySpace page, referring to the SPIN article:

"By the way it's not.... Plus I be disturbed it's Plus happy disturbed in that Agent Orange quote no matter how many websites tell you different.That's right people I was an angry misogynistic angel dust smoking suicidal high school drop out former mental patient lashing out in music and stumbled into everything including the movie being made about it.
We are in development we can't get a writer until the strike is over and that is where we are.
I hope this answers some of your questions."

Cage is currently working on the follow-up to Hell's Winter, which he first talked to us about over a year ago. It's still titled Depart From Me, and it's due out summer 2008 on Def Jux. Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw/Head Automatica is serving as executive producer, Sean Martin of Hatebreed contributes production, and Phil Caivano of Monster Magnet is recording the album. According to Cage's publicist, "it's a very progressive record that is mostly sample-free and guitar-heavy, with beats ranging from 88 to 200 BPMs-- not a typical rap record by any means."

Finally, as photographic proof of Cage and LaBeouf's BFF-ness, below is a photo of the former on the set of Transformers. Awww.

Lavender Diamond Join Traveling John Waters Xmas
Becky Stark lands role in Tom Hanks-produced film

Lavender Diamond photo by Akmal Naim

It's just one of those things that must be seen to be believed: L.A.'s gossamer folk act Lavender Diamond will join professional filmmaker/amateur goofball genius John Waters on a series of traveling Christmas variety shows he'll put on this holiday season. We're not so sure what these gigs will entail-- nor are we sure we'd want to ruin the surprise even if we did-- but if they're anything like that Christmas compilation John put out a couple years back, expect kitsch enough to last well into Easter.

And that's hardly the only forthcoming mingling of Diamond and celluloid. Lavender leading lady Becky Stark will, according to a report in recent Condé Nast Publications supplement "Movies Rock" (via The Playlist), appear in the Tom Hanks-produced, Bill Murray-starring film City of Ember. Stark will portray-- get this-- a member of "a singing troupe that brings hope to a town that's literally underground." Typecasting, anyone? The flick is being directed by one Gil Kenan, the man who brought you, um, Monster House. Look for it in late 2008. [MORE...]

James Murphy, Nelly Furtado on Fucked Up Holiday 7"
Plus: Matt Sweeney, Jay Reatard, members of Black Lips, Faint, Chromeo, Rites of Spring, AFI

Photo by Jason Bergman

Generally, where gift giving is concerned, you want to reach as deep into your heart as you do your wallet and come up with something nice and thoughtful. But sometimes, when you know the person on the receiving end will be into it, you wanna give something a little fucked up.

Well, the capital-F Canuck punks of Fucked Up have the perfect idea for that special someone on your list: a star-studded, limited edition, hand-wrapped, self-released, multi-denominational holiday 7" single. 1,000 copies of "David Christmas" will arrive just in time for the holiday season, but it's the B-side that's filled us with a warm seasonal glow.

The track, a "Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa song" called "Stars on 45", finds Fucked Up joined by a retinue of guest stars that must be read to be believed. Ready? OK: LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, Black Lips' Cole Alexander, Matt Sweeney, the Faint's Jacob Thiele, Jay Reatard, the Horrors' Faris Rotter, Rites of Spring's Mike Fellows, Chromeo's Dave One, Shenae Grimes of "Degrassi: The Next Generation", AFI's Davey Havok, What's Your Rupture? label guy Kevin Peterson, Panthers'/Orchid's Jayson Green, Poison Idea's Jerry A., Terror's Scott Vogel, Attack in Black's Dan Romano, Face to Face's Trever Keith, and-- as if this thing could get any stranger-- Nelly Furtado.

They made the list, and checked it twice: "This is not a joke," the band claims, and wild as this thing reads on paper, it's the real deal. People, this is our "We Are the World". Or, at least, our "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Either way, wow.

All done up in special Fucked Up paper, this season's most perfect present goes on sale December 15 at a special Christmas themed gig at Toronto's Sonic Boom Records. The band will perform a number of yuletide covers, and they're hinting all over the place that somebody's gonna be donning a Santa suit and letting the kiddies sit on his lap.

The band may also test out some tunes from its forthcoming album, The Chemistry of Common Life, due next year.

Oh, and here's something not the least bit fucked up: all proceeds for the single (and, should you be feelin' it, any donations at the otherwise free Sonic Boom event) will go to the George Herman House, which gives support to mentally ill women in the Toronto area. The band also asks that those who attend the Sonic Boom gig bring nonperishable edibles for the local food bank. Nice folks, that Fucked Up lot.

Lupe Fiasco Reveals The Cool Tracklist
He can has cheezburger

Lupe Fiasco has descended from the parapets of his mind and found his way out of the maze of all those tongue-twisting extended metaphors to deliver actual concrete info about his sophomore album, The Cool. Thanks to a report from Billboard.com that was confirmed by his publicist, we now know the Food & Liquor follow-up's tracklist.

Due December 18 via 1st & 15th/Atlantic, The Cool features production from Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump, UNKLE, Chris & Drop, and Soundtrakk, according to Billboard.

True to form, the report says Lupe has fashioned The Cool as a concept album of sorts, featuring recurring characters such as Michael Young History, the Game ("a male personification of a hustler's damaging influences," not the Compton rapper), and the Streets ("a female embodiment of an urban area's corrupt allure," not Mike Skinner). Billboard also says The Cool features two mentions from Lupe of his plan to quit music after releasing the album's follow-up, titled L.U.P.N.

And yet, out-wtf-ing every other detail related to The Cool in the article is this morsel: "Perhaps the oddest song is 'Gotta Eat', which is apparently written from the perspective of a cheeseburger and is rife with food/life metaphors." [MORE...]

P.T. Anderson/Elliott Smith Film to Surface in 2008?
Jon Brion, Fiona Apple, Bette Midler, Rastafarian basketball players involved??

Everyone loves a good mystery. Quite a few people love Elliott Smith. And quite a few people love Paul Thomas Anderson as well. So here, how about a story that rolls all three into one?

According to "DVD Magazine of Rare and Unseen Short Films" Wholphin (linked via fan mecca and "definitive P.T. Anderson resource" Cigarettes and Red Vines), the beloved director of such films as Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and the forthcoming, Jonny Greenwood-scored There Will Be Blood once made a little film involving the late Elliott Smith.

In this film, wrote Wholphin, Smith plays "a Rastafarian basketball player." Um, yeah.

While Smith's publicist confirmed said short film exists, further details on it are scant at best. We don't know its title, for one, nor whether it indeed, as Cigarettes and Red Vines has suggested, spun off from a proposed variety show featuring Smith pal Jon Brion.

The P.T. fansite quotes an unidentified Anderson interview from 2003 in which the director mentions a "thing we did as a test a few years back with Fiona [Apple], sweet Elliott Smith, the great Brad Mehldau, and Jon [Brion] at [Los Angeles'] Cello Studios."

"Look for a bizarre and wonderful Bette Midler cameo," added Anderson.

That thing, however, is "very simple, straightforward, no flashy pants-- just music." So, probably not the same as the basketball thing. Does this mean there are two P.T. Anderson-directed Elliott Smith films? Ack, my head hurts.

Whatever Anderson's got, it's presently stashed away in some storage unit in L.A., and the director won't have a chance to get at it until he wraps up promotional duties surrounding There Will Be Blood. At that point, Wholphin-- which originally intended to showcase the short in its Fall 2006 issue-- may very well share it with the world via Issue 6, due in mid-2008. Or they may not.

This wouldn't be a mystery without suspense, now would it?

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)