Here’s the cover for Jennifer Hudson’s self-titled debut album, which hits stores on September 30th.

OKP just premiered the first single off Theo's new mixtape "The Birth". Check out dopeness of this joint...

Theo - "Sweetest Language"

I've been a fan of Theo's since I got my hands on his mixtape "88 Til Infinity" a while back. He's a mad talented dude, who's most definitely bringing something fresh to the table. Keep your eyes and ears on this guy...

Go show Theo your love by visiting his Myspace and download his "85 Till Infinity" mixtape HERE!

Peace, Love & Theo

Speeakz

This is the first episode of The Roots Picnic that took place in Philly last month. Oh, I do love London, but I hate that THIS kinda sh*t doesn't reach over hurr! Anyways, enjoy!

Peace, Love & The Roots

Speeakz

Birth

1916. R&B pianist Joe Liggins (The Honeydrippers) born in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

In Politics

1992. At the Democratic Party Convention in New York, Bill Clinton announces Al Gore will be his running mate. Frank Zappa, Luther Campbell (2 Live Crew) and Joey Ramone are among the musicians to condemn the appointment. In the main, the protests are not about Gore himself but his wife, Tipper, who founded the Parents Music Resource Centre which forced labels to put warning stickers on albums with content unsuitable for minors. Zappa, who crossed swords with Al Gore at a Congressional Hearing on Record Labeling in 1985 said, "I've been a registered Democrat my whole life, but I just can't endorse this ticket".

Meanwhile, Carter USM try and hi-jack the convention in their own way with billboards across New York carrying a smiling picture of ex-President Jimmy Carter and the wording, "The Unstoppable Sex Machine Coming Any Moment". As if that wasn't enough, Fruitbat and Jim Bob hand out postcards outside the convention hall in the hope they might actually meet that "other" Carter.

In Court

1999. After a 12 minute hearing at the High Court in London, Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall's lawyers issue a joint statement announcing that they have "amicably and formally agreed to separate after more than two decades as a couple and seek an annulment". Although it was thought there would be a long and drawn-out divorce case, Jagger's lawyers had contested that their 1991 Hindu wedding in Bali was not legally binding in Britain. Jerry Hall's solicitors had been quite happy to fight the case believing that even if the marriage was declared invalid, after such a long period their client would be entitled to the same settlement as a wife. Hall had been seeking a settlement in the region of £ 30 million. Although the actual amount agreed has not been divulged, her solicitors, Mishcon de Reya, described it as a "mutually acceptable legal and financial settlement". After the settlement was announced Jagger and Hall flew to their French Chateau for a family holiday.

In Hospital

1969. Marianne Faithfull collapses in her suite at the Chevron Hotel in Sydney, Australia. She's admitted to the intensive care unit of the city's St. Vincent's Hospital in a coma. Mick Jagger, who's in Australia filming in the title role of "Ned Kelly", told a press conference at the hotel that his girlfriend had not taken an overdose. He said, "Marianne is not seriously ill. She's a delicate woman. The trip was hard for her. She's a lot of work to do and we want to make sure she's alright". According to the hospital, she is under observation and will remain at least overnight.

Despite local reports that officers from the local drug squad were waiting to question Faithfull, a police spokesman said no action would be taken unless hospital authorities told them it had been an overdose. They confirmed that two containers had been removed from Marianne's room but refused to say what they contained. After interviewing Mick, police removed a further two containers and several capsules from his room. A spokesman for Jagger said the singer would be travelling to Melbourne for the filming of the hanging scenes at Pentride Jail. These have to be shot now as the Victoria State Government has only made the jail available for a limited period.

On Television

2001. Late Show With David Letterman (CBS, U.S.A.) Show #1636. Musical guest: Jonatha Brooke with "Linger".

Death

1993. R&B saxophonist Red Prysock (born Wilbert Prysock) dies in Chicago, Illinois from a Heart attack.

Babble

On Saturday night I was at a 1973 party watching a video of Roland Petit's Pink Floyd Ballet and last night I found myself in Forfar watching Scottish Ballet dancing to Radiohead. It's strange how little things change. 35 years and yet ballet companies still find inspiration in the work of rock musicians. Back in 1972, when Petit's ballet was first performed, the music still had the air of the avant-garde about it and in many ways little has changed. Last night's venue was a public hall in Forfar, that seemed locked in a time-warp of some bygone gang-show age. Probably less than half full, the audience looked to have drawn every young girl from every dance class in the area, along with their mums. The first half of the programme was a lavishly costumed production of Othello set to Franz List: a real crowd-pleaser in the traditional classical ballet idiom.

The interval provided a breathing space that would have been far too difficult to bridge without a break. The house lights went down and the lights came up on a stark, empty stage bathed in an eery glow. The dancers had eschewed their tights and shoes and their steps had taken on a visceral connection to the music. We were treated to two excerpts from "Ride the Beast", which debuted to critical acclaim at last year's Edinburgh Festival - "Fitter Happier" and "Creep". The elderly ladies who had spent their interval marveling at the mastery of the first half could almost be heard wincing behind me.

Choreography suffers from a limited vocabulary of movement, much as music is limited to a finite number of notes. Many of the moves were the same and yet the combination of music, lighting and lack of costume had turned it into an avant-garde experience that shocked as much as it challenged. At the end of the evening, the ladies behind me were still buzzing about the first half, and planning their next trip, to see "Sleeping Beauty" in all its classical splendour. Maybe for them, the music of Radiohead had fallen on deaf ears but there were many who whooped and cheered this young company taking their art out of the great venues and into the towns around Scotland. The dancers, who had gathered for their bus by the time I'd left the venue, have much to be proud of.

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On September 29th, Phil Spector will also return to court for the second murder trial of actress Lana Clarkson, whom he allegedly shot in the foyer of his Alhambra mansion. Spector's first trial ended in a deadlock and lots of bad hair days.

My Rumor Dealer is whispering that my favorite hot ho Erykah Badu is preggers with her 3rd child and that her 3rd baby daddy may be her producer Jay Electronica. As you know, sexy slag Andre 3000 is the father of her son named Seven Sirius....that shit sounds like the name of a damn tourism ship to outer space. Her daughter's name is Puma Rose......Hmmm, I do need a new pair of gym shoes.

After securing a spot on Blazin 98's playlist, FM has also been invited to perform at U92's Summerjam concert along the likes of The Game, David Banner and more. This is huge and I encourage anyone in that area to go check em out! Someone convince FM to have more east coast shows!

More info after the break.

copy and pasted from their myspace bulletin:

June 12, 2008 (Salt Lake City, UT) – At 5pm (MDT) KUUU-FM (U92, 92.
5) announces Summerjam 2008 featuring The Game, David Banner, Dolla, Play-N-Skillz, Wiz Khalfia, and Far East Movement Saturday August 2, 2008 at USANA Amphitheater.

U92 will offer a special one-day ticket price of $10 on Saturday June 21, 2008.
Tickets will go on-sale at 10am at all Smithstix outlets, the E Center box office, online at http://www. smithstix. com, and Car Concepts located at 3405 South State St. Tickets will be on-sale for $20 after Saturday June 21st. U92 will offer listeners the chance to win tickets beginning Monday June 16, 2008.  Listeners will be cued to call the U92 request lines at 470-9200, 570-9200, or 670-9200 to win tickets.

Interscope recording artist The Game is currently gearing up for the release of his latest album, LAX, due in stores early July. The Game broke into the music industry by working with 50 Cent 's group, G Unit. Eventually The Game left G Unit to write as a solo artist; however, many saw this as an insult to 50 Cent and his G Unit crew. The Game has no intentions of having a bad relationship with 50 Cent or his former G Unit members. According to The Game "flat out hatin' – it kills, it's poison and it's a disease… it's killing us. And when I say "us" this would be the first time that I spoke of race because I'm of African American decent and so "us" – it's killing us. Ignorance, it's gonna kill us." A native of the streets of Compton, a city known most for its heavy gang activity, The Game has become an influential figure in West Coast gangster rap. "I'm the last of who I am. I'm a gangster rapper, which is a form of rap that hip hop artists today have taken on that was generated by the godfather of gangster rap – Eazy-E...I'm the last gangster rapper that you'll probably see on the scale of being a superstar in hip hop, period" says The Game.

Universal Motown recording artist David Banner, Jive recording artist Dolla, Grammy Award winning producers Play-N-Skillz, Wiz Khalifa, and Far East Movement will also perform at U92s Summerjam 2008. In addition, the Car Concepts "Car Wars" sound audio competition will take place with awards for winners in each division.
For more information on the Car Concepts "Car Wars" competition log on to http://www. carconceptslc. com.

U92s Summerjam 2008 featuring The Game, David Banner, Dolla, Play-N-Skillz, Wiz Khalifa, and Far East Movement will take place on Saturday August 2, 2008 at the USANA Amphitheater in West Valley, Utah. Summerjam 2008 will also play host to the 2008 Car Concepts "Car Wars".
For sponsorship or booth information contact Lutisha Merrill at 801-412-6046, or lmerrill@millcreekslc. com.

I still love both bands, and not just for purposes of reminiscing.  If you don't know 'em at all, check out their catalogs of songs, but I don't wanna go into detail about them in this post.

Instead I wanna pass on a nice little link to some Stavesacre bootlegs.  Check out this link I got from Matt at True Tunes.  It's got some really awesome demos and live recordings.

Britney is also working on another comeback album for release in early 2009. Check out the video for 'Me Against the Music' below:

- Portishead in working-on-new-album shocker
- Juana Molina to release her fifth album in October
- Polaris Music Prize shortlisted nominees announced
- All-star tribute to Judy Collins out in August
- Leonard Cohen's touring partner Sharon Robinson to release debut album
- Ladyfest Manchester 2008 fundraising compilation goes on sale
- Joanna Newsom and Feist immortalised in a children's activity book

* * * 

Perhaps buoyed by the astonishingly positive reception afforded to their comeback album, Third, Portishead have reportedly begun working on a follow-up. Speaking to BBC 6Music, guitarist Adrian Utley said the band were already "getting a bit of a plan together," adding that the limited touring behind Third was so that the band could focus on other projects and spend more time with their young families. His bandmate Geoff Barrow had already expressed a desire to write some new tunes in a blog posting in May; Beth Gibbons, as ever, has maintained a dignified silence on the matter.

* * *

Our favourite Argentinian Juana Molina has announced details of her upcoming fifth album, Un Dia, due for release on October 6th through Domino Recordings. The album is said to forego the meandering field recordings of the brilliant Son for more rhythmic fare. Fans should get a taste of the new material when Molina heads over to the UK for the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland on August 30th and a special show at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre in London on August 31st.

Un Dia
01 Un Dia
02 Vive Solo
03 Lo Dejamos
04 Los Hongos de Marosa
05 Quien (Suite)
06 El Vestido
07 No Llama
08 Dar (Que Dificil)

* * *

Basia Bulat, Stars, Kathleen Edwards and Black Mountain are among the ten Canadian acts shortlisted for the third annual Polaris Music Prize, the equivalent of our Mercury. The winner of the $20,000 prize money will be announced on September 29th. Caribou, Holy Fuck, Plants & Animals, Shad, Two Hours Traffic and The Weakerthans make up the rest of the numbers.

* * *

Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, Chrissie Hynde, Shawn Colvin, Dar Williams, Amy Speace and The Webb Sisters and are among the 15 artists contributing to a new tribute to folk legend Judy Collins. Inspired by a casual compliment from Chrissie Hynde in which she revealed that Collins's ‘My Father' was among her top ten favourite songs, independent label Wildflower Records set about crafting the all-star tribute due out August 5th in the US. Leonard Cohen, an old friend of Collins, also makes an appearance, reciting the lyrics of her early song ‘Since You've Asked'. The full list of contributors looks a bit like this:

Born To The Breed: A Tribute To Judy Collins
01 Joan Baez - Since You've Asked
02 Jim Lauderdale - Easy Times
03 Dolly Parton - Fisherman Song
04 Chrissie Hynde - My Father
05 Shawn Colvin - Secret Gardens
06 Kenny White - Song For Martin
07 Amy Speace - Born To the Breed
08 Rufus Wainwright - Albatross
09 The Webb Sisters - Fortune Of Soldiers
10 Jimmy Webb - Fallow Way
11 Bernadette Peters - Trust Your Heart
12 Dar Williams - Holly Ann (The Weaver Song)
13 Ali Eskandarian - Song For Sarajevo
14 James Mudriczki (Puressence) - Che
15 Leonard Cohen - Since You've Asked (reprise/dialogue)

* * *

Speaking of Leonard Cohen, his longtime musical partner Sharon Robinson is set to release her debut solo album, Everybody Knows, once she finishes touring with the venerable Mr Cohen at the end of November. Well, it may be sooner, we haven't quite been able to figure that out. As it happens the album is already available in the US, having been released at the beginning of June, but this isn't the US so this is still news, right?

Anyway, three of the songs were co-written with Leonard, including the title track (from his classic 1971 album I'm Your Man), ‘Summertime' (later recorded by both Diana Ross and Roberta Flack) and ‘Alexandra Leaving' from Robinson and Cohen's collaborative album Ten New Songs. Also included is Sharon's version of ‘The High Road', covered by Bettye Lavette on her brilliant album I've Got My Own Hell To Raise.

Everybody Knows
01 Invisible Tattoo
02 Party For The Lonely
03 Everybody Knows
04 The Train
05 Secondhand
06 Forever In A Kiss
07 The High Road
08 Sustenance
09 Alexandra Leaving
10 Summertime

* * *

Bearsuit, Vile Vile Creatures, Penny Broadhurst and The Bobby McGees are among the acts featured on a new compilation released through Cherryade Music to raise funds for Ladyfest Manchester 2008. The three-day festival takes place at the Zion Arts Centre in Hulme at the beginning of November. Find out more here.

The tracklist in full:
01 Bearsuit - Chargr
02 Das Wanderlust - It'll Never Be Yours
03 Shrag - New Favourites
04 The Bobby McGees - Bumhead
05 Town Bike - Trouble Fuckin Rocks
06 The Lovely Eggs - I'm In Your Scene
07 Amy Pennington - Dirty L'il Secret
08 Blockshot - GPS
09 Penny Broadhurst - Team Leader [MinuteToWinIt edit]
10 Hotpants Romance - We Used To Meet
11 Kids Love Lies - Hex
12 Vile Vile Creatures - Break Like Bones
13 Violent Vickie - Knock You Out
14 The Seven Inches - Cashback
15 STeLLa PaCe - Luv Yr Self
16 Pianofingers - The Bone Palace

Available now at the Cherryade online shop for a mere £5.

* * *

A design student from Huddersfield University has come up with a novel colouring/activity book based on images from the songs of some of our favourite indie rock stars, including Feist and the inimitable Joanna Newsom. Andy J Miller created the book as a potential fundraising idea for the HIV/AIDS charity (Red). At the moment these little beauties are prototypes only, i.e. you can't buy one, sorry. Pitchfork have some great scans though, if you want to take a closer look.

* * *
Alan Pedder 

Call me crazy, but isn't it a bit early for a Lil' Wayne biopic?

Britney is touring with Madonna.  And by touring, I mean she's on tape.

Tenacious D are so far 1.5 songs into a new CD, which will more than likely still drop before Chinese Democracy.

Epic Fail for Cartel, but the Wind Up in a new home.

Live releases a live DVD.  Aren't all their DVD's live?

Noel Gallagher talks about Radiohead, and only swears once.

Stephen Stills cleans out his closet and finds a whole unreleased Hendrix album.  I just find old issues of Rip Magazine when I do that.

Why is Ringo Starr my favorite Beatle?  Free cupcakes.

Extreme's comeback tour doesn't come back to Minnesota...yet.

After reading this Kate Pierson story, GIS if you dare.

Rolling Stone looks at how things are going for the new Girl Talk "pay what you want" CD release.  By the way, it is worth whatever amount you pay.  Check it out.

Er...Can someone please tell me why Tim Kash is speaking like that? LOL He's talking like a 1940's BBC News reporter!

Note to all our international readers: WE DON'T ALL SPEAK LIKE THAT!

Look for Danity Kane's video, right hurr on PinBoard when it's aired later this week!

Peace, Love & DK

Speeakz

My good ole buddies in Brooklyn, New York indie fuzz-pop band The Pains of Being Pure At Heart just released a new demo track called "Gothenburg Handshake."

There is absolutely no questioning the foursomes wearing their influences on their sleeves. This is the perfect mix of jangling guitars and vocoded vocals and lyrically singing of another influence of their's, Gothenburg, Sweden.

The band had just signed to long time pop purveyor Slumberland and are quite close to completing their debut full-length. With the right push these guys can really hit it big push their c86 brand of influenced pop into the forefront.

Coincidentally enough, they'll also be heading to Sweden this Fall! You Swedes better get ready for some American pop!

MP3: “Gothenburg Handshake”
Website: http://www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thepainsofbeingpureatheart
Purchase: Come Saturday SINGLE
Label: Slumberland

Half of my brain cells are fried so I am not sure if I've posted this new LL Cool J video, 'Rockin' With Da Goat'. I suppose I could search my blog to find out if I have but at the moment I'm too lazy to do so. Fuck it....

Ya girl Nix Check Cashing performed her latest single, Heaven Sent, on Good Morning America today.

CLICK HERE to watch her interview and performance. Surprisingly, she didn't drink her ghettorade beforehand, so she's not her usual rude and diva-like self. Me likes Nix when she's calm and pleasant to talk to.

Mariah Carey covers the August issue of Elle magazine and in it she says something I find quite unusual for a woman her age to say about her soon-to-be-ex-husband. She says;

“We really kept the whole relationship aspect of it quiet,” “Therefore, we didn’t really ‘date,’ you know what I mean? Because that would have been not quiet or private. I think we didn’t want to give people a chance to be like, ‘What are you doing? What are you talking about? This is so quick… are you sure?”

I suppose not dating your spouse BEFORE you marry them would be cool if your marriage is arranged, or, if you're a mail order bride, OR if you're a stupid teenager who don't know any better. But, when you're Mariah this shit sounds like the mindless ramblings of a desperate, lonely woman who is setting herself up for failure. I have no doubt this union with Nick will fail..and I'll be here waiting to blog about when it happens!!!

Usher and his adorable baby boy grace the August issue of Essence magazine. Below are excerpts from the interview, which was conducted by sexy slag Hill Harper.

HILL HARPER: In the last year, you got married and you've had a baby. Which has changed you more?
USHER: They're both linked—I can't have one without the other. But the one thing that changed me the most is having a wife. Our child is an extension of that union.

HARPER: Why?
USHER: Because now I represent what he is to become. He's gonna admire me, he's gonna look up to me. He's gonna say, "I wanna be"—or he should say— "I wanna be like my father. I wanna be a man of valor. I wanna possess what my father has as a man." To get married was a choice. To have a child is a responsibility.

HARPER: Does that new responsibility challenge you to make music that is more responsible?
USHER: I started making Here I Stand before I had my son and before I was married. It was a deliberate choice to make music with substance, not just about the things that we're accustomed to—music about being the celebrity, the player, or having the car, the girl and the bling.

HARPER: Your father wasn't around to raise you. How do you plan to be different for your son than your father was for you?
USHER: Just simply being there. I don't judge my father because I forgave him for anything he'd ever done to hurt me unintentionally. My father and I had a very short amount of time together throughout my entire life, but the most valuable time was during his final days. He asked me to forgive him for not being there. He asked me to give him a chance, give him a shot because he loved me, and he had always loved me. But it was very difficult for him to be in the situation he was in and be the example he wanted me to follow. So he intentionally stayed away. And he was kept away from me too. He didn't like it, but he didn't fight it because he knew he wasn't living right.

HARPER: What would you say to young men and women about what they should expect from a man who's a father? What is living right as a father? How do you define that? How would that man look?
USHER: That man would accept his responsibilities as a father, regardless of whether he was with the mother of the child. Men will leave a situation for several reasons. One, it's not comfortable. It may be violent. The two of you may grow apart. But you should never abandon that responsibility, which is to be there, reading with your child, being supportive of your child's growth. That is communicating. That is making the choice to put your child before your own vanity.

HARPER: If you could take your finger and touch your 9-month-old son, Usher V, on the head and impart some certain knowledge, what would you want him to know?
USHER: First of all, I'd actually look inside myself and evaluate what I felt like I missed from my own father.

HARPER: What did you miss?
USHER: Knowing that I was accepted. That I mattered. And hearing that he cared enough to put me before himself.

(pic source)

Here's your favorite Nigger, rapping about being a "Hero"....He's Super-Negro!

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