Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson could have coasted when they formed Garbage with lead singer Shirley Manson. Vig had already produced era-defining work with Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins; he could easily have stuck with the angsty hard rock that made him famous. Instead, Vig and company created Garbage’s eponymous debut album, which sounded digital yet somehow still human and warm. It was the first alt-rock album that sounded completely of the ‘90s. Now, the band is releasing their seventh album, Strange Little Birds (out Friday on Vagrant Records)—but it only makes sense in the context of the band’s early years as ‘90s innovators. (READ MORE HERE)
I always find it odd when local Chicago blogs decide they won’t mention PIQNIQ even when doing a full review of one of the headlining bands that will be performing the music they are reviewing LIVE!! That said, great article on Garbage. – @marconibologna
Tommen Baratheon better watch his back. After joining the crown and the faith, boy-king’s odds of croaking this week increased more than two-fold on betting site Bovada (+550 compared with last week’s +1200). Sorry, little buddy. As for his wifey, Margaery Tyrell, things aren’t looking too hot for her either, but she’s not quite out the door yet (+2000). After stealthily slipping her badass grandma, Olenna (+2500), a note with their house sigil on it in last week’s episode, we know that the fiery queen of Westeros isn’t actually as devout as she’s having everybody think. But how long can she keep that up? Now that she got good ol’ granny out of Dodge, it’s high time Margaery started messin’ [bleep] up down there in King’s Landing. (READ MORE HERE)
Last year movie rebel and podcast pirate captain Kevin Smith revealed that he was attempting to bring back the delinquent comedy film ‘Mallrats’ for a sequel but Smith himself revealed this week in an interview that it’s actually is coming back as a 10 episode series on a yet-to-determined platform. Smith who is coming to Chicago for the Podcast Movement in July, clarified that Universal Studios who owns ‘Mallrats’ property is working with him on developing the show. Consequences of Sound reports that “18 familiar faces would return alongside six fresh, new characters.” So we get see Jay and Silent Bob run around a mall and say profane things you would never repeat in front of your mother, yeah!
The process of getting the rights to ‘Mallrats’ back from Universal involved a lot of legal hoops and negation while Smith wrote a script. Meanwhile, he worked on other projects including the upcoming Yoga Hosers (in theaters July 29th),directing a fan-praised episode of the CW super hero series ‘The Flash’, and too many podcasts about Batman to count.
“It’s taking us a longer time to build it, but what we did was reconfigured it. You know, Mallrats is a 20 year old movie, and the idea of sequelizing a 20-year-old movie to some people is like, ‘Why would you bother? It wasn’t successful the first time. What’d you guys make?’ We’re like, ‘Two million?’ ‘Alright, well, I don’t know if the world is screaming out for this.’ However, I went and directed an episode of The Flash, and when I went up there, it was kind of a weird game changer for my career. I felt at home in the medium.”says Smith.
As if that’s not enough Smith has also secured a TV deal for ‘Buckaroo Bonzai’ a cult ’80s scifi comedy adventure film with Universal in tow. So Smith is reinvigorated back at it with exciting new shows and revived stories from his 90’s R-rated comedies coming soon.
No matter what you think of Kevin Smith, the guy is a real rebel who has created his own distinct universe within film and produced a wonderful podcast network with Smodcast. If you don’t like him, you will most likely not like his stuff but there is no denying he has been able operate within the Hollywood system with a very alternative spirit. Let’s hope more of that outsider mojo continues with this new ‘Mallrats’ show.
@Kevkellam
Enter to win PIQNIQ 2016 tickets here June 18th at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater with Garbage, the Lumineers, Young the Giant, and more. Our very own Russel is so pumped he can’t hold his lunch down….watch this look his nervous prep for Piqniq.
Pearl Jam stopped by Jack White’s Third Man Records in Nashville to to a surprise 10 song warmup set for Bonnaroo. The set included…
Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover)
Corduroy
Pendulum
Mind Your Manners
1/2 Full
Life WastedEncore:
Of the Earth (with Jack White)
Hard to Imagine
Let Me Sleep
The good news is they recorded the whole thing! On tape, of course. More at Consequence of Sound.
The popular dating app Tinder announced yesterday that it is officially restricting it’s users to the ages of 18 and over. The changes takes effect next week. Prior to this change, users between the ages of 13 and 17 were allowed on the app but were only allowed to ‘match’ with other users within that age group. Sorry teens, no more Tinder for you.
“On a platform that has facilitated over 11 billion connections, we have the responsibility of constantly assessing our different user experiences,” said Tinder spokeswoman Rosette Pambakian. “Consistent with this responsibility, we have decided to discontinue service for under 18 users.”
Other popular dating apps like Bumble have also instituted age limits, so this not a surprising move but rather an evolving step as dating online becomes more a part of adult life. It’s ok teens, you can develop social skills in the real world and then get old enough to go on an awkward date with someone you will never talk to again.
A seagull turned bright orange after it fell into a vat of chicken tikka masala.
The bird fell into the container while trying to scavenge meat from a food factory bin on Monday. It was rescued by workers at the site in Wales, and picked up by a volunteer for Vale wildlife hospital, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Staff at the hospital used washing-up liquid to remove the bright orange from the seagull’s feathers. They returned him to its original white colour but have not been able to wash away the smell of curry. (READ MORE HERE)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are ready to funk up the world yet again with a new album ‘the Getaway’ on June 17th and a world tour that brings them to Grant Pakr with Lollapalooza (ENTER TO WIN LOLLA TIX HERE) for a headlining set at the end of July. After a recent health scare that prompted a last minute show cancellation, Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis got back on the hype machine with a candid video from the band’s official Youtube detailing the process behind their current single, the moody yet still grooved-out ‘Dark Necessities’.
It’s such a refreshing true-to-your-roots thing to say you want to work on your music in your car because “it has a CD player”. That’s just very different than anyone else’s creative formula with music nowadays. Anyone else still have that bulky trapper-keeper of CDs in their car? Raise your hand…come on, we know your out there.
RHCP also posted two more new songs including the title track of the new album. ‘The Getaway’ came two weeks ago and ‘We Turn Red’ just came out this afternoon.Both tracks have rhythmic styles that may remind fans of ‘By The Way’ with a mixture of crooning and pronounced bass lines.
@kevkellam
Check out our chat with Tim Comerford of Prophets of Rage (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave)
The cast of the ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot starring an all-female cast with Kristen Wig, Mellissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon had a ‘surprise’ meet up on last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live with the cast of the original film. It was neat to see Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Akroyd, and Annie Potts reminiscence about filming without permits on the streets of New York.
Bill Murray joking about how the cast could steal more than just shots on the street, but also any item from any convenience store especially when you have a proton pack on your back.
So despite the debate about the quality of the upcoming ‘Busters movie, it was interesting to see how the new and old casts blend together to discus where the series is going. “It’s a tough movie to pull off, there is a lot of expectation.” says Murray but said he loves the new cast members because they are funny. He also quipped that he was the “stepfather” of the new GB team.
And what would this Ghostbusters good time be without a live performance of the famous theme song from Ray Parker Jr.?! I AINT’ AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS! – @kevkellam
Winter in Chicago is a challenging period with the windchill that makes you question your existence and the depressing slush puddles that linger into March, but the coldest season does provide some seasonal joys like ice skating. So why not continue that into the summer?
Navy Pier the summertime destination for locals and all the people visiting that will make traffic on the weekends rage-worthy, is opening an indoor ice skating rink in the recently constructed Polk Bros Park. Tickets will range between $10-15 with operating hours of noon to 10pm every day. It opens to the public tomorrow at 12pm. The rink is 82 feet long and 66 feet wide. It will stay up through out the summer underneath a massive tent with tech installed to keep the ice frozen even during the warmest days this summer. You can bring your own skates or rent a pair.
The rink is inspired by the Polk Bros. summer season ice rink that was originally built to attract customers to their near by furniture store over 50 years ago. The recently constructed Polk Bros Park sits directly outside the western entrance to Navy Pier.
There are several other big expansion coming to the Pier as part of their 100 year celebration in the near future including additional space for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and a new on-site hotel. If you can ice skate, watch fireworks, and see a movie in IMAX in the same spot, that sounds like a pretty cool spot.
Them infamous Amityville Horror house in New York is up for sale. It can be yours for a cool $850K. They have updated the home and it looks like a beautiful property, but noticeably absent from the features listed on Zillow is the portal to hell in the basement. Not saying its haunted. Just saying why would you want to find out?
While Chicago baseball fans continue the timeless Sox-Cubs feud this summer, there’s one thing we can all agree on: There are some awesome baseball movies.
White Sox players recently revealed their favorites.
Brett Lawrie, second baseman
“The Sandlot.” It’s a movie I watched growing up as a kid. One of the first baseball movies I watched growing up as a kid. It goes hand in hand. I think the biggest thing to take [from the movie] is that there’s no thoughts, no cares. It’s just about baseball, playing baseball and keeping it simple. It was an easier time. Keeping it simple I think is the biggest thing. They’re a group and they’ve been a group for an extended period of time and they just continued to build [on] that.
That’s what we do in here. We see each other every single day, we do the same thing every day. We see each other more than we see our families in here, so it’s important that we hold each other accountable and have fun in here and get it done. (READ MORE HERE)
Fitz and The Tantrums released the official video for “HandClap.” They’ll be back in Chicago for Riot Fest in September. You can score 3-day passes to the fest at in AREA 101
