And to think we used our smarty-pants Waste Land intro last month. As we should have remembered, November is a cornucopia of releases compared to the barren expanse that is December — unless, of course, you’re into Christmas albums, AOR piffle, and commercial hip-hop, in which case you’re probably not reading this in the first place. If you are still reading, then you’ll be happy to know that we’ve crossed the desert and found ourselves ten new releases that really are going to be worth hearing in December. Result. Check out our selections after the jump, and let us know if there’s anything else on your Christmas list that we’ve missed. Read More »
Amy Winehouse’s label is due to release her posthumous album Lioness in December, but to slake your Winehouse-lust until then, they’ve just released a video for the late soul diva’s cover of “Our Day Will Come,” originally made famous by ’60s R&B crooners Ruby And The Romantics. And popular wisdom says to get it while the getting’s good — according to The Guardian, at least a dozen of Winehouse’s unfinished tracks will never see the light of day, and will remain locked in the bowels of Island Records, per the singer’s request. For instance, there’s this song “Procrastinate” that is pretty good. ”If you ever hear Procrastinate, you have my permission to come into my offices here in Kensington and fire me,” exec Ted Cockle said. Well, as the Guardian pointed out, it’s on YouTube (or a version of it anyway). Click through to watch the video for “Our Day Will Come” and let us know what you think in the comments!
1. In the most recent episode of Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, Adam Scott revealed the exciting news that a production company is interested in doing a “low budget” version of the Party Down movie. All they’re waiting for now is for Starz to sign off on the project. [via Pop Culture Brain]
2. “New York City is the city where you can come and express yourself. What was happening in Zuccotti Park was not that.” – Mayor Bloombergdefends his decision to clear the park in an early morning raid that led to the arrest of about 150 Occupy Wall Street protestors
3. After making us wait for an entire year, Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp have finally made a new Marcel the Shell With Shoes On video, you guys! Watch it here.
4. In a new interview with Esquire, former Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark director Julie Taymor says that Bono and the Edge — who weren’t around at the time — publicly described her as “exhausted” and “overwrought” to get her fired: “I think that those were important to paint a picture of a director who you needed to release in order to make this big change. I had to be characterized that way in order for something to happen.” [via ArtsBeat]
5. According to a report in British tabloid The Sun, Pete Doherty is convinced that his apartment is haunted by the ghost of his departed friend Amy Winehouse. [via NME]
We’re all for Tony Bennett, but pardon us if we’re a little bit more excited to hear the late Amy Winehouse’s duet with one of our favorite rappers, Nas. “Like Smoke” is the first single from Lioness: Hidden Treasures, the 12-song collection of new material, rarities, and demos that was compiled by producer Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson and is slated to come out December 5th. Nas’s lyrics, which must have been recorded quite recently, reference both Winehouse’s death (“I be out in London, Camden, hunting for the answers why the God take away the homie”) and the Occupy movement (“She wouldn’t protest with me at Wall Street”). Although the song is something of a patchwork, Nas’s rapid-fire verses sound right at home amid Winehouse’s slow, velvety, retro-soul chorus. Stream “Like Smoke” at MissInfo and let us know what you think. [via The Hairpin]
1. A new Amy Winehouse album which is being together producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Rem will be hitting shelves on December 5; called Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures, it features unfinished tracks as well as alternative versions of previously released material. [via NME]
2. DreamWorks’ Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots — which is currently at an 81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes — topped the weekend box office, bringing in $34 million; the animated film also set a new record for the best Halloween weekend debut of all-time, so expect plenty more where that came from. [via USA Today]
3. Robert De Niro and John Travolta will be sharing the screen for the first time in Killing Season, an action flick set in the Appalachian Mountains that tells the story of an American military veteran going to head-to-head with a former Serbian soldier. [via Deadline]
4. The Coen Brothers have offered Justin Timberlake the role of a folk singer named Jim in their new movie, Inside Llewyn Davis, which is set in the ’60s music scene in Greenwich Village. He would be playing the husband of Carey Mulligan‘s character, Jean. [via Slashfilm]
5. Twenty-five years later, a reboot of the sketch show In Living Color is in the works for next year, with Keenen Ivory Wayans serving as the executive producer and host. [via Vulture]
1. A London coroner has ruled that Amy Winehouse died from drinking too much alcohol — not from withdrawal, as was originally thought — and in fact, she had consumed 4.5 times more than the legal limit for driving in the UK at her time of death. [via The Daily Beast]
2. Community’s hilarious Ken Jeong will star in and produce a new comedy called The Chung Factor for Lionsgate; he’ll be playing an “offbeat relationship coach” who is trying to win back his ex from an unsuspecting client. [via TheWrap]
3. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler took a nasty fall in the bathroom of his hotel in Paraguay yesterday, which resulted in cuts to his face and the loss of two teeth. The band was also forced to cancel last night’s performance. [via MTV]
4. Marni Kotak, the performance artist who shocked the world when she announced that she planned to give birth in Bushwick’s Microscope Gallery, delivered “Baby X” yesterday morning; a video of the performance will be exhibited for those who missed out on seeing it live. [via AP]
5. Former 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney is in the hospital following some “serious” post-surgery complications. CBS says that his condition is stable, but at the request of his family, is offering no further information. [via Jezebel]
The first thing you’re bound to notice about the video for Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett’s duet, “Body and Soul,” is how healthy and strong Winehouse looks in it. She and Bennett seem to be having a wonderful time together; they chat, and she grins and laughs. We’re not religious, but we have to admit that the moment when she kisses her necklace and points heavenward even tugs at our godless heartstrings. And, of course, the duo does a beautiful job with the jazz standard. Today would have been Winehouse’s 28th birthday, and we can think of no better tribute than a video that memorializes the singer at her best. Watch the clip after the jump, and get ready to cry a little at your desk, if you’re prone to that sort of thing.
No stranger to stirring up controversy, New York-based artist Daniel Edwards — who previously made waves with his nude statues of a pregnant Britney Spears down on all fours, Angelina Jolie nursing her twins, and Paris Hilton’s dead body — has created Memorial Portrait for Amy Winehouse, a bronze bust in tribute to the recently deceased singer. “I thought of her as a beautifully delicate fairytale princess, waiting to be rescued from fame and addiction, but her prince never came,” Edwards says. “I had always expected to sculpt her portrait, but I was waiting for her to put some of her troubles behind her. She had made me pay attention to contemporary music again.”
According to his rep, the artwork is meant to be a PSA of sorts, which explains why her chest area looks so concave. “The portrait of Amy is dedicated to those struggling with addiction and eating disorders,” says Cory Allen. “Nobody should have to go through what Amy went through.” What do you think of Edwards using her image in this way? [via LAT]
In the month since Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27, we’ve heard all kinds of speculation about what caused her death. While the Daily Mail ran an article with the headline, “‘Amy Winehouse bought £1,200 of crack and heroin the night before she died’, claims fixer,” other sources maintained that the singer had gotten clean, and that her “decision to give up drinking entirely for three weeks might have given a lethal ‘shock’ to her system.” Now, Winehouse’s full toxicology report is in, and the Associated Press reveals that she had no illegal drugs in her system. Although tests for alcohol came up postive, it’s not clear yet whether drinking contributed to her demise. An inquest into the cause of Winehouse’s death will begin in October, but for the time being, it remains a mystery. [via Spinner]
