Welcome back to our series Rembert Explains the '80s. Every so often, we'll e-mail 25-year-old Rembert Browne a video from the 1980s that he hasn't seen. Rembert will write down his thoughts as he's watching it, then we'll post those thoughts here. This week's installment was selected by Grantland reader Lee T. Guzofski: "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson. If you have an idea for a future episode of Rembert Explains the '80s, e-mail us at hollywood@grantland.com.
Jack White has never been one to stand still, but his post–White Stripes era has elevated his all-purpose restlessness to bold new heights: There have been appearances on American Pickers, collaborations with Insane Clown Posse, even an actual solo album. And now, his latest endeavor, as reported by Variety: The score for The Lone Ranger, the Jerry Bruckheimer–produced adaptation of the '50s TV show starring Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as his sidekick, Tonto.
The video below comes from Hit So Hard, a documentary about the troubled life of Hole drummer Patty Schemel. As AntiQuiet explains, while it's not about Kurt and Courtney directly, "the scene [from the movie] that most viewers kept bringing up was the one where Cobain and Love duet on a never-released song, called 'Stinking of You.' It’s taken quite a while, but footage of the couple singing has hit YouTube."
After tag-teaming Coachella’s first weekend, we here at Grantland managed, for the first time ever, to fight off our FOMO, and left the fest’s second weekend all alone. We didn’t miss much: The lineup from the first weekend was repeated in full down to Hologram Tupac, who was once again called up from the dark nothingness in which he resides. (Despite the insane level of scrutiny Hologram Tupac was facing this week, after that remarkable debut, his performance went off without a hitch. True professional.) But over a long three days, a few new wrinkles did appear. Here are four of them!
Despite the cavernous absence of one W. Axl Rose, the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony went down as planned in Cleveland on Saturday night. (Were you totally unaware that this was happening? Was there maybe a competing, possibly hologram-related music event happening this past weekend?) According to the New York Times report, nothing out of the ordinary took place; the Red Hot Chili Peppers jammed with Slash and George Clinton, Bette Midler cried, Kid Rock wore a track suit. Which means that most of the entertainment delivered by the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony came our way — just as it has throughout the entire 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame process — via Axl’s reaction to his 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
It’s been a whole day since Hologram Tupac made his contentious debut performance at Coachella, so of course it’s time for some open-ended speculation. OK, ready for this? According to the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Dre is not content letting Hologram Tupac blow minds and then return to the mute darkness in which he resides — instead, Dre is actually considering bringing him on tour. Says the WSJ, “Representatives for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg plan to discuss logistics for a tour involving the two performers and the virtual Tupac, according to a person familiar with the discussions. One option would be a tour in stadiums, involving other hip-hop stars, including Eminem, 50 Cent, and Wiz Khalifa. Alternately, they could stage a more limited tour, featuring only Dre, Snoop Dogg and the virtual Tupac, in smaller arenas.” Adds Ed Ulbrich of Digital Domain Media Group, the company that birthed Hologram Tupac, “This is just the beginning. Dre has a massive vision for this.”
I haven’t stepped a foot inside Coachella and already I’m being propositioned into minor illegality. While I loiter outside the gate before heading in, a young man named Edgar, who is smoking unfiltered Lucky Strikes, approaches, having taken me for a potential fence-hopping accomplice. I insist that I have a valid pass and official business to conduct, but he’s not so convinced. He tells me he’s broken in the last two years, and that while security has intensified this year — at some point he uses the phrase “tighter than a dolphin’s butthole,” or something similarly hilarious — there are always weaknesses, and he’s going to walk the perimeter to unearth some. And it almost sounds badass enough to try. Ultimately, though, I wish him well and head inside the normal way. Hope you made it in, Edgar.
Are you ready for the future?! And by the future, obviously I mean, are you ready for a Nate Dogg hologram?!! Nate, who passed away just over a year ago, is joining Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s Coachella-closing set this Sunday night via Princess Leia. This. Is. Not. A. Joke. According to TMZ, “Dr. Dre didn't want to leave Nate out of his Sunday performance — so he's incorporating his old friend using hologram technology ... the same technology that broadcast Mariah Carey's image across Europe last year ... at 5 simultaneous concerts. We're told an image of Nate will be projected onto the Coachella stage — alongside Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Warren G, and Daz Dillinger — to make it appear as though he's actually performing on stage.” SPIN points out that Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Wiz Khalifa are rumored to be on stage as well, but who in the hell is going to be looking at anything but the Nate Dogg hologram. Only one question: Is a "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope" reference too obvious to be made from the stage, or is it so obvious it must be made from the stage?
Here we go! Wednesday Axl Rose released an open letter explaining that he flatly rejects the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's inclusion of himself, as a member of Guns N’ Roses, into the Hall class of 2012. Well, this is awesome.
Damon Albarn is a ridiculously talented, commendably hard-working fellow. You could have checked in on Damon at any given time over the last decade and found him mixing it up with a preposterously diverse set of characters and musical collaborators; there have been charity albums and operas and adaptations of Chinese novels from the 16th century and even a band with Flea. Really, it’s amazing. That said — and with all due respect here — most of us are mostly only checking for two of Albarn’s manifold projects: Blur, which has recently been semi-revived for one-off singles and some gigs, and Gorillaz, dormant since 2010. And, now, Albarn tells The Guardian (via Pitchfork), both Blur and Gorillaz are done.
You thought this was a game for Lana Del Rey? You thought she’d be content just bombing through the scene, pouting her lips, dominating all music writer-y conversation for two months, launching a thousand think pieces about the value of authenticity, twirling around like a crazy person on SNL, and then releasing a middling, forgettable album? You thought it’d be over this easy? No way, kid. Lana Del Rey? Lana Del Rey is unstoppable.
The New York Times took a trip down to Nashville to profile Jack White (his solo album, Blunderbuss, is out this month) and, in the process, revealed all manner of delightful J.W. factoids. Most of this stuff — his perfectionism, his Protestant work ethic, his slavish devotion to old shit — you likely already knew. But a peek into his day-to-day- life, which currently involves a coterie of nutso projects tied around his all-purpose Third Man Records (there’s “a record store, his label offices, a concert venue, a recording booth, a lounge for parties and even a darkroom”), points exactly at his level of commitment to the Jack White Persona.
Yesterday, Kendrick Lamar — the extravagantly talented L.A. rapper pegged as the next great hope of West Coast hip-hop — dropped his first official single, “The Recipe.” It comes after a string of killer semi-official releases on which Kendrick flashed his potent blend of stripped-down candidness, even-keeled commentary, conflicted party proclivities, and undeniable rap chops. For right now, though, it’s just that last one that concerns us.
For no particularly discernible reason, this morning saw the arrival of new tracks from three of the great long-running indie-rock acts working today: brooding sentimentalists The Walkmen, spooky droners Liars, and knotty harmonizers Dirty Projectors. And because we here at Grantland are all about streamlining your indie-rock consumption experience, we now present all three bangers, in one place.
Tanlines — the Brooklyn indie-dance duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Jesse Cohen and guitarist/vocalist Eric Emm — released their debut album, Mixed Emotions, last week. It’s really, really good. Have you heard it yet? You haven’t? Here, go, check it out. It’ll only take you about 45 minutes. Grab a coffee, a comfortable chair, maybe a doughnut, let the soothing grooves, irrepressible hooks, and downcast vibes wash over you like a breeze, and then come back here and read our interview with Jesse. It’ll be waiting for you.
