Yep, after nearly three months on vacation, the Wicked Week is getting back ...not in the form which you've got used to though! The concept of the series has evolved and now we have something that much better corresponds with its title. Getting down to business -- instead of just a simple round up of all news articles posted for the passed week, there are six reports that indeed can be called "wicked".
Monday: Cheating
It's not a secret that the music we hear on the radio is chosen mostly not over its prodigious coolness and outstanding artists' talent. We just have a proof now. Plasma TVs, laptops, PlayStation 2 consoles, trips and limousines -- that's just a partial list of all kinds of payolas that the media giants Sony and Epic were sending out to the radio guys to get more spins for their "artists." Long story short -- they have paid another $10 million to close the issue.
Editorial note: That's kinda funny, because if you decided to put a couple mp3's on the net, their lawyers would shut your site in 3 minutes or will ask you to pay a couple thousands for copyright infringement. They should be kissing my ass for a free promotion.
Tuesday: Breakup
It may looks like just another band's internal dissension -- two of Chevelle members have dismissed their bassist (and brother) Joe Loeffler. However the statements made by the band and Joe himself are strange if not ridiculous in their contradictory:
In July Pete and Sam Loeffler announced that "Joe is taking a break to be home with family." A few days later Joe himself made a statement, from which it followed that he was actually fired from the band. "Try and make it look like I didn't want to be in the band," excerpt from the message reads. "I was fired plain and simple." From bad to worse -- after a week or so all three brothers made a new statement, officially confirming the bassist's departure, with Joe Loeffler ending the announcement visibly gently: "This will be positive for me and my brothers. I'm looking forward to all of the new opportunities this will make available to me." The brothers haven't spoken with Joe since.
Wednesday: Parody
What kind of perversions hasn't this world seen yet? Here's a great example of how commerce is able to ruin creativity. And I can only sympathize with all "nu-metal" fans, because the named kind of music is getting way too popish. Fastfood giant Burger King has managed to make its own "metal" band that devilishly looks just like Slipknot. The group, which members are wear chicken masks, is called Coq Roq and offer poultry-themed songs with lyrics referenced to chicken fries. Rumours say the band has already achieved some popularity and scheduled to hit the stage with Slipknot. For the tour dates, click here. Well, if this band that exists solely to promote fast food will have true fans, I quit...
Thursday: One More Cheating?
I believe that every man under the sun has his own destination. A pure genius, Jimi Hendrix was living to follow his vocation. And, as it's been unveiled in the latest Jimi's biography "Room Full of Mirrors," the legendary guitarist couldn't let things such as a military service disturb his musical career. Enlisted in the US army to avoid being sent to jail after being arrested in stolen cars, Hendrix had pretended he was gay and soon was discharged for "homosexual tendencies". If the famous lady-killer hadn't played such an excellent trick with the U.S. Army, we'd probably lose this distinguished artist -- after all, the war in Vietnam was in full swing.
Friday: Depravity
Usually we don't like to discuss personal lifes of the musical stars, but sometimes these "stars" unveil so funny things, that it's difficult to restrain ourselves. In April, former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant claimed he used to watch live sex shows with Jimmy Page and ABBA stars Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, while being in Stockholm, Sweden. "There were some really good clubs," Plant told a Swedish TV. "People would go to bed on circle-shaped mattresses in front of us. Men and women would start having sex while we were having a drink." The funniest thing in this story is that ABBA, have denied the fact of "watching live sex" with Plant. "They've never been to any sex club with Robert Plant," a spokesperson said.
Saturday: Amusement
Obviously, Chris Martin had spent many hours thinking out how to twist the artwork for his band Coldplay's latest album "X&Y." Most likely the aim was to make it the way that nobody could manage to understand it. As the result, we've got blue background and seemingly random color, as well as black & white blocks that are strongly resemble computer game Tetris. However the puzzle had been solved even before the album was officially released -- it's turned out that the cover is coded using a 19th century telegraphic code, called the Baudot Code (or the International Telegraph Code #1). The configuration of blocks on the front spells out "X&Y", whilst the message at the back of the album's booklet says "Make Trade Fair". You can get that thrilling opportunity to be a telegraphist from the 19th century now too. Type any text you want at this page and get your own "X&Y" codes!
Feel free to leave comments, we appreciate your feedback -- see you next time!