Moore makes musical “murder” musing
Last week, thousands of masked protesters observed Nov. 5 by protesting at Britain’s House of Parliament, re-enacting the final scene from the 2005 movie V for Vendetta, and Alan Moore, creator of the graphic novel that inspired the masked mobs, decided to provide them with a soundtrack. The graphic novelist released a song in support of the group on the Occupation Records label entitled “The Decline of English Murder.” The title is a nod to a 1946 George Orwell essay, and the song itself features Moore sing-talking over sparse instrumentation provided by Joe Brown. The lyrics deal with the greed of the banking industry and the failings of government. Those lucky enough to have purchased the track online on Nov. 5 were entered into a draw to win a Guy Fawkes masked signed by Moore himself. Though the draw is over, the track can still be downloaded from Occupation Records’ website for about $1.60, with all proceeds going to the Occupy movement.
Brace yourselves, musicians are coming
If you’ve ever looked at the drummer from Coldplay and thought to yourself “Now there’s a guy I’d like to see in a gritty, medieval television series,” your prayers have been answered. Will Champion is set to have a cameo appearance in the upcoming season of HBO’s fantasy show Game of Thrones. As Champion is a drummer by trade, his cameo will consist of him, well, drumming. Though we don’t yet know how this will come up in the show, fans are speculating that he might be drumming in a band at a wedding. Another musician to enter the world of George R. R. Martin next year will be Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody, though we don’t know under what capacity he’ll be appearing.
But how will I know who’s cool?
Composer Thomas Bergersen, who has worked on several movie trailers and films, came out in defense of dubstep and other “unpopular” music forms in a lengthy Facebook post last week.
“People identify themselves through music, and express themselves through their taste in music. Sometimes people get so caught up in the attributions of genres that they forget what music is about in the first place,” he writes. “They limit themselves to certain styles because their mind is not free. Music can and should be enjoyed across all genres, regardless of social value, political statement, mainstream success, stigma and so on, because great talent is to be found in every aspect of art, from the popular to the most obscure and unknown.” He ends his post by asking readers to reject the herd mentality when it comes to music and “cultivate that which resonates within you, not what resonates with others.”
May the pants be with you
Through the constant campaigning, speech giving and handshaking across the country is probably what won Barack Obama his second term in the White House, Katy Perry admitted to having tipped the odds in his favor by giving the president elect a pair of lucky Y-front briefs with his face on them. Perry reportedly spent nearly £200 on the underthings at a store in Hampstead in north London. “She was delighted when she got to hand him a pair at a political rally just before he won, “ a source told the UK Sun. “Katy’s been saying he won because of the lucky pants.”
