Spring has sprung here in the Northeast, just in time for a weekend of religious obligation, or gluttony, or both! Luckily (the probably hipster coined) "Zombie Jesus Day" couldn't stop our beloved musicians from doing crazy sh*t. Someone wants your money for their blood! Someone got banned from China! Someone was fined for disorderly conduct! Read on!
- Bob Dylan has been banned from future gigs in China. It seems the 68-year old is still a symbol of revolution to the stingy Chinese Ministry of Culture, which has blocked him from performing. This also cancels other dates in the area, just proving that China loves screwing Japan out of, among other things, Bob Dylan concerts. [via The Guardian]
- Gang Of Four is partnering with Pledge Music. Another startup in the vein of the failed experiment Sellaband, Pledge is urging fans to help fund artists by providing incentives; artwork, trinkets, and other exclusive merchandise provided to "investors." Rap group Gang Of Four upped the ante and is offering things as weird as scratch-n-sniff booklets, and even vials of their blood in exchange for capital. This is our music industry, folks. It was bad enough when HEALTH was just signing stuff with their blood, now we can do whatever we want with it? [via Digital Music News]
- The city of Dallas fined Erykah Badu up to $500 for disorderly conduct, associated with the nudity in her new video. Someone complained. She should have said it was a mayonnaise commercial. That's how Matt and Kim escaped arrest. [via Pitchfork]
I think my main problem with "Zombie Jesus Day" is the fact that it is kind of a smug retelling of the story with too little insight. Dude taught his followers to drink his blood. Isn't he technically a vampire? I thought they were all the rage these days. Plus, as we all know, the
hipster is dead, which makes every hipster a zombie. Stay out of Williamsburg, unless you want to be a brain buffet. Brains are the new irony.-
joe