The Intergalactic Carnival, or Be Sure to Call Sir Paul Ya’ll

Yonder sails the great ship Bonnaroo out to sea for another year, and with it the hopes and dreams of many a young lad and lassie.  But all those that witnessed the great ‘Roo this year will recall one memory above all others:  Saturday night, June 14 (or maybe it was Sunday morning, June 15) at sometime after 2am, when MGMT took the stage in the creatively-named “That Tent” and completely ripped the roof off the joint.  The Brooklyn duo took a few minutes off from designing Playboy t-shirts, overthrowing the French political system and torturing children to play a few notes at the greatest festival on earth.  So great was the swag of MGMT that they played unopposed at a festival with five stages.  To top it off, after hearing about their set Sir Paul McCartney himself sent word through his reps:  “Boys, call me.” I must admit that the sound of Sir Paul’s spokesman making kissing noises through the phone was a bit sickening though.  Next up for the band is playing Prospect Park in the Borough in July and putting the finishing touches on their new album, tentatively titled More Surfy.

In other newsy kind of stuff, I think the pure evilness that is the band Coldplay is well established.  I maintain that if you play Viva La Vida backwards, you’ll get the Audible.com version of The Satanic Verses. No kidding.  Joe Satriana knows it, hence his lawsuit against the band for stealing his music in the album’s title track.  Not to be outdone, Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens in a former life) tells Satriani to back off because Coldplay actually stole his music to make the song.  But in a clever move sure to be studied by legal scholars for years to come, Stevens says that he forgives the band for their transgression and that he will not seek legal action against them. Cunning ploy, Mr. Stevens, although I must admit the strategy escapes me.

With all the suing going on, I think I’ll get my cut, so I’m calling it out right here on TBTS.  Chris Martin, I’m going to litigate you!  Hard!  The reason?  Every time I hear the title of your song, I’m reminded of the horrendous Ricky Martin hit “Living La Vida Loca”.  As a matter of fact, I’m singing that song in my head right now.  The torture has to end.  You’ll be hearing from my attorney, and not just to request an autograph.

Finally, rapper Mos Def is once again rearranging the world to suit his own private fancy by releasing his latest album The Ecstatic as a T-SHIRT.  Yep kids you heard right, a freaking t-shirt.  How, you ask?  Well apparently there will be a download code for a digital version of the album on the shirt tag.  Put this next to Danger Mouse’s ploy of sending you a blank CD when you buy his latest album and you’re seeing a radical shift in the way music is marketed and delivered in the making.  What’s next, Gene Simmons marketing urinal cakes?  Done.  Later!