Josh Wolf released from prison Video
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Josh Wolf makes Guinness World Book of Records
Josh Wolf, an independent journalist from San Francisco, was subpoenaed a year ago. He remains in a Dublin, Calif., correctional facility, holding the record for a journalist held longest under contempt. Supporters hold a rally to mark the 168th day and to encourage a public outcry for Wolf's release. CNET News.com's Neha Tiwari reports.
Hear from the first jailed blogger
At a press conference held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., blogger/journalist/activist Josh Wolf speaks out about why he believes that the freedom of press is in jeopardy and why he thinks he's being asked to turn himself in so soon.
The names Quasimoto and Madlib have been linked for years, yet they've never been seen in the same room together. In fact, Quasimoto's never been seen in the same room with anyone ? he's The Unseen. But you can hear him - and there's no mistaking what he sounds like. Peanut Butter Wolf first heard him off a dusty old cassette, one of Madlib?s infamous beat tapes ? the kind he?d make to listen to himself, maybe pass around to crew. Madlib and Quas had been up in Lost Gates, somewhere near Oxnard, CA, making music for years fueled by Top Ramen and shrooms without the slightest intention of releasing it to the masses. Wolf got it out though ? after some begging and pleading, and after signing a contract with Quas vowing not to reveal his name. The Unseen came out in 2000 and caught praise by fans and critics alike. SPIN went off on Quasimoto's "recipe for resin-caked jazz and crusty comedy samples as a new flavor for the bland world of mainstream rap" and stuck him smack between Madonna and Outkast in their best of the year list. URB too named the album one of the best of the year. Jon Caramanica (Rolling Stone/Village Voice) wrote an essay called "Blind Faith-Quasimoto's Backdoor Truth? choosing to describe the album as a revelation or ?strange dream? rather than a hip hop LP. In the tradition of artistic "role playing" in black music, Quas was compared favorably to RZA, Kool Keith, and even Prince (City Pages, St. Paul/Minneapolis). Another dude wrote that rap music "hasn?t been this far out since 3 Feet High and Rising" (Sleazenation). And a few commented on the voice. What a voice. Was it a tree-blazin? ghetto chipmunk? A cartoon Martian? Naw, it?s neither - but close. Lord Quas, personally, is more bizarre than Michael Jackson in a playpen, and he likewise demands a high level of privacy. Madlib and the heads at Stones Throw have been dodging questions about Lord Quas for years. Who is he? Why won?t he perform live? When?s the next album? Mostly that last question. The answer is now. Quasimoto is back with 27 tracks and 68 minutes of straight boom music. The Further Adventures find Lord Quas still digging for records, rolling blunts, and smackin? dudes with bricks. Madlib, for his part, appears to have been saving some of his best beats for Quas, and some that others were maybe afraid to touch. Consider the book on Hip Hop thrown out the window. Quas probably smoked it. They?ve got MF DOOM along for a reprise of the Madvillain-Quas collab on "Closer." (Madvillain ? that's where we last heard from Madlib & Lord Quas, on the album named as one of the best of 2004 by GQ, Rolling Stone, Spin, XLR8R, Village Voice, and a long list of others.) They've got M.E.D. from the Lootpack family up on "The Exclusive." Melvin Van Peebles (legendary filmmaker, the "Baadasssss" himself) shows up again on several tracks, as he did on The Unseen, channeled through the officially sanctioned use of a sampler. Madlib also takes the mic for several tracks ? among them "Rappcats," the ultimate ode to 80s hip hop; "Raw Addict Part 2," the ultimate ode to crate digging and sampling; "Another Demo Tape," the track that might result in his never again being given a CD demo from a stranger. Quasimoto's at no loss for words though. With some wild tales of crime sprees, kidnappings, and a fetish for some booty, we can assume he?ll still be known as "the Bad Character." Watch for a video for the lead track "Bullyshit" in May, followed by a short tour, for which Quasimoto may or may not show up.
Josh Lowensohn offers some tips to help customize your YouTube viewing experience and become a power user.
Hailing from the small town of Moscow, Idaho, Josh Ritter?s songs are a rare gift of natural, intuitive beauty. Born in the late ?70s to two neuroscientists, Josh bought his first guitar from the local K-MART after hearing the Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash classic ?Girl From The North Country.? He began Oberlin College with the intent to follow in his parent?s scientist footsteps, but instead, discovered songwriting and the music of artists like Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, and Leonard Cohen. He graduated and then moved east for its close proximity to historic folk clubs like Club Passim in Boston. On a shoestring budget he recorded his critically acclaimed break through album Golden Age of Radio in 2001 at various tiny, one-room studios on the East Coast. In the fall of that year, Josh pressed up several thousand copies of Golden Age, which quickly sold and funded more touring. A copy found it?s way into the hands of Jim Olsen and Signature Sounds Recordings, and the record was released nationally in the US in January 2002. Critics called the modest album ?stunning,? ?elegant,? and ?damn near perfect,? landing Josh in the pages of Details, the New York Times, and Maxim. ?Come and Find Me,? the modest anthem of Golden Age, was featured over the end-credits of HBO?s uber-hip series Six Feet Under, and several successful tours followed. Meanwhile, at a Boston open mic that spring, Josh met Glen Hansard, the lead singer of The Frames. Hansard invited him to open a string of shows for the band in Ireland. Josh?s career took flight in Ireland, buoyed by the single ?Me & Jiggs,? which entered the Irish Top 40 and helped gain Josh full blown cult status, complete with sold-out headline tours, late-night TV appearances, and his very own cover band in Cork. Josh ran the gamut at the Irish Hot Press Reader?s Poll Awards, landing in the Top 5 for Best International Folk Act, International Male Songwriter, and International Male Singer, putting him in the company of Springsteen, David Gray, and Johnny Cash. Josh would spend much of 2002 splitting his time between the US and Ireland, sharing bills with such eclectic artists as Beth Orton, Liz Phair, Damien Rice, and Joan Baez, as well as a celebrated appearance at the 2002 Newport Folk Festival. In the process, he garnered impressive acclaim not only for Golden Age of Radio but also for his richly textured and intimately engaging live shows. Publications like The Village Voice, The Washington Post, and The Irish Times scrambled to describe what made Josh?s music so ?stunning.? Sold-out shows in New York, Boston, and Dublin, as well as a trip to the Sundance Film Festival kicked off 2003 in style. In February of that year, rested, refreshed, and more than ready to make a new record, Josh entered Black Box studios in rural France with his touring band and Irish producer David Odlum (the Frames, Gemma Hayes) to record Hello Starling. Recorded and mixed in only 14 days in an old dairy barn in the French countryside, the thick stone walls, high ceilings, and vintage gear (much of it Curtis Mayfield?s old equipment), made for a record which sounds conversational and honest and shimmers with a new-found confidence. The 11 songs on Starling retain the feel and flow of another era; these are catch-tunes and earnest lullabies that rekindle the warm glow of a young Springsteen or Leonard Cohen in both their literacy and honest enthusiasm. ?Kathleen,? a summer anthem about waiting around a party to drive a girl home, is a live favorite; ?Rainslicker? moves and sways with all the dust-stained imagery of the Clientele; and the show-stopping beauty of ?Baby That?s Not All? suggests an artist at the peak of his new-found powers. The legendary Joan Baez recently recorded ?Wings,? the haunting ballad at the center of Starling, for inclusion on her new album, placing Josh alongside artists such as Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, and Natalie Merchant. Additionally, Norah Jones nominated Hello Starling for the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize and his song ?Kathleen? won the 2004 Boston Music Award for Song of the Year. During 2004, Josh spent the spring on a U.K. tour that was followed by appearances at summer festivals, including the Cambridge Folk Festival (alongside Gillian Welch) and the V Festival (with The Strokes and the Pixies). In Ireland, Josh played his biggest show to date there, headlining one night of the Heineken Green Energy Festival. In October of 2004, Josh signed with V2 Records. V2 plans to release Hello Starling this February. This fall, Josh toured with Sarah Harmer in Canada. In December, Josh will play a series of East Coast performances. In the spring of 2005, Josh plans to enter the studio again to record another album for V2.
The 404 339: Where Wilson refuses to apologize to thousands of Star Trek fans
If you've ever wondered what it would take for Wilson to finally snap, well...it's today. After getting a load of flack for "spoiling" the "Star Trek" movie on last Friday's show, Wilson retaliates. You gotta hear this. We also take a crack at the Guitar Hero reality show, Disneyland noodies, chatting with strangers, and wolf shirts guaranteed to give you magic powers!
Josh Lowensohn walks you through what's hot and what's not with Google's developer release of Chrome for Mac. This early version of the popular Windows browser is now available for Mac and Linux users.
It all started after Charlie Tate graduated from the London School of Furniture. He was approached by the infamous Paris-based Big Cheese Records to form a funk bank, and Big Cheese All Stars were born! 2 singles, an album, and several extensive stints of touring, supporting the likes of Don Blackman, Roy Ayers, Gil Scott-Heron, Fred Wesley and James Brown put an end to a career in bespoke cabinet making. A future immersed in the funk, the soul and the jazz seemed assured. While still with the All Stars, an opportunity to play base in Neneh Cherry's band arose and the best part of the year was spent on the road touring her "Woman" album. A lot of fun was had. A lot of drinking was done. But the love of the funk, the soul, and the jazz prevailed. Unfortunately the sheer size of what the All Stars had become essentially caused its demise. Just about then, the idea of forming a record company began to take shape. King Kooba had been in existence for some time now, the first release having been on a subsidiary of the aforementioned Big Cheese Records. But the thought of an autonomous vessel for representing the Kooba and several other projects seemed too good to resist. Enter Second Skin Records, and what a productve lot they turned out to be! Roughly 30 singles and 12 albums, not a bad output from a hybrid label offering all manner of styles from drum and bass, beats, ambient, bizniss, electronica and breaks. Pretty much most of what was going on at the time, perhaps the varied style of the label, but particualrly what the Kooba were up to, appealed to San Francisco's Om Records. Several licenses, then an album, and a relationship with Om had been cemented. With the release of "Indian Summer" in the fall of 2002, a man like Charlie decided his fate lay in the Bay area...The rest as they say is history!
Video Clip to the song Fate Prisoner. Taken from the album Metatron.
Johnny Cash: "Live at San Quentin"
After nearly four decades, their full-length, unedited hour-and-a-half concert is now officially available over-the-counter, as Johnny Cash At San Quentin: Legacy Edition, a deluxe three-disc display book box set package (a la the recent Bruce Springsteen Born To Run 30th Anniversary Edition) arrives in stores November 14th on Columbia/Legacy, a division of Sony Bmg Music Entertainment. The complete 31-track concert, the longest Johnny Cash live performance on record containing 13 previously un-issued tracks, four of them featuring Johnny will be complemented by Johnny Cash In San Quentin. This one-hour DVD documentary film, produced by Englands Granada TV, chronicled the event with numerous performances as well as graphic one-on-one interviews with prison guards and inmates discussing their experiences behind bars.
