Rivers Cuomo’s Pinkerton Diaries

Dear diary. I wish it was the mid 90s, when I wrote brilliant pop songs effortlessly and my albums were considered instant classics. I’m Rivers Cuomo, and I am releasing diaries from when the Pinkerton album came out (via Stereogum). Cuomo has said, via his website, that he’ll release a scrapbook called The Pinkerton Diaries on December 12. He’ll also release Alone III, his 3rd album of outtakes and demos.

“On his website, Cuomo has a couple of bundles of both book and album up for pre-order. Cuomo claims that the book will include my journals, emails, letters, photos, and school papers — so you get an inside look as to exactly what I was thinking.” Alongside all that stuff, you’ll also get lyrics, music compositions, and studio notes that Cuomo scrawled during the recording sessions.”

Want to Contribute to The Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack? HELL YES!

Possibly the only thing I want to be when I grow up is Batman. Failing that, I will settle for some appearance in any Batman documentary movie, like next summer’s The Dark Knight Rises. Composer Hans Zimmer has asked fans to help contribute to the soundtrack (via Gigwise).

Zimmer wrote, “I’m shining the bat-signal up into the sky to call you all! We need to hear your voices! Now and Loud! We are creating the sound of a worldwide chant. There is no such thing as out-of-tune, no timing we can’t fix later. If you mumble, growl, scream or whisper, it’s all good. Make it yours.” It continues: “If you only get halfway through, no problem! Do it alone, bring your friends, but do it with energy and commitment. Let your voice be heard and be a part of our adventure!”

Well, I know how I am spending the rest of my day. Napping!

Has EMI Been Sold to Sony and Universal?

Apparently music label EMI has been sold for $4.1 billion and split up to Sony Music and Universal Music, and should officially be announced this weekend (via Slash Gear). Universal will get the music group, while Sony will get the publishing group.

“Analysts had expected EMI to fetch less than $4bn – Citigroup’s asking price – in an attempt to get the label off its hands. Similarly unexpected are the two apparent winners: neither Universal nor Sony were seen as being the frontrunners to take the deal.”

“Even assuming things go through, however, Citigroup isn’t expecting a quick resolution. Both buyers will have to do some logistical shuffling to satisfy regulators, with Universal Music expected to sell up to €500m ($682m) in assets – a process tipped to potentially take almost two years – in order to garner the necessary approval.”

So the music label monolopy gets smaller and smaller. Soon – one group.

Jay-Z Capitalizing on Occupy Wall Street Protest. Hello irony!

Jay-Z’s Rocawear is releasing a line of shirts that looks to profit on the Occupy Wall Street movement (via The Hollywood Report). There appears to be no intention of sharing the profits with the Occupy Wall Street movement, however.

A Rocawear spokesperson told Business Insider: “The ‘Occupy All Streets’ T-shirt was created in support of the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement. Rocawear strongly encourages all forms of constructive expression, whether it be artistic, political or social. ‘Occupy All Streets’ is our way of reminding people that there is change to be made everywhere, not just on Wall Street. At this time we have not made an official commitment to monetarily support the movement.”

Jay-Z was recently seen wearing one of the shirts, which tweaks the phrase “Occupy Wall Street” by crossing out the “W” and adding an “S” to make it read “Occupy All Streets.”
 The protests, which started Sept. 17 in New York, have since spread to Los Angeles and other cities as demonstrators protest corporate greed and corruption.

Did you see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog head down there for a bit on Conan O’Brien’s show? Well watch the entertaining 9 minute clip below and you can say you have.

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