The Mars Bar is having a cover night dedicated to the person who was once apathetically named King of Pop by The Onion.

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It’s always odd to revisit what you’ve reviewed over the course of a year. Sometimes, much can change – as after subsequent listenings, you realize that record you thought was pretty decent just blows (see The Killers’ Sam’s Town) or you come to love an album that you’d previously dismissed as mediocre (see “Into the Wild” soundtrack). The true test of a “best release of the year” is its stability, so I’ve tried to pick “long-haul” contenders—albums I’ll go to for months (or even years) to come, with no requirement for a set amount of finalists. Here’s what made the cut...

TOP ALBUMS:

• LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver (this one sits significantly higher than the rest)
• Interpol: Our Love to Admire
• The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
• Eddie Vedder: "Into the Wild" soundtrack
• Minus the Bear: Planet of Ice
• Aqueduct: Or Give Me Death

And, topping the list of what sadly wasn’t as good as I expected:
Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

I’ll leave it at that. I can hardly fathom how disappointed I was by that output (mixing the quirky fire of Modest Mouse with legendary jangler Johnny Marr? How did it fall so flat?).

TOP NORTHWEST ALBUMS:

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at Tacoma Dome

Justin Timberlake is a true performer. He puts on the kind of polished show that makes me have no problem spending the kind of money I did for the tickets.

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MTV has announced the nominees for its annual suck-up-fest, the Video Music Awards!

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Dick in a box is up for an Emmy????!?!?

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We know you have a musical guilty pleasure, we just don't know what it is... yet.

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(taken directly from this article)

Justin Timberlake has joined forces with a rival music company to launch his own label, Tennman Records.

The Los Angeles-based label -- whose name pays tribute to Timberlake's home state of Tennessee -- will operate as a joint venture with Interscope Records. Timberlake will serve as chairman and CEO, a statement said.

As an artist, Timberlake is signed to Jive Records, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Interscope, meanwhile, is a unit of Universal Music Group.

Tennman will announce its first signings in the next few weeks, a statement said. Former Sony BMG talent scout Ken Komisar will serve as president.

Apparently Lou Pearlman, the fella who brought us *Nsync, the Backstreet Boys, and O-Town, is on the run!

According to this report, Pearlman bilked investors out of lots and lots o' money (we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars) and has now disappeared after leaving the country in January. And you thought you felt ripped off when you found your old boy band CDs in your storage boxes!

 

in the past 24 hrs i have laid out more cash than i care to own up to, all in the name of live music. i figured tix to justin timberlake (it's true) would cost a pretty penny. but for the mozzer too? and i opted for the balcony (ie, less expen$ive) seats (sorry to dissapoint anyone who thinks that doesn't show my 'dedication.) 

I'm so proud of the Pacific Northwest music scene, as she has given us some of the best records released anywhere (although Suburban Kids, Art Brut, Manhattan Love Suicides, and Graham Coxon — I love you like a sister).

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