Set to further show that shiftless group Josie and the Pussycats how an animated band should merchandize themselves, Gorillaz are getting both a biography and documentary to expand on the mythology and history of the cartoon musicians. Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre is a full-color 300-page biography covering the band and it out now for your reading enjoyment. Meanwhile, Ceri Levy (who previously directed a Blur documentary) is set to helm Bananaz, a feature-length documentary that is set to drop on DVD sometime in 2008.

MP3:
Gorillaz - Kids With Guns (Hot Chip Remix)

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I know Halloween is over and many of you are probably nursing a candy hangover, but I thought those of you still dressed up in your Amy Winehouse costume might enjoy the opportunity to hear Jarvis Cocker tell a ghost story on his new Podcast! It’s uploaded in three parts on his MySpace page and should help you burn some time until Thanksgiving.

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September marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel, On the Road. The essentially plotless novel about the relationship between two rootless young men who seemed constitutionally unable to settle down has had a profound impact on both American literature and culture. To commemorate the event, Smithsonian magazine has published an excellent personal essay about Kerouac written by his friend Joyce Johnson.

I thought it would be appropriate to share The Hold Steady’s “Stuck Between Stations,” from last year’s excellent Boys and Girls in America. The album’s title and the song’s opening lines (”There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right / Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together”) are drawn from Sal Paradise, Kerouac’s hero from On the Road.

MP3: The Hold Steady - “Stuck Between Stations”

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With the official release at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, excitement for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series, is massive. Perhaps nothing is more indicative of Potter Mania than the music genre it has given birth to - wizard rock. Using Hogwarts characters as inspiration and dealing with themes from J.K. Rowling’s popular series, the group Harry and the Potters are accredited with starting the genre five years ago. Since then, the number of wizard rockers has grown to approximately 180 and sites like The Wizrocklopedia and WizardRock.org are dedicated to following the artists and their shows (sometimes held at libraries) where muggles rock out.

As a tribute to the finale of the wizarding saga, Hypeful has collected 17 tracks (Harry’s age in Hallows) by wizard rockers to share with you. Load these tracks up on your muggle iPod and hopefully they’ll help keep your life spoiler-free while you wait to learn about the fate of The Boy Who Lived. Also, you may want to check out recent articles about wizard rock done by Salon and NPR.

MP3s:
Bella’s Love - “Angsty Wizard Summer”
Danny Dementor - “Where’s Your Hood At?”
Draco and the Malfoys - “My Dad is Rich”
Dumbledore’s Army - “Firebolt”
Harry and the Potters - “Song for the Death Eaters”
Hogwarts, A History - “Neville Neville Neville”
How Airplanes Fly - “Luna I Believe In You”
Ministry of Magic - “Snape vs. Snape”
The Moaning Myrtles - “Prefects Are Hot”
The Mudbloods - “Freedom is Just a Hippogriff Away”
The Parselmouths - “It’s Not Half Bad”
Potter and the Lightning Bolts - “Hogwartz”
The Remus Lupins - “Remember Cedric”
Tom Riddle and Friends - “Fleur, Mon Ami”
Weezard - “The Order”
The Whomping Willows - “Draco and Harry Secretly Want To Make Out”
Wyrd Sisters - “This Is The Night”

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Previously branded with such unfortunate monikers like “the third-most-famous Stroke,” Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. is changing things in 2007. It started when he became the first Stroke to release his own solo album, the excellent Yours to Keep, earlier this year. On the song, “In Transit”, Hammond best summed up his transformation by singing, “I’m not gonna change until I want to.”

Now comes news that Hammond isn’t finished changing. In addition to working on his solo record, Hammond has also spent the past year writing a screenplay adaptation of Charles Bukowski’s novel, Pulp. Hammond doesn’t expect to direct the film himself, but he is interested in being a more hands-on screenwriter and already has a secret dream cast in mind.

(more…)

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