Chicago Connections in Music News

Some days when Chicagoist is busy reading the trades, it’s almost enough to put us to sleep. Thank goodness for that that intravenous caffeine drip. Lately, these stories all have a “Chicago Connection”.

From working with Jay-Z and Kanye West on his debut album to garnering three Grammy nominations, Lupe Fiasco has had some dreams come true. He’s decided to take Oprah’s advice and dream even bigger for what comes next. His high hopes include working with Pink Floyd on his next album entitled The Cool – as long as he can pull himself away from that addictive internet to spend some time in the studio.

We’ve noted some of Kanye’s intense beliefs about his video for “Touch the Sky” and now that very same video is getting him sued. Evel Knievel is suing Mr. West for damages and to halt the distribution of the video. Knievel claims that the persona of “Evel Kanyevel” that Kanye acts out in the vid is an infringement on his trademarked name and likeness and is “visually indistinguishable” from the time that Knievel tried to jump the Snake River Canyon over 30 years ago.

We’re only sure of one thing in this bit of news – people still love themselves some Smashing Pumpkins and will download anything with their name on it. Chicagoist has been reading JC’s blog posts on myspace regarding the latest recording efforts for the new album, but clearly we were not surfing the internets enough to fall prey to a hoax by the previously unknown British band, Amy Blue, who uploaded their own songs as if they were new SP efforts. Spin.com decided to do some investigative reporting about the whole damn thing and now it is history.

A new direction is the only way forward – whether it’s Iraq or Fall Out Boy’s third album Infinity on High. Guitarist Patrick Stump spoke with Billboard and stated that a broader swath of styles and flavors will run throughout the new album. A few of the phrases/words used in the short article to describe the new sound: funky, hip-hop/R&B, punk, borderline classic rock, restrained. Chicagoist patiently, eagerly, and tirelessly awaits the February 6th drop date for FOB’s latest creation.

Well, that’s just a few of the fun little tidbits we learned today about our local kids in that crazy music biz. We hope that Lupe gets to meet Pink Floyd in the flesh, Kanye’s lawyers learn a little something about infringing on other’s likenesses, and that the rest of us learn that not everything is what it claims to be on the internet. (Hasn’t MSNBC beaten that idea into our heads yet?)