Friday Implies It’s Music News Day

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Autocratic forces are ascendant in America. But truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against the unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought or broken. Please stand with us.

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Rapper T.I. may be in serious trouble after he was arrested in a sting trying to purchase machine guns and silencers. Police also found a half a pound (!) of marijuana in his car. A phalanx of supporters attended a court date in Atlanta today, including up-and-coming hip-hop star Young Jeezy, where T.I. pleaded “not guilty.”

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr was named a Visiting Professor at the University of Salford in Manchester, where he will deliver “a series of workshops and masterclasses to students on the BA Popular Music and Recording degree.” Professor Marr, what do you do if your lead singer is lying about how much he’s paying the drummer and the bassist?

The recording industry goes after Usenet for illegal music file-sharing. Usenet. Wasn’t that what all the geeks in the computer lab at college were on back in like 1988? What next, oh record labels: going after on-hold music? Commodore 64 music composition programs? Home taping?

A dude in a gas mask freaked Annie Lennox out at a concert in Boulder, Colorado on Tuesday night. Lennox saw the man approaching and fled the stage, later apologizing to fans but defending her reaction, calling the guy “freakish and disturbing.” The man was also wearing, uh, platform boots and a cape. Is this the hot look this season in Boulder?