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Foster Kamer

By Foster Kamer 7:30pm

books

Mr. Byrne. (Photo: Catalina Kulczar)

David Byrne Making a Little Too Much Sense: How Music Works Is Safe and Boring

About two-thirds of the way into How Music Works (McSweeney’s, 352 pages, $32) by David Byrne, one of rock music’s most omniscient presences, there is a rare attempt at stark self-awareness: “The online music magazine Pitchfork once wrote that I would collaborate with anyone for a bag of Doritos,” Mr. Byrne recalls. “This wasn’t intended as a compliment—though, to be honest, it’s not that far from the truth.”

This helps explain why David Byrne the brand is getting, for lack of a better word, boring. Read More

By Foster Kamer 9/13/12 1:06pm

TAX ON TAX ON TAX

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Mitt Romney’s Tax Rate Enshrined in New Kanye West Song

If there’s one thing all Americans likely understand in some cursory manner about Mitt Romney, beyond the matter of his religion, it’s that something is curious about the way he pays his taxes. Most Americans, for example, don’t have dealings with shell corporations in the Cayman Islands. Also, in the circumstance that they’re asked for their tax returns, most Americans usually don’t have a choice as to whether or not they’re going to produce them. But as of yet, the Republican candidate for the highest office in the land hasn’t exactly seen his tax returns become a matter of interest within pop culture. Until now. Read More

By Foster Kamer 9/05/12 5:39pm

MEDIA BRIEFS

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Media Briefs: BuzzMedia Loses a Big Bill

Blog-eating media network BuzzMedia lost a top exec. Village Voice Media named someone who is popular for something to a top spot. The president of MSNBC is excited about winning, or as Charlie Sheen would have it: #Winning. In this edition of Wednesday Afternoon Media Briefs, it’s All Nihilism Everything: Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen and Foster Kamer 9/04/12 7:11pm

Punched! Out

Jim Windolf (Right) at a Rufus Wainwright Performance at Rose Bar in 2010 (photo courtesy of Patrickmcmullan.com)

Punch! Magazine Scraps Editorial Content … For Now

Punch!, a Spy-inspired iPad “appazine” that paired long-form journalism with short comedy segments and interactive games, has scrapped its editorial content to focus entirely on an authoring tool for apps.

With New York Observer alum Jim Windolf at the helm and featuring contributions from George Gurley and Mark Ames, Punch! put out three issues before announcing that it was going on hiatus on August 14.  Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/31/12 1:01pm

BAT OUT OF HELL

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The New York Times Can Not Get Rid of Arthur Brisbane Fast Enough

The final print column by Arthur S. Brisbane in his capacity as New York Times public editor—a position created in the wake of 2003′s Jayson Blair scandal, making him only the fourth ombudsman in the paper’s history—ran on August 26th. The final day of his term is today, August 31. But one can only imagine that the Times is eager for this day—and his tenure with the paper—to end. Read More