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Idolator

When the internet came, we overthrew the pasty white tastemakers, the duplicitous music marketers and the manufactured pop idols. And then they all came back. This is Idolator. We're so disappointed.

What Does Matthew Sweet Owe Us? [Ugly Truth Rock]Today

You know something's up when an article titled "The ugly truth: Matthew Sweet draws puny crowd in S.F." hits Google News. While one man's irritation with Matthew Sweet's show in San Francisco last night might not be terribly important, that man's post does prompt the question of what we should expect from our minor alternative stars of the '90s.

Not only was the crowd dismal at the Great American Music Hall last night (the author estimates 200 attendees at a venue that holds 600), the show didn't wow those who decided to attend.

Given that it was just an intimate gathering among friends, it would have been nice to see Sweet cut loose, take some requests, maybe play a few Velvet Crush songs. Instead, he and the band just cranked out the same 13 songs they’ve been playing every night on tour, followed by the same two encores, followed by the same final encore. The evening began slowly with three from Sweet’s hit-and-miss new “Sunshine Lies” disc but peaked halfway through with, naturally, two songs from “Girlfriend”: “I’ve Been Waiting” and the title track.

Sweet’s singing was hampered by a respiratory bug — at one point he said, “I’m dying of pneumonia” — and that condition was all too evident on quieter numbers like “Someone to Pull

Happy Friday: Here's A Picture Of Eminem That's Made From M & M's [Absurdia]Today

Let's use this opportunity to think what other popular musical artists could have likenesses of themselves rendered in candy that has some sort of punny significance. A silhouette of Evan Dando made from Lemonheads? The members of Vampire Weekend rendered in Nerds? Something that we could refer to as "The Great Kit Kat"? Surely I'm missing a few possibilities here. [StreetCred.com]

Billy Corgan, in his latest attempt to be ... [Baseball-related Content]Today

Billy Corgan, in his latest attempt to be seen as a total nutball by pretty much anyone who liked him during the '90s, is saying that Eddie Vedder's song about the Cubs maybe winning the World Series "killed that shit dead... Eddie ain’t living here to write a song about my fuckin’ team." Funny, I thought that Ryan Dempster and an anemic performance by the Cubs' offense were more to blame, but maybe Billy isn't big on reading the boxscores. [Home Run Derby via Vulture]

Everybody Stay Calm: Ticketmaster Isn't Doing Away With Service Charges Anytime Soon [The New Model]Today

Ticketmaster may be engaging in a couple of isolated experiments where it does away with marking up the cost of its tickets through added surcharges, but don't worry, capitalist types: The charges, which have the potential to inflate the cost of a night out by, um, a lot, aren't going away completely. Instead, they're just being rolled into the face value of the ticket—because hey, executives have to eat too, right?

But during Wednesday's "Two Tickets to Paradise" panel, Live Nation executive vp business development and strategy Greg Bettinelli said the eliminated convenience fees still will factor into ticket prices. Even so, Ticketmaster senior vp Joseph Freeman noted that concertgoers likely will be less agitated if add-on fees don't appear on their credit card bills.

"I've had so many family and friends tell me over the years that they'll happily pay $100 for a ticket, but the $90-plus-$10 drives them bonkers," Freeman said.

Tickets.com chief commercial officer Derek Palmer agreed that additional ticket charges will not go away because "there are actual costs involved," he said. "We sp

"Paste" Inspires Many A List-Watching Music Fan To Ask, "She & Him??" [Year-end Analysis]Today

Paste's 2008 best-of isn't unlike the magazine itself: largely predictable, but with a few surprises seemingly thrown in to confuse or distract. The list hews rather closely to their adult alternative aesthetic, but as likely obligated by law, they threw in Lil Wayne (No. 29). He's not quite as good as MGMT, in case you were wondering.

THE GOOD: It cheered my heart to see that Ida Maria's Fortress Round My Heart placed highly (No. 13); the odd, but charming acknowledgment of Torche (No. 34) elicited a similar reaction. For the Christian rock enthusiast portion of my heart, seeing Sandra McCracken buried near the bottom of the list was nice, although almost a wink and a nod to those who wonder if Paste is a undercover Christian rock mag. They may recommend Lil Wayne, but don't worry, true believers. They still have room for Jesus rock.
THE BAD: Im sure any Idolator reader could pick out a record they don't particularly care for and go all critically nutzoid, but Girl Talk at No. 7 seems like an odd slap in the face to the parade of "real musicians" who fall afterwards. I like Girl Talk; I downloaded the disc, and it stayed in my car stereo for a few months. But the question ends up being whether these bes