This week on Hot Off the Press, I’m going to avoid all Yeezus talk. Love me some Kanye, but he’s been hogging all of the spotlight this week, so it’s time to focus on other things that are happening in the music world (that, and I still haven’t had the time to fully listen to his album!) If you really need your Kanye fix, there’s a dance edit to “New Slaves” that I included at the bottom of the article that is off the chain. 

In music news this week, Zedd confirms that he is producing Lady Gaga‘s latest album, ARTPOP. It’s official. Every top 40 star has hopped on the EDM bandwagon. Might as well enjoy the ride while the wheels are still turning. I personally think that Lady Gaga has fallen off with her more recent music. It’s nothing compared to the stuff she used to release. Maybe this collaboration will bring the star back to her roots? One could only hope. On the other end, this news is massive for Zedd and will only bring him the exposure that he deserves. He’s produced some great music, so I’m putting some faith into this project.

Speaking of the EDM bandwagon, Avicii recently caused an uproar amongst his fans. His take on Aloe Blacc‘s vocals has these music junkies’ knickers in a knot. Ever since the first episode of How to Make it in America, I’ve been obsessed with Aloe Blacc. His voice is soulful and his lyrics are worth listening to. When I heard that Avicii sampled Aloe‘s lyrics in his latest song “Wake Me Up,” I didn’t think it could work.  After actually listening to the song, I can say that it’s not my favourite tune, but it’s quite good. “Wake Me Up” perfectly captures the soulful lyrics from Aloe, whilst making the tune danceable. What I like is that Avicii didn’t overpower the song, and he let the vocals do most of the work. It’s definitely a track that is going to be played at several festivals this summer — an upbeat, feel-good, folky dance song.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s good to see that John Mayer is back to making music after his brief relationship with Taylor Swift — I didn’t think he could ever get back from that. My future baby-daddy, I mean John, shows his sense of humour in his latest lyric video “Paper Doll”. In the video, an elderly woman is prancing around a neighbourhood, “romancercizing” to John‘s voice. The video will definitely bring the LOLs and is a must-watch!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lastly, here are some songs that I’m obsessed with this week.

“Mad Love” Elli Ingram

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“Cookie Thumper” Die Antwoord

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“New Slaves” Kanye West (Brenmar Dance Edit)
“On My Way” Drake ft. James Fauntleroy

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“Something About You” Dornik

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcomed a healthy, albeit 5 weeks premature, baby girl on June 15 in Los Angeles. There are a few thoughts that come to our minds right away, and we’re going to share them with you:

A) What the heck is she going to look like?
B) What if it’s not actually Kanye’s baby?
C) What ridiculous name is she going to have?
D) Please, God, make this Kimye’s first and last baby.
E) Doesn’t Kim kind of look like Octomom?
F) Does anyone think the baby escaped prematurely because it could no longer handle being photographed in Kim’s horrible pregnancy outfits?
G) How are Kim and Kanye going to try to top Jay-Z and Beyonce’s baby girl?
H) Was the baby’s premature birth a crazy publicity stunt coincided with the leak of Kanye’s new album Yeezus?
I) If Kanye is as Godly as he says he is, is he able to immaculately impregnant Kim?
J) “I Hit It First” is still funny.

Welcome back to Hot Off the Press — The one-stop shop for everything music-related. This week, Disclosure has been making headlines for their not-so-authentic set during the Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium. How do the two intend on recovering from comparisons to David Guetta? Also, if you’re looking for music that has caught my attention in the past week, direct your attention to the end of this article.

A little drama never hurt anyone, right? Well, when that drama revolves around your talents, it becomes more of a hassle. Over the weekend, Disclosure performed their hit song “You & Me” with the lovely Eliza Doolittle during the Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium. Performing in the presence of Taylor Swift and Robbie Williams meant that the pressure was on. Everything went smoothly as the two brothers took to the stage, but it was the aftermath of the performance that had people talking. A popular facebook page called “I Love Bass Music” had posted a picture from their performance with the caption: “Did Disclosure just pull a David Guetta?” As you can see in the picture below, the two brothers stand behind Eliza with unplugged CDJs and missing headphones. Well, this is awkward. Before people had time to make the two more embarrassed than they already were, one of the two brothers, Guy, responded to the “imposter” inferences:

Notice also that we didn’t try and make it look like we were mixing. We left the fucking plug on the floor on purpose, didnt even plug phono leads into the master out, turned all the EQs fully down and the master out AND DIDNT EVEN TAKE HEADPHONES for god sake!! LOL if at any point we touched the mixer it was…well, you try standing in front of 80,000 people and not touching the mixer… go on… its really hard hahaha!”

Well, I love Disclosure and the two have been pumping out incredible music in the past, so I can turn a blind eye to this situation (this time). Their full response to the photo explained the situation completely, and I’ve forgiven them. I’ve also included one of their songs in my list for this week, because it’s fantastic.

Well now that that drama has been dealt with, let’s get down to the serious business. I’m lucky enough to have a full-time job that gives me a boatload of time to do whatever it is that I want. In that spare time, I have been listening to music streaming from the UK. It’s always been a favourite of mine, because those lads really know how to make great music. I have pages full of song lists that need to be downloaded for the next Ipod update, so below I’m going to put some of the best of those pages. Hopefully you love them just as much as I do. Enjoy!

“Waiting” Adrian Marcel

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“When a Fire Starts to Burn” Disclosure

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“Got Me” Sinead Harnett

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“Lift Me Up” Rusko

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“Paper Aeroplane” Francesco Rossi

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“Better Off” Quadron ft. Kendrick Lamar

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Check out these photos from the groovy time at Jim Bob Ray’s on Saturday night, which rolled out into Sunday morning. We go hard at Jim Bob’s for Musiq Saturdays, thanks for keeping the party going guys!

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If you enjoy golf, charity work, amazing prizes, or all of the above, be sure to register for the Tournament of Hope Charity Golf Classic. Sponsored by Bud Light, Earls London, and Virgin Radio among many others, the event will take place on Sunday July 14^th, 2013 at 12:00 PM at FireRock Golf Club in London, Ontario.

The event is held in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), an organization that provides direct service to over 100,000 Canadians through the combined efforts of over 10,000 volunteers. They provide a vast variety of specifically tailored support programs to individuals suffering from mental illnesses and their families. Established in 1918, the CMHA strives to promote mental health by implementing stress reduction workshops, public education campaigns, and many other tools to help all individuals enjoy life, deal with change, bounce back from adversity, achieve their goals, and form and sustain relationships.

Entries are already open and are available on a first come, first serve basis. Registration can be done online at http://form.jotformpro.com/form/31285486963971 for a non-refundable entry fee of $150 (per team member). This tournament promises to be the highlight of your golf season and an event you surely won’t want to miss. Going into its 3rd year, the Tournament of Hope is quickly becoming a fan favorite with golfers in the London area. Our hosts at FireRock Golf Club will be serving up one of London’s finest golf experiences, at one of London’s finest courses.

Get involved and participate in this great cause with great incentives!

From ghetto gold chains to cobalt cuffs to silver bags, when it comes to fashion and accessories, metallics and metals have a certain magnetic appeal. We’re drawn to the hard-edged look of studs, the hard-ass behind the hardware. Whether it be a retro metallic biker jacket, a statement necklace, or a bold mafia style gold chain bracelets, it’s all about mixing and matching tough accessories with feminine ensembles.

The look is a wildly exciting combination of mixing metals and textures – think Lana Del Rey meets Rihanna. An armful of bracelets can reveal the story behind the wearer’s personality, from vintage to brand new, designer collections, to one-of-a-kind buys at a market, Metallica has the unique edge of rock music – the angry exterior, combined with soft lyrics and delicate fabrics or dainty rings.

From stacked cuffs to sequin shrugs, fashion houses like Balenciaga, Lanvin, and Balmain are all inspired by the realm of metallic fashion. It’s all about blurred lines, with accessories from the hood or Harlem meeting haute couture. It’s The Outsiders Give your look some edge with an armful of bangles or a Céline style dog collar, because when it comes to accessories – there’s no such thing as an overdose.

John Stamos recently gushed about his former girlfriend and co-star, Lori Loughlin. The two starred in the classic television series, Full House, but you already knew that. Stamos appeared on HuffPo Live and revealed that the two did indeed date before they played husband and wife on Full House. Apparently, they split due to timing issues. Remember that episode of Full House where Stamos’ character Uncle Jesse almost missed his wedding to Loughlin’s character, Aunt Becky? Well maybe that was art imitating life after all.

Stamos said to HuffPo Live, “We were friends, we were on the soaps together and we actually did date. We went on a date to Disneyland before, you know, before we were both married. In real life, when we were 18, 19 years old. We did have some off timing, but no disrespect to her family and her husband now, I would say that she could be the one that got away.”

Loughlin was married to Michael Burns for most of her run as Becky Katsopolis on Full House before divorcing in 1996. She tied the knot with current hubby Mossimo Giannulli the following year and they have two children. Stamos married now ex-wife Rebecca Romijn in 1998. For shame, nineties fans, for shame.

So, even though Charlie Sheen wizard troll (or whatever he called himself when he was cray-cray) ways seem to be behind him, he recently lashed out at Teem Mom/porn star Farrah Abraham. Apparently, he’s p-i-s-s-e-d at her for leaking a private text message conversation between the two. You may think the severity of the rant indicates that the text conversation was incriminating to Sheen, but it sounds harmless to us. Apparently, the media hoe reached out to Sheen in May 2013 saying she hoped to meet him and see if she could score herself a role on Anger Management. We don’t blame her, we mean, Lindsay Lohan did appear on the sitcom. Sheen offered to entertain the idea—until now…This is his recent message to Abraham:

hey, you desperate guzzler of stagnant douche agua;

I truly do not recall giving you permission to globally reveal any communication between us. congrats on surviving your lobotomy and an even bigger congratz on the recent attempt at porn.

your daughter must be so proud.

please send my number to middle earth and if allowed, eagerly follow it into said abyss and slam the door behind you. the world will collectively sigh as the pungent memory of you vanishes into the pedestrian troposphere of lame-suck and zero-life.

oh and I’m sure they’ll wave the cover charge when they see your tranny-boobs and five o’clock shadow.

bye!
cs.

Miley Cyrus is all over the place lately, no? We think it’s a good thing that Amanda Bynes is stealing the cray-cray-kid-star limelight, or else it would be focused on Cyrus. From her crazy new look, her twerking obsession, her grillz, her new song about doing ecstacy and cocaine, her botched engagement, and her parents getting divorced, we think the starlet is losing it.

She’s recently been linked to Justin Bieber (ie. she’s been sleeping with him), and when asked by radio station Hot 99.5 in D.C. about the fling, she answered, “I’m ENGAGED!” She then started laughing and repeated, “I’m engaged. That is impossible.” Gurl is in some serious denial if you ask us.

She’s also on the cover of Billboard Magazine, wherein she talks about her new “image”. Here are some quotes from the glossy about  her new self:

We stay up all night to get ________ (you know the lyrics).  Check out these photos from Friday night!

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No better way to spend a Friday in Toronto than at Cabin Five with PremierLife.ca.  Come get icy with $3.50 drinks before midnight, $4.00 Tequila all night and only $10 reduced cover on Guestlist.  Also check out our Ski Rail Shooters, Fishbowls, Gas Cans, Co-ed Washrooms and Old-School movies playing all night long on the big screen.  If that doesn’t entice you to come… we don’t know what will!  Check out our photo gallery and see what all the hype is about!

Photography by Brandon Chung

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About a month ago I cleaned out my old toy cabinet. You know, the one that is in the main room of the house, or close to because you always wanted your toys close by, but your mother never wanted the mess, yes, that toy cabinet. It’s also the one that you have to open very, very slowly or else a free falling Barbie or stack of Pokémon cards could come tumbling out and create an even bigger mess. Okay, maybe your toy cupboard was a little bit more organized than mine, but I digress. This toy cabinet housed not only a significant number of my toys, but also so many of my childhood memories. As I went through the cabinet I couldn’t help but assume others probably had a very similar looking closet at their houses filled with similar items. However, as many fond memories I have of these toys, I have as many unanswered question about what I was finding and why I found these toys to be so amusing when I was younger. Below is an inventory of some of the items I found in my toy closet and the thoughts that quickly entered my brain upon finding these things.

1 Watercolour Paint Set

I’m guessing at one time this set was filled with a variety of colours. I’m sure it was a set of twelve different bright hues to fill up a page, however, this was all but impossible to see as every colour had obviously been mixed with the black paint. So instead of a bright yellow or vibrant green, there was a murky mustard colour and a very dark forest green. No, this wasn’t in an attempt to mix the colours to expand the colour palette I was given, it was in all likelihood because I was too impatient or couldn’t be bothered to wash the brushes after each colour. Needless to say, I only went to art camp for one year before my parents decided visual art was not my forte.

3 Tamagotchis

Do you remember these things? More addicting than Spoke bagels- okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. I remember my third grade teacher, Mrs. Morris having a big talk with us about how we weren’t allowed to bring our Nano pets or Tamagotchis into class anymore and they had to be left in our backpacks. The day that lecture happened was the day my bathroom scheduled was altered to coordinate with the playing/eating/pooing needs of my little pixelated pet. I’m pretty sure every time I asked for a puppy or any other kind of pet in those days my parents would just buy me another Tamagotchi- smart people they are because if they actually got me a puppy they would still be taking it for walks instead of letting my little Tamagotchis rot in toy heaven next to the broken Skip It.

1 Ball End of a Skip It

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Despite no guy wanting to admit it, you definitely know what a Skip It is and I will even wager that  you have taken a turn at it on the tarmack during recess. The Skip It was to the girl crew in elementary school what the soccer ball was to the boy crew. The girl that brought the skip it got to choose what friends or frenemies were allowed to play with her and her Skip It that day and if ever she wanted a turn, the ever powerful, “It’s mine I get to do what I want” line would come out and she would get next turn. No, not a democracy, but nothing in girl world ever is- we learn this at a young age. So anyways, I found the end of a Skip It because it broke, as all Skip Its do when I brought it to the school yard one day and despite my mother telling me to throw it out because it obviously had NO use whatsoever, I decided to stash it in my toy cabinet (I’m sure my mother knew I did this, but I thought I was being rather sneaky). I was devastated when it broke and I was sure that not only was my life over but I would never find a Skip It I loved as much, so therefore I kept it. This was also pre little brother and therefore I was an only child and I used to get very attached to my toys- losing the ability to use my Skip It was a big deal. I wasn’t letting it go entirely.  Yes, I did go on to be a semi-rational person despite this incident.

2 Learn to Draw Books

As if the blackened paint set was not enough of an indicator, I was apparently determined to be able to draw every cast member of A Bug’s Life with the upmost accuracy. I cannot imagine what my parents were saying behind my back about my second attempt at entering the art world.

1 Pog Container which was holding no less than 50 Pogs and 7 Slammers

After I gave up my apparent dream of having my own exhibit at the MoMA, I went on to follow in my hero, Biggie Smalls’ (rather large) footsteps. No, I didn’t start a rapping career, I started gambling. Like Mr. Wallace before me who used to shoot dice in the alleyways, I found my calling on the pavement where the boys would run Pog games and tournaments. Okay, maybe it’s not the best comparison, but give me a break. Everyone loved Pogs and I was determined to have the most of everyone in my class. I would play for regular Pogs, slammers or even collector ones- remember all those? I just want to as, who decided that a piece of cardboard or a thick piece of cicular plastic would be worth more than a few pennies? How did my poor father feel about dishing out five dollars for a set of colourful cardboard circles? Probably about as good as I feel admitting that they mattered that much to me. Okay Dad, we’re even.

The cabinet was seemingly bottomless; the only thing missing was a Furbie because my mom vowed never to buy one because she thought understood how f-en stupid they were. Thank you mom, for not buying and not letting me spend my money on these creepy little creatures. I think three dead Tamagotchis, half a Skip It and a pseudo art studio was enough. I still question though where Mom hid all my Ty Beanie Babies…