Don’t Forget Your Roots, Jimmy

Gearing up for his NBC late-night premiere on March 2, 2009, Jimmy Fallon plans to release a series of behind-the-scenes Web-exclusive videos, the first of which aired (interneted?) last night.

We didn’t learn all that much about Jimmy or the show except that he’s excited, and perhaps humbled, to be occupying the recently vacated news studio that once housed Milton Berle and Johnny Carson, before the latter’s show moved to California. Also, in a passing moment before the video goes black, Fallon introduces the Roots as his Max Weinberg 7.

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Keeping It In the Family, or The Death Throes of a Dynasty

Let’s think back to the primaries and recall how historic they were turning out to be. Democratic front runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were neck and neck in the primaries. Though it wasn’t clear who would take the nomination, we knew that we were in for an historic campaign either way.

Obama would of course overtake Clinton and became the first black Democratic presidential candidate, and by August we knew it was either McCain-Palin or Obama-Biden that would triumph. Perhaps there was a sense of relief, too, in what those two tickets had in common: neither had a Bush or a Clinton anywhere in sight.

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Single Screen Records Signs Black Mamba


Ethereal piano-pop band Black Mamba has become the latest artist to sign with San Diego label Single Screen Records. They are currently finishing up a 6 song EP, which will be released through the label on 12-inch vinyl in early 2009.

And while you’re eagerly awaiting the release of their EP, do yourself a favor and go see them live. They’ll be playing at the Beauty Bar with Drew Andrews and Boomsnake on December 9th, and at The Casbah with Tape Deck Mountain and Madison County on December 22nd.

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