Pete The Chop

“Of the dozens of art world events happening as part of Armory Arts Week in New York right now, one of the most buzzed about was last night’s New Museum’s opening of a controversial show that features highlights from the personal collection of Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou, curated by artist Jeff Koons.”

…

U2’s the Edge, in his telltale black beanie and a plaid shirt, seemed to offer the most distraction from the artwork for star-struck onlookers. “He’s still so cute after all these years!” said one young female gallery wanderer, within earshot of the musician. Standing near a tall rock-like sculpture by artist Dan Colen, decorated with graffiti-style writing and wads of chewed gum, the Edge, who’s real name is David Evans, told us that he was impressed by the size of Jaonnou’s collection. “It’s incredible to see it all in one exhibition,” he said. Though he wouldn’t call himself a major collector of art, Evans told us he does own works by Jean Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst, whom he calls a friend.

Read the complete story at The Wall Street Journal

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U2 Pop

U2 are a profoundly polarizing band. They are simultaneously easy to love (they make wonderfully glorious rock anthems, put on ridiculously great concerts and have been consistently good for 30 years) and extremely difficult to love (they’re constantly experimenting and circling back, and Bono’s politics sometimes eclipse everything else about the band).

Musically speaking, the band was probably at its most polarizing on this day in 1997, when they released Pop. After dropping the watershed album Achtung Baby in the beginning of the ’90s and embarking on a game-changing worldwide stadium tour, the group spent the next few years experimenting with just about everything. The odd, electronic Zooropa set the table (as did the truly odd Original Soundtracks, the album credited to the Passengers that was actually just a U2 record), but Pop was an entirely different reality for the group. With dance music making a bid to take over the airwaves and influencing rock artists left and right (even the Rolling Stones were sampling), U2 decided to go all the way with Pop.

The album’s first single, “Discotheque,” set the tone. It was essentially a club song based around a thumping disco beat that featured shimmery guitars and keyboards and nary a mention of a blue collar uprising. Instead, the group decided to party. Was it ironic? Perhaps. Probably. Actually, nobody was entirely sure. The rest of the album stretched even deeper into the dance music abyss (especially the house-influenced “Mofo” and the beat-mining “Miami”).

Pop became one of the most-debated albums of 1997 and holds an odd place in the band’s history (as in, they tend not to bring it up). Still, there were tremendous songs lurking under all that electronic slop — like the effervescent “Staring at the Sun.”

- Kyle Anderson MTV

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Almost twenty-five years ago, Live Aid brought together many to raise a great deal of cash to help people who were starving in Africa. While it’s been said that one of the issues about Live Aid was that it raised approximately the same amount as one week’s worth of service debt and the funds raised really didn’t bring the relief it was designed to do, the BBC reports that Ethiopian rebel leaders “siphoned” millions raised by pretending to be merchants and bought guns with the funds.

The BBC story states:

But the merchant Mr Peberdy dealt with in that transaction claims he was, in fact, a senior member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

“I was given clothes to make me look like a Muslim merchant. This was a trick for the NGOs,” says Gebremedhin Araya.

Underneath the sacks of grain he sold, he says, were sacks filled with sand.

He says he handed over the money he received to TPLF leaders, including Meles Zenawi – the man who went on to become Ethiopia’s prime minister in 1991.

Mr Meles, who is still in office, has declined to comment on the allegations.

To an extent, the global focus on Ethiopia and other parts of Africa came partially as a result of Live Aid. Perhaps this is why the ONE Campaign’s approach makes more sense than just giving donated cash to these unstable countries.

From a fan who supported the Live Aid / Band Aid cause, I am disappointed to find out that the good will of the people who contributed was met with such fraud. However, it just underscores the issues happening in these countries and the reason why activism is so important.

This is a post from the @U2 blog.

Live Aid Funds Spent On Guns

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