But Dominic thinks that new wave is the genre's most recent development [This is a blatant lie that I made up and now feel terrible about], so we'll not even get started on him today. Paul, however, has debatably been paying attention and, in this week's music lead, entitled The Caretaker: Only Jack White Can S(t)ave Rock and Roll from Obscurity, writes:

Rock and roll made that shift from an active idea into a passive idea a decade or two ago; this is what most people mean when they say that rock and roll is dead. You can smush rock together with some other regional sound for an explosion of novelty—remember Vampire Weekend?—but every major idea behind rock and roll has been dissected and examined to death. When you're dealing with white guys playing electric guitar, all you can do is maneuver around the different parts of the ceremony to make aspects feel slightly fresher, but it's all ultimately a tribute to some idea that's been leached clean of nutrients by previous generations.

What say you readership? Weigh in here.

Macho Man Randy Savage, his real name was Randy Mario Poffo, died one year ago yesterday, May 20th, 2011. Now, I'm not a guy who likes watching wrestlers wrestle, although my brother did, but Macho Man Randy Savage will always be my favorite, uh, favorite wrestler who was also Slim Jim™ pitch man!! Like, I never understood what he was saying. "Napinnew a nim nim!" ...was what was he usually said!? I think? Wait, has there been any other Slim Jim™ pitch men? Whatever, so...I had no idea till like, last week, MMRS had a fucking RECORDING CAREER!? And also, that he had died in a car crash after a possible heart attack. Anyway, these two tracks are my personal faves from his seminal rap compact disc of the early oughties...I hope you're sitting down.

"I'm Back" is Macho, breaking it down as the new king of hiphop...of 2003, duh!!! Do you wanna know, IS RANDY DOING HIS THING? Oh, fuck YEAH he's back..."with good chemistry (him) and big three are about to shock the whole industry!" Yes, it's true, the shock waves from this album are still being felt. Wicked.

"Whats It All About" is a tender joint about how MMRS feels about his pretty lady: "I wanna keep you happy, not just financially, but mentally, physically, romantically"...truth y'all, truth.

Yeah, there you go! WHO KNEW?! Amazon has copies on offer, new copies rate about $55...yeah, I'm not kidding. And if his jams ain't enough, dig this soundboard full of awesome quotes!!

I wondering what long-dead sucker was gonna get trotted out onstage after Tupac Shakur's "appearance" at Coachella. And here we go! Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, ladies and gentleman (via Pitchfork).

Maybe Courtney Love will get on the ball and get that Kurt Cobain hologram a-cookin'? Time's a wastin'!

• Lisa Lopez (left) says, "Wait a minute, I'M DEAD!"

*Hologram will actually be a "film projection." Will it walk and talk? Remains to be seen.

• Kelly O
• Tupac backstage at Coachella, err, I mean, at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

The full Coachella "performance"...

I'm just getting back from weekend one of Coachella. I have lots of pictures yet to come, but can I say, first, I'm still reeling from seeing Tupac Shakur rise from the dead? The Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg festival grand finale was killing me 'cause it was so amazing and flawlessly executed (think: 20 years of Snoop and Dre classics including an NWA song, then live onstage cameos by Wiz Khalifa and his pro-pot smokey song "Young, Wild and Free", Kendrick Lamar with Dre on new song "The Recipe," 50 Cent and early jams like "Wanksta" and "In Da Club", and Eminem performing "Forgot About Dre.")

It was fun, standing waaaay back in what must have been the two-hundredth row, and guessing the rappers as they hit the stage and the giant video jumbotrons. When a tattooed, shirtless mystery guy appeared—everyone standing near us argued who it could possibly be. I said, "Whoever that is, it sure looks like Tupac." It wasn't until the end of the set, that my theory was confirmed. Was it creepy to see a man, murdered over a decade ago, walking and talking to the audience? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY.

More importantly is this technology the mark of a new concert trend?

UPDATE, VIA PITCHFORK: "2Pac Hologram Might Be Going on Tour: This is just the beginning. Dre has a massive vision for this."

Tonight I felt like a pile of loose explosives that has finally been manufactured into fireworks. The fireworks are cheap, but can easily be loaded into a remote-controlled car, lit and driven through crowds. I used to just put my feet in two remote-controlled cars and stand alone in my apartment, with the doors locked so no one could come in and use me to blow themselves up.

Aaron Bolton was driving from his home in Missoula, Montana to the Seattle club Re-bar Sunday to pick up new speakers for the Badlander/Palace venue he co-ran with Chris Henry (they both owned the Ear Candy record store, too). Tragically, Bolton never made it to his destination; his body was found in the water near Pier 57 in Elliott Bay at 7 am Monday. According to reports by KOMO and the Missoula Independent, police found no evidence of foul play or trauma. Bolton was 36.

Aaron Bolton was a skilled drummer and keyboardist for the rock band Mines and an accomplished DJ/producer of techno. (You can hear Mines music here. You can download the album for free, but any amount you pay will go to Bolton's family to help cover funeral costs.) In the early ’00s, he occasionally performed live with renowned Berlin-via-Seattle producer Bruno Pronsato. Bolton is also credited with coining the name “Decibel” for Seattle’s world-class electronic-music festival of that name. RIP, Aaron Bolton.

Nice one Sony...Houston's catalog, within hours of her death, just got a leetle more expensive.

...Sony Music increased the price of "The Ultimate Collection" at about 4 a.m. Sunday, not even 12 hours after news broke of Houston's death. Fans were quick to point fingers at Apple for the anti-sale, but it turned out that when Sony bumped up the wholesale price of "The Ultimate Collection," iTunes and other retailers automatically upped their pricing.

Read all about it right HERE! Gross, Sony...just gross.

Following news of Whitney's death today, sources initially reported that Ray was the one who had found the singer dead. Ray J's rep later refuted those allegations.

Rumors swirled about the two as early as 2007. Despite the 17-year age difference, they were seen at industry gatherings like Jay-Z and LeBron James' All-Star game party as well as romantic dinners in Los Angeles at hot spots like Crustacean. They would be on-again/off-again for several years and the relationship would be riddled with gossip involving their respective exes.

After learning of Don Cornelius' passing, knowing the rest of the web would pile on the obits, I spent most of yesterday sussing out, and enjoying, Soul Train clips, and there are a LOT... This one might be my fave, tho' it IS more footage of the famed Soul Train LINE, watch an absolutely adorable Mary Wilson dance the line WITH Don Cornelius. HOLY SHIT!! Awesome, @ 2:46...his FIRST time no less.

The runner-up clip: Brother James Brown's "Super Bad"...with interview...(gulp) sounds like James Brown voted for...RICHARD fucking NIXON?!?

When I was a kid hearing the Soul Train theme was the signal cartoons were done for Saturday and the afternoon getting down was about to be get got. Also, I grew up in rural North Carolina; those fashions, and the line dancing, on Soul Train seemed so very exotic. Of course that was only at the time, 'cause now when I look back I see my teenaged cousins were dressed in similar flash and flared outfits...and um, evidently, I did as well. I was not wearing any Canadian tuxedos, or billowing flares, but I wore lots of brown/gold poly and plenty of mile-wide collars. YIPES!! Anyways, it was early on I was watching the show, like, the early/mid '70s I'd reckon, 'cause by the late '70s I abandoned watching the show as disco reigned, and that shit was, and still is, a bit too slick for my tastes.

Also...I guess it's worth mentioning Cornelius' uncomfortable relationship with rap/hip-hop, dig Ice Cube, the now "movie" star, from a million years ago giving his biting opinion of Cornelius' statement regarding music rating/labeling. Dag.

Though not nearly as tragic as the passing of Don Cornelius, this morning also brought another dose of bad news: the announcement that Swiss math metal band KNUT is on ”indefinite hiatus”. Though the Geneva-based band only managed to tour the states once back in the early ‘00s, they released four excellent full-lengths all worthy of way more attention than they received. Fans of Meshuggah’s headbang-challenging rhythms and Coalesce’s relentless odd-time signature battery should take note. Videos after the jump:

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Police found Cornelius about 4 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head, that they believe was self-inflicted. He was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. He was 75.

Seriously, Bleeker Bob's, a long running and quite well-known record shop in NYC, is slated to close down. FUCKING WEAK.

...Bleecker Bob’s, which will close its store at 118 West Third Street at the end of April, will become a Starbucks, according to a manager, Chris Wiedener.

One less independent record store, one with years of history...gone. Sad news. Condolences NYC/East Coast record nerds. Enjoy your coffee stand, hopefully they'll have free wi-fi so you can download some music.