nov0caine’s posterous

MJ Sales Exponentially Increase After Tragedy

And so it seems to be the way of the world, that when a huge talent dies, people only begin to pay attention to how great they really were. According to the latest figures around the world, since Michael Jackson's death last week there has been an exponential growth in the sales of music and memorabilia. In Australia alone, Sony music has reportedly sold in excess of 100,000 albums from MJ's back catalogue since his tragic death last Friday. According to an article on the Times Online, whenever there has been a tragic death of a music icon sales saw an instant spike immediately after they passed on - continuing to grow unstoppably as the years progress forward from the event. It's all relevant to the 'dead rockstar' effect, where the circumstances surronding the death of a star has a vacuous effect on fans. Look at Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Hendrix, Lennon... All of which have movies, documentaries and re-mastered editions of their musical back-catalogue. It's all part of the sick, sad capitalisation on the vulnerability of emotionally driven people. The record companies don't care about the music, because they're looking to make an absolute mint backing on to the tragic death of an icon. The commercial force of Jackson-inspired grief and nostalgia has already started to show, and expect it to do nothing but increase as we move further away from his death. Expect films, digital remasteries and t-shirts... It's all a part of the dead celebrity circus and most of us have already started buying our tickets to the show.

The Times article presents some fascinating figures, and you can read it here.

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Appreciating the Life of Michael Jackson

And so it is on this historic day that we are shocked to here of the death of the beloved King of Pop, Michael Jackson, suffering from what sources say to be a heart attack at just 50 years of age. Like so many other people starting their day out, I came into my office this morning to learn of the tragic news. We're looking at a guy, whose untimely death is having a cosmic impact on everyone worldwide. He is a celebrity with such a high magnitude of respect from all cultures, despite the revelations surfacing in recent years. He was a man shrouded in mystery, and although we never understood him, we appreciated him for what he brang to popular culture and what he gave back to society. His campaigns against racism, his generous donations to children's charities and his love for all things innocent. He was in himself, a child who never grew up - through his younger years he was pushed into work as a juvenille actor and performer. The guy worked his whole life and never enjoyed his own childhood, which is something that a lot of us truly take for granted. But in saying that, he developed a huge insecurity and subsequently became a recluse - it was a sad life really, but I guess that makes it all the more tragic, when he was in fact vilified for his odd traits. Does anybody actually believe that he molested those children? Not me, and the whole debacle never swayed my musical appreciation of MJ. It is after all, in the nature of most Americans to sue for anything they can get - am I right?

There was an episode of South Park based on MJ, and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. Yes, the guys from South Park are out to offend but they raise a lot of critical points in their satire - that being what I have already asserted, it is an old stigma that Americans will sue the pants off anybody they see to be wealthy fodder.

In the mean-time I will miss Michael Jackson, and every time I hear an MJ song it will do nothing but strengthen my appreciation for him as an artist. Also, I never thought I'd actually care about what Ashton Kutcher has to say but he posted some very good points on his Twitter (@aplusk) - That is, the media should respect the anonymity of his children and shouldn't prey on them in such a fragile state. 

R.I.P Michael Jackson, you will be missed.

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Manson sends a powerful message

Marilyn Manson, the self-described vaudeville shock rocker, has just released a new album entitled "The High End of Low". I bought this album the other night, and listened from start to finish. The message I got? America is a self-inflicted mess, mindlessly eating away at itself from the inside out. But the album itself lived up to my expectations of what Manson should be sounding like... In this new release he has truly reinvigorated the politically and religiously driven anarchic monster that once sent shockwaves through a conservative society in the mid-1990's. I'm glad that he went back to basics, really, because to be honest I stopped listening after the 'Holy Wood' release.

There's one song on the album in particular that is really in your face, and it happens to be the first single. "We're from America", if you haven't heard it already, I recommend that you have a listen. But listen to the lyrics, because they make a lot of sense about what modern day society has come to inside of the world's leading imperial powerhouse. I'd post the lyrics here, but they're probably a bit too explicit. I'd like to keep things G-Rated, haha. But check out his MySpace page if you wanna preview the track:

http://www.myspace.com/marilynmanson

In other news, I just got back from an awesome weekend away in the Blue Mountains. If you live in Sydney, and you've never been to Jenolan Caves, you're missing out! It's definitely something you'd want to cross off your list of things to die before you get old... They offer an utterly amazing spectacle. Anyway, until next time, All the best!

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