Because it’s Wednesday and I’m looking for something to talk about, let me quickly dip my toe into the waters that are the controversy that’s been sparked up between Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel Live. In case you’re not familiar, here’s a brief summary of where things stand right now. Moz was booked as the musical guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for Tuesday night, however a couple days beforehand he dropped out of the appearance, citing that the A&E reality show “Duck Dynasty” would be on that same night. As Morrissey is an animal rights activist and noted vegetarian, the guys from “Duck Dynasty” do regularly kill and eat ducks, among other animals, and he didn’t want to appear to be endorsing that sort of behavior or lifestyle. “I can’t take the risk of being on a show alongside people who, in effect, amount to animal serial killers,” he said. That’s a fine and understandable choice in my opinion, though if I were Jimmy Kimmel I would have bumped the “Duck Dynasty” guys in favor of Moz. Last night on his show however, Kimmel made a couple of Morrissey jokes in his monologue and during his “Duck Dynasty” interview, and also showed a parody video that poked fun at vegetarianism. Well, if you think Morrissey is the kind of guy to take a good-natured ribbing with class, you clearly don’t know him. He issued a statement this afternoon condemning “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Duck Dynasty” once again for their blatant and in his view patently unfunny jokes and sketches about vegetarianism, the killing of animals and the music he makes. Anyways, it’s become a whole thing, and I can completely understand where both sides are coming from in this case. I don’t like or support “Duck Dynasty” because I don’t like or support any reality television, however I do support both Jimmy Kimmel’s right to make jokes and Morrissey’s attitudes towards animals. Whether or not they patch things up in the coming weeks and months remains to be seen, but I plan to keep watching Kimmel when I can and will be seeing Morrissey when he hopefully performs in Chicago (after cancelling twice) this March. Good times. Also good is today’s Pick Your Poison. Let me toss a few names at you, for artists to focus on in this set: Automatic Children, Dandan, Erin McKeown, The Features, Hibou, Magic Man and Rare Monk. In the Soundcloud section, don’t miss streaming a new AlunaGeorge single (part of my Class of 2013), a b-side from Dirty Projectors, an unreleased Frank Ocean track off the Channel Orange sessions, and another new one from the great synth pop group Psychic Twin.
Dandan – Men of Drugs and Oscar Wilde
Erin McKeown – Baghdad to the Bayou
Lewis Watson – Hold On (SBTRKT cover)
