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It’s possible that over the past several weeks you’ve noticed the reviews slow to a trickle around these parts. We had our reasons! Cookies weren’t involved! Okay, maybe they were! All of us at Tripwire HQ are pleased to introduce to you today a new chapter in our “take” on music criticism—by handing over the keys. Starting this week and every Tuesday hereafter, we’ll be posting a full album stream through our friends over at LaLa. What we’d like you to do is lend us your brainwaves and tweet whatever crosses your mind while listening. Maybe there’s a riff you can’t get out of your head. A lyric? A moment? An image? If you’re feeling ambitious, spend your 124 characters reviewing the record as a whole. Just toss those tweets over to us at @thetripwire and by the end of the week, we’ll cobble together and share the beautiful mess of a madlib it creates. Or, if you’re a complete Luddite/TwitterHater, you can just leave a review in the comments section. We’re flexible. You’re the boss now.

On the fortieth anniversary of the group’s Motown debut comes I Want You Back!, a gleaming collection of 12 unreleased tracks taken straight out of that storied label’s vault.

About eleven hours ago, at what was then the stroke of midnight, Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” was began streaming over at the King of Pop’s website. It’s an unreleased, “brand new,” never-before-heard, string-polished epic that’s set to play out the credits of the forthcoming Michael Jackson motion picture of the very same name. Michael’s brothers are on backup vocal duty. Something about all of this feels very off. Check it out above, tell us what you think. Or don’t.

According to a search warrant for Murray’s practice, the doctor had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks; Murray confessed to a member of the LAPD that he had been trying to wean Jackson off of propofol by mixing lower doses of other drugs to help the singer sleep. On the day of Jackson’s death, Murray administered a cocktail of drugs throughout the day, including intravenous injections of valium, lorazepam, midazolam, and, finally, 25 milligrams of propofol.

CNN has provided a timeline of events leading up to the singer’s death as follows:

– At about 1:30 A.M., Murray gave Jackson 10 mg of Valium.
– At about 2 A.M., he injected Jackson with 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug Ativan.
– At about 3 A.M., Murray then administered 2 mg of the sedative Versed.
– At about 5 A.M., he administered another 2 mg of Ativan.
– At about 7:30 A.M., Murray gave Jackson yet another 2 mg of Versed while monitoring him with a device that measured the oxygen saturation of a his blood.
– At about 10:40 A.M., “after repeated demands/requests from Jackson,” Murray administered 25 mg of propofol, the document said.

After administering the propofol, Murray remained near Jackson for ten minutes as the singer drifted off to sleep. He then left the room for a few minutes, only to return to find the singer unconscious. Jackson was rushed to the hospital and declared dead on arrival.

In the latest and greatest batshit crazy news from the bizarre postmortem world of Michael Jackson, Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, will be arrested and charged with manslaughter for his involvement in the death of the singer in June. Allegedly, investigators sought to charge Murray with a more severe crime, but without a motive, a second degree murder charge would be difficult to hold up in court. Murray faces charges stemming from his administration of the anesthetic Propofol to Jackson at midnight on the evening he died; the drug contributed to his cardiac arrest. Jackson’s dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, will also be booked, but the case is still building against him.

It’s old news that Michael Jackson owned half of the copyrights to a large portion of Beatles songs, and that Sony/ATV Music Publishing owned the rest. But apparently, according to the US Copyright Act of 1976, songwriters are able to regain control of publishing rights on pre-1978 compositions after 56 years. This is all music to Paul McCartney’s ears. Pun intended, dudes! Behind said Act, McCartney will be able to regain control over Beatles compositions from 1962 in 2018 and songs from 1970 in 2026. So at the tender age of 76, just nine years from now, Paul McCartney (who already is worth about $737 million) will be raking in the dough.

As if the recent flood of Michael Jackson footage—see: videos of him and his children to a horrifying clip of his hair catching on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial—wasn’t enough, a judge recently ruled in favor of the production of a movie stringing together snippets of his final rehearsals. Judge Mitchell Beckloff, of the Los Angeles Superior Court, gave his blessings to a deal between MJ’s estate, AEG Live, and Columbia Pictures, leading to the production of said film. Over 100 hours of footage will be sewn together to make this film, which, before it meets public scrutiny, will be approved by Jackson’s estate, ensuring it does nothing but flatter the late King of Pop. The film is scheduled to be finished late October, but an official release date has not yet been divulged. (Via Billboard).

The endless onslaught of news surrounding Michael Jackson continues: New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones is set to publish a book on the musician via Ecco. Interviewed for the New Yorker’s blog, Jones claims that he wants to write a short book that will “be a single-purpose thing, a small machine that acts like a lens and zooms in.” Instead of delving into the sensationalism surrounding Jackson’s life, Frere-Jones plans to focus on Jackson’s artistry:

“I am interested in what he did that was different, how he recontextualized the past, how he changed the rules. This is a guy who grew up in a factory system, created his own system, and then had to deal with the fallout. I’m going to be dealing with the two big albums, but also Bad, Dangerous, and Invincible.”

No release date has been announced for Frere-Jones untitled tome.

Today is Michael Jackson’s public memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which, for local residents, translates to: “Shit, there goes being on time for work.”

The pop star’s post-mortem celebration is planned to be attended by celebrities and fans alike, causing officials in the greater L.A. are to officially freak out about the thousands of fans who are already waiting at nearby Dodger Stadium to pick up their lottery-won tickets or hopefuls looking to buy.

Those scheduled to perform include Mariah Carey, who sang the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” as a cover on her 1992 MTV Plugged show, propelled the song back into the charts. Others who have RSVP’ed for the festivities include Kobe Bryant, John Mayer, Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III and Bernice A. King, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder.

It’s been nearly a week since the King of Pop passed away from cardiac arrest, and perhaps the most intriguingly warped thing we’ve read about Michael Jackson so far is that Diana Ross could take guardianship of his three children.

As specifics are coming forth about Jackson’s drug use (who gave it to him?), how much he was in debt ($400 million), and what his schedule London shows would have looked like, a spotlight has been put forth on the future of Jackon’s kids: Prince, Paris, and Blanket. In Jackson’s will, which was revealed this morning and written in 2002, details on who will acquire the children as well as divisions of his assets and wealth were made public. Jackon’s mother, Katherine, has been granted custody of the kid trio, but what also is fun to digest is that in the event she is no longer to care for them, diva and Jackson friend Diana Ross will overtake custody rights. This, on top of news that Jackson and former personal dermatologist Debbie Rowe are not biological parents of the older two kids.

—Jenn Hernandez

Following the tragic and sudden death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson albums have been flying off the shelves. Compared to the 10,000 albums sold in the week prior to his death, over 300,000 albums such as Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson and Thriller sold this past week in response to this tragedy. It is expected, also, that those three albums will procure spots on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog chart and that Jackson may acquire over 5 spots in the Billboard’s Top Ten, a feat that has yet to be accomplished by any musical artist.

—Meryl Natow

Michael Jackson, the third best selling pop star of all time and probably the most influential artist of the last 50 years, died as a result of cardiac arrest at his home earlier today. From TMZ:

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

In March, the editors over at Nerve posted their picks for the Forty Sexiest Frontwomen in Rock History, and after receiving a bit of flack for their picks, the editors have struck again; only this time (more importantly) with the Forty Sexiest Frontmen in Rock History.

Unlike most ‘hottest whatever in rock’ lists, Nerve has managed to avoid sticking to the ties of classic cliches, keeping Sting away from the number one position, and instead making the tantric Police frontman stay put at number 26. Sure, Sting is sexy, but we don’t think he’s the sexiest frontman that has ever walked on a stage, but we have to say we think he is far sexier than Bono, (can we please think back to the Joshua Tree-era when he had a mullet?), who landed at 24. We are calling Nerve out on their Bono pick as a major league strike.

Also on the list, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s frontman, Anthony Kiedis at number 21, Jeff Buckley and Kurt Cobain helped round out the top 15, while Bruce Springsteen landed himself at lucky number 7 on the Sexy Man list. We will keep any bias we might feel towards Bruce out of the way, only to say that still after the days of his prime, the New Jersey boy is still looking quite nice (though he’s old enough to be some of our fathers).

Finally, to top off the list the Nerve editors chose Morrissey as their number three, David Bowie as their number two and Prince as their ultimate hot man. Personally, we would have much rather seen Mr. Glenn Danzig at number one (opinions of the writer do not reflect those of The Tripwire) than a man who has referred to himself as a symbol. At least they didn’t throw Michael Jackson onto the list.

To see the full list, click here.

A couple weeks ago we showed you the video from inside Michael Jackson’s estate auction, and even though it never took place, the evidence gave us a pretty good look inside the life of the King of Pop. Turns there was still so much we didn’t get to see of Whacko Jacko’s zany collectibles.

We’ve stumbled upon a pretty comprehensive photo collection of the auction, and we think you should have a look-see and judge for yourself how bizarre Jackson’s tastes are. Among the collectibles presented in the photo slide show are numerous paintings of Jackson surrounded by small children, the ever classic pewter statues of… get this… children, and a number of paintings with Jackson portrayed as a king-like figure. He also has a throne, believe it or not, and a painting of himself as peter Pan.

At this point, we’re not surprised at the abnormalities of the narcissistic collection, and if we had the opportunity, we’d definitely bid on one of those weird ginger doll statues just for kicks.

The auction of Michael Jackon’s belongings has been called off, after a settlement between the auctioneer and Jacko’s lawyers have been reached, and we have to say we’re feeling a  little bittersweet about it all. The thought of owning Michael Jackson’s belongings is a surreal thought in itself. The man has more bizarre collectibles than anyone else we can think of, and the idea of paying money for one of  his diamond encrusted gloves is all too much for us to fathom. So we thought we’d show you what exactly MJ would be giving away and what you might be missing out on, with some help of Videothing.com.

Aside from the standard Platinum records, ridiculous costumes, Disney memorabilia and the occasional self-indulgent Michael Jackson portrait, Videothing [via LA Weekly] showed us the massive collection of children statues the king of pop owns. We don’t know how to say this in the most tasteful of manners, but if all the other bizarre collectibles don’t make it apparent, at least the statues of small children playing indicate that Jacko is a whacko, and probably a creep as well. We did enjoy the painting from Macaulay Culkin circa 1991, though. Perhaps he missed his true calling as the next Jackson Pollock.  

If you missed your chance to get a piece of the Neverland Ranch this time around, don’t worry. This probably won’t be your last opportunity. Just give it another few years, and a few more inappropriate allegations against Jackson, and you’ll probably have one more chance to get your paws on that authentic Pinocchio doll you always wanted.

See the full video here.

We’ll admit it, The Ting Tings write some pretty catchy songs that stick in your head and never seem to leave, but after hearing about an unpleasant incident with the band’s tour managemer at a show in Kansas City this past week, it looks like we’re going to have to second guess our thoughts on the seemingly innocent British duo.

According to a blog posted by photographer Nick Davis on Popwreckoning, The Ting Tings played a great show at the Record Bar last week on April 7, but afterward the band’s manager was extremely abrasive towards him at the show, cornering him and insisting he erase the photos he took of the band.

“The manager entered the patio, and rudely demanded to know why I was taking pictures. I gave him my business card, told him who I was and mentioned to him that I followed all the rules posted regarding photography (no flash). He said the pictures were the property of The Ting Tings and Sony and that he was requiring me to erase the images in front of him,” the blog said. 

When Davis resisted, the tour manager began consistently threatening him, saying he would call the cops. The photographer refuted the brooding tour manager’s threats, and left the venue saying he would have the tour manager arrested for false imprisonment if he tried to stop him from leaving.

“I reminded him that in the United States, ‘Ting Tings Tour Manager’ does not actually give him any legal status. The entire time, the manager stayed within a foot of me, at one point bumping into me. He continued to follow me through the parking lot, at the same distance, until I got in my car,” the blog continued. 

Davis got out of the show with the photos in tact on his camera, but his blog made us wonder about The Ting Tings and the itch of fame getting to their heads. We highly doubt any of the photos were incriminating enough for the tour manager to freak out about, but we would like to see them if they are. This is the type of behavior we might expect from Michael Jackson’s people, but from The Ting Tings? If this is true, well, we’re quite surprised. We’re hoping the views of the Ting Tings’ tour manager doesn’t reflect the bands’, but if it does, we know who we’re not taking pictures of next time they come to New York.

Dedicated to those songs that I can’t stop playing, humming, or thinking about; the 4+ minutes you fall head-over-heels in love with. Past instances have included New Order’s “Age of Consent,” Sleater-Kinney’s “Rollercoaster,” and Fiona Apple’s “Shadowboxer.”

Here is an interesting question concerning your perception of the world and history: Do you consider The Jackson 5 to be part of Michael Jackson’s career? That is to say when you think of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits, do you put “ABC” in the mix along with “Beat It” and “Rock With You”? I suppose it would be like “Imagine” being labeled a Beatles‘ song, but I feel the question is apt because it gives credit to the Jackson 5 that I feel has been sorely lacking. Not only that, it puts the entire Michael Jackson puzzle into a new weird light, and as I play “I Want You Back” over and over again, I have to remind myself that the kid singing not only grew into the biggest star in the world, but then went crazy and may or may not still have a face.

I was in a bar a short while ago, as I often am. We’d come to the end of our night and we grabbed our stuff as that famous opening piano trill for “I Want You Back” came on over the jukebox. An immediate and instinctual bounce rose from within me and I smiled the whole way to the door. But that’s not anything noteworthy; what is noteworthy was the fact that every table and booth in the bar had at least one person having the same reaction to the song. It was one of those perfect moments when harmony finds my life and I become aware I am in the midst of a universally accepted and loved song. I can name only a few songs that fit this description, very few of which are out and out pop songs and even fewer come close to the level of audio smiling as “I Want You Back” (still fewer can get a Los Feliz hipster bar sincerely bouncing).

This goes to prove that you should never underestimate the power of music — it can bring down governments and make you forget about pedophilia allegations.

“I Want You Back” feels like the feelings of delight, joy and happiness manifested into sound, making it the pop song pinnacle. Dance-ability, catchy chorus, slick-yet-natural production, just different enough to be fresh, but just repetitive enough to be inviting. It’s even a perfect pop song length — three minutes of beauty.

It’s a simple song that seems full of “This is the best part” parts, but that simplicity is deceptive. One might focus on the classic Motown background strings, or even those closing “Ow!” shouts from Michael during the fade out. But today, the best “This is the best part” is the bass line. According to Allmusic, the song was written to follow Motown standards, but then got tailored to fit by label president Berry Gordy, who had just discovered the Jacksons. Think of how perfectly everything aligns in this song: on one hand you have fresh, young, hungry talent ready to perform an energetic song, and on the other you have the peak craftsmen of one of our country’s sturdiest music machines. This means the song was written by Motown hit-making royalty and performed by some of the greatest studio musicians of the 1960s. This means Wilton Felder.

I don’t know a thing about bass (I know it’s a “dad guitar,” and Sting plays one and sings, which is supposedly uncommon, but that’s about it), but I know what I hate. And I don’t hate this. Just like the qualities of great pop music, the bass line of “I Want You Back” is innovative enough to serve the song, without being so innovative that it gives you — in the words of Amadeus — too many notes. In remembering the song before giving it extensive study, I thought the bass basically carried the melody. In reality, the bass line is as irreplaceable as sound waves. After delivering that unforgettable intro in sync with the guitar and strings, it breaks off (as do all the instruments) on the second pass to reach for what some consider heaven. During the first verse, the bass gives a mild version of the intro that you think (and I seem to have misremembered) will carry through to the chorus.

This is not the case, and any attempt to articulate a four-string miracle such as this would only build my word count. In simple terms, Felder gets mildly funky, grabbing everyone’s feet and tapping their toes for them. We get the clearest, cleanest example of such incredible booty shaking in the breakdown at the two-minute mark. Things get a little quiet for a moment before the bass reminds us that our true calling in the world (of this song) is to dance. We need only oblige.

“I Want You Back” may not be an important song, but it remains an unequivocally great one, dolling out pop brilliance with ease and cool. Too much so: Every part of this song seems so natural and easy that a case could be made against it for our subsequent years of suffering in pop land. For every “I Want You Back” there were probably a million “But I’m Forgiving”. Through the weird brainwashing I have subjected myself to, I’ve almost forgotten who I was listening to. Heard in historical context, I suppose I can understand how Michael became the star of the group, but to say he rises above “I Want You Back” would be a grievous lie. Make no mistake: he was as lucky to be there as we are to have it recorded.

Inevitable Video Note: That opening paragraph notwithstanding, apparently people do think of the 80s-superstar version of Michael Jackson in the same light as the little-Jackson-5 version of Michael.

M.I.A.’s little guy finally has a name. After a month of guesses and speculation about the newborn’s name, the gossip mongers at TMZ — yeah, we’re getting all TMZ-lite over here again — finally leaked an image of the baby’s birth certificate onto the internet, confirming the full name of the baby and that M.I.A. is actually two years older than we thought she was.

The birth certificate reads Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman as the baby boy’s name, and states M.I.A’s date of birth as July 18, 1975, rather than July 17, 1977 as previously published, according to NME. 

Prior to the leak of the birth certificate, in proper-capslock-M.I.A. fashion, the rapper released a MySpace blog to fans saying, “MY BABY IS NOT CALLED ICKITT, PICKIT OR LICKIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL THE HOLLYWOOD PRESS. HES A BABY, HE DONT NEED PRESS! I DIDNT RELEASE THE BABY NAME BECAUSE I DIDNT THINK IT WAS NEWS!!!! BUT I WILL BE BACK WITH SOMETHING NEWS WORTHY SOON , TILL THEN GO PICK ON APPLE. SATCHEL, AND MOON UNIT.” 

Sorry M.I.A., but your baby’s name is now news. Regardless of the long-winded name (although we expected nothing less) we’re just glad she just added the name of her debut album into her son’s name instead of pulling a Michael Jackson, and naming the tiny tot M.I.A. II or Blanket (not to be confused with the other WTF Blanket).

Well, this is it. (Pun totally intended.) After making the official announcement today (90 minutes late for the press conference, no less), Michael Jackson is set to play 10 dates at London’s O2 Arena this summer, kicking off July 8. It’s billed as his swansong, but we’re not holding our breath.

According to NME, Jackson hinted that the O2 stint would be his grand finale. But we’re not so sure about that. He called the shows his “curtain call,” but he also said this: “This is it, these will be my last shows in London… When I say this, I really mean this. This is it.”

Maybe we were the only ones to notice the very specific phrasing of “my last shows in London“. But even that doesn’t seem entirely certain, as this morning AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke (AEG Live promotes the shows) said that though 10 shows would be announced today, probably “you’ll see 20, 25 dates at the O2. His production budget is… Wow.”

Leiweke also said that Jackson is in good physical (and mental?) condition to do the run, and that AEG had been working with him for two years to make the shows happen. He hasn’t toured since 1997 and he hasn’t released a studio album or played a full concert since 2001.

Leiweke said the O2 was chosen because “it’s the most important venue in music today,” citing the Led Zeppelin reunion gig as indication. Tickets for the shows will be between £50 and £75, and go on sale at 7 a.m. GMT (2 a.m. EST) on March 13. Pre-sale info is available here.

So that’s it, kids. Jackson does London. We just hope it’s not like when he did Berlin.

With U2’s residency on Letterman kicking off last night and the announcement today that King of Pop and Rhinoplasty Michael Jackson will do a residency at London’s O2 Arena later this year, we’re starting to wonder: are we in 1989?

The initial dates of the summer residency will be announced Thursday, with further dates expected to be added following the first announcement depending on fan response. As NME reported, Jackson “may” appear at a press conference at the O2 to make the official announcement, and “the shows are expected to be the only dates he will play this year.” It all sounds very tentative and fragile, much like the state of various parts of poor Michael’s face.

As for that fan response, we’re interested to see how many dates MJ can manage to sell out at the 20,000-seat arena, especially considering that it’s been more than a decade since he was filling stadiums — his last tour was in 1996. But it’s been our experience that when Michael’s in the news, it’s always (at the very least) entertaining.