Hello everybody!

I think (keyword: think) Pretty Much Amazing is ready to open for business. I have the theme figured out and everything in place. There are a few details that kind of suck (big time). For example, due to technical difficulties — really stupid ones — all posts from April to late June are lost. This is extremely depressing, but it hasn’t brought us down yet.

I do want to make it clear, just in case I already haven’t, that this blog has been temporary shut down, twice now, due to the massive server load we carry out every day. At one point in May and June, the server couldn’t take it anymore and my host had to give me the boot. All these fancy words like server and hosts confuse me just as much as it does you, so it took me quite a while to figure out what my b-plan was. Hopefully I have chosen a stable host that won’t implode with PMA’s traffic load.

But enough of the unpleasantnesses, lets move on to the music. I won’t even attempt to catch everyone up on what has been happening in the music world over the last few weeks. I trust that you guys have been scattering around the internet educating yourself… at least a little?

I’ll compromise, I’ll cover what’s been going on over the last few days.

Nothing has been more excited or buzztastic as that new Michael Jackson / Akon collaboration, unsettlingly called “Hold My Hand.”

I really don’t know if this is a Michael Jackson song or an Akon song… I’ve seen it both ways. Clarification? The song isn’t that great, but it’s good enough to deserve the attention it has been getting.

I hope I don’t get into too much trouble:

Michael Jackson & Akon – Hold My Hand

This is probably equally as “shocking” and way more bad ass than MJ and Akon: Jay-Z covering Oasis’ supermegaultra-famous “Wonderwall” live at Glastonbury.

What a great way to wrap up the semi (ridic) beef.

He also covered Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”, catch the mp3s down there.

Jay-Z – Wonderwall (Oasis Cover)/99 Problems – Live @ Glatsonbury
Jay-Z – Rehab (Amy Winehouse cover) – Live @ Glatsonbury

And more recently, Bloc Party unleashes new single and video, “Mercury” to disgruntled fans, or at least one.

After a little pre-release hype, Bloc Party let another electro-inspired single on Zane Lowe’s radio show. “Mercury,” much like “Flux” hints to a massive electronic shift in the band’s upcoming, third album. I think Mr. Frank is spot on when he wrote:

Techno has made quite a resurgence in popularity over the last couple years with the likes of Justice and SMD gaining considerable notoriety from the press and fans alike. It’s kind of a turn off though when a talented British rock band like Bloc Party begins to eschew the natural direction of their music in order to cater to the everchanging trends of the music industry. A move which is usually followed by departure of their core audience, the ones that loved them for their first couple albums, which I thought were both excellent (Silent Alarm more so than Weekend In The City).

Maybe this song leaves more than one fan feeling a bit “disgruntled.” Download the song below, along with some key info about ‘Mercury’’s Aug. 11 release.

Heavyweight Mercury 12”:
A. Mercury (12” Version)
B. Mercury (12” Intrumental)

Mercury CD Maxi:
1. Mercury
2. Mercury (Hervé is in disarray Remix)
3. Mercury (CSS Remix)
4. Mercury (Flosstrodamus Remix)

Mercury Heavyweight 7”:
A. Mercury
B. Idea For A Story

Bloc Party – Mercury

And a couple of cool covers thanks to British radio.
The Last Shadow Puppets – S.O.S (Rihanna Cover)
The Kooks – Violet Hill (Coldplay Cover)