Modern Music

Stephen Malkmus David Becker/Getty Images

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks new single “Senator” may be one of the years best indie rock songs, but since its best hook happens to include the word “blowjob,” its pretty much impossible to play it on the radio. To get around this, Malkmus has set up a contest in which fans can suggest a new word that the former Pavement frontman can edit into the song and send to radio stations.

In the song, Malkmus sings “I know what the senator wants / what the senator wants is a blowjob.” Theres a lot of ways you can go with it, really.

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“Composting” is hardly a common metaphor for making music. But in the hands of Hafez Modirzadeh, this concept of dissolution releasing the raw materials for new creativity becomes a template for musical drama.

The visionary San Jose tenor saxophonist premieres his ambitious project “In Convergence Liberation” on Saturday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The concert features an international array of artists steeped in diverse traditions. They include Iraqi-American trumpeter and vocalist Amir ElSaffar, with whom Modirzadeh recorded the 2010 album “Radif Suite” (Pi Recordings), which applies a jazz vocabulary to classical Arabic and Persian musical modes, as well as Argentine-Mexican Latin-jazz vocalist Mili Bermejo.

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NEW YORK (AP) — With three failed marriages between them, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony finally seemed to find true love together when they married seven years ago. They had twin children, went on tour together, did a movie together and even planned a music-based reality show they were working on together.

But on Friday, the pair announced they were no longer together.

“We have decided to end our marriage. This was a very difficult decision,” the couple said in a statement by Lopez’s publicist. “We have come to amicable conclusion on all matters. It is a painful time for all involved and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time.”

It was a surprising split for one of Hollywood’s most high-profile couples.

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Apparently shoes are what is found between the pavement and the stars

I am 100% obsessed with the fierce disco mouse head bobbing action in Mighty Mouse’s video for their new track “Between the Pavement and the Stars.” Things I would like to do with mighty mouse disco mouse:

1. Go out dancing.

2. Watch a movie marathon on Starz with a bottle of white wine.

3. Anything.

I really have nothing else to say about this music video.

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When Johnny Reid decided to leave Universal Music for EMI Music Worldwide, he knew he couldn’t move just to maintain the status quo.

For Reid to change labels, he needed assurances that new opportunities would be made available to him and that’s exactly what the EMI offer entailed. So in March 2010, Reid signed with EMI and set his sights on finding success in the United States and internationally.

With the new deal entering its second year, Reid is thrilled with the direction his career is taking.

“It’s been good, it’s been real good,” said Reid in a recent telephone interview from Toronto.

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