. . . but will he bring Daft Punk? Y'know, this just might be enough to make up for Bon Jovi at Fenway. From the inbox:

Kanye West: Glow in the Dark Tour

With Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D.

At the Tweeter Center

Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 7:00 pm

Tickets are $26.

Ohhhhhh, snap! Someday you'll be telling your grandkids about this one like it was Frank and Liza or some shit.

Heart of the City Tour" JAY-Z and Mary J. Blige
At the TD Banknorth Garden
Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $49.75, $69.75, $89.75, $125.75 and $300
Tickets go on-sale Friday, February 15, 2008 at 10:00 am

Ohhhhhh, snap! Someday you'll be telling your grandkids about this one like it was Frank and Liza or some shit.

Heart of the City Tour" JAY-Z and Mary J. Blige
At the TD Banknorth Garden
Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $49.75, $69.75, $89.75, $125.75 and $300
Tickets go on-sale Friday, February 15, 2008 at 10:00 am

Belated big-ups to the Karmaloop dudes for doing a holiday party the way holiday parties need to get done: grab the biggest club-rap phenomenon of the year, bring her to town for her Boston debut, and allow her to play her Kanyeezy-approved underground hit not once but twice. (Well, more like once and a half, but you get the picture.

If you were a punk (before we were a punk) then you might have been at this 1982 punk rock fashion show -- held at Axis, then known as Spit -- which was captured on camera by the folks at KinoDV. Yes, we know the song is not contemporary to the video: but trust us, this is the real deal.

VIDEO: Punk Rock Fashion at Spit, 1982

Collipark's little-noticed and quickly-abandoned attempt to start a reindeer dance craze

+ 999,999 snowflakes: Ying Yang czar Mr. ColliPark releases a Christmas EP that tempts us to make comparisons to Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift for You"

+ 87 snowflakes: Somehow pimping the minor-key melody of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" into club fire

DOWNLOAD: Gorilla Zoe feat. Neighborhood Superstars, "It's Christmas" [mp3]

+ 5 snowflakes: durrty-south interpretation of "Jingle Bells" brings new meaning to "dashing through the snow"

+ 8 snowflakes: flipping "12 Days of Christmas" as dope-boy corner pitch

+ 1,000,000 snoflakes: "When I hit the strip club I can make it reindeer."

________

total = 1,000,013 snowflakes.

DOWNLOAD: Eric Striffler and Kevin Spellman, "Crank Dat Santa Claus" [mp3]

+ 4 snowflakes: "watch him crank that Missus Claus"

+ 23 snowflakes: "Santa Claus up in this ho, watch me lean and watch me rock/Superman that ho, then I'll put some goodies in your sock!"

If you're headed to M.I.A. at the Palladium tonight, get there early: Cool Kids have cancelled, but we're dying to see what C440R's monster party-rap duo have in store when they step in tonight as a last-minute opening act. Big Digits at the Palladium: who'da thunk it? For an idea of how much awesomeness is in store, check the video above to see what happened the last time someone offered TD and Mac Swell a nice big stage.

Another blow was dealt to Boston's hip-hop reputation last week when Epitaph indie-rapper BUSDRIVER walked out on a Harpers Ferry gig after the club's soundman made a racist remark to one of Busdriver's crew members. Yesterday, the club released a formal apology to the rapper, stating that the club has a "zero tolerance" policy towards such remarks, that the soundman in question had been fired, and that the club is committed to further sensitivity training for its remaining employees.

Tiger Saw + Cathy Cathodic, "Words Not Used In Books" (Live at PA's Lounge, November 8, 2007)


Tiger Saw, "Tigers on Fire" (Live at PA's Lounge, November 8, 2007)

Our old pals (and former PHX tourbloggers) Tigersaw are off again, this time to Europe (dates below for our Continental peoples), but they threw down at PA's Lounge before embarking, and trotted out a new song, "Words Not Used In Books," that'll be on their next album.

DOWNLOAD: ESOTERIC, "INCREDIBLE HULK RAP" (mp3)

A round of applause for Esoteric, one half of Boston indie rap's longest-running tag team: while the rest of the country is still busy trying to Superman that 'ho, Eso's bringing people "to their knees like a fake preacher" with soul honks, bongos, and left-leaning hooks to the body politic.

50 Cent will be eating crow -- and keeping his mouth shut, if he stands by his wager -- now that Yeezy put the squeeze on the biggest Billboard sales week in forever. (Music industry please take note: rap music is your last hope). The idea that Fiddy will suddenly disappear from the cluuuurb, however, is silly.