Multifaceted Hip Hop artist Ill Poetic’s creative mix skills have been on display again recently. Just a week ago, he released the above remix of genre-bending Hip Hop jazzers IsWhat?!'s “Fanta,” the first release from the group’s forthcoming Big Appetite album, which comes out in Europe a little later this year and in the States sometime in 2010. IsWhat?! sent out some “stems” from the song and asked for remixes. Unsurprisingly, Ill Poetic’s is one of the best.

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On this day in 2003, The Rolling Stones were slated to perform in China and, like certain big tech companies, were keen to oblige the nation's government in order to take advantage of the lucrative marketplace. The event came as China seemed ready to fully embrace Western popular music performers; since Wham! broke the barrier in the mid ’80s, the country has allowed performers from Sonic Youth and Linkin Park to Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails and Ill Divo the chance to come play for their Chinese fans without much fuss. That was until the "Bjork incident," when the Icelandic singer performed in Shanghai in March of 2008 and attempted to lead the crowd in a chant of "Tibet! Tibet!," according to reports in Rolling Stone. That led to even more vetting before artists are allowed to play the country.

But even in the salad years of westerners performing in China, the country had tight restrictions and guidelines. While even Ed Sullivan allowed the Stones to perform "Let's Spend The Night Together" with altered lyrics ("Let's spend some time together"), the Chinese government wasn't so permissive, reportedly demanding set-list approval before the show could go on. The band was told they could not play four of their biggest hits due to apparently salacious lyrical content — "Best of Burden," Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women" and the aforementioned "Spend the Night."

Those shows ultimately ended up canceled due to an issue in China of a bit more importance — the SARS outbreak — but the band did return in 2006 and played by the rules, leaving those classics out of their sets.

So here's a chance to not take your country's freedoms for granted. Watch this old clip of "Let's Send the Night Together" from a 1967 episode of Top of the Pops and sing along as loud as you can.

Click on for Born This Day featuring Liza Minnelli, Al Jarreau, James Taylor and Blur's Graham Coxon.

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Local RCA Records recording artists Walk the Moon surprised fans today by announcing that they have teamed with video service VEVO to premiere its new, self-titled album, which hits stores this coming Tuesday. The album is being premiered as a "series of officially unofficial videos, hand-made, band-made by yours truly without a film crew or a budget."

Check out the full Walk the Moon album below (in playlist form).

Brian Olive, a founding member of The Greenhornes and later a member of the Soledad Brothers (under the stage-name Oliver Henry), is releasing a self-titled solo album on June 23. The CD will be put out by Alive Records, also home to Cincy's Buffalo Killers.

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Train is playing this weekend in Louisville at the HullabaLOU festival and will be in Cincinnati opening up for John Mayer Tuesday at Riverbend Music Center. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan (lead vocalist), Jimmy Stafford (guitar) and Scott Underwood (drummer).

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Walk the Moon was one of my personal highlights from the recent MidPoint Music Festival, where the band played a high-energy set wonderfully showcasing its dance-friendly beats, New Wave jubilance and Art Pop creativity. As solid as the foursome is live, I was still a bit stunned by how advanced, imaginative and proficient Walk the Moon comes across on its enchanting debut album, i want! i want!, which is to be released Saturday in conjunction with a multimedia event at The Mockbee.

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The group behind last fall's successful effort to erect a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame historical marker at the former King Records studio is at it again. They're now hoping to memorialize Herzog Studios' contributions to local and national music history.

At a press conference downtown this morning, leaders of the Cincinnati Music Heritage Foundation announced plans for a marker at 811 Race St., where in the 1940s and ’50s Herzog Studios hosted recording sessions by Hank Williams, Patti Page, Ernest Tubbs, Flatt and Scruggs and other notable "Country & Western" acts.

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Music Tonight: The range of shows/concerts today is pretty impressive — you can see/hear everything from a patriotic Country singer at a casino (Lee Greenwood at Belterra) to a chainsaw-wielding Hard Rock band (Jackyl at the venue-formerly-known at Annie's, Inner Circle). If your speed clocks somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, I highly recommend checking out JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound at MOTR Pub in the Over-the-Rhine. Not only is it way cheaper (free), but the Chicago-based Soul/Funk squad is noted for its great live shows. Add eclectic local rockers Buckra to the mix and you've got one powerhouse night of music one your hands. Check out the band's amazing version of fellow Chicagoans Wilco's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," which is the best Wilco cover ever to cross my ears. Showtime is 10 p.m. (Read more about Brooks and Co. from this week's CityBeat here.)

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The Country Throwdown Tour wraps up in a few weeks. By all accounts it has been a success, drawing large crowds and little, if any, controversy. We caught up with Emily West, Heidi Newfield, Sean Patrick McGraw, Sarah Buxton & Jedd Hughes while they were on tour to get inside their heads.

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When I was 12 or 13, my dad told me a joke that has, over the years, become one of my all time favorites. A drunk is standing in a doorway to get out of the rain, and a guy and a woman are standing on the corner in front of him, waiting for the light to change. The guy leans over to the woman and says, “Tickle your ass with a feather?” And the woman says, “What did you say?” The guy replies, “Typically nasty weather.” The woman laughs, they strike up a conversation and walk off together. The drunk thinks, “That was amazing! I’m gonna try that!” Pretty soon, a woman stops on the corner, the drunk lurches out of the doorway, sidles up to the woman and says, “Hey! Shove a feather up your ass?” The woman says, “I beg your pardon?” And the drunk says, “Fucking rain.”

When I looked out of my window at around 4:30 this afternoon, I thought about that joke, particularly the punch line. Luckily, the rain passed through relatively quickly and cleared to a large extent, giving us a nearly perfect night two of MidPoint 2010.

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