ANOTHER RARE PATE TRACK, courtesy of Jon Pratt: The original two track master for “My Turn.” This is not the mix Tom Tatman did for South East Records' Iowa Compilation. It's available in the “Downloads” section of the site, accessible thru the links at the left and top of the page. Grab it. Dig it.
JENS LEKMAN is given up on his hiatus, discovering that being a musician is more rewarding than working in a bingo hall. He's giving away his tour EPs as free downloads. Oh You're So Silent, a compilation of his regular EPs, was universally acclaimed. You can stream some of his fab chamber pop from NPR and download two from his label.
TALKING HEADS reissues are streaming in their entirety from AOL Music. Elsewhere, David Byrne has posted a bit on the multimedia musical about Imelda Marcos he's worked on with Fatboy Slim.
THE SUBWAYS: The band's debut album, Young for Eternity is also streaming in its entirety from AOL Music. PopMatters spends a day on tour with the trio.
BONO is prodding the Mexican government to investigate the odd death of singer Kirsty MacColl, who was killed by a power boat in December 2000 while scuba diving with her two sons in Cozumel. And he's getting some results.
ROBERT POLLARD: At Things I'd Rather Be Doing, John Kenyon has outtakes from an interview with Pollard he did for PopMatters as part of a larger, as-yet unpublished piece. Pollard talks about producers and collaborators in this hunk.
PAUL WELLER played a tiny warm-up gig for the Brit awards, which heckled the audience, not to mention James Blunt, Sting and Bono: “I'm pretty sure I said all of it to be honest with you. I thought [the tabloids] were being polite, if anything.”
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: As the Wikipedia tells us, “In December 1977, Elvis Costello and The Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live as a last minute fill-in for the Sex Pistols. During the live broadcast, Costello played the first few bars of “Less Than Zero,” then — much to the shock of the program's producers — stopped and broke into a spirited rendition of the then-unreleased “Radio, Radio” (despite having been denied permission to play that song because of its anti-corporate message). Costello was not invited to perform on Saturday Night Live again for 12 years…”
GLEN MATLOCK: The Ex-Pistol has stuck up for punk proteges Green Day after Johnny Rotten dubbed them “a w**k outfit”.
TEN TO WATCH and ten notable returns, courtesy of Glide.
ISOBEL CAMPBELL: Frank at Chromewaves is killing music with the ex-Belle & Sebastian belle's cover of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).”
BILLY BRAGG has his “List of Music You Should Hear” up at Amazon and it's surprisingly free of Woody Guthrie and “The Internationale.”
PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The producers of the Brit Awards have invited the troubled singer to attend — in the hope he will turn up and cause chaos.
THE SI SWIMSUIT ISSUE came out yesterday, though the cover features a bevy of beauties — including cover vets like Elle MacPherson and Stacy's Mom — who misplaced their tops. Kinda defeats the notion it's about swimsuits, if anyone was dumb enough to believe it. If you can't get to a newsstand, you can peruse it on the web, watch videos from iTunes or get some on your cellphone or handheld device. Insert your “handheld device” punchline here. This is merely an expansion of the secondary products — calendars, DVDs, and television shows — that already bring in an extra ten million in revenue annually. And you can compare this year's shots to past years at SI's swimsuit collection.
PRINCE has arrived in the UK, but producers don't know whether he will show up to play the Brit Awards. Apparently, he may be partying like it's 1999 — and making demands like it's 1984.
MADONNA converted from Catholicism to the ancient mysticism of Kabbalah because she found the Christian religion too restrictive. Of course, Kabbalah requires that one live a modest and holy lifestyle in accordance to Torah Law, observing all those commandments applicable to them. Which is why Madonna is involved with pseudo-Kabbalah, which is quite a concept, given that Kabbalah itself is controversial within Judaism.
COURTNEY LOVE may be sued by her father if her forthcoming book alleges that he put her on the road to drug addiction by giving her LSD as a toddler.
BRITNEY SPEARS stopped at the Malibu Urgent Care Center on Monday, reportedly suffering from stomach cramps after filming a cameo on NBC's Will & Grace. A smarter woman would have known that Will & Grace has been nausea-inducing for a while now.
JESSICA SIMPSON: Perez Hilton reports the pneumatic blond's publicist confirmed that Simpson is “officially dating” Maroon 5's Adam Levine, then gets an official denial from Simpson's rep. Meanwhile, hubby Nick Lachey made a good impression with a speech at Cosmopolitan's Fun Fearless Male Awards.
TOM-KAT DONE!? That's what Life & Style Weekly is reporting: “The insiders say that Tom, 43, and Katie, 27, plan to keep up the charade of a romance until after their baby’s birth this spring.” Cruise's publicists tell Access Hollywood: “It should be known that the story is 100 percent false.” A rep for Life & Style responded: “We stand 100 percent behind our story.”
JOSH LUCAS: The Glory Road star is looking for a new galpal and was spotted bumping and grinding on the dance floor with ex-Playmate Victoria Silvstedt at a Victoria's Secret pre-Valentine's Day bash. I have to think that Chris Wragge won't like to hear that.
SIENNA MILLER quashed any rumours of a Valentine’s reunion with ex Jude Law last night by saying: “I’m definitely single.” In further comments, she makes like the president of the She-woman Man-hater's Club.
LOST: Ex-hobbit Dominic Monaghan and and Evangeline Lilly continue to be the subject of rumors that the couple will wed in Hawaii when the series wraps this spring and even that Lilly is pregnant, though the photo at the link doesn't convince me.
SHARON STONE is miffed that Basic Instinct 2 had to be edited to get an R-rating: “Let’s face it, this is going to be my last hurrah doing something like this and isn’t Basic Instinct 2 supposed to be even baser still?” Hard to argue with that logic, though it seems like the finished film won't be family fare (NSFW).
CHRIS PENN had “accidental death” caused by the combo of an enlarged heart and several prescription drugs.
UNCLE OWEN is dead, man. Miss him, miss him. Who knew he had been blacklisted in the 1950's?
THE 25TH ANNUAL OSCAR NOMINEES LUNCHEON was held Tuesday, with 116 Academy Award nominees — from actors to visual-effects designers — democratically seated to dine on beef tenderloin and Chilean sea bass. Sadly, though somehow fitting, Paul Giamatti was stuck in NYC by the weekend blizzard. Felicity Huffman was so excited that she was two hours early: “I helped set up the tables.” I guess that's how she got that front row right seat for the “class photo.” There's a link to huge version of the “class photo” at OscarWatch.
IRAQ: Though Bill Roggio has been regularly posting on the progress of Iraqi forces, there are now statistics to go with the anecdotal evidence. The US military says 40 percent of Iraq's combat battalions are effective enough to have taken the lead role in fighting the insurgency, a key measure for determining when U.S. forces can withdraw. At Iraq the Model, Omar posts an update on cracks within the main Shia party and notes that militias seem to be selling weapons sent by Iran to help them carry out attacks on coalition forces. BTW, I predicted the other day that if Iraqi forces did well securing the celebration of Ashura, the press wouldn't notice. I would brag, but it's like predicting the sun will rise in the east.
CARTOON JIHAD: Thousands rampaged through two cities Tuesday in Pakistan, burning buildings housing a hotel, banks and a KFC, vandalizing a Citibank and breaking windows at a Holiday Inn and a Pizza Hut. At least two people were killed in riots over the Danish cartoons. The secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference compared the publication of the cartoons to 9/11 and the Holocaust. Italy's Reform Minister Roberto Calderoli had T-shirts made emblazoned with cartoons, saying that they were not meant to be a provocation but added that he saw no point trying to appease extremists: “We have to put an end to this story that we can talk to these people. They only want to humiliate people. Full stop. And what are we becoming? The civilization of melted butter?” Meanwhile, there is anger in Iran over a football cartoon printed in a German newspaper showing the Iranian national team standing in a World Cup stadium with bomb belts strapped to their jerseys. And Batman will soon be fighting al Qaeda, thanks to Frank Miller, perhaps best known for his Sin City books, but who earlier revived the Bat-franchise with The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One.
REGGIE THE BULLDOG is crowned Britain's Best Looking Dog.
AMERICAN PETS are increasingly enjoying their own birthday parties.
THE CENTIPEDE KING of Thailand married the Scorpion Queen on Valentine's Day. The bride wore a white wedding dress with 15 live scorpions attached to it.
SHEEP ABUSER in Michigan argues that he should not have to register as a sex offender.
WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD? Because the tractor trailer overturned on the highway.