THE EAMES ERA: I kept meaning to mention this Louisiana-based pop (in a good way) band after it got good write-ups at Tiny Mix Tapes and Glide magazine last Fall. The Center Daily Times reports that days before the Double Dutch tour, the band's van was involved in an accident with a military vehicle that was part of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. You can stream a few numbers at MySpace and download a couple that — imho — are even better from SPIN.
WEALTHY ROCK LEGENDS complain about the state of the music business to Rosanna Arquette for a rockumentary. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler moans about the Internet, but the funniest comment may come from David Crosby, who says the suits “wouldn't know a song if it flew up their noses and died … . That's what puts Britney Spears, who is about as deep as a birdbath, in front of Joni Mitchell.” Dave might want to avoid the “flying up your nose” metaphors.
PERE UBU has a new album slated for September.
ELVIS COSTELLO is jazzing up his back catalog with the Metropole Orkest. Stereogum is killing music with the jazz version of “Watching The Detectives.”
GANG OF FOUR/KARATE KID UPDATE: Brooklyn Vegan is killing music with “Desire,” a Go4 trak that appears only on the Karate Kid soundtrack.
JAMES BROWN: Can you take me to the bridge? Yes, but not for much longer.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: Although I've got cooler links stashed away, I was in the mood for this 1979 live clip of Van Halen playing “Dance The Night Away.”
YOU TUBE seemed to be on the fritz for part of Tuesday, so anyone who missed yesterday's Johnny Cash set should check 'em out. Plus,we can now compare Johnny and June singing “Jackson” with a version from Joaquin and Reese in Walk The Line.
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Although the 16-plus collective builds collective buzz through side projects, Kevin Drew is talking about scaling down into more solo-based projects and movie soundtracks: “If we tour, it's gonna be so amazing just to [hit the road on a small scale]. Going into a restaurant, I've never been able to ask for a table for three, and that would be nice one day.”
NEKO CASE: At Chromewaves, Frank is killing music with the indie chanteuse's cover of Dylan's “Buckets Of Rain.”
THE STROKES are amused by reports of their imminent demise.
ISOBEL CAMPBELL talks about touring with former Vaselines member Eugene Kelly instead of collaborator (and former Screaming Trees/Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist) Mark Lanegan: “He doesn't have that gravelly sound that Mark does. Eugene is more rich; more Glen Campbell-like.”
PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The troubled singer has been arrested yet again — this time on suspicion of stealing a car and possessing illegal class A drugs. He escaped a jail sentence earlier this month, but was told he faced a prison sentence if he failed to comply with a community service order that requires him to attend a drug rehabilitation center. He has to return to court on March 8 for a review of the order.
CHARLIZE THERON and KATE MOSS apparently will not be playing lesbian lovers in a Dusty Springfield biopic that was rumored to be Ang Lee's next project.
THE FRENCH HOTEL, meanwhile, has warned Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron: “My acting coach told me I have a similar style of acting to her so we may end up vying for the same parts.”
JENNY McCARTHY would love to haunt the French Hotel if she becomes a spirit after death: “I'd try and give her (Hilton) some really good spiritual direction in her life. I'd also love to f**k with her, whispering in her ear things like, 'Your clothes are dirty! You're totally out of style! Eat something!'” I don't wish Jenny ill, but those are some good suggestions for any ghosts with some free time…
PREGNANCY RUMORS: Liz Hurley and Britney Spears are trying to quash them.
MARRIAGE RUMORS: Nicole Kidman's rep issued what sounds like a non-denial denial: “The story is nonsense. I know of no wedding. I know of no wedding date. I know of no wedding plans.” But is she engaged to Keith Urban? No answer.
OSCAR PREDICITIONS: Moragn Freeman thinks Brokeback Mountain will win because it is the “flavor of the month.” Freeman preferred Capote. Filmjerk looks at statistics for possible upsets and finds a big one — favoring Keira Knightley for Best Actress, but adding: “I don't think Knightley is going to win, and I'd never predict her to win. I don't think Knightley thinks she's going to win.”
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY: Ex-beau Jamie Dornan claims he split with Knightley because her fame and fortune made him feel inferior and insecure.
BRADGELINA: The couple is apparently arguing over where to have their child — in the US or France. Surprisingly, it's Pitt who seems to be the smarter one in this case.
LOHAN LOWDOWN: Li-Lo hasapparently run out of new men in her age bracket, as she's been spotted with ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama of That 70's Show at 5:30 a.m.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Star magazine has pictures of the couple vacationing in Tahiti. There's nothing like the trip to a romantic locale to show the world a couple is still together — just ask Brad and Jen. Or Nick and Jessica.
DAVIE-BROWN INDEX REDUX: More results from the sophisticated celebrity-ranking survey have turned up in New York magazine. There have been rampant rumors that CBS would like to hire Katie Couric to anchor the Evening News, but based on the DBI's rankings of appeal, influence and trust, CBS should replace Dan Rather with Robert DeNiro. Just imagine how Bobby could grill an interviewee — “Are you talkin' to me?”
ANNA NICOLE SMITH got a sympathetic audience at the Supreme Court yesterday on her claim that the son of the 89-year-old oil tycoon she married (when she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Texas) tried to cover up legal documents that concealed parts of the tycoon's will that designated money for Smith. Insert your Clarence Thomas joke here.
LOST has the kind of rabid fandom that buys 15,000 copies of a book shown on-screen for just one second, after a scriptwriter hinted that it had been chosen “very specifically for a reason.” Entertainment Weekly senior writer Jeff Jensen thinks he's solved the shows mysteries. And — like most significant others — Dominic Monaghan is powerless to tell Evangeline Lilly that her bikini is not a good look.
IRAQ: The AP has civil war looming again, based on 68 deaths following the lifiting of the curfew. The Washington Post's report of 1,300 dead is not confirmed by anyone, which — oddly enough — the paper reports as the result of political pressure (though the evidence of pressure reported relates to other deaths). Elsewhere, the WaPo reports on a skilled and heroic helicopter pilot, Capt. Sarah Piro. At Iraq the Model, Omar notes that Saddam's trial just got interesting, as it moves beyond the ex-tyrant's antics to hard evidence he ordered mass killings.
POLLING THE TROOPS: A new Zogby poll headlined “72% Say End War in 2006” is getting play around the Internet. Unfortunately, Zogby (as usual) is keeping the questions and methodology secret, making it impossible to judge the reliability of the poll. For example, Zogby states that 25% of the sample is female. We know from the above-mentioned story on Capt. Piro that the active-duty forces are about 15% female. We don't know whether Zogby adjusted the sample or whether doing so would change the results. Even taking the numbers at face value, without knowing the questions, their premises and order, we have no way to know whether the answers merely reflect knowledge of US plans to significantly draw down the troops this year and the troops' estimate of when they think their mission will be finished. Indeed, taking the numbers at face value, Zogby could have headlined his press release “Most troops think some Americans favor rapid US troop withdrawal from Iraq because they are unpatriotic (37%) or don't understand the need for the US troops in Iraq (15%).” When you can write headlines that different, I suspect that the real picture is more complex than either suggests. A poll of the troops could be illuminating, but Zogby should be more transparent if he wants us to buy his.
IRAN: Steve Schippert notes that while everyone is focused on Iran's nuclear ambitions, its diplomatic strategy and support for Hamas and Hezbollah have serious ramifications on a shorter timetable.
KOZA and CAIRO have become play pals while Koza (the lion cub) stays in the nursery at a wild animal park in North Carolina. Cairo (a Mastiff puppy) eventually will find a new home when his lion friend gets a little too big and dangerous to wrestle.
PETA is suing RINGLING BROS. on claims that the circus hired an ex-CIA agent to spy on the animal-rights group.
A “CURTAIN” OF TWO MILLION BEES menaces a South Florida neighborhood after overruning the home of a dead man in South Miami.
RUPERT THE COCKER SPANIEL is helping a recuitment agency's employees quit smoking and lose weight.