DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS frontman Patterson Hood talks about the band's upcoming album: A Blessing and a Curse: “We went in with an agenda of what we did not want to do: A concept record, a rock opera, anything that anyone would call Southern. I’m not running from where I’m from, but I don’t necessarily have to write about it all the time. There’s been enough said about that for now.” He also notes the importance of the producer of the band's critically acclaimed albums — David Barbe, who played bass for Sugar. There are advance tracks to stream and download at MySpace.
FATS DOMINO, JERRY LEE LEWIS, BUDDY HOLLY, MARTHA REEVES and the VANDELLAS, JIMI HENDRIX and SONIC YOUTH are among those getting into the National Registry of Recordings picked by the Library of Congress.
THE NEW YORK DOLLS: David Fricke has some background on the reunion album at Rolling Stone.
THE DOORS: The surviving members are gearing up for the band's 40th anniversary with plans for a comprehensive boxed set, reissues, merchandise and an interactive Las Vegas attraction — and possibly licensing their music for commercials for the first time.
HARD-FI started with an EP they recorded in a makeshift studio by themselves for about 500 bucks — and stayed there to make their major label debut, Stars of CCTV. The Clash-influenced Brits think they have something to say to Americans: “Most people live in a suburban town or a town where there's nothing to do. They feel a little alienated from what's going on,” says singer Richard Archer. “There's towns just like ours in America. I think what we say is quite universal.” Hear 'em on MySpace.
YEAH YEAH YEAHS have a show to stream or download from NPR.
ELO and SLADE: Though the ELO catalog has been reissued, with liner notes from Randy Newman, Robert Christgau prefers Jeff Lynne's first band, The Move: “No other band better evokes a giant mechanical lizard.” He likes Slade for the same reason. In that spirit, here's the Move playing “California Man” (later covered by Pate fave Cheap Trick) on Top of the Pops and Slade's biggest hit, “C*m On, Feel the Noize,” both of which feature some truly fugly fashion. BONUS: The Move's “I Can Hear the Grass Grow” from 1967.
SPOON has been working on a new album with piano and guitar, but is collecting new instruments, says frontman Britt Daniel: “We're busy looking for instruments we've never played before. So far we have an electric harpsichord, a bunch of harmonicas and these weird Japanese instruments…” Until then, you can hear some current and past stuff on MySpace.
METRIC: Emily Haines talks to the A.V. Club about opening for the Stones at MSG and recording in a studio she built with co-founder James Shaw, who tals to the Winnipeg Sun who talks about the diversity of the Candaian “scene.” Haines and Shaw are also members of Broken Social Scene.
BIRDMONSTER gets some local love from the San Francisco Chronicle with the release of their debut LP: “(W)hen they kick into a song, they become another animal — something fierce, of almost mythical stature, like a thunderbird — living up to their name.” There's a podcast with clips at the link.
T-BONE BURNETT is hitting the road in support of his first album in 14 years, The True False Identity, and a two-disc retrospective, Twenty Twenty: The Essential T Bone Burnett, both due May 16th.
MORRISSEY: London's Guardian asks “How on earth can the Tories like Morrissey?” As though politics is the only subject he ever wrote about.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes has reportedly been banned from speaking to her baby for a week after it is born, in accord with the teachings of Scientology. And as Holmes rnears the bursting point, Cruise is joyriding in a fighter jet when he's not busy playing down the “silent birth” doctrine and his headline-grabbing prescription drug debate with Matt Lauer on the Today show in GQ magazine, even as he claims that he can get someone off heroin in three days through Scientology's detox programs. Can he top himself in his interview with Diane Sawyer, set to air Friday?
MADONNA and Guy Ritchie are only staying together for their children, according to the film director's dad.
JESSICA SIMPSON: Cameras captured Nick Lachey at a Vegas hotspot with CaCee Cobb, the pneumatic blonde's personal assistant. The Gilded Moose has pics of the pair looking cozy in the club's VIP area.
CARMEN ELECTRA could lose a lucrative cosmetics contract with Max Factor after riding a Sybian sex machine on the Howard Stern show. She is said to be shocked at the company's reaction.
EVANGELINE LILLY: The Lost hottie hates the laid-back island lifestyle of Hawaii — where the show is shot — because no one has a notion of urgency.
J-LO is suing her least famous ex-husband, claiming, among other things, that he has demanded 5 million bucks from her to keep him from selling a tell-all book.
BRITNEY SPEARS gets another visit from the Department Of Children and Family Services and an L.A. sheriff's deputy. Star magazine claims that on April 7, Spears and Spenderline rushed baby Sean Preston to the hospital, where doctors discovered he had a minor skull fracture, ostensibly from a fall from his high chair. Star claims that deputies made a routine follow-up visit on April 8. In February, DCFS visited Spears' home after photos showed her driving with then 4-month-old Sean Preston in her lap, rather than in a car seat.
BRADGELINA: “If Dali Had Painted Angelina Jolie” is now showing in the Gallery of the Absurd.
MARTIN SHEEN: As the Bartlett presidency winds down, the West Wing star has turned down an entreaty from Ohio Democratic Party representatives to run for the U.S. Senate: “I'm just not qualified,” he said. “You're mistaking celebrity for credibility.”
LUCY LIU prefers to focus on helping child earthquake victims in Pakistan than on party politics: “It's hard not to rattle off my opinions, but if you focus on too much you can't get anything done.”
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ: Is the Sin City director dating Rose McGowan days after filing for divorce from his wife of 16 years? Rodriguez's rep says, “Rose is working with Robert on a yet-to-be-announced project. They have a professional relationship.” Is that a denial?
DENNIS HOPPER is installing an exhibition of his own photographs and other works at the Ace Gallery in L.A. Check some out.
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL and PETER SARSGAARD are engaged and expecting a baby, which immediately raises two questions: (1) will they hyphenate their last name; and (2) will they name their child Aaron, even if it's a girl?
IRAQ: Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders unite to strongly criticize Egypt's president after he said Iraq was on the verge of a civil war. Time reports that the insurgents don't think it's a civil war, either. Charles Hess, director of the Iraq Project and Contracting Office, says the pace of reconstruction spending is increasing. Sherman Fleek, the man tasked with writing the Army's official history of reconstruction efforts in Iraq, looks at the big picture. Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, claims in Time magazine that he was outspoken in his criticism before the war, but neither Defense Sec. Rumsfeld nor liberal columnists like Richard Cohen seem to recall it. Also unmentioned in the reports on Newbold is his prior history with Rumsfeld and the question of whether he was allowed to retire as a three-star general.
IRAN has enriched uranium, according to Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad. Not to worry though — it's just so they don't have to depend on foreign oil. Iran's nuke program is before the UN Security Council, but Ahmadinejad says “They know they cannot do a damned thing.”
GOATONAPOLE: Look out, Scientology! Goatonapole is the philosophy of the future.
DOGS: The traits that women adore or hate in their dogs offer them strong clues about what they need in a mate,” according to longtime dog trainer and writer Sarah Wilson. For example: “For women who like sporting breeds — golden retrievers, labs — they want someone loving and social who will adore them. For women who like working breeds –Dobermans, Rottweilers, boxers — they want someone more serious. They want to feel safe…”
NAKED MOLE-RATS debut at the Knoxville Zoo: “They're so ugly, they're cute,” said Knoxville Zoo keeper Cathleen Wise. Or not…
CATS AND DOGS: Dog chases Cat. Dog shot by Cat Owner. Dog Owner and Cat Owner exchange gunfire. Dog Owner is taken to the hospital. It's the Circle of Life.
BALD EAGLE looking for a mate is rescued after getting stuck in the crotch of a maple tree.