THE PIPETTES are profiled by London's Telegraph, giving the backstory on theor run at mixing pre-fab pop with a punk DIY spirit. The article mentions that the band's new video for “Pull Shapes” recreates a scene from Valley of the Dolls, but it actually recreates the party scene from the kitsch classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. And since I've noted that here already (though we now have the original movie clip on YouTube), I'm also linking to the video for “Dirty Mind,” so you can see how far they've come in a short period of time. As usual, there's plenty more Pipettes to stream from the Hype Machine.
ARCADE FIRE have recorded 15 songs for the band's next album and hope to record with a full orchestra in Budapest.
SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME: Good Hodgkins has an interview with frontman Fred Thomas about a band that — as GH describes it — is “on the verge of either falling apart or breaking through.” Longtime Pate fans know all about that. You can stream some SLGTM via the Hype Machine.
THOM YORKE: The Radiohead frontman talsk to the L.A. Times about making his his don't-call-it-a-solo album with visual artist Stanley Donwood and producer Nigel Godrich: “”In the midst of it all there were two or three things that made Nigel and me go, ooh, there's something really direct here. Someone might even understand it the first time around.”
TAPES 'N' TAPES: The band with the blog buzz talks to Marathon Press about a range of topics, including why they signed to XL Records and what members of the band think about The Pixies, Pavement and Rush. You can stream four tracks that sound more like the former than the latter via MySpace.
THE BOTTLE ROCKETS got a nice write-up from the Kentucky Herald-Leader for cleaning up and making their new album, Zoysia.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: I was in the mood for some power pop (when am I not?), so I decided to “Go All The Way” with the Raspberries from 1974.
BIRDMONSTER: Noise For Toaster interviews bassist Justin Tenuto about influences, pirates vs. ninjas, and PBJ vs. fluffernutter. I think he's dead right about music blogs, too. You can stream 'em from MySpace and download an entire set from WOXY.
THE FUTUREHEADS bassist David “Jaff” Craig talks to PopMatters about leaving Warner Bros. to make their second album. There's YouTube video embedded in the story, too.
ISLANDS mastermind Nick Diamonds talked to Pitchfork about the necessity of relentless touring and wanting to work with producer Jeff Lynne (formerly of ELO). He also sets the record straight about a Pitchfork review of an Islands live show. There's Islands in the stream at the Hype Machine.
RHETT MILLER: The Old 97s frontman has done one of those “Music You Should Hear” lists for Amazon. It's all indie, but with no alt-country or Americana.
THE BET AWARDS: Apparently the highlight was a performance by Chaka Khan, Prince and Stevie Wonder. Follow the link to see the video.
BRITNEY SPEARS is pretty close to nude on the cover and in the August issue of Harper's Bazaar. BritneySpy's copies turned up allover the 'net. Don't say I didn't warn you. Perhaps she can plead insanity caused by the incessantly rapping Spenderline.
SUPERMAN RETURNS screenwriters Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris suggest they left the phrase “…and the American Way” out of the movie because it no longer means what it did back in 1945. Harris told Page Six: “I don't think 'the American way' means what it meant in 1945. He's an alien, from Krypton; he has come to Earth to be kind of a saviour for this world, not our country… And he has no papers.” Dougherty adds, “He's not just for Metropolis and not just for America. What would happen with the immigration laws we have now?” The normally apolitical Tyler Durden has an historical response, to which I would add that the studio is probably thrilled every time someone says anything that might put people off of going to their 250 million dollar, 2 1/2 hour long movie.
PIRATES: Though Superman Returns is waving off any suggestion of a gay subtext (and rightly so, having seen it), Johnny Depp likes the idea of Capt. Jack Sparrow being sexually ambiguous. It's a whole rum, sodomy and the lash sorta thing.
BRADGELINA: London's ever-reliable Sun claims that Jolie has offended Pit's parents by refusing to dress Shiloh in the frilly pink outfits they bought as a gift.
JESSICA SIMPSON is telling E! News co-host Ryan Seacrest that she's not ready to date after her divorce, but someone else told Life & Style Weekly that the pneumatic blonde and comedian Dane Cook “looked like two people trying not to look like a couple but who really wanted to rip each other’s clothes off” last week at a Hollywood nightclub.
ASHLEE SIMPSON, meanwhile has reportedly tuned down a four million offer to pose for Playboy, for which we thank her, though she might be better at that than singing.
NICOLE KIDMAN and KEITH URBAN are honeymooning in Bora Bora. Obviously, some parts are more romantic than others.
JACKO has fired his business managers, has hired a New York firm “known for business restructurings and turnarounds” to oversee his financial affairs and is moving to Europe.
KATE MOSS was turned down by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, on the advice of his mother.
GWYNETH PALTROW: Contrary to internet rumors, Mrs. Coldplay is not working on an album.
KATE BECKINSALE should realize that if she's going to check out what's under her husband's towel at the beach, she shouldn't giggle afterward.
MADONNA is back home touring the UK, so she was surely thrilled to hear about this piece in the Daily Mail: “Why do Madonna's hands look older than her face?” Follow the link for an unflattering close-up.
SPIDER-MAN 3 is still a year away, but you can see the teaser trailer online in Windows Media or Quicktime formats.
EDU-BLOGGING: The 73rd Carnival of Education is online. This week it appears to be hosted by a homeschooler.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, speaking about religion and politics to a conference of Call to Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty, said: “Nothing is more transparent than inauthentic expressions of faith: the politician who shows up at a black church around election time and claps — off rhythm — to the gospel choir.” That's pretty close to suggesting that Whitey doesn't have rhythm. If the Rev. Jesse Jackson was white, he'd already be demanding an apology.
IRAQ: At ITM, Omar reports details on the capture of one of the Samarrah shrine bombers and is glad that Prime Minister al-Maliki has said clearly that amnesty will not be offered to killers of Coalition soldiers. Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have now offered to halt all attacks — but with serious strings attached. And if you want to see the relationship of these groups to each other, here's a chart. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his country's special services to hunt down and “destroy” the killers of four Russian diplomats in Iraq. So far, no complaints from folks who think the US — and Pres. Bush in particular — alienates the rest of the world with cowboy talk.
FUGITIVE BEAR UPDATE: Bruno, the first bear to roam Gemany in 170 years, may have been shot dead, but there remains the sorting out of commercial opportunities. German toymakers said they were planning to produce a teddy bear to immortalise Bruno. Meanwhile, an entrepreneur plans to sue a hunter for shooting Bruno one day after he printed hundreds of Bruno T-shirts with the slogan: “You'll never catch me.”
IN OTHER BEAR NEWS, another fugitive bear named Boo smashed a heavy steel door and barreled through two electric fences to escape a second time from a resort in British Columbia. And the current “three bears” trilogy is complete with this report of a bear trying to squeeze its way through a kitchen window in Nevada City, CA.
MUFFY UPDATE: We now have video of America's longest python.
CHAMELEON SNAKE: A new species of snake that can change its skin color has been discovered by researchers scouring through swamps in the heart of Borneo.
IS THERE A TIGER prowling North Yorkshire in the UK?
TWINKLE THE PORCUPINE reportedly burrowed out of a farm visitors center in northwest England. Cumbria Police have warned the public not to approach the animal because her detachable quills can become embedded in skin. At least she is not as dangerous as Spiny Norman.