BELLE & SEBASTIAN are playing a rare concert accompanied by the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl tonight. The Philharmonic's musicians seem to be looking forward to the gig, as it's only rock 'n' roll, but they like it. Cellist Ben Hong: “I plan to enjoy the concert along with everybody else.” You can stream a bunch of tracks from the Hype Machine. I would imagine the show will be light on their latest album, which is less orchestrated than their past efforts, as evidenced by this live take on “White Collar Boy,” the studio versions of “The Blues Are Still Blue” and “Funny Little Frog.” But don't miss the short clip of “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
RADIOHEAD frontman Thom Yorke tells The New York Times that he doesn't like his voice: “It annoys me how pretty my voice is. That sounds incredibly immodest, but it annoys me how polite it can sound when perhaps what I'm singing is deeply acidic.” Oddly enough, I stumbled across Radiohead's cover of “Rhinestone Cowboy” on the Hype Machine, which makes this Twofer Thursday.
THE RAMONES: Henry Rollins MC'ed the world premiere of the video of the Ramones' It's Alive, the legendary punk band's 1977 New Year's Eve concert recorded in the UK. The movie was projected onto the wall of a mausoleum in L.A.'s Hollywood Forever Cemetery honoring Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone. Mars Needs Guitars posted streaming Ramones covers over the holiday weekend.
FLAMING LIPS frontman Wayne Coyne wants to sell vibrating panties to his fans, so he can activate them from the stage at concerts.
JOHNNY CASH: The L.A. Times raves over the posthumous American V: A Hundred Highways. The album is streaming in full from AOL Music this week.
TOM PETTY doesn't care if the Red Hot Chili Peppers' hit “Dani California” sounds a lot like his “Mary Jane's Last Dance” and was amused that The Strokes admitted that part of “Last Nite” was lifted from “American Girl.” You can stream those two Petty songs from Tom's MySpace page.
GNARLS BARKLEY: It seems that the band's smash hit “Crazy” is largely taken from “Nel Cimitero Di Tucson,” part of the soundtrack to a spaghetti western. Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good has plenty of “Crazy” linkage, including covers and videos (but messed up the link to the Star Wars-themed appearance at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards).
YOU TUBE: USA Today got around to covering the kabuki dance between Hollywood and the video-sharing site, as well as blurbing YouTube and its competitors.
MISSION OF BURMA: The reunited art-punks are profiled in the Village Voice, with bassist Clint Conley remarking on the band's place in alt-rock history: “To be lumped in with bands like the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Black Flag, Fugazi — how can you not feel great about that?” The band's latest album is streaming from the Obliterati site. You can stream a cross-section of MoB from KRLX via the Hype Machine.
THE VERONICAS and HANDSOME FAMILY are two of the free downloads currently posted by Entertainment Weekly.
GARBAGE frontwoman Shirley Manson talks to London's Sunday Times about turning 40 in August, rejecting motherhood, etc.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: Babyshambles are releasing an independent single, “Beg, Steal or Borrow.” Hear it via MySpace. Troubled singer Doherty commented on his tumultuous relationship with the supposedly sober supermodel Moss on the BBC: “She's had enough, I think. I love her bones, I always will.”
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY has disclosed a family history of anorexia, but said that she doesn't suffer from an eating disorder: “(The press) said to me yesterday `How does it feel to be called anorexic?' and I had no idea that I was…” Well, a dress like the gold one she wore to the UK premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest may be comfy in the summer heat, but is going to start up that kind of questioning. ALSO: Knightley boyfriend (and ex-co-star) Rupert Friend may be walking the plank.
KEITH RICHARDS, LORD OF THE UNDEAD, is supposed to play the father of Capt. Jack Sparrow in a third Pirates movie, according to Johnny Depp. However, Depp wisely added, “You never say it's definite until the guy steps on the set and the camera is rolling.”
ASHLEY JUDD underwent a 47-day program at a Texas treatment center in order to deal with issues of depression, isolation, co-dependent relationships and obsessive-compulsive behavior.
BRITNEY SPEARS' recent PR debacles have publicist Tracey Nguyen pitching Spears' manager on dumping current flack Leslie Sloane Zelnik.
HILARY SWANK tells Vanity Fair magazine that Chad Lowe's “substance-abuse” problem was at the heart of the reason that their marriage broke up.
LINDSAY LOHAN is happy to have her boobs back. Egotastic is happy twice over. Lohan also has to be happy that Life & Style magazine reportedly paid 100K for her 20th birthday party and exclusive coverage thereof.
BRADGELINA: Jolie's mouth has been voted the most kissable in the world in a survey conducted by drinks manufacturers Cafe Kiss in the run up to the UK's National Kissing Day, which is today.
ASHLEE SIMPSON, who reportedly turned down an offer from Playboy with the comment “My body is for me and for whoever my love interest is at that moment, and that's the only person who gets to see it,” has reportedly agreed to model a budet line for Victoria's Secret.
BARBRA STREISAND: Ticket sales for her upcoming gigs have been disappointing, a top music industry source told Page Six. “Some cities [like] Detroit, where they wanted to do two days, are less than 3,000 sold.”
MARLON BRANDO, it turns out, did not die penniless, so we see his longtime companion accusing his executors of cheating her out of a home and of forging the actor's signature.
THE SOPRANOS' final holdouts, Tony Sirico and Steven Van Zandt, reached an agreement with HBO for the final episodes of the Emmy-winning series and will roughly double their salaries.
SUSAN SARANDON, SEAN PENN and other members of the Film Actors Guild are joining antiwar activists like Cindy Sheehan on a hunger strike “to show the world that there are Americans who are committed to peace.” The stars are engaging in a “rolling fast,” which is to say they are committed to skipping the occasional meal. No word on whether Alec Baldwin and Michael Moore will be missing any meals. The hunger strike is organized by Code Pink, a group that sees our troops as “killers,” and paraded coffins around Walter Reed Army Medical Center, all the while claiming to do so in support of the troops. Not to mention taunting children coming to visit the White House. These are some PR geniuses at work.
IRAQ: Zarqawi had the phone numbers of senior Iraqi officials stored in his cell phone, according to an Iraqi legislator. Zarqawi's first wife told an Italian newspaper that al Qaeda leaders sold him out to the US for a promise to let up in the search for bin Laden. Doubtful, but it won't help AQ morale, which is fine with me. Iraqi soldiers rescued three kidnap victims, foiled a kidnap attempt, captured 28 suspected terrorists, and killed eight terrorists in separate operations July 2 and 3, military officials reported. T.F. Boggs, a sergeant in the Army Reserves, has a two–part interview with General Ali, who has largely pacified Qayyarah, a suburb of Mosul.
IRAQ IN THE MEDIA: The New York Times has a piece by Dexter Filkins headlined, “In Ramadi, Fetid Quarters and Unrelenting Battles.” Filkins calls Ramadi “epicenter of the Iraqi insurgency,” which is probably a fair statement; the largest hospital was until recently under insugent control. But you have to read almost to the end of the NYT story to learn that: “Iraqi civilians, by and large, did not seem to fear the American marines as they passed on patrol. When the Americans rumbled past, the Iraqis often continued whatever they were doing: talking, sitting, standing, eating. The children held up their hands for soccer balls, and occasionally a marine would toss one to a child. 'Football! Football!' the children cried.” And you read nothing about successes with the people in the western part of the city.
IRAQ IN THE MEDIA II: The AP ran a story headlined, “Only one Medal of Honor given for Iraq war,” suggesting that counter-insurgency ops offer less opportunity for courageous military action. Of course, afaik, the AP never bothered to report on Sgt. 1st. Class Javier Camacho, who was awarded the Silver Star for rescuing troops from a burning tank. The AP never spilled many pixels over those who won the Air Force Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism. Nor — with the exceptions of Sgt. First Class Paul R. Smith (who was awarded the Medal of Honor) and Army Sgt. Leigh A. Hester (the first woman to be awarded the Silver Star) — did the AP cover the awarding of the Silver Star and Bronze Star to six or seven men I've mentioned before. And that's the small tip of a large iceberg. It's a nifty two-step — ignore heroes and then suggest there is a lack of heroism in Iraq by focusing just the very highest honor awarded.
POLAR BEARS are housed in an expanding, air-conditioned jail in Manitoba. Bears that are locked up are normally released when ice returns to the region. The bears are sort of like drunken Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show.
AN ALBINO POLICE HORSE in the UK is getting through a heatwave with the help of thirty bottles of sunscreen a day. Pics at the first link.
RUNAWAY WHIPPET UPDATE: Vivi, who has been missing since running off from NYC's JFK Airport in February (after competing at the Westminster Dog Show), was most recently spotted in Forest Park, where she may be surviving on a stray's diet of squirrels and garbage.
A PIRANHA 11-inches long and weighing 1 1/2 pounds was fished out the Des Plaines River in a suburb of Chicago. Those of us who live here are not surprised.
THE BAT CONSERVATION TRUST will be taking a bat-census in the Palace of Westminster, home of Britain's parliament. Check for updates at your same bat-time, same bat-channel.