Karl 
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB bassist and vocalist Robert Levon Been talks to PopMatters about the evolution of the band's self-proclaimed Americana album, Howl. You can (and should) stream a couple from MySpace.
THE BEATLES top Variety magazine's poll of the most influential entertainers of the past 100 years.
SUFJAN STEVENS: Gorilla vs. Bear is killing music with a track from Dream Brother – The Songs of Tim + Jeff Buckley.
THE ROLLING STONES tour with a defibrillator, as if no one knew that they have been among the undead for decades.
SON VOLT frontman Jay Farrar talks to the Chicago Sun-Times about the political nature of the new album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot: “I try to avoid being strident. It seems to turn people away. At most, I'd like to provoke discussion of some things, but it's not like I have answers,” he said. Then he chuckled, “As of yet, I haven't been asked to play any peace marches.”
NICK DRAKE: London's Guardian has a “snapshot” in advance of Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal (Island Remasters), which comes out next week, but looks to be a UK-only release.
SMOOSH: The sisters from Seattle — aged 13 1nd 11 — get a profile in Canada's Globe and Mail, albeit with mentions of polar opposites like Kidz Bop.
MY MORNING JACKET vocalist Jim James is all about the power of positive thinking.
ROGER DALTREY is getting a Gold Badge award from The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters for singing songs composed and written by Pete Townshend.
GREG DULLI: The ex-Aghan Whig talks about learning the music biz by self-releasing his new album, Amber Headlights: “With the Internet and iTunes and the various doppelgangers that have spawned, I don't think you can stop anybody now. Anybody can be Ani DiFranco today.”
ROY ORBISON may turn up on a postage stamp, if Bono and Olivia Harrison have anything to say about it.
BAKER KNIGHT, writer of “Lonesone Town” and many others, is dead of natural causes at 72.
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: *Sixeyes does a Q&A with John Darnielle, including the contents of his iPod. 4AD has a couple of older tunes for legal download. A couple of band-approved sites have downloads also.
STEVEN SEAGAL is making a blues album with Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters Band members Bob Margolin and Hubert Sumlin, Koko Taylor, James Cotton, Robert Lockwood Jr., David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Willie “Pinetop” Perkins and Ruth Brown. If you didn't have the blues, Seagal will give them to you.
THE BOOK OF PLAYLISTS: London's Independent has some excerpts from the new Rough Guide, including lists from Nick Hornby, Al Green, Billy Bragg and more…
FATS DOMINO returns to the Big Easy to find 18 of his 21 gold records are missing.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer's band has cancelled the rest of its tour, blaming “constant pressure and continued harrassment from outside sources.” This will give Doherty time to work on his fashion designs, so shamed supermodel Moss won't be completely out of gigs.
NEIL YOUNG will be Conan O'Brien's musical guest for the entire week of shows November 1-4.
INDIE CHICKS, including the Raveonettes' Sharin Foo, model Fall fashions in The New York Times Magazine.
THIS IS SPINAL TAP was voted the greatest rock'n'roll movie of all-time in a poll conducted by Blender magazine. The top ten are at the link; the full list hits newsstands tomorrow.
MICHAEL STIPE gets fugged by Go Fug Yourself.
BRITNEY SPEARS may be forced back to work by the ridiculous spending of hubby Cletus.
BEYONCE: Did Vanity Fair lighten her up for her cover?
NOT-SO-BLIND ITEM is how most websites have referred to a blurb about a not-gay actor and his not-a-beard fiancee.
ELIZABETHTOWN comes in third at the weekend box office, behind The Fog remake and Wallace & Gromit. But despite the generally bad reviews, Elizabethtown had a higher per-screen average than the others.
SALMA HAYEK, recently spotted with Jude Law, was caught cuddling with Sideways director Alexander Payne, who must be moving on from his marriage to Sandra Oh.
HUGH JACKMAN was rejected for the role of James Bond because the producers thought him “too fey.” Tyler Durden has commentary and a photo gallery for you Jack-fans (you know who you are).
THE FRENCH HOTEL pens an apology note to former BFF Nicole Richie, now that her engagement is over and their TV show nearly so.
HARVEY PEKAR talks to the Cleveland Jewish News about his carreer and his Jewish roots to help promote his new graphic novel, Quitter.
HOMER SIMPSON is not as funny in Arabic. And Arabs are unhappy about it.
BLOGGERS AS JOURNOS: Mickey Kaus and former San Jose Mercury News journo Dan Gillmor argue that any federal “shield law” should focus on journalism, not journalists.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie and Pitt make lunchboxes for charity. Recovering toesucker Dick Morris muses about a Hillary vs. Condi race in 2008, but wouldn't Jolie be the “third way” candidate? And Jolie is nervous about the possible use of landmines along the borders of Iraq.
SYRIA has been offered a “Gaddafi deal” to end the Assad regime’s isolation if Damascus agrees to a long list of painful concessions. The offer comes as cross-border military operations may become a new front in the war.
IRAQ: I wrote about the constitutional referendum — and the press reax thereto — yesterday, so if you're if you're interested, keep scrolling past today's entry.
THE SINGING NEANDERTHALS in not a band; it's a book examining the evolutionary history of music.
MOVING PICTURES are coming to a magazine ad near you.
WOMEN GAIN WEIGHT from living with men.
NANOTECH: Cancer cells may be destroyed by nanobombs. And VoA is reporting (with video) on the Associated Nanotechnology Congress, which was held at Rice University.
NC CAT has two tongues and five toes on each paw. And too many punchlines to count, the “cat got your tongue” one being one of the few printable here.
ELEPHANTS are cleaning up in the Big Easy.
THE PYTHON PROBLEM IN FLORIDA: Venom one — Miami-Dade County's snakebite and snake removal unit — is training a beagle to sniff out pythons like those that recently attacked a gator, a cat and a turkey. And worrying about the anaconda recently run over by a car on U.S. 41 near the Everglades.
ALASKAN BULL MOOSE is in a cliffhanger almost certain to end badly. Pic at the link.
I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BOAT: Thirteen-year-old Alex Johnston landed a world record tiger shark down under. Pic at the link.
PETA workers face 25 felony counts of animal cruelty in North Carolina.
