Del McCoury, Dungen, Lester Bangs, Cats, Dogs, Pandas and the Blue Lobster

RICHARD THOMPSON has a new album coming out next week. Chromewaves has a nice round-up of links on “one of the finest singer/songwriter/guitarists alive today,” including links where RT talks about being a Muslim post-9/11 and coaching Arnold Schwarzenegger's son in football.

DEL McCOURY: The crossover appeal of the bluegrass master is largely attributable to Phish? And there's a story about a Nashville gig you don't want to miss about… FREEBIRD!

YOUR FAVORITE RECORDS: Prof. Ann Althouse asks, “What is the peak year for you, for your favorite music recordings?” She picks 1666, which is one of mine. But go far enough in the comments and you'll find some love for the mid-80's based on the Mpls. scene.

ELVIS PRESLEY: At The Register, someone was in the mood for a creepy headline.

BOB POLLARD: Tiny Mix Tapes reports that Suitcase II: American Superdream Wow will drop on Halloween. It will start with Track 101, natch.

GREG DULLI, formerly of the Afghan Wigs, will self-release Amber Headlights in September. He previously shelved the album to make a tribute to his late friend Ted Demme.

BRADGELINA UPDATE: The long-awaited Vanity Fair interview with Jennifer Aniston is finally hitting the newsstand. Her take on Pitt's latest hairstyle is the key quote: “Billy Idol called. He wants his look back.” Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is deeply ashamed of herself for wearing an “I’ll have your baby, Brad” T-shirt and has sent Aniston a written apology.

JOHNNY DEPP wants to make a film about Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett.

JUDE LAW AND SIENNA MILLER are holding peace talks in the Cotswolds. And maybe picking up some nice Beatrix Potter tchotchkes near Wordsworth's old pad.

THE HUFFINGTON POST: I give Arianna credit for not firing Greg Gutfeld. Apparently, so does Gutfeld or he would never have posted Huff-Po FAQs.

ELECTION DAY: Don't Forget the Motor City! Early primary returns showed Martha Reeves on track to advance to the Nov. 8 general election for the Detroit City Council.

ELECTION DAY II: In Ohio, a former GOP lawmaker won a special election to Congress on Tuesday, narrowly defeating Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran who drew national attention to the race with his military service and a series of harsh attacks on President Bush. At least, that's the AP lede. Democrats had viewed the race as a bellwether for 2006, saying even a strong showing by Hackett in such a heavily GOP district would be a good sign for them in the midterm elections. But for all of the “harsh attacks” Hackett made, watch his TV ad — after all, this is how most people find out about candidates. Not only does it not attack President Bush, it opens with a clip of a Bush speech and is filled with Hackett's agreement with the need to see the job through. The ad never mentions Hackett's disagreement with the decision to invade Iraq. The ad doesn't even mention that he is a Democrat. I think there are a fair number of Democrats who won't see that approach as the path to victory in 2006.

DUNGEN (pronounced DUNE-yen) released an expanded edition of Ta Det Lugnt in the U.S. The Pitchfork reviewer gives it a rocking 9.3: “Ta Det Lugnt is an exceedingly triumphant psych-pop oddity that evokes Keith Moon's drum fills on The Who Sell Out, the wraiths of unsung bedroom psyche celebrants, and the acoustic sustain and harmonizing of The Byrds' Younger Than Yesterday.“ You can sample the psychedelic Swedes at Subliminal Sounds and Memphis Industries.

LESTER BANGS INTERVIEWED BRIAN ENO for a book that never got published. But Perfect Sound Forever has it online.

DURAN DURAN: When bassist John Taylor told a friend that the band was reuniting, the friend responded, “Well, I know it's gonna sound OK, but what are you going to wear?”

NEIL DIAMOND is pushing his Rick Rubin-produced disc back to November. “According to a source, this latest move was made to give Columbia more time to set up the album, as it is now considered one of the label's top holiday projects.” I just got chills; did you just get chills?

THE METH EPIDEMIC: The media seems addicted to meth… stories.

RUSSIA will not renew permission for ABC-TV to operate in the country after the network broadcast an interview with a notorious Chechen warlord.

JESSICA ALBA is the most appreciated celebrity for her hairstyle, according to July user statistics from BeautyRiot.com. Is that an incredibly lame pretext for mentioning these pictures? Guilty as charged!

MY KIND OF TOWN: O.J. Simpson was heckled mercilessly before he was escorted out of the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Ill., on Saturday. He did not even have approval from organizers to sign autographs!

YOUR MOMENT OF SITH: George Lucas is already at work on not one, but two Star Wars TV series. What would Vader say?

BLACK EYED PEAS frontwoman Fergie may misunderstand the band's name. Someone should spell it out for her.

CONDUCT UNBECOMING: A vice cop gone bad, turned in by a high-dollar madam and his ex-prostitute wife. Abusiveness, drug use and sexual deviance. Members of an elite sheriff's unit running out of control. A personal trainer peddling designer drugs. An FBI agent kicked off the case. Political ambition colliding with unpleasant facts. And finally, days before the cop was to be tried, a top-level decision to pay him off and kill the case. Read the whole thing…

PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: Sounds like the troubled singer's band Babyshambles is playing out its contractual obligations.

JOHN WESLEY HARDING has posted his Music You Should Hear at Amazon, focusing on records that influenced the making of The Love Hall Tryst.

RICKY MARTIN: Middle East diplomacy is not his forte.

CBGB: Monday night kicked-off a 41-day run of announced benefit shows to try to rescue the club's lease. Little Steven Van Zandt was there, as were Lenny Kaye, Debbie Harry and more.

AIR GUITAR: A dance teacher who took part in a national air guitar competition on the spur of the moment has begun researching for a doctorate in the subject. Amanda Griffiths is fascinated as to why so few women play air guitar. I blame the patriarchy.

JOHN CUSACK, currently starring in Must Love Dogs, does not own a dog and is so computer-illiterate that he could not use an online dating service even if he wanted to for some strange reason. I note this because he's been getting semi-fairly ripped for always playing Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything, but he is acting.

JESSICA SIMPSON is seemingly fudging the truth on the brand of acne medicine that cleared up her face.

THE SOPRANOS: Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) turned out his crew to raise 465K for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for kids with cancer. As for the new Sopranos season currently shooting? James Gandolfini would say only, “Different. Lots of surprises.”

IDENTITY THEFT: You may check your own credit reports to protect against the crime, but have you checked your kids' credit?

YOUR LEAST-FAVORITE CONSERVATIVES, as ranked by conservative bloggers.

BLUE LOBSTERS are one in a million.

TV DINNERS are no more harmful to the environment than home cookin'.

STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING on CALIFORNIA'S COAST, above and beyond the usual strangeness. Few scientists are willing to blame global warming for dead birds, fewer fish, and drop in plankton, but few are willing to rule it out, either.

ANOTHER DAY, another high school teacher parking with her students.

ELEVEN HOLES-IN-ONE in a single round of golf. If North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il says so, he must have done it. And he says he did it on the first round he ever played. Might as well quit while you're ahead.

VAMPIRE WATCH: Teresa Shields says she was driving home Friday night when a bat flew through her car window and bit her. Note this is a vampire watch, meaning conditions are right for vampirism. I'll let you know if it gets moved up to a vampire warning.

IT'S A BOY! The National Zoo's caretakers now know the sex of the giant panda cub born three and one-half-weeks ago. Giant panda mothers dote on their cubs, making it hard for the zoo's staff to get to the cub for examinations.