FLAMING LIPS: Though the band's latest album has its share of politics, frontman Wayne Coyne has his priorities: ''People will say, 'Wayne, are you interested in politics?' I say, 'Not as interested as I am in making music. Otherwise, I'd run for office.'” Interest in the band has just made Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots the first Lips record to go Gold. NPR has an audio interview and three songs from At War With The Mystics.
NEW RELEASES: Be Yor Own Pet, Calexico, Richard Butler (from the Psychedelic Furs), Dresden Dolls, Drive-By Truckers and Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, (a/k/a/ Sid 'n' Susie) are streaming in their entirety from AOL Music. There are also new albums from Elefant and Fiery Furnaces.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: His album of Woody Guthrie covers is streaming in advance of next week's release. There's also video up at Amazon and CMT.
NEW YORK DOLLS: David Johansen and Syl Sylvain blurb the reunion album at CMJ. There are three free downloads at Roadrunner Records.
THE ROLLING STONES: Cityrag has some Photoshop phun, asking “What will fit in Mick's mouth?”
BECK really doesn't want to talk about Scientology.
SEEN YOUR VIDEO: We previously noted that the BBC planned to air the story of Easter as a musical featuring the songs of Manchester rock bands. Two clips — Joy Division's “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (at the Last Supper) and the Morrissey-Smiths combo “You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side/Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now” (the betrayal by Judas) — have turned up on YouTube. (They loaded slowly for me, so you might consider hitting the “pause” button right when it starts running to let the video load for a few minutes.)
T-BONE BURNETT has posted a track called “Zombieland” on his website in advance of his album due next month.
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Kevin Drew talks about the value of collaboration and communities in making music, while showing a healthy skepticism of the the press.
THE BOY LEAST LIKELY TO: While CMJ describes The Best Party Ever album as “sort of like Belle And Sebastian playing Pet Sounds using only instruments found in a kindergarten classroom, the duo is as self-deprecating as their name, with singer Jof Owen declaring, “We just put it out and thought, ‘Well, that's 500 quid down the drain…'” You can hear 'em at MySpace.
CINNAMON GIRL: Stereogum is killing music with a dozen versions of the signature Neil Young tune.
JAY FARRAR is starting work on a new Son Volt album, but will first release a collection of mostly traditional songs he cut with former Varnaline singer Anders Parker.
BUDDY HOLLY: The watch he wore the Day the Music Died has been sold at auction in Dallas, Texas for over 155K. The diamond-studded timepiece was bought by an anonymous woman from San Francisco, but not as an investment — she's just a fan of the man.
BRADGELINA: Pitt's bonding with 4-year-old Maddox extends beyond getting the same mohawk haircut to getting a Buddhist prayer of protection tatooed on his neck.
VAUGHNISTON: Jennifer Aniston called into The Oprah Winfrey Show to help quash rumors of an Oprah-hosted wedding extravaganza.
BRITNEY SPEARS: Hubby Spenderline slams Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson for divorcing. Yeah, somehow I don't see Kevin as the one eager to divorce Britney.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Perez Hilton reports that Cruise's Scientology security guards take his garbage out and protect it until it's picked up. IDLY has found video of an out-of-shape Britney dancing to the demo of her new song, To My Sister, for your daily dose of schadenfreude.
UNITED 93 gets a sterling advance review at Ain't-it-Cool-News: “Nothing in this film feels exploitative and is rendered with remarkable taste.”
EVA LONGORIA: The Desperate Housewife is bugged by all the gossip about her sex life when there are more important issues to think about. Maybe if she stopped talking about teaching her boyfriend things and talking about vibrators so much that ABC begged her to stop, the press might ask her opinion about more important issues, though no one will much care.
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY: The father of the Pirates Of The Caribbean starlet apparently had an odd wish for her success: “My father says, 'I wish this could have happened in five years' time, you could have been 20 and got really p***ed and slept with loads of people and no-one would have known.' “That would have been great.” Father knows best!
HUGH GRANT decided to play a Simon Cowell-inspired judge in the upcoming American Dreamz after watching American Idol: “I enjoy cruelty. I like people being humiliated. I like watching freaks. The freakier the better, as far as I am concerned. I think in a way the show doesn’t go far enough.” Which may explain that whole Divine Brown incident.
QUEEN on AMERICAN IDOL: Guitarist Brian May writes at his blog that the show was edited to make him seem more critical of a contestant than he really was.
GEORGE MICHAEL crashed into three cars while trying to park his SUV in London early Sunday. He was taken into custody in central London in February on suspicion of possessing drugs after being found slumped at the wheel of a car.
JANE FONDA would like to tour the country and speak out against US involvement in Iraq, but thinks her controversial history of Vietnam War protests leaves her with “too much baggage.”
JULIA ROBERTS: From the “Green Issue” of Vanity Fair: “An admitted latecomer to environmental concerns, Roberts is proof that it's never too late to start caring for the earth and that it can all start at home. From the Prius she drives and the solar-powered house she's building in California to the metal cup she uses to go out for coffee, the grocery bags she religiously returns to the store for a nickel … Roberts firmly believes that the little things make a difference …” Page Six wonders how many private planes Roberts has flown on. I don't know, but just getting to her Broadway debut likely burned as much fuel as driving a Hummer for an entire year.
BETTIE PAGE: Whitney Masterson at USA Today rounds up links to galleries and coverage of the legendary pin-up as The Notorious Bettie Page opened in limited release this past weekend. The movie trailer is up at Yahoo and YouTube.
IRAQ: At ITM, Mohammed has the latest on candidates for prime minister and other offices. The San Diego Union-Tribune profiles five heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan. The paper says it’s just a start and rightly so, for there are plenty of heroes to cover — Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio (Silver Star) Marine Lance Cpl. Carlos Gomez-Perez (Silver Star) and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Jewett (Bronze Star) are just three recent examples. Note that each of those stories is local news coverage; the national press almost entirely ignores them.
IRAN –contary to prior assurances — is pursuing a far more sophisticated way of making atomic fuel that American officials and inspectors say could speed Iran's path to developing a nuclear weapon. The Iranian government has also intensified efforts to illegally obtain weapons technology from the US. The cover story of The New Republic addresses the the fanatacism of Iran's current leadership: “The Basiji's cult of self-destruction would be chilling in any country. In the context of the Iranian nuclear program, however, its obsession with martyrdom amounts to a lit fuse.” Amir Taheri has more on how this fanaticism shapes Ahmadinejad's strategic thinking.
CARTOON JIHAD: Comedy Central bars South Park from showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The “Buzz Log” at Yahoo says “you must give South Park credit for taking on a tough target,” but the writer is referring to Family Guy.
PIG OLYMPIC UPDATE: Antoinette from Canada was the competitor to beat in Sunday's final, but ultimately the Russians dominated the third annual Pig Olympics, capturing first and second place, with the French taking third. The Ukrainians, Chinese, Canadians and Latvians went home without medals.
CANADA THE CAT stowed away on a fertilizer truck crossing the US border to do the jobs American cats just won't do.
SOME ROOSTERS have become sexually aggressive sociopaths in the quest for the perfect breast. The punchline writes itself.
A WILD TURKEY found roaming in an apartment complex was taken to Morningside Park in upper Manhattan on Friday. And NYC is pretentious enough that the bird was named Hedda Gobbler, after Hedda Gabler, a character in a Henrik Ibsen play.
A BLACK BEAR was detained on suspicion of murder in the remote Cherokee National Forest Chilhowee Recreation Area of Tennessee.
LLAMAS have a dedicated caretaker in Marie McCluskey, who has lived for nearly five months in a home without electricity, water or heat following a fire so that she could stay with her herd in Michigan.