Karl 
KATHLEEN EDWARDS: Although she doesn't see herself as alt-country, *Sixeyes does and hooks you up with seven legal MP3s from her website. If you haven't heard her, I would recommend starting with “One More Song the Radio Won't Like,” which is equal parts Lucinda Williams and Neil Young.
JEFF TWEEDY talks to Paste about the new live Wilco album, singing covers versus originals, ambivalence about our multimedia age and more.
BOB DYLAN: A collection of poems he wrote in 1960 sold for 78K at an auction of rock and pop memorabilia. A medallion worn by Jimi Hendrix during his memorable performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival failed to attract any bidders at its pre-sale price of 60-80K.
JIMI HENDRIX: Speaking of Jimi, his 1967 classic “Purple Haze” will figure a “musical culture” exam required for French high school students to graduate.
THE 33 HOTTEST BANDS IN CANADA: i (heart) music, inspired by the Information Leafblower blogger poll of US bands, has produced a blogger poll for bands from the great white north, eh? one of the participating bloggers, Frank at Chromewaves, shows his picks to click.
THE UK'S HOTTEST 47 ACTS: Yet another blogger poll, with Take Your Medicine covering the other side of the Atlantic.
SEASON OF THE LIST: My Old Kentucky Blog has a Top 25 albums list, plus a few bonus lists. Gorilla vs. Bear has a Top 50 albums list, broken in halves; one ranked, one alphabetical.
GARY GLITTER might face a firing squad if found guilty of raping a 12-year-old girl in Vietnam. The country very rarely, if ever, executes foreign tourists, but Vietnamese jails are notorious for their squalor, harsh treatment of prisoners and lack of attention to sanitation, hygiene and food. Even if he is not prosecuted in Vietnam, Glitter could face charges in the UK if he ever returned, under the Sex Offences Act 1996. Glitter denies the charges, but a local paper quotes Glitter as saying “When they met me, they all told me that they were older than 20.”
ARCTIC MONKEYS: Prefix has a two–part interview with Britain's Newest Hitmakers. Also, noting the band's anger that some are trying to sell free MP3s on sites like eBay, Take Your Medicine has a load of downloads.
BOB GELDOF was to receive the Man For Peace award at the annual Nobel Peace Prize laureates meeting in Rome on Thursday.
PATTI SMITH: Greil Marcus essays her debut, Horses, in the Village Voice.
CHEAP TRICK and ROGER DALTREY are all part of your Rock And Roll Fantasy…Camp. The camp with the difference? (via Ken King)
PAYOLA: Warner Music Group Corp., the third largest record company in the US, coughs up five million bucks to settle charges pursued by NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
COMMERCIAL ARTISTRY: London's Independent looks at the fates of bands that sell songs for commercials.
SUFJAN STEVENS: London's Observer sees the eccentric-but-spiritual folk-rocker as translating America for Europeans and selling 100,000 copies of the Illinois album while avoiding traditional publicity.
U2: The Vertigo tour has already grossed around 300 million bucks and will probably beat the prior record set by the Rolling Stones.
BOY LEAST LIKELY TO will finally release their album in the US in April, after making their live US debut at SWSX. You can stream some bouncy, twee pop at the band's website.
THE BETA BAND has met its omega, but Steve Mason is going forward with King Biscuit Time.
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS has announced its Cool List for 2005, along with the new Fool List. I made neither, but will try harder in '06.
INDIE LABELS: NPR has a streaming report on the inreasing influence of the independents to the recording biz.
PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer is reportedly sequestered in a West Country studio laying down tracks for a solo album, contradicting reports that he is in rehab in Arizona. Meanwhile, Moss's stalker is on the run, armed with bomb-making materials, police have warned. No wonder the shamed supermodel is jumping around topless until she falls over (yeah, that's NSFW).
JACKO blames his mounting money problems on Jews, likening them to leeches. Jackson apologized to Jewish groups a decade ago for the lyrics “Jew me/Sue me/Everybody do me/Kick me/Kike me” on the song “They Don't Care About Us.” No wonder he's moved to the Middle East.
JUDE LAW and SIENNA MILLER were at Balthazar on Tuesday, caught canoodling and getting into a screaming match. Actors love drama.
JOSS STONE reportedly broke up with music producer Beau Dozier (son of Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier) on the advice of Mick Jagger. Which is the definition of looking for love advice in all the wrong places.
LOHAN LOWDOWN: Lindsay Lohan's relationship with Jared Leto has gone from low-profile to no-profile. But at least Page Six refers to Leto as a “legendary swordsman.”
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise tells People magazine that he and Holmes will wed after their baby is born, possibly next summer or early fall.
BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie and Pitt plan to visit quake survivors in northern Pakistan. But Reuters can't help but add that Jolie was “dressed in light-coloured trousers and a black raincoat,” with Pitt “sporting a gray wool knit hat, as well as the start of a beard.” The couple was also spotted looking at houses in Washington, D.C. on the same day Jolie got her Cambodian citizenship. Jolie came close to passing out in Los Angeles International Airport; fortunately, no one was injured in the stampede of men offering CPR.
HARRY POTTER: Daniel Radcliffe is Britain's richest teenager, with a personal fortune of £23million.
KIRSTEN DUNST is hanging out with Tara Reid; websites are now calling her “Kirsten Drunkst.”
JOAQUIN PHOENIX has hinted to reporters that acting is so consuming he’s considering quitting. Perhaps he could make lotion with Kate Hudson.
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: One of the five characters may be killed during the May sweeps. Teri Hatcher has filed a libel lawsuit against a British tabloid that claimed she had sex in a van outside her L.A. home. Libel law if much more plaintiff-friendly in the UK, natch.
CHARLIZE THERON will marry longtime boyfriend Stuart Townsend on the day it becomes legal for gays and lesbians to wed across America. Which sounds politically correct, but is also a great excuse for her to not marry him.
BRITNEY SPEARS finally sells those baby pictures. I wonder whether Britney demanded that rival Xtina's wedding get stuck in the corner of the cover or whether People was just countering the Xtina wedding pics in OK! magazine…
WHITEWASH SUPREMACISTS: Teen People magazine ran a sanitized story about a neo-Nazi teenage singing duo on its web site, despite reports that it has canceled a planned feature story about them that downplayed their racist views. The story seems to be removed now; a search for the girls' last name turns up a document, but will not return a link. According to media reports, the mag was planning to run a feature profile them in its February issue, but had promised to refrain from using the words “hate,” “supremacist,” and “Nazi.”
IRAQ: In the L.A. Times, Max Boot compares polls of the American public, the Iraqi public, US military officers, journalists and academics on the state and direction of the country. Michael Yon blogs (with pics) the redeployment ball held by the Deuce Four, with a cameo by Bruce Willis. The Pentagon tentatively plans to reduce troops in country by three brigades and, under a “moderately optimistic” scenario, drop troop strength by more than one-third. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace claims that the training of Iraqi forces is going “extremely well” and could help pave the way for a pullout. Though US officials are doubtful, DNA tests are being carried out to determine whether al-Zarqawi was killed in a recent US-led raid. Major General Rick Lynch, spokesman for the US-led multinational force, said he expects the MNF to capture or kill him “in the not too distant future.” I'd like to see that, but don't know how much impact it would have.
THE UNITED NATIONS Security Council on Wednesday issued an unprecedented condemnation of Monday's Hizbullah attacks on northern Israel. The condemnation followed by two days a failed attempt on Monday, when Algeria came out against any mention of Hizbullah in the statement. When asked what changed from Monday to Wednesday, one diplomatic official replied: “John Bolton.”
MR. POTATO HEAD, Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder are among those targeted by the New York Public Interest Group as dangerous this holiday season.
GOOGLE BASE is becoming “porn heaven.” Couldn't have seen that coming a mile away.
SAM, THE WORLD'S UGLIEST DOG, died just short of his 15th birthday.
THE DOGS OF WAR can get their own body armor, which can double as a harness for lowering and lifting canine combattants from a helicopter.
A WALRUS USIK was stolen in Wasilla, Alaska.
LLAMAS may be wonderful pets and companion animals, but don't cross one unless you want to face the three sets of razor-sharp “fighting teeth,” which llamas use to rip the scrotum from male competitors in the wild.
