Karl THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE…
…with some bootleg LED ZEPPELIN from the LA Forum in 1977 with Keith Moon lending a hand or two on a “Whole Lotta Love/Rock 'N Roll” medley.
THE REPLACEMENTS: Captain's Dead has a two–part bootleg titled “Boink,” which should not be confused with the import LP from back in the day. You can stream 'em at the links or jukebox 'em via the Hype Machine. For a taste, here's the 'Mats covering The Grass Roots' “Temptation Eyes,” T. Rex's “20th Century Boy” (the flip side of the “I Will Dare” single) and an acoustic take of “Can't Hardly Wait.”
THE RAMONES did three beer commercials you can download from Steel Brewing, if you're old enough.
ELVIS COSTELLO and DIANA KRALL are expecting twins in December. Krall tells People she won't be dressing them in matching outfits.
THE ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT explains the band's name and the title of their second album, Derdang Derdang, to Harp magazine. The album is getting generally favorable reviews via Metacritic. You can stream some of their grungy, bluesy folk-rok via MySpace.
THE TRACHTENBERG FAMILY SLIDESHOW PLAYERS are all about truth in advertising, according to dad Jason: “I don't want to confuse the public, but most bands don't live up to their names. I don't think Death Cab for Cutie writes their songs in cabs, and the Killers don't kill people, at least I hope not. Think of any band name and you're being misled. But we are a family, we do use slide shows and we do play music.” Given the slideshow aspect, I figured I should go with the video of “Singing A Song” and the older (and possibly better) “Eggs.”
TINY MIX TAPES has an automatic mixtape generator, but you should check out the mixes already compiled by request, such as: “songs where the singer's ridiculous accent sticks out like a sore thumb,” or “I need songs to tell my musically geeked-out alt-country man we've got a bun in the oven, but I don't want to hit him over the head with it,” or “the snot in the upper half of my brain is making me dizzy mix.”
WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES: I don't know whether Jason Hare is a fool, but he believed he should start his music blog with multiple versions of the Yacht Rock staple.
THE DECEMBERISTS frontman Colin Meloy talks to Billboard about the band's major label deal, blog buzz and leaked tracks. And the article reminds the reader that you can download the new “Summersong” at Pitchfork.
PET SOUNDS: Stereogum joins the list of blogs running a contest for the limited edition double-vinyl set. Winners are selected at random, but even if you don't enter, you may want to read my rambling diatribe of an entry, in which I misspell “Ravel” (among others) though what do you expect at 4 a.m.?
CARLY SIMON needs a good spanking.
THE FRENCH HOTEL was booked on a DUI bust yesterday. Splash News has the video of Nicky Hilton and Kevin Connolly (Entourage) coming to bail her out. TMZ has audio of her claim that she was just speeding to the In-N-Out Burger. But she may have been pulled over earlier in the evening. To her credit, she did not blame her arrest on the Jews.
NOW SHOWING: The weekend's widest release (over 2500 screens) is The Covenant, which was not screened for critics, presumably because the 18-24 date night demographic won't care whether a mash-up of lost Boys, The Craft and Underworld is actually any good. Opening on about 1500 screens apiece are Hollywoodland, about the mysterious death of TV Superman George Reeves (currently scoring 68 percent on the Tomatometer), and the Tony Jaa martial arts flick, The Protector (scoring 56 percent, but 67 percent of the “cream of the crop” critics). The Illusionist expands to 1362 screens.
LINDSAY LOHAN wuz robbed! No, really… at Heathrow Airport. Scotland Yard is on the trail of Li-Lo's orange Hermès handbag.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: “Now that Tom Cruise has allowed Annie Leibovitz to photograph his baby daughter Suri for Vanity Fair, it's clear what his next move should be. He should fire his publicist and hire Jane Sarkin, VF's features editor — who wrote the two-and-a-half pages of fawning, sycophantic drivel that goes with the terrific pictures of cute-as-a-button Suri…” It's always nice when higher journalistic standards are touted by Star magazine. But Cruise remains in image rehab mode, as he made a point of lunching with Holmes' mother, whom the tabloids have painted as unhappy with Cruise.
BRADGELINA: It must be the weekend, because we're back to marriage rumors, this time courtesy of Star magazine.
JESSICA SIMPSON has fired her publicist after being dumped by musician John Mayer for press leaks about the relationship.
BEN AFFLECK gives us this must-see YouTube clip from the press junket for Jersey Girl. Audio probably NSFW.
BRITNEY SPEARS: The National Enquirer notes that in 2001, Britney was ranked No. 1 on Forbes' Celebrity power list and earned 39.2 million — but last year made a mere four million. Fortunately, a net worth of more than 100 million should keep the pop tart in Cheetohs for the foreseeable future.
FLEEING THE ISLAND: Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Campbell Soup and others are bailing on Survivor: Cook Islands, though none have cited the show's decision to use racially based teams as the reason, natch.
LIONEL RICHIE is claiming photos of his daughter Nicole are being Photoshopped to make her look anorexic. OTOH, he told Newsweek — after claiming to have “knocked up the world” — that “God always gives you a great equalizer. He gives you “Dancing on the Ceiling,” and then he gives you Nicole.”
MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY and PENELOPE CRUZ back together? Or did People's Sexiest Man Alive decide he needed to be photographed (a) wearing a shirt; and (b) with someone other than Lance Armstrong? Either way, you can check out McConaughey sporting a beard at the link.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON she mistakenly broke into her neighbor's apartment after coming home drunk and going to the wrong door. At leats, that's what she told boyfriend and co-star Josh Hartnett who can be seen trying to convince the press that it's tough work making love to Scar-Jo onscreen.
FORMER HOUSE LEADER TOM DeLAY: “The Hammer” is campaigning again… for a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. And attacking rival dancer Jerry Springer.
THE MANOLO: The famous shoeblogger, he turns his eye to the Dictator Chic at Politics Central: “For the example, the shoe-denying tyrant of Cuba appeared in the most recent photographs, given as proof of his aliveness, wearing the Adidas track suit, like the Lithuanian plumber on his day off.”
IRAQ in the MEDIA: The AP reports: “More than 1,500 people died violently in Baghdad last month – nearly the same number as in July – and not the dramatic drop estimated just last week, when U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that their new security crackdown was working.” The New York Times, to its credit, reported that violent deaths dropped 17 percent in August. Not the huge drop suggested by the Baghdad morgue's preliminary figures, but not “nearly the same number as in July,” either. For that matter, violent deaths nationwide are still down significantly, unless all of the other reports were as flawed as Baghdad's.
AL QAEDA remains a powerful organisation but its support is waning, according to a leading British think-tank. The U.S.-led response to the attacks has “seriously undermined” the group's ability to recruit, communicate and fund itself. It has also enhanced the group's image in some quarters, but “its leaders hide in caves and have lost the broad support of Muslims in the Arab world who oppose its terror tactics and its justification of violence in the name of Islam.”
SLOW — GOATS WORKING: Sign used to warn drivers of the herd of goats Chatanooga city officials hope will eat the kudzu climbing voraciously over every tree, power line and other available surface in the area. But city workers are yanking the signs, which were not posted by the city. We can only hope no goats end up killed by a reckless Swiss driver.
A STINGRAY may have killed Croc Hunter Steve Irwin, but it really shouldn't be freaking out people in Delaware and Tennessee.
THE WORLD'S LARGEST-KNOWN CROCODILE has resurfaced Down Under. I guess everyone has heard about Irwin dying.
THE NORWEGIAN MOOSE CENTER is open for your hunting simulation pleasure.
AWWW… A baby elephant and a baby panda, which even has a blog.
CHICAGO HAS MINTY-GREEN POLAR BEARS at the Brookfield Zoo. Just practicing for St. Patrick's Day. Now they just need a lot of liquor.
