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A Special Wilco Weekend Update   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 07:23 AM
Posted by: kbade

KarlWILCO is streaming the upcoming Sky Blue Sky album on Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 10 pm. EST, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. PST.  In glorious Quicktime.

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Wilco, Advance Fountains of Wayne, Cutout Bin, Lassie   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Friday, March 09, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with WILCO!  Anyone who has seen I Am Trying to Break Your Heart will appreciate the irony of Warner Bros. posting early Wilco videos on the Tube, including "Box Full Of Letters" and "I Must Be High" from A.M., as well as  "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" from Being There.

EDDIE VAN HALEN will not attend his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, because he has checked into rehab.

FOUNTAINS of WAYNE is streaming another track from the upcoming Traffic & Weather album called "Yolanda Hayes" (Real | Win).  You can stream "'92 Subaru" at TheirSpace.  Heather Browne is streaming "Michael & Heather at the Baggage Claim."  And you can stream samples from the whole album at the band's official store.

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe tells USA Today that "The industry that was music is no longer" on the eve of his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: "Peter Buck always mentions the horse buggy whip factory and the feeling around the lunch table the day the automobile was introduced. That's the music industry, which is ripe for an immense recession. People either have their heads in the sand or they're trying to hold on to what still works and apply it to a completely new landscape."  I cannot help but think of Larry the Liquidator's speech in Other People's Money.

AN AQUARIUM DRUNKARD now has an Internet radio station hosted via Spinner.  Playlist at the link. 

THE TEN BEST MOMENTS from this week in rock history, according to YES! Weekly.

GET UP for KISS playing "Detroit Rock City" on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special in 1976.

GREIL MARCUS talks to the Columbia Dispatch about new and old bands, songs used in commercials, Lester Bangs and more.

MICHAEL NESMITH'S country-tinged solo debut from 1969 is this week's "Shadow Classic" at NPR, which is streaming a few tracks.

CHUCK KLOSTERMAN talks to MPR, shuffles his iPod for the A.V. Club and claims that "everybody who does music criticism loves ABBA." For that matter, so does Redd Kross.

BOB DYLAN and POPE JOHN PAUL II:  Behind the music.

THE CUTOUT BIN:  This Friday's fortuitous finds from the ol' HM include:  Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows (do you?); Big Star - Feel; Bright Eyes - Four Winds; Son Volt - The Picture; Wilco - Sky Blue Sky; ELO - Mr. Blue Sky; Apples In Stereo - Energy; INXS - New Sensation; Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - Adventure Rocket Ship; Husker Du - Up in the Air; The Lemonheads - Alison's Starting to Happen; Art Brut - Emily Kane; The Kinks - 20th Century Man; The Mountain Goats - No Children; Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA (acoustic demo); Robert Plant - Whole Lotta Love (acoustic); The Who - Heinz Baked Beans; Stevie Wonder - If You Really Loved Me; Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now; The Specials - Guns of Navarone; The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail; The English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom; and Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions - People Get Ready.

JOHNNY DEPP was frantic with worry after daughter Lily-Rose she was rushed to the hospital ten days ago with a mystery illness rumored to be blood poisoning from a rusty tack -- but Depp's rep says she is "doing much better" now.  Depp and longtime partner Vanessa Paradis reportedly not left Lily-Rose's bedside since she was admitted to the hospital on February 28.

NOW SHOWING:  This weeks wide release is the adaptation of Frank Miller's 300, which is currently scoring 59 percent on the ol' Tomatometer... though about ten points less with the "cream of the crop" critics.  The spiritual coming-of-age drama The Ultimate Gift opens on about 800 screens with a score of 35 percent.

THE McCARTNEYS:  Heather Mills is asking for £10,000 a day in her divorce from Sir Paul -- just to "get by." 

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  Is there a baby boy in the couple's future?

ANTONELLA BARBA has a future in pr0n waiting after she got the boot from American Idol.

TOM BRADY has knocked up new gf/supermodel Gisele Bundchen? That's the claim made at a popular European celebrity website.  Brady's pregnant ex-gf Bridget Moynihan had no comment.

 

SCARLETT JOHANSSON has recently been seen hawking everything from Disney World to Mt. Rainer coffee. Does she really need the money?  The L.A. Times looks at the world of celebrity endorsements and voiceovers

MADONNA has come under fire for failing to properly restrain her 17-month-old adopted son in her SUV.  X17 has the pics and video.  Has Madge learned nothing from Britney Spears?

GWEN STEFANI is packing heat to keep other women away from hubby Gavin Rossdale.  But she's got nothing on Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, who was popped for driving 111 mph with an arsenal large enough to save John Conner from Skynet.

MISCHA BARTON, the former O.C. hottie, has gotten into two auto accidents in less than three weeks.  I certainly hope she's not smoking and driving.

MICK JAGGER and WARREN BEATTY were spotted doing lunch in West Hollywood the other day.  Carly Simon probably thought they were talking about her.

SHARON STONE:  Looking good!  Or not.  Making faces doesn't help, Sharon.

BORAT made an unexpected cameo appearance as a victim of censorship in a heavyweight annual human rights report issued by the US State Department.

IN THE RED:  The "RED" anti-poverty campaign championed by Bono, Oprah and other celebs and marketed by Gap, Apple and Motorola with an estimated 100 million bucks, has raised only 18 million worldwide -- though it's hoped to break even by the end of the year.

IRAN:  Contrary to other reports, the former deputy defense minister who disappeared from Turkey last month is not cooperating with Western intelligence agencies and his whereabouts remain a mystery, a U.S. official told FOX News Thursday.  Make of that what you will.

IRAQ:  Sunni-led Arab governments plan to use this weekend's conference in Baghdad to press for a greater Sunni role in Iraq... which does not please Iraq's Shia-dominated government.  Moqtada al-Sadr reportedly appeared in public in Karbala, which would make sense because its a favored Shia pilgrimage site and this Saturday is a big Shia holiday.  Big enough, in fact, that some roads have been closed in Baghdad for extra security.  Gen. David Petraeus -- in his first news conference since taking command in Iraq -- says additional US forces will be sent to areas outside Baghdad where militants are regrouping, especially Diyala province.  He added that "military action is necessary... but it is not sufficient" because Iraqi political action and reconcilation are necessary to achieve peace and stability.  And Bill Roggio has a report from embedded cartoonist Chris Muir.

THE 'STANS:  US troops in Afghanistan arrested the deputy head of the Taliban fighters in the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan, according to a report on Al Jazeera.  A big deal, if true.  Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, longtime Afghan tribal warlord and Taliban ally, announced that he has ended his cooperation with them and "suggested" that he could reach a peace deal with the Afghan government.  We'll see.

LASSIE died saving her owners from a burning house in Anderson, Indiana.  First it was Captain America, now this.  It's been a tough week.

HEIDI THE CAT got fitted with a pacemaker in Melbourne, Australia.

A HIGH-SPEED PONY CHASE ends well in Munich.

MORE THAN PET HOARDING:  Bangladeshi security forces more used to confiscating luxury cars in anti-corruption cases were instead called on to seize a virtual mini zoo from a former minister, including four deer, seven peacocks, two emus, three golden pheasants, eleven turkeys, two mynahs, a dove and four rare pigeons.

ELEPHANTS:  Lending them a hand can be a dangerous bit of business: "One guy I know got a black eye from being hit by an elephant's penis."

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Panda Bear, R&R Hall of Fame Mania, Wilco, an Earless Terrier   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

PANDA BEAR:  For whatever reason, I had been glossing over the buzz for the solo efforts of Animal Collective's Noah Lennox at some of my go-to music blogs, like Gorilla vs. Bear and Stereogum.  I'm not sure why, as mid-period Beach Boys kept getting mentioned, and regular visitors here know I'm a sucker for that.  I finally gave in after a rave post at Aquarium Drunkard... and I was all set to link to the oh-so-trippy "Bros." when the 'gum posted the video for "Bros."  Kismet!

THE 2007 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES -- Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M., The Ronnettes, Patti Smith and Van Halen -- get the royal treatment at Spinner, with photos, interviews, and streaming "Best Of" albums from each.  BONUS:  An article in the New York Post sadly suggests that Ronnie Spector may give her ex Phil competition in the crazy department.

CAT POWER:  Chan Marshall has some live video up at Rolling Stone, including a cover of Buddy Holly's "Crying, Waiting, Hoping."

GENESIS is carrying through its threatened reunion and will tour North America this fall, destroying all life in favor of its new matrix.

RYAN ADAMS is playing Stonehenge.  Not the Spinal Tap song, but the actual Stonehenge.

THE BIG BOPPER suffered massive fractures and likely died immediately in the 1959 plane crash that also killed early rock 'n' rollers Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, a forensic anthropologist said Tuesday after exhuming the body.  The exam was requested by the Bopper's son to settle long-standing rumors a gun might have been fired on board the plane and that the Big Bopper might have survived the crash and died trying to get help.  The Bopper's big hit was "Chantilly Lace," natch.

TONY VISCONTI:  The famed record producer has a new autobiography out, so he talked to the UK's Metro about working with Marc Bolan and David Bowie.  He tells Billboard that today, he and Bowie exchange e-mail and YouTube clips.

WILCO:  Another day, another leak.  This time, Idolator has posted "Impossible Germany," on which the blog thinks the band "are clearly nicking Television."  To which I would say, "a little."

OASIS frontman Noel Gallagher and gf Sara MacDonald are expecting a baby.  It's her first child; Noel has a seven-year-old daughter, Anais, with ex-wife Meg Mathews.

OF MONTREAL frontman Kevin Barnes (who recently gave new meaning to the term "frontman") talks to Express about the Cleveland Indians and Gilbert Arenas.  But it's a nice excuse to relink to the goofy video for "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse," anyway.

BRADGELINA:  We now know that Jolie is adopting a 4-year-old boy from Vietnam... and it appears to be on the fast track.  In the meantime, she's taking advantage of her residence in N'awlins to study voodoo, according to the ever-reliable National Enquirer.

BRITNEY SPEARS is refusing to take anti-depressants in rehab or to to go to family therapy.  The first part is really odd, given rumors that she thinks she's suffering from post-partum depression, not substance abuse.  The pop tart has been reprimanded for making cellphone calls, has left the facility to shop, and now wants to leave rehab for good.  At least she has reformed Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx rooting for her, not to mention hit producer Timbaland and ex-bf Justin Timberlake.

ROSIE O'DONNELL says she has been getting treatment for depression since the Columbine school shootings and hangs upside down for up to a half-hour a day to improve her mental state.  Y'know, like a bat.  She feels the most important thing to do when you're feeling depressed is to get up and move -- all visual evidence to the contrary.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  Cruise has reportedly has called the producers of Holmes's new movie and told them he will be on set every day.  Holmes's agent supposedly chose the role for her because -- unlike the Batman Begins sequel she bailed from -- Holmes wouldn't be kissing anyone or have a sex scene.

RALPH FINNES - already under fire for a recent romp with a stewardess in an airline toilet - has sparked a second storm by frolicking naked at 5 a.m. with four young women in a hotel pool.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON tells Parade magazine that she looks like a boy, somehow avoiding mention of anything below her neck.

LINDSAY LOHAN is still having some bad days out of rehab.  According to the ever-reliable In Touch Weekly, she recently turned up to the set of her new movie hours late, napped in her trailer for five hours, then threw up and immediately went home.

STING'S STAFF live in a climate of fear because his wife subjects them to gratuitous abuse to make her "feel royal", an employment tribunal has heard.

REESE & RYAN BREAK-UPDATE:  Those rumors about Reese Witherspoon and new co-star Jake Gyllenhaal are re-ignited after folks spotted them visiting each other's pads in NYC, after Witherspoon tried to squash rumors from the set.  Meanwhile, Ryan Phillippe and Ashlee Simpson were seen getting cozy at a Hollywood club, though he reportedly beat off her advances.

BILL MAHER denies he "advocates the whacking" of Vice-Pres. Dick Cheney.  He just supports the rights of those who do.

300:  Zach Snyder's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel (based on the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae) arrives in theaters tomorrow.  Prepare for glory by watching the latest trailer, or peruse iFilm's collection of 300 clips and extras.

IRAQ:  US and Iraqi forces originally planned for setting up 35 or 40 joint security outposts in Baghdad, but now it appears there will be about 70 such posts.  Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said that there has been an increase of citizen-provided tips to Iraqi and coalition authorities in the three weeks since the new security plan got started.  Two of the five additional US brigades involved in the so-called "surge" have arrived in Iraq, with a third brigade awaiting deployment in Kuwait.  Wednesday saw more targeted attacks mounted against Shia pilgrims outside the capital.  IraqSlogger reports that some former Mahdi militiamen have begun to dissociate themselves from Moqtada al-Sadr and take up arms to try to defend their Baghdad neighborhoods from attacks.  Shiite extremist groups are also surfacing in southern Iraq.  At ITM, Omar reports on political parties realigning in a more secular direction.  The Iraqi government is also trying to influence the Syrian government to stem the flow of foreign jihadis into Iraq by subtly raising the prospect of reopening the Iraq-Syria oil pipeline.

IRAN will attend the international conference on Iraq in Baghdad on Saturday.  The co-author of an upcoming book on Pres. Ahmadinejad reports that the recent disappearance of a former deputy defense minister has created panic inside Ahmadinejad's administration.  It appears that the former minister is cooperating with Western intell agenciesRussia is threatening to drag its heels on construction of the Bushehr nuclear plant over purported payment problems.  Coincidentally, the state-run press carries claims that Iran will not need anyone's help to build the next nuke facility.  The parliament approved rationing and hiking the price of gasoline, which is another reason why Hashemi Rafsanjani is openly challenging Ahmadinejad, especially on the economy.  The large-scale protests staged by teachers over the past week would be another reason.  And Ahmadinejad reportedly got into a spat with Syrian Pres. Assad over the establishment of an international tribunal on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

AFGHANISTAN:  Afghan soldiers have captured a Taliban leader who tried to flee a security operation in the south dressed in a burqa, NATO said on Wednesday.

...AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:  A piglet with two faces.

...AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:  A Terrier with no ears.  Vets hope they will be able to let the tiny dog hear properly for the first time by making tiny openings where his outer ears should be.  Pics at the link.

GREY PANTHER POWER:  A 61-year-old British great-grandmother landed a 100 lb. shark on vacation... in Florida.  A 73-year-old British retiree helped save a man from the jaws of a 7-ft-long alligator while on vacation... in Florida.

SNAKES on a PLANE:  Workers at a northern Malaysian airport cargo complex found 2,400 snakes of a protected species in crates bound for Hong Kong sent by smugglers in Thailand, news reports said today.

COWS stare unamazed as they take the rap for eating dozens of chickens that went missing from a remote village in eastern India.

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Todd Rundgren, How Indie Rock Saved My Life, Russian Dwarf Hamster   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

TODD RUNDGREN and ROD STEWART are famous for the wrong reasons, according to a piece at the UWM Post.  In the interest of correcting the record, here is The Nazz's "Open My Eyes" and Rundgren's "Hello, It's Me" and "I Saw the Light."  And here is The Faces playing "Stay With Me" and "Ooh La La."

RY COODER gets audio features from both Morning Edition and World Cafe at NPR, streaming several songs from and interviews on My Name Is Buddy, a concept album about a farm cat who hooks up with a labor-agitating mouse and a blind preacher toad.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:  Bright Eyes, The National, Spoon, Cat Power, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Mastadon and country legend Charlie Louvin (and guests) are all touring -- though not together.

MARY WEISS of the Shangri-Las has recorded her first album of new material since 1965.  NPR has the audio feature.  And yep, she's got a couple streaming from HerSpace, one of which is "A Certain Guy," which is really Ernie K-Doe's "A Certain Girl," later covered by The Yardbirds and Warren Zevon, among others.

WILCO has posted "What Light" from Sky Blue Sky for your streaming and downloading pleasure.  BTW, I did by chance hear the upcoming album over the weekend; it's quite good.  The opening track, "Either Way," really reminds me of The Band in spots.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO:  The Bird and the Bee in "Again and Again."  You can stream more jazzy pop from Inara George (daughter of the late Lowell George) and Greg Kurstin at TheirSpace.

ANDY PARTRIDGE of XTC, Barry Andrews of XTC and Shriekback and Shriekbacker Martyn Barker improv under the name Monstrance in glorious Quicktime.

MARGOT & THE NUCLEAR SO & SO'S:  My Old Kentucky Blog is streaming three new songs in advance of their debut on Dodge's Sirius satellite radio show.

JOHN SELLERS gives Largehearted Boy a music mix  for his new book, Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, even though he thought:  "1) It was going to be impossible to narrow down the list to less than 1,000 songs, and 2) half of those were written by Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices."  More links at LHB.  You can also stream his interview with USA Today's Whitney Matheson, who also posts an excerpt from the book.

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY will soon announce its first Lou Reed/Delmore Schwartz Scholar.  What better way to celebrate than to jukebox an "alternate" version of the first Velvet Unnderground album.

 

SCARLETT JOHANSSON and JESSICA BIEL were snapped shopping together in Paris.  Scar-jo tried to hide behind her hat, but she couldn't hide on the video.  Somewhere, Justin Timberlake's ears were burning.

BRITNEY SPEARS is still in rehab, so Fed-Ex took the kids to Vegas last weekend.  American Idol judge Simon Cowell says that he could not care less about pop tart's recent meltdown and rehab stint, which he called "fashionable" and an "indulgence."

NAOMI CAMPBELL will be made to mop floors and sweep corridors at a New York city public building in the coming months, as punishment for attacking her maid.  But the real punishment is that she is barred from turning it into a reality show.

GREY'S ANATOMY:  ABC is using Isaiah Washington's anti-gay slur and subsequent "rehab" to play hardball in contract negotiations.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, but Howard K. Stern has reportedly admitted he's not the father of Smith's daughter Dannielynn and is now willing to sign over the paternity rights to the man who believes he is the baby's real dad, Larry Birkhead - for the right price.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL, ANNE HATHAWAY, and her breasts on the set of Brokeback Mountain.  It's a touching story.  Maybe even more touching than the Stanley Tucci story.

LINDSAY LOHAN lashes out at the tabloids for romantically linking her to every man she is seen out with.  Maybe it's not a good idea to tell the tabloids: "Sex And The City changed everything for me because those girls would just sleep with so many people. And that's me. I'm not dating just one person. It is the variety of partners everyone likes, especially at my age."  ALSO:  Li-Lo looked disheveled and worryingly thin in the toilets of the plush Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel last weekend.

JUDE LAW and his kids had to bunk down at ex-wife Sadie Frost's house after his boiler exploded, because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.  Refreshingly normal for a celeb.

GWYNETH PALTROW will talk about her kids' celebrity play dates, but hubby (and Coldplay frontman) Chris Martin doesn't want to talk about Gwyneth Paltrow.

ASTRONUT Lisa Nowak may have been set off when she found these explicit e-mails between space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein & Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman.

SPEED RACER:  The live-action version directed by the Wachowski Brothers starts production June 5 in Berlin and is due May 23, 2008.

PRES. GEORGE H.W. BUSH denies fondling Teri Hatcher's rear end; let's go to the video.

THE FAKE GUCCI AD:  The Swiss man who conned one of the country's biggest papers into publishing a two-page ad he created of himself posing semi-naked beside a bottle of Gucci perfume is a sign of how desperate some are becoming for their proverbial 15 minutes.  Andy Warhol would be proud, particularly of doing so through a fake ad.

FRANCE:  The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists.  Apparently the annual youth intifadas will go away if you cannot see them on the Internet.

IRAQ:  The joint US-Iraqi force of 1,150 soldiers and police have established 23 checkpoints in Sadr City.  Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen have shaven their beards, changed their attire, and hidden their weapons, according to IraqSlogger.  Local council leaders in Shi'a areas fear that the crackdown on the militia will leave the Shi'a areas defenseless against armed Sunni extremists, who will try to re-incite the cycle of sectarian killing with high profile attacks both inside and outside the capital, as the attack on pilgrims traveling to Karbala shows.  Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno said that the readiness of the Iraqi battalions arriving in Baghdad is rising steadily and that there have been major recruiting successes in Anbar province.  Michael Yon also has another essential dispatch about Iraqi forces, with Lt. Gen Oderino and Geraldo Rivera making cameo appearances.  Col. Sean B. MacFarland, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, talked to Stars and Stripes about his unit's experiences in Tal Afar and Ramadi.  British troops have seized "a significant arsenal" of ammunition from insurgents in Basra.

IRAQ at HOME:  House Democrats are pushing to add billions of dollars to Pres. Bush's request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 900 million for troops suffering from brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Liberal House Democrats are revolting over the move, threatening to vote against the bill because it doesn't go far enough toward ending the war.

IRAN:  The former deputy defense minister who disappeared in neighboring Turkey last month is said to have sought asylum in the US, according to the newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.  It's... interesting that this report -- and yesterday's -- originated in the Saudi-owned press.

DOG discovers that what happens at the Dominican Carnival does not necessarily stay at the Dominican Carnival.

A BLACK LABRADOR who plunged through thin ice on a Denver was reunited with her owner after a firefighter in a dive suit scooted along the ice and scooped up the scrambling pooch.  Let's go to the video.

ASSAULT with a stolen catfish.

THE BLACK RHINO BIRTH at Paignton Zoo in Devon was captured on webcam.  Video at the link.

A RUSSIAN DWARF HAMSTER escapes death!  It turns out this story dates back to last August, but I just could not resist the chance to type "Russian Dwarf Hamster."  Pic at the link.

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Dean & Britta, New Releases, Juliana Hatfield, Ostriches   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, March 06, 2007 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

DEAN & BRITTA have a new, delightfully retro video for "Words You Used To Say" that the kids at Stereogum and Chromewaves think is a partial homage to this Serge Gainsbourg video.  The kids also seem to agree that Britta is teh hottness; sorry, guys -- D&B are hitched.

NEW RELEASES:  Arcade Fire is obviously the big new release in indieworld... and probably beyond.  Their buzz got as far as The New York Times Magazine over the weekend.  Son Volt, The Stooges, Bright Eyes, Mary Chapin Carpenter, !!! and more are streaming in full this week via Spinner.  BTW, Son Volt mastermind Jay Farrar does good interview with the Hartford Courant on the themes and tone of The Search.  Broken Social Scene spin-off Apostle of Hustle releases the National Anthem of Nowhere.  Super Furry Anumal Gruff Rhys releases Candylion.  Ry Cooder releases My Name is Buddy -- a concept album about a cat named Buddy.  As noted yesterday, sometimes Roxy Music crooner Bryan Ferry releases his album of Dylanesque covers.  Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 release a live EP.  The Stooges' Fun House, Television's Marquee Moon, and Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy all get deluxe reissues.  Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley get gospel compilations.  Several of the new releases have enough advance reviews to make Metacritic already.

VAN HALEN:  Eddie and Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar have all told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that they will be attending the induction ceremony on March 12th -- but they will not be performing; Velvet Revolver will be stepping in to pay tribute.

RONNIE SPECTOR'S interview about her upcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is currently streaming at NPR.  Ronnie recently learned that her ex-husband, famed "wall of sound" producer and murder suspect Phil Spector had moved to oppose The Ronettes' admission into the hall as far back as 1994.

CASIMIR PULASKI DAY was yesterday.  I forgot (as it's no longer a a work holiday for me), but Athsmatic Kitty and Pitchfork offered up the demo of the Sufjan Steven song named after -- but not really about it.  Here's a bit on the actual Pulaski.

TWOFER TUESDAY:  My two favorite performances from Juliana Hatfield are probably her cover of "Temptation Eyes" with the Blake Babies and her solo track, "My Sister."

NEIL YOUNG, Swedish garage rockers Mando Diao and the more arty Blonde Redhead can be seen on 3x3 via AOL.  The Neil Young performance is from the recently unearthed Massey hall gig from 1971.

BONO will edit an issue of Vanity Fair in his ongoing effort to rebrand Africa for the idle rich. 

SHAWN COLVIN may suffer from depression, but it didn't stop her from becoming the latest to cover Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," which you can stream via Spinner.

WOLFGANG'S VAULT, sued by Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, Santana and the Doors by selling merchandise and streaming concert archives belonging to the musicians, has filed a counterclaim against the musicians and their labels, arguing that case is actually a blatant attempt by two of the largest record labels in the world -- using artists as a front -- to secure new income streams and destroy a legitimate business.

BRITNEY SPEARS:  A source tells US Weekly that the Spears family is worried that the troubled pop tart may not last the scheduled month in rehab.  Which tends to support the rumors that Spears tried to hang herself while claiming to be an anti-christ.

NICOLE RICHIE was hospitalized after falling ill on the set of her reality series.  Dizzy spells are not unknown when you're on the Skeletor diet.

COURTNEY LOVE totally narced on the French Hotel's birthday party, using her website to note a big pile of white powder in the rest room.  Big fans of talc, I'm sure.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  The paparazzi at X17 have pics and video they say show the Tom-Kitten's resemblance to Cruise.

GREY'S ANATOMY co-star Isaiah Washington -- just out of gay-slur rehab -- got an NAACP Image Award last Friday.  Better luck next year, Ann Coulter!

JESSICA BIEL'S 25th birthday party is the subject of some subtle deadpan humor at People magazine.  The mag notes that the shapely actress happily took a piece of cake, declaring: "I'm not one of those skinny actors. I've got meat on my bones."  The next sentence:  "Other guests at the party included Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and supermodels Jessica Stam, Daria Werbowy, and Gemma Ward."

GEORGE CLOONEY has come out for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, calling him "the true rock star" of the Democratic Party.  Clooney has publicly offered to raise money for Obama as well.

STEVEN SPIELBERG is the proud owner of stolen property, i.e., "Russian Schoolroom," a Norman Rockwell painting stolen from a gallery in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, MO, more than three decades ago.  Spielberg purchased the painting in 1989 from a legitimate dealer and didn't know it was stolen until his staff spotted its image last week on an FBI Web site listing stolen works of art, according to the feds.

HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX:  The Leaky Cauldron and Aint-It-Cool-News have reviews from a test screening in Chicago.  SPOILERS in each.  RELATED:  Daniel Radcliffe has signed on to star in the final two Harry Potter films, according to Warner Bros.

THE GEICO CAVEMEN are getting a half-hour sitcom pilot for ABCThe Wall Street Journal looks at brand extension, including the scary news that the creepy Burger King has lined up a studio and distributor for a feature film.

BLACK SHEEP:  It's "Violence of the Lambs!"  See the trailer on the Tube or in glorious Quicktime.  More proof -- if any was needed -- that there is nothing quite so dangerous as a clever sheep.

SPIDERMAN 3 video is running at NBC today only.

THE 'STANS:  ABCNews reports that efforts are underway to identify the dead following the US and NATO strike in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan over the weekend.  US officials say that the CIA is moving additional manpower and equipment into Pakistan in the effort to find Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri -- which suggests to me that they don't think either was killed in that Afghan raid.  The Christian Science Monitor surveys the state of al Qaeda today.   Over 2,000 Afghans in Khost demonstrated against suicide bombings.

IRAN:  A former Iranian deputy defense minister with knowledge of the nuclear and defense establishment has gone missing in Turkey, sparking allegations of a Mossad and CIA-linked kidnapping. The UN's nuke watchdog thinks Iran may have temporarily halted its nuclear program.  But a senior Iranian official dashed hopes that any short-term pause could translate into Tehran accepting a UN Security Council demand to freeze its enrichment activities.

IRAQ:  The Interior Ministry now claims it has captured the second in command of the Islamic State in Iraq, not the top guy as previously claimed; the report remains unconfirmed.  The Islamic State of Iraq has reverted back to the practice of posting execution videos.  The Interior Ministry is also investigating how weapons seized during military operations find their way back to the black market. (hint: a mirror might help.)  A "senior Iraqi official" says Moqtada al-Sadr has been pressured to chill out by Ayatollah Sistani, the Shia clerical leadership in Najaf, and even Iran.  The US is not so sure about the Iran part; it would have been helpful had Newsweek revealed the sect of its source.  ITM's Omar Fadhil reports that al-Sadr's Mahdi army is not responding to the raids in Baghdad with fire, but are trying to undermine the new security plan by spreading rumors about alleged crimes committed by US soldiers.

OSTRICH NEWS:  Three German teenagers may be on the hook for a hefty fine if a court decides that their festive firecrackers scared the libido right out of an ostrich named Gustav.  In Cornwall, Edgar the ostrich regularly escapes from his home and heads for the local burial ground to chase mourners and eat graveside floral tributes.  Maybe Edgar has the same problem as Gustav.

SQUIRRELS may be forced onto birth control in the People's Republic of Santa Monica.  It's already being done in the People's Republic of Berkeley.

MOUSE revenges itself on a man in the Guangdong province of China.

A ROBIN will eat a worm from the mouth of a nature photographerNTTAWWT.  Pic at the link.

MOOSE downs a helicopter near the southeast town of Gustavus, Alaska.  The injured animal was euthanized at the scene.  Was global warming to blame?

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