Reunion news pt. 1 - Ned’s Atomic Dustbin

Reunion news pt. 2 - Butthole Surfers

Reunion news pt. 3 - Whitesnake, maybe Led Zeppelin

Advance press release - Ratatat announce next two records

Ms. Mills ain’t no Linda - Paul McCartney divorce finalized

“…the most elaborate genitalia in the animal kingdom.” - Neil Young gets spider named after him

Via the Associated Press:

NEW YORK - Ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne plans to turn a landmark building in Manhattan into a giant musical instrument.

State officials say Byrne will create a temporary installation in the Great Hall of the Battery Maritime Building, which is next to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal.

The "Playing the Building" installation will include devices attached to ceiling beams, plumbing, electrical conduits and other parts of the structure. Sound will be produced through vibration, making the building function as an instrument.

It's set to open in late May.

Go and get your moog on - Stereolab announce US tour

Can’t drive 55 - DMX arrested for reckless driving

Still sticking with David Lynch’s brand - Dave Mustaine expands his coffee empire

Update on the death of the CD - Neil Young and others look to release Blu-Ray CDs

But still not playing SP20 - Vancouver’s Black Halos to release new album

A month ago, Beirut abruptly cancelled their upcoming European summer tour, leaving them with just a half dozen West Coast dates, including Sasquatch!, to fulfill. The band posted a letter from bandleader Zach Condon expressing his surprise and appreciation for the band’s success (“the past two years have been a mindblowing experience”), his desire “to do everything as big as possible” with the band he’d begun in his bedroom, and his subsequent exhaustion with his own outsized ambition. He concluded, “It's come time to change some things, reinvent some others, and come back at some point with a fresh perspective and batch of songs. Please accept my apologies. I promise we'll be back, in some form.”

This afternoon, Condon gave the Stranger his first interview since that announcement. It'll appear in its entirety in our upcoming guide to the Sasquatch Music Festival, but a couple things seemed worth sharing now. Like, just what has Condon been up to for the last month?

So you’re working on a new record?

Yeah, a new one, one that I’m actually working on right now as we speak. I went down to Mexico to do that, and I’m going back soon, after this tour—finishing what I’ve started.

Have you been hearing a lot of, like, Mariachi or Norteno there?

Actually, it’s not Mariachi or Norteño that I’ve been listening to. The story is: I was going to do this soundtrack, but I ended up not doing it, because they wanted more of a string quartet kind of feel, and I couldn’t do that. But the reference material they sent me was all from the far south of Mexico, Oaxaca. It was all these bands that consisted entirely of Zapotec natives, and they were all doing these kind of dirgey funeral marches with 17 piece brass bands. There was something so naïve and martial in that music that I really fell in love with. It had nothing to do, actually, with Mariachi or Norte ño. To be honest, it sounded more like what Klezmer music is supposed to be or something. The raw exposed nerve of the music really struck a chord with me, maybe that will do it some justice.

Do you have any plans for a title or a date for a release? Will you be debuting some songs at Sasquatch?

Yeah. I’ve come back with a small batch of songs that we’re going to start performing right away. I’m going back for more, but at the moment, there’s at least an EPs worth. I expect to release it maybe in the fall, but I to be honest I don’t know. You can put that down, I’m going to try for the fall.

There's much more. Look for the complete interview in the Stranger's Sasquatch guide, out next week.

The Telegraph UK just reported on the suicide of a 13 year old Emo girl in England:

Hannah Bond, 13, hanged herself from a bunk bed in her bedroom with a tie believing her death would impress fellow followers of the “emo” movement, it was said.

The article continues:

She had secretly chatted to “emo” followers online all over the world, talking about death and the glamorisation of hanging and speaking about “the black parade” - a place where “emos” believe they go after they die.

On her page on Bebo, the online networking site, she told friends with names like Sam Suicide, that she was obsessed with the American band My Chemical Romance, who hit number one with their last album The Black Parade.

Man, "Emo" sure has changed since I was 16 singing Something to Write Home About in my car. When did genres of music morph into a lifestyles, then into spiritual beliefs? The only comparable example to this new My Chemical Afterlife is Insane Clown Posse and their "Dark Carnival." From Urban Dictionary:

The Dark Carnival is a supernatural Earthbound force. Eternally it roams collecting and judging the dead souls, and taking them to their final destination. It is what spreads he word of God eternally, so if anyone had told you of God or Jesus, it was by the will of the Carnival. It is called the Carnival because that is the way it adapted, it has become a great circus-like force because of the way it has been set up by God and the people who have been called to it. It also sets a bound for acceptance to all you would have to enhibit to be a part. Holy or evil, those who would turn away from strange ideas are not the type of people needed and sought out by the Carnival.

The Carnival has not always been around, it is fairly recent. It was creation, made for the purpose of the end of the world. Armageddon is believed to Juggalos to be coming very soon, now that the six have fallen, we are in a calm, and the Storm (the Tempest) is soon to come. The Carnival is the force that will destroy Hell and Earth to make way for a more perfect world, but that presents a problem In such dark times there are many more in hell than will be fighting them, and the Carnival acts as sort of a draft for this war of good versus evil. Those who will fight are those who were lost from the word of God, or those who were full of hate and sin, who were then saved and made faithful. They were the perfect candidates, they were Juggalos.

"The Black Parade" and "the Dark Carnival"... looks like Emos and Juggalos have more in common then they might have thought.

Gang of Two - Gang of Four loses rhythm section

Daily update on the virtues of urine therapy - R Kelly finally in court

Wait, Amy Winehouse does drugs? - British singer arrested for using crack

Sting pulls the plug on the wrong music endeavor - The Police announce final show

Decline of Western Civilization pt.3 - Korn’s Fieldy Snuts publishes autobiography

Still not much help to those still living in the CD age - Elvis Costello’s vinyl/download-only album now streaming online

From Bryce at See Sound Lounge:

That¹s right we were cleaned out last night. Flat screen TVs, turntables, amps, cdjs monitors, etc. etc.

The most standout piece is a blue Turbosound processor which no on else likely has locally.

Please hit me up if anyone comes across a pile of used gear in the near future (especially from a dodgey source).

Thanks
Bryce

One of the perks of not playing in a two-piece band - Jack White rescues fainting fan mid-song

C’mon girl, your fifteen minutes are almost up - Avril Lavigne cancels 6 dates due to illness

Just plain embarassing - Upcoming Extreme/Kings X tour includes band camp for adults

May he continue to flaunt his wealth in developing countries - 50 Cent gets his stolen necklace back

Sounds like bullshit to me - A Place To Bury Strangers apparently too loud for vinyl pressing plant

Daily update on musicians circumventing the traditional record release model - New Beck album rumored to be “stealth” release

Suicide Squeeze is proud to announce the signing of Seattle-based, quartet, THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES!

The band will begin recording their new album on May 9 at Red Room Recordings in Seattle, WA, recording with Producer/TAAS drummer Chris Common (Mouth Of The Architect, These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear), for a (yet to be titled) release on October 7th courtesy of Suicide Squeeze.

Speaking of Suicide Squeeze, tomorrow the local label will release the new Russian Circles record, Station, which got a three star review from Kurt B. Reighley in this week's paper:

If Chicago instrumental combo Russian Circles founded a school, their curriculum would ditch the "three Rs"—who needs language arts when your discipline forgoes words?—in favor of a trio of Gs: geography, geometry, and geology. Studied closely, their music revolves around exploring diverse terrain, measuring spatial relations, and stratifying layers. And, yes, Russian Circles rock: at times, quite hard.

On their second full-length, drummer Dave Turncrantz and guitarist Mike Sullivan are joined by Brian Cook (Botch, These Arms Are Snakes) on bass, with Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Minus the Bear) handling production. Randomly sample a segment of any of the six tracks, and a listener could be forgiven for thinking Station was the work of myriad bands. But no, the skittish percussion fills, headbanging bursts of staccato guitar shredding, unsettling dissonances, and extended ambient passages were all crafted by the same players. (The bowed bass and organ drones on "Versus," however, come courtesy of Past Lives' Morgan Henderson and Bayles, respectively.)

Read the full review here.

Summer in the south - Tom Waits goes on tour

The future pt. 1 - Another new NIN record. This one is free

We don’t need no education - Country singer Gretchen Wilson gets GED at 34

The future pt. 2 - Grand Theft Auto IV creating new music purchasing trend?

Stop your crying - Release date set for new Spiritualized album

Entertainment Weekly recently gave a B+ to the Seattle performance of Kanye's Glow In the Dark Tour. Not a bad mark, right? Wrong! Here's Kanye's response from his blog:

Yo, anybody that's not a fan; don't come to my show. For what?! To try and throw ya'll two cents in? Ya'll rated my album shitty and now ya'll come to the show and give it a B+. What's a B+ mean? I'm an extremist. It's either pass or fail! A+ or F-! You know what, fuck you and the whole fucking staff!!! I know I shouldn't dignify this with a comment, but the reviewer threw a jab at all the artists. I just wanna know when was the last time you enjoyed yourself. If you can't have fun and lose yourself at this tour it's a good chance you're a very miserable person. I actually feel sorry for you guys. Your job forces you to not have fun anymore. Grab a drink, holla at some nice girls, and party bitch!! You don't know shit about passion and art. You'll never gain credibility at this rate. You're fucking trash! I make art. You can't rate this. I'm a real person. I'm not a pop star. I don't care about anything but making great art. Never come 2 one of my shows ever again, you're not invited and if you see me...BOW!! This is not pop, it's pop art!

He followed up that rant with this one on Sunday:

Unfortunately for certain media outlets, you will never be able 2 'Michael Jackson' me. That means 2 make it seem like everything I do is so weird or out of place ... they always try 2 make it seem like everything is about my ego! That joke is getting old. At a certain point you have 2 respect that I'm one of the last artist that still cares about the fans having the best time of there lives! Thanks 2 Bossip and Perez for taking it easy on me on the EW spaz... I did go in a little 2 much on that one. I'm sure there are some cool people who work over there and had nothing 2 do with that review. With all that said.... "I'm still the greatest!!!" lol!! Oh and I was in the studio with T.I. last night.... so get ready!!!

I give that post a C- for using the phrase "Thanks 2 Bossip and Perez." Also because it reads like it was text messaged from a 14 year old girl's cell phone 2 the internet.

Wooooo! My favorite lady-exclusive solstice party group is going to self-release later this year. No deets yet except for THEY WILL TOUR FOR IT.

Very exciting.

To tide you over, here's a vid of "Dear Mr. & Mrs. Troublemaker."

Attention collector nerds - The Cure to release new single every month until album drops

Five part harmonies - Fleet Foxes welcome J. Tillman to the fold

Good news for ASCAP artists - Bad news for online music services

Still a few monikers short of ODB - RZA resurrects Bobby Digital

Tragic lives of musicians pt. 1 - Edwyn Collins struggles back to stage after devastating stroke

Tragic lives of musicians pt. 2 - Spank Rock hospitalized

Tragic lives of musicians pt. 3 - Limp Bizkit drummer offers lessons

Tragic lives of musicians pt. 4 - Pete Wentz baffled by assault lawsuit

It landed, in pieces, in a country club. Now these yuppies get $10,000 and tickets to Coachella for life.

^{Jennifer Soliz, The Desert Sun}

Full story (and video) here.

This does not speak well of my two left feet - Scientists find connection between intelligence and rhythmic accuracy

Not-So-Incredible Journey - Roger Water’s giant inflatable pig found

Drinking on the job - Paula’s latest American Idol mishap

Six hundred thousand Chris Martin fans can’t be wrong - New Coldplay single does impressive numbers

Daily update on the death of the record industry - What self-respecting music fan buys CDs at WalMart anyway?

Pornograffiti 3? - Extreme have a new record in the works

^{AP Photo/Chris Pizzello}

Via Reuters (bolds mine):

Organizers of a major California music festival are offering a $10,000 reward and four festival tickets for life in exchange for ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters' two-story inflatable pig, which was lost on Sunday night.

Waters' signature pig was seen floating away during his closing set at the three-day Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, held in the desert east of Los Angeles.

The giant flying pig, part of Pink Floyd's stage show since their 1977 album "Animals" featuring the song "Pigs on the Wing," broke free from its tethers above the Coachella crowd and drifted off.

It's not the first time Waters has lost his flying pig. Back in 1977, it floated away on the second day of a photo shoot at the Battersea Power Station in London and was later recovered and used for an album cover.

Daily update on the state of the record industry - Major labels sue Project Playlist

Daily update on ownership of Beatles property - Hand-written Lennon lyrics up for auction

Daily update on Radiohead - VH1 performance scheduled for May 3rd

Daily update on band break-up - Seattle’s Sinking Ships break up

Don't worry, he'll be out by Bumbershoot.

Via TMZ:

Rock star Scott Weiland has just been sentenced to 192 hours in county jail for his November DUI arrest. This is Weiland's second DUI offense. He has until May 28 to serve the sentence.

Scott, who was not present in court today, entered a no contest plea through his attorney, Anthony Brooklier. The former Velvet Revolver singer was also ordered to complete an 18-month alcohol program and pay almost $2,000 in fines. He will be put on a four-year summary probation.

Weiland was charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol with a prior conviction, and with an allegation that he refused a chemical test as required by law. We are told he was over the legal limit of .08%, but not by much.

According to the police report, he failed the field sobriety tests and refused to take a blood or urine test. He was booked for DUI and released on $40,000 bail.

Staring tomorrow morning at 7:15 am (Eastern), Coldplay fans will be able to download the new single of their upcoming album, one week before the record is released. All y'as have to do is visit their website, www.coldplay.com.

The song will only be available for one week.

Way to give music away for free, that's nice, but what's the point of the one week deadline? Once you put a song online, you can be assured that it will be available via every music sharing/stealing/torrent site in the world. Even after you pull it from your website, it'll still be everywhere else. The internet is bigger than you. You can't put a deadline on the internet.

In another kind gesture, the band also announced they'll be playing free shows at London's Brixton Academy on June 16 and at New York's Madison Square Garden on June 23. Details for those shows will be announced tomorrow morning as well.

Welcome to 2008 - Metallica learns to embrace the Internet

Imagine no religion - Ono sues creationist documentary for using Lennon song without permission

Goin’ down in a blaze of glory - Bomb scare at Bon Jovi concert

Bring earplugs and a diaper - Boris/Torche/Wolves In The Throne Room tour

Just buy it on vinyl already - MSN Music closure raises DRM issues

Rest in peace - Country singer Paul Davis dies at 60

It always pains me to agree with Pitchfork - New York’s ATP line-up is pretty awesome

Reznor continues to make headlines - NIN offer free new song online

Good news for music fans with Attention Deficit Disorder - Next two Mars Volta records in the works

Wasn’t Bright Eyes basically a solo project? - Conor Oberst announces solo album

More on the state of the music industry - Lobbying money and IP laws

More wild speculation from NME - Replacements reunion?

Countdown to Armageddon - NIN make cryptic announcement

Suitable punishment for bad taste - Riots and police brutality at Pennywise concert

Indianapolis doesn’t deserve this - Dude Fest line-up announced. I’m impressed

Showbox SODO attendees were lucky - Cat Power suffers vocal, not emotional, breakdown

Only slightly cooler than Limp Bizkit’s Guitar Center auditions - Velvet Revolver seek new singer online

As if the four of them weren’t annoying enough - Fergie to sing Sex And The City movie theme

CDs really fuckin’ blow - More statistics of nebulous origins regarding the death of the music industry

Matador act waves the red cape pt. 1: Trouble from Toronto - Fucked Up bait the public at New York college

Matador act waves the red cape pt. 2: Trouble in Toronto - Jay Reatard show gets destroyed

It's still a problem.

MTV recently went to Mexico to report on the growing conflict.

More than a month has passed since a mob of angry teens attacked three emo kids in the central Mexican city of Querétaro, setting off a wave of anti-emo (and, some say, homophobic) violence that spread from the capital of Mexico City to the border towns of Tijuana and Juarez.

And in that time, the man who many blame for instigating the mobs — a popular television host named Kristoff, who had previously mocked emo kids and compared them to "prepubescent 15-year-old girls" who lead a "stupid and idiotic" lifestyle — has taken to the airwaves to publicly denounce the violence, calling the attackers "imbeciles" and hosting on-air forums aimed at healing the divide.

Last week, MTV News traveled to Mexico City to speak to those on both sides of that divide: the emo kids who say they're still being targeted by mobs and metal acts who are more than willing to keep the violence going. We also sat down with Kristoff himself, who, not surprisingly, claims that the entire situation was blown out of proportion by the international media, and that since the four incidents in early March, the attacks have all but stopped.

Read the whole story (and watch video interviews) here.

Via Reuters:

NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. rapper Foxy Brown was freed from a New York City prison on Friday after serving eight months of a one-year sentence stemming from an assault of two nail salon stylists over a $20 manicure.

Brown, 29, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was sentenced to three years' probation in October 2006 for assaulting the stylists. But in September 2007 a judge ruled she was not taking probation seriously and sent her prison for one year.

Inmates typically serve two-thirds of their sentence, said Stephen Morello, a Department of Corrections spokesman, adding that Brown had been met at the Rikers Island prison by New York City Councilman Charles Barron.

Bad news first - RIP E Street Band’s Danny Federici

Babyshambles gets street cred - Pete Doherty relocated after rumors of prison attack

C’mon, wasn’t Rob Halford available? - Lance Bass does PSA for Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network

I’d still prefer a laser light show - Metallica to launch enigmatic website

Big news - Developments in the Big Business camp

Making a career out of writing sad songs and getting paid by the tear - Silver Jews reveal tour and new album info

Return of the digital delay pt. 1 - Swervedriver plan U.S. tour

Return of the digital delay pt. 2 - Denali plays reunion show

Give it up already pt. 1 - New Judas Priest album on the way

Give it up already pt. 2 - Ryan Adams hates country music. Did he forget he was in Whiskeytown?

Music and the internet pt. 1 - New live Nick Cave tracks available on iTunes

Music and internet pt. 2 - IFPI involves unwilling hiphop artist in Pirate Bay legal case

Earlier this week, it was reported that Amy Winehouse was working on the title track for the new James Bond movie. Her rep says that's untrue:

The Back To Black star was rumoured to be working on the theme song for superspy's latest outing with acclaimed DJ and producer Mark Ronson - and was even tipped as the best artist for the job by former Beatle Paul McCartney.

But the soul sensation's representative has denied the reports, insisting the star is working with Ronson on her highly anticipated third album, expected to be ready for release early next year.

Her spokesman tells People.com, "Amy has been in the studio working on songs for her new album with Mark Ronson. Recording for anything else is pure speculation."

Also being speculated, whether or not the singer will survive the process of writing a new album. She looks worse every day. That's a nice lookin' femur you got there, Amy.

In a press statement sent today, Alicia Keys explains the comments she made to Blender earlier this week:

"I feel it is necessary to clarify the comments that were made during my recent Blender magazine interview since they have been misrepresented.

Anyone who knows me and my character, knows that I am not a conspiracy theorist or, by implication, a racist. My comments about 'gangsta rap' were in no way trying to suggest that the government is responsible for creating this genre of rap music. The point that I was trying to make was that the term was over-sloganized by some of the media causing reactions that were not always positive. Many of the 'gangsta rap' lyrics articulate the problems of the artists' experiences and I think all of us, including our leaders, could be doing more to address these problems including drugs, gang violence, crime, and other related social issues."

Click here to see the full statement via Forbes.com.

Racist or no, I wonder if this press and controversy is helping with those ticket sales for that tour of hers that starts on Saturday...

This video was sent by Morrisey to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz announcing a performance in Tel Aviv this summer. Apparently he's been canceling summer performances there at the last minute for 20 years now, but this year promises to make it happen for reals. This news has of course made Palestine pissed. Here is part of an open letter from The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel:

You end your message with the words “God bless Israel, stay nice!” This message and your planned Israel gig are indicators of either a serious lack of understanding of what Israel is or a conscious bias towards Israel, despite its colonial and apartheid reality. Celebrating Israel, as you plan to do, at a time when it is persistently committing war crimes and other grave breaches of international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in Gaza, is an act of complicity in maintaining Israel’s illegal occupation and regime of racial discrimination against the people of Palestine.

It is ironic that your persistent affection for outsiders and misfits has often driven you to write in their voices. Someone hated, rejected and violently attacked by a racist, nationalistic society has her point of view expressed in these lyrics, which you wrote:

We’re old news
All’s well
Say BBC scum
One child shot, but so what?
Laid my son
In a box, three feet long
And I still don’t know why
A short walk home becomes a run
And I’m scared
In my own country

Singing in Tel Aviv despite the fact that more than 800 Palestinian children have been killed—many in a willful manner—by the Israeli occupation army and settlers in the past 7 years alone would effectively tell us, in our faces: “One Palestinian child shot, but so what?”

They continue:

On December 3, 2007, you said “I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is. Racism is beyond common sense and I believe it has no place in our society.”

It is “absolutely clear” that your performance in Israel would betray a regrettable double standard, if not a categorical negation of those noble ideals.

I understand not wanting celebrities to take the side of your enemy, but Morrisey is a unifier, not a divider. The fact that the Palestinian organization is familiar enough with his lyrics to quote him so pertinently (or had to read through all of them to find a pertinent example) should have been enough to clue them in that they're accusing the wrong guy of "double standards."

(ht daily swarm)

Awesome - Book Of Black Earth signs to Prosthetic

Get it straight: Travis only does commercials for mobile phones - Travis Barker settles suit with Rockstar

Still waiting for a sequel to Aeroplane Over The Sea - NMH reclusive frontman Jeff Magnum recording with Instruments

History Lesson pt. 3 - Indie icons star in documentary on independent record stores

For those lamenting the death of Ozzfest - Motley Crue announces Crue Fest

Tragic - Debbie Gibson seeks restraining order from Fan Club ringleader

Funny... call someone a "Godlike Genius" and they embrace the chance to play again and be showered with admiration...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The four original members of pioneering alternative rock band Jane's Addiction will perform for the first time in almost 17 years next week, temporarily burying the hatchet so they can receive an award for career achievement.

Bass player Eric Avery, who had declined to play with the band since it first broke up in 1991, said on Tuesday he would hit the stage at the inaugural NME Awards in Los Angeles on April 23 with singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins.

His bandmates, who have resurrected Jane's Addiction a few times, had previously agreed to attend the event at the El Rey Theatre, leaving Avery once again as the holdout.

The band will be honored with the "Godlike Genius Award" for its contribution to the development of alternative rock with such albums as 1988's "Nothing's Shocking" and 1990's "Ritual de lo Habitual."

If that's all it takes... Hey Botch, I think you're Godlike Genius. If that moves you to do anything, you know, play again, whatever, I wouldn't stop you.

SXSW without the schmoozing - Austin City Limits festival lineup announced

‘Hard Rain’ would’ve been my choice - Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’ published as children’s book

For those not thoroughly sick of ‘Rehab’ - Amy Winehouse preparing next James Bond song

Even motherhood can lose its sanctity - Ashlee Simpson pregnant with Pete Wentz’s baby?

Good news for Canadian metal fans with money - Ozzfest details announced

No Ian Williams. No Steve Albini. Awful album title. - Don Caballero set to record new album

Saw this flier posted in the window of the old Minnies space at Denny and 1st:

Be a part of the newest 24 hours diner in Seattle. We are hiring for all positions and all shifts.

Servers
Line cooks
Chef/Kitchen Manager
Dishwashers
Bartenders
Shift Supervisors
General Manager

Submit a resume to whym@comcast.net.

24-hours is good. We need more 24-hour diners in the city that aren't the Hurricane. And bartenders means there'll be alcohol for you drunkards. I wonder what they have in store for us...

I've e-mailed for more info.

Only in it for the money - Zappa’s widow sues Zappa-tribute festival

Accepting donations on PrayPal - Christian hardcore band Gwen Stacy robbed

Signs that the record business can’t be doing that bad - New Whitesnake album due out April 22

Yet another early retirement announcement in hiphop - Next Lupe Fiasco record may be his last

‘60s-obsessed egomaniacs pt. 1 - Oasis talk shit about hiphop at Glastonbury

‘60s obsessed egomaniacs pt. 2 - Brian Jonestown Massacre set to release new album

The good: Eminem will perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday bash.

The bad: Vanilla Ice has been charged with domestic battery.

The fugly: Insane Clown Posse continues to exist.

The Stranger music department is screwed - Copyright debate extends to throwing away promotional CDs

Ever wonder if Radiohead spends as much time planning publicity stunts as they do writing records? - Brits score second-ever U.S. Top 40 hit in unorthodox manner

Seen Vince Neil lately? More like Portley Crue - New Motley Crue song online

More mid-tempo rock for 2008 - Coldplay announce tracklist to new record

David Gilmore is off the hook - Roger Waters now hates Hillary Clinton

Via tinymixtapes.com:

That’s right, some jerk from New Jersey stole Karl Blau’s guitar off a Greyhound bus — classy. But this ain’t just any ol’ guitar. This is the same guitar Bret Lunsford used in Beat Happening!

New Jersey/East Coast readers: keep your eyes peeled. There are many identifying characteristics on this mighty axe, so it shouldn’t be hard to spot hanging in a pawn shop window or strapped around some dude trying to play the intro to "Today" by The Smashing Pumpkins. Contact us if you have any leads, and we can put you in contact with Mr. Blau. Trust me, you don’t want to see him without that guitar.

^{Photo of Karl and the guitar by Derek Vincent}

Thanks to Billy for the tip.

I credit Dr. Pepper - Chinese Democracy is done?!

I’m a person just like you, but I’ve got better things to do - Thurston Moore narrates SXE documentary

I care. - Threadbare reunion show!

Pinhead Gunpowder is still cooler - Yes, Foxboro Hot Tubs are Green Day

Insert inappropriate “The Bitch Is Back” joke here - Elton John raises 2.5 million bucks for Hillary; criticizes U.S. misogyny