Country music legend Dolly Parton has sidelined her upcoming US tour because of back problems caused by her enormous breasts, which is amusing news in and of itself, but it’s her official statement that busts out the gold: “You try wagging these puppies around a while and see if you don’t have back problems.” [...]

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After 14 years of shunning the media, Daft Punk have apparently become extraverts. WTF? Indeed, NME and assorted other news orgs are reporting that Daft Punk crashed the Grammys to back up Kanye’s performance of Stronger. Le Sigh. Video Here.

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With the news of Beck’s reissued deluxe edition of his seminal Odelay having misprinted lyrics comes the discovery that, well, the lyrics are meaningless, anyway. Evidently, while recording Odelay, Beck laid down some scratch lyrics as placeholders, which typified his nonsensical beat-poet free-style jargon, but he liked the temporary lyrics so much that he [...]

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Well, they made the decision too easy for me this year: not going. Metallica? Pearl Jam? Jack Johnson? Don’t care, don’t care, and why??? After two years of phenomenal line-ups, Bonnaroo had to slip up eventually, and after rumors of a possible appearance by Led Zeppelin led to an invariably anti-climactic line-up announcement with [...]

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It’s an odd marketing strategy to break up before the release of your first new album in 24 years, but, as bassist David J reveals, the group’s chemistry “was so volatile we actually split up.” Going Away White is out March 11, and J believes that “the record definitely feels like a final statement.” [...]

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After yesterday’s rather tame comments from Graham Coxon regarding why the Blur reunion didn’t happen as a result of a band lunch meeting, Damon Albarn has spoken up on the subject with a bit more drama, claiming that the rest of Blur “hate” him and don’t want to work with him. I’ve never gotten [...]

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Fat Cat recording artists The Twilight Sad — whose Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters was my favorite debut of 2007 — spoke recently with The Scotsman about their success in The States and how, curiously, it has outshined the response in their native Scotland:
“Last year was huge for the Twilight Sad — who come from [...]

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Since he can’t score a hit these days no matter what transparent stunt he pulls, alleged kid-toucher Michael Jackson is resorting to re-recording his old hits with current flashes in the pan in hopes that he might get the money train a-rolling again. Neverland is looking pretty sad these days. Fergie, Will.I.Am. and Kanye [...]

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Getting back to work quickly after suffering a miscarriage with Chemical Brothers’ Ed Simons’ baby, Lily Allen shot the pilot for her new BBC3 chat show this week, which is scheduled to debut later this year. The British station’s website reveals that Blur’s Alex James will lend his myriad charms to the premiere. Always [...]

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As though recording an album of Tom Waits covers weren’t cool enough, Scarlett Johansson collaborated with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s guitarist Nick Zinner on one of the songs, as well as an original. The Tom Waits covers record is called Anywhere I Lay My Head, and it’s due out this May. It’s practically guaranteed a [...]

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Murder by Death’s debut for Vagrant records, Red of Tooth and Claw, is due out March 4. Preceding the full-length is a digital EP entitled Fuego!, which is available February 12. Signing to a (mostly) pop-punk label worked for The Hold Steady, as far as propelling the band into the limelight is concerned. [...]

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While I’m somewhat excited about the new Portishead record news (it’s almost too little too late), I can’t help but be annoyed by the projected album title, Third. Seriously? Almost eleven years have gone by and that’s the title you come up with? It just seems so frustratingly uncreative and decidedly coy. I know [...]

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Since Paul Weller has come down with a nasty case of principles, his remaining two ex-bandmates in The Jam have reunited under the catchy moniker From the Jam: Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. The leftover duo has recruited some anonymous scabs Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers two replacements to fill in for Weller on [...]

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It’s been seventeen years since The Wedding Present recorded its aggressive master work, Seamonsters, with engineer Steve Albini. The marriage of Albini’s penchant for abrasiveness with The Wedding Present’s strumming frenzy of guitars may have frightened some of the band’s early pop fans, but it cemented its underground allure. Even though The Wedding Present [...]

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Sebastian Grainger, former drummer and lead singer of Canada’s sadly defunct Death From Above 1979, has a new band called Sebastian Grainger & The Mountains. The quartet’s myspace page has three “working mixes” posted, and they sound very, very promising, despite being a far cry from DFA1979’s glorious pummeling bass/drums attack. From the default [...]

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I know it pays the bills and everything to sell the remains of your dignity to soulless corporations, but would you really want a classic song off your defining early LP associated with Grade D beef that’s barely fit for human consumption? It’s probably a clever marketing ploy, since Joe Jackson has a new [...]

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I freakin’ love Depeche Mode, but honestly, I never cared all that much for “Personal Jesus.” It’s flimsy little guitar riff (wait, someone in Depeche Mode owns a guitar?) is too cheap and choppy, and it’s trite, blues-like progression makes for one of the weaker cuts off Violator. And Mr. Gore, just how exactly does [...]

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After an unexpectedly popular first season of its dryly understated HBO series, Flight of the Conchords, the New Zealand comedy duo comprised of Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie has a full-length LP in the works with Sub Pop, who released a teaser EP, The Distant Future, back in August. Billboard is reporting that all of the songs expected [...]

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Never one to shy away from political haughtiness of his own, folk-punk troubadour Billy Bragg has chimed in on the Morrissey “not a racist” PR scandal via The Guardian’s editorial pages. Bragg lightly slaps Morrissey for stirring up drama when the former Smiths singer knows good and well everything he said was caught on tape. Morrissey [...]

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Sometimes Throwing Muse and longtime solo artist Kristin Hersh has created CASH Music (the acronym stands for Coalition of Artists & Stake Holders), which is a ”new music business model” wherein artists post free mp3’s in multiple formats for listeners to critique, remix, or even produce. Hersh is no stranger to this process, as I was [...]

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