Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys: New Album 78 Percent Done

AM frontman claims the band’s new album is “78 percent done” and should be out this summer.

That’s no monkeying around, either. By the time you read this it could be 100 percent done.

He also says this about their sessions with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme:

“We went out to the desert for a little bit, we did two sessions with Josh, we had a great time. There’s a few other buildings around there but it is certainly cut off. The guy who owns it is called Dave Catching, who plays guitar in the Eagles Of Death Metal, and it’s his house. He was a great host. It’s quite an inspiring place, there’s a certain element of dust in the sound of it.”

Does that mean the material will have a dusty sound?

The band recently played four new songs while on tour in New Zealand: The titles of the new songs are ‘Dangerous Animals’, ‘Pretty Visitors’, ‘Go-Kart’ and ‘Crying Lightning’. Also played, according to a recent update of Wikipedia, was a cover of the Nick Cave song “Red Right Hand”. Last tour, the band had played new songs “Put Me In A Terror Pocket,” “Sandtrap,” and “The Fire and The Thud” live

Bootlegs, anyone?

You Go Barry!

Suave. You are so F***in’ suave!

Paul McCartney Claims He Was the First Beatle To Give Peace A Chance, Not Lennon

Paul has to be the #1 Beatle….still, after all these years.

PM recently told the press that after he met with Bertrand Russell in the 6os, he then enlightened John Lennon about the evils of the Vietnam War and the promise of peace.

Okay, Paul, you’re the best… really!

Read more here.

Fall Out Boy Almost Fall Into Clink

The band was almost arrested as they were about to play an acoustic set last night in Washington Square Park in NYC (no permit). They quickly improvised it into a sing-a-long instead.

The sing-a-long actually looked like a lot more fun (watch below).

Don’t know what the big deal is. What’s wrong with a little free acoustic set in a NY Park? Screw the permit. Far worse has happened to me in that park, like getting attacked by a vagrant Performance Artist one time (and I highly doubt he had a permit). But no cops were around then.

The NYPD should have more important things to do with their time. Guiliani’s gone. We don’t need any more culture laws here.

I gotta say, though, Pete Wentz (far right) seems like he is too much of a rock star for his own good.

Looks Like AC/DC’s Wal*Mart Exclusive Selling Experiment Is Very Successful

Looks like AC/DC’s teamup with Wal*Mart has been a huge success.

Black Ice continues to be on Billboard’s top spot as an album (No Singles!).

AC/DC’s Black Ice is also “is on track to sell between 250,000 and 275,000 copies in the United States in its second week of release to hold on to the top position on The Billboard 200 chart,” according to industry media.

It is Wal*Mart’s fastest selling album, too.

I hate these exclusive deals. The fact that a band dictates where I have to buy their album SUCKS. What if there is no Wal*Mart nearby? What if I hate shopping at Wal*Mart?

Well, the band claims there will be “pop-up stores” starting on January 9th in L.A. and NYC and other cities that do not have Wal*Mart stores.

Wow, thanks for being so helpful.

Lost and Found: Paul McCartney’s Head

Label this one under bizarre.

A waxwork head of Paul McCartney (right) was lost in the London Underground and found by a homeless man. The reward: about 4 Grand. The head is, according to the BBC, a waxwork model made in the 1960s and displayed at the Louis Tussaud’s museum. Carters Entertainment auctioneers are auctioning it along with other fairground memorabilia.

The head’s owners now hope it can be auctioned off for up to 20 Grand, thanks to the publicity.

Who the hell would want a creepy wax head of anyone? There are those out there. But, on the bright side, the head did get some money to a homeless man.

Coldplay Win For Best Album At Q Awards

At the Q Awards, sponsored by the UK music magazine Q, which were held this afternoon in London, Coldplay (pictured above) won big, scoring trophies for both Best Album and for Best Act In The World Today. Other award recipients included Duffy for Breakthrough Artist and Kaiser Chiefs for Best Live Act.

I can’t say that I agree with either of Coldplay’s awards. Surely, there were better albums released and better bands in the world. Coldplay just always struck me as a bit too safe, a bit too Lite FM. Q magazine is a great publication, so I’m a bit surprised that Coldplay took those awards. I’m guessing that the awards were voted on by the readers of the magazine and not the editors.

The full slate of awards given were as follows:

Best New Act
The Last Shadow Puppets
 
Breakthrough Artist
Duffy
 
Best Track
Keane’s “Spiralling”
 
Best Video
Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk”
 
Q Classic Songwriter
John Mellencamp

Q Classic Song
Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out Of Hell”
 
Q Inspiration
Cocteau Twins
 
Q Legend
Glen Campbell
 
Best Live Act
Kaiser Chiefs
 
Best Album
Coldplay’s Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
 
Q Innovation In Sound
Massive Attack
 
Q Icon
Adam Ant
 
Q Idol
Grace Jones
 
Q Outstanding Contribution To Music
David Gilmour
 
Best Act In The World Today
Coldplay

For more on the Q Awards, see the article on the XFM London Web site.

seagull screaming kiss her kiss her – a shotgun & me

oh man, this is bad ass stuff from fuji rock 2000. when’s that time machine coming to market?

Travis Cover Popular Katy Perry Song “I Kissed A Girl”

First thought: WHY? But then Travis has supposedly covered pop songs before, including Britney’s “One More Time,” and given them a humorous spin.

At a gig in Oslo, Travis made the Katy Perry song “I Kissed A Girl” more of a gay anthem. A fan at the show told the Daily Record that:

“Fran (Francis Healy, singer) and Andy Andy Dunlop, guitarist) did a brilliantly funny cover of the Katy Perry song. Fran said that he thought the song was actually about a man uncertain about his sexuality.”

Is it Anybody’s Business if Beck is a Scientologist?

Is it right for fans to protest a celebrity for being of a certain religious/philosophical belief? Well, it is freedom of speech, but I say leave Beck, and Katie and Tom Cruise, alone. For instance, protesters at a Katie Holmes theatre gig in NYC (‘All My Sons) held up posters demanding Holmes to “Run!” and “Run and take Beck with you!“

As if Beck or Holmes would be paying attention. It was their choice to believe in Scientology. They weren’t forced (even though some conspiracy nuts think Katie was forced by Tom).

Beck should write a song about it.