Funk Brothers

I was expanding my classic soul collection via iTunes tonight, and remembered this review in the MEN. It's truly staggering how many hits this group worked on.

IF the singers of the Motown era were big, the songs were always bigger - a mighty body of work comprising more chart-toppers than the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and Elvis combined.

But Motown's house band, the Funk Brothers - knocking songs out with the same diligence as the workers on the production lines of Detroit's car factories - went almost forgotten.

When they talk about how the tamborine was so iconically Motown, can't you just hear the beginning to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine?"

Regarding Molly

One of my favorite writers, talking about my dearly-departed favorite writer. God Bless Charles Pierce.

Aw, dammit all to hell.

A year or so ago, we lost a gentle soul named John Ferguson, the first great editor I ever had, who'd cut his professional teeth at The Texas Observer under Kaye Northcott and Molly Ivins. Every great story John had, and he had a rack of them, began with the phrase, "One day, Northcott and Ivins..." and went from there.

So, in 1980, when I met Ms. I. for the first time, I told her that I considered her, if not a professional mother, at the very least, a professional aunt. She got a very big kick out of that. (It was then, I believe, that I passed along the ultimate Boston compliment and told her I thought her work was "wicked smart." Hey, if she can drop the Texas lingo on me ...) When John passed, and she couldn't make the memorial service, she asked us to send along the eulogies we'd read. That was the last time I heard from her.

Now she's gone, and so is Father Robert Drinan, S.J., a brave and decent man who entered The Society (as the Jesuits call it) shortly after my uncle Michael did, and who always returned my calls as a congressman, and as an ex-congressman, because of that. (My European history professor once said that there were only three things you needed to know about European history: the nobility is always corrupt, the middle-class is never ready to take control, and the Jesuits are always being expelled.) Two brilliant troublemakers, gone at a time in which there is so much brilliant trouble to be made.

I think the reason neither of them really fit the role of modern media celebrity -- I mean, Jesus, Gloria Borger is preferable on TV to Molly Ivins? Maureen Dowd is a better writer? Yeah, and I'm the Tsar of all the Russias -- is that they believed too strongly and too genuinely in too many things for an era in which we've spent two goddamn weeks talking about a caesura in a remark Hillary Clinton made in Iowa a flat year before anyone votes there. Molly made a point often of how much she liked good politicians and believed in the political system. And Father Drinan -- I know. I know.

But the honorific is a tic of my Papist heritage that I can't lose -- was deadly serious about deadly serious topics -- war and peace, economic justice. That's not the way we do political commentary -- or politics, alas -- very much any more. What do we get? Michael Kinsley stuffing his IQ into a jar and defending Scooter Libby on the grounds of Business As Usual. Two weeks of idiocy about a caesura in a remark made by Hillary Clinton in Iowa a flat year before anyone votes there. (And let's not get into the fact that the very thought of an HRC candidacy seems to have driven Chris Matthews into some serious brain-fever). Snarky "Messiah Watches" about Barack Obama.

The worst thing you can do at the Kool Kids table is be either sincere or serious. Sorry, you pack of smug, insufferable bastards -- a war's gone bad and the country's a mess, and you never were funny, anyway, not like Molly was. So go and take your little slambooks and wreck some other profession for a while. The grown-ups have work to do.

via Atrios

Oh, I'm going to HAVE to see this

Hot Fuzz

INDEED, HOT FUZZ IS bigger, more complex and technically more ambitious than Shaun of the Dead. Pegg admits he and Wright felt they had to "step things up a little bit and prove that [Shaun] wasn't just a one-off, and that we could operate in the world of film. So we purposely took on something that was a lot grander, bigger and more sophisticated, certainly in terms of its execution, just to make that passage into being accepted as film-makers definite."

A smart combination of parochial English humour and absurd Jerry Bruckheimer-like pyrotechnics, Hot Fuzz casts Pegg as Nicholas Angel, a London cop so good at his job that he is embarrassing the rest of the force. He is reassigned to sleepy Sandford, in the West Country, where he is teamed up with an unworldly local bobby played by Frost.

They soon find themselves up to their necks in murder, and embroiled in a narrative that becomes deliberately more absurd as it takes its cues from Point Break and Bad Boys 2. Hot Fuzz was the film-makers' way of "creating a tribute to the bad-ass cop films," says Wright. Like the characters in Spaced, they were also living their dreams.

"It's no coincidence that Hot Fuzz is set in the kind of area where I and Simon grew up, because essentially the film is like a boyhood fantasy become real. I grew up in this area [Somerset], and it's a very lovely part of the world but very quiet, and I used to make amateur films as a teenager and invariably they'd be escapist teenage fantasies showing things that didn't happen in my town. With this we really wanted to make a film which on one hand is as British as it could possibly be, whilst on the other hand being as American as it could possibly be."

While the film's conventions are Hollywood-inspired, the casting is British to the core. Like Shaun before it, Hot Fuzz is populated with recognisable faces from almost every recent British comedy series one could think of (see panel), as well as the more serious acting talent of Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall. Iconic old hands such as Edward Woodward, Billie Whitelaw, Anne Reid, Edward Woodward and former James Bond Timothy Dalton play some of the leading local figures, but it is the new generation of comic actors and writers who hold the reins.

Step Out

From the live DVD from Wembley Stadium (the old one). Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Bob Harris sings More Than This

After watching Bill Murray on Letterman last night, I was desperately searching for a clip of the last time Bill was on the show. You know, when he claimed that he was in love with Kat(i)e Holmes, then Jennifer Garner. But I couldn't find it on the YouTube.

So here he is in Lost In Translation. This scene is very smolder-y. I know that's not a word, but it should be.

NME's Godlike Genius award

Goes to........The Scream Team! Looking at all the bands that will potentially be at the awards ceremony, I think it might get a bit wild.

Primal Scream are set to be named Godlike Geniuses at this year's Shockwaves NME Awards on March 1.

Bobby Gillespie's band will pick up the top honour for a career that has spanned three decades and seen the band confidently and continually evolve their sound from the psychedelic beginnings, through 'Screamadelica''s acid house beast in 1991 to the rock 'n' roll, adrenalin blast of last year's 'Riot City Blues'.

Announcing this year's award NME editor Conor McNicholas said: "Everyone at NME is really looking forward to welcoming Primal Scream as the Godlike Geniuses at this year's awards - no-one parties like Primal Scream. They're a band who have had a massive influence on our scene. All our bands love them and after 24 years they've just had their biggest ever hit ('Country Girl' got to Number Five last year). Our awards are the last big event at the legendary Hammersmith Palais before it's reduced to rubble. Primal Scream may just do that before the bulldozers even get there."

Roses

One of the greatest examples of rock photography ever. And the story is great, too.

Don't my boys look cool? If only I wouldn't have been 13, and in Iowa during those high (literally) times....

Side note- is it just me, or does my darling Mani have lipstick on? Dirty boy.



I'd wanted to photograph the band as a John Squire painting for ages. We finally set it up - they could only do it on a Sunday - in Manchester. I spent the morning turning the studio into a polythene cube - I hadn't told the owner our plan and I was worried about his studio looking like we'd played paintball for 24 hours in there. John brought the paint - we started with blue and white - for Manchester City - my team.

Each time he added another colour he would paint himself then lie in the shot. After two hours without heating - lying in cold wet paint we'd got the shots. That's when I broke the news to them that there were no showers in the studio.

They all had to walk through Manchester City centre dripping in multi coloured paint and go back to Ian Brown's flat to shower it off. The handprints are still down the stairwell of the building.

In the NME 50th anniversary issue both Liam Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft said that this picture was the defining moment of the era and the greatest NME cover of all time.

Random ten

1. Argument With David Rawlings Concerning Morrissey- Ryan Adams
2. Underneath Your Clothes- Shakira
3. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye- Steam
4. Nan, You're a Window Shopper- Lily Allen
5. Mardy Bum- Arctic Monkeys
6. Maybe I'm Amazed- Jem
7. Shelter Me- Cinderella
8. Bad Reputation- Joan Jett
9. Dashboard- Modest Mouse
10. Whiskey in the Jar- Thin Lizzy

Bonus-
11. Have A Nice Day- Stereophonics
12. Wings Of Speed- Paul Weller
13. Tightrope- The Stone Roses
14. W.F.L.- Happy Mondays

"Fabulous leis of glory"

From the Go Fug Wenches. They're brilliant. Genius. And wow, Armani needs to stock up on sunscreen. Looks like George bloody Hamilton does The Italian Job. Ahem.

GIORGIO ARMANI: Boo! It's me! HELLO!

POSH: God, I'm fabulous.

KAT(I)E: Hi Karl! Hi! It's me! Mrs. Cruise!

GIORGIO: KARL? I am not Karl Lagerfeld, runt. What kind of IDIOT would think I am Karl Lagerfeld?

KAT(I)E: Oh, wow. I'm sorry. It's just that you're both so... tan. Ha ha ha... ha.

GIORGIO: Quiet, Scientology Spice. Can you not see that I'm trying to start a conga line with the Queen of America?

POSH: That's f'ing right, darling. Thanks to the football deal for David, we're even MORE filthy, stinking rich.

KAT(I)E: That's great, ha ha! I'm so happy to be here! Kar... er, Giorgio, I just wanted to know...

GIORGIO: BUY A COUNTRY, you delicious pleated diva!

POSH: Too right I will.

GIORGIO: Take the Maldives. No one knows who owns those anyway! Make it Isla Victoria!

KAT(I)E: I think the Maldives...

GIORGIO: LIKE I SAID. Nobody knows.

POSH: I wonder if America will let me have Hawaii. It's closer. I'll pay cash.

GIORGIO: I will make you leis. FABULOUS leis of GLORY. With FEATHERS, just like mama used to make.

POSH: Damn, babes, you're WAY more fun than Karl Lagerfeld. All he does is scowl and glove-slap people. F'ing awkward sometimes if you ask me.

KAT(I)E: Sir, Mr. Armani, if I could just ask you about this dress...

GIORGIO: Or you could buy A SITCOM. We could be in one of those lively half-hour comedy shows! Where we live together and work in a pizza parlor that is also a tanning salon, and have strange neighbors with children who won't stop talking! IT WILL BE HUGE.

KAT(I)E: Yes! And I could play the...

GIORGIO: No, no, I want that Michelle Williams girl -- she's DYNAMITE.

POSH: Tanning and pizza, eh, Giorgio? We could call it Mystic Pizza.

GIORGIO: I've never heard of ANYTHING so divine, my queen. IT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. Now, CONGA, you vixen!

KAT(I)E: Mr. Armani, if you'd just look at me for a second, I don't think these weird pleats...

GIORGIO: Child, no shop talk -- not when I'm about to break into the macarena. You know the rules.

POSH: Look at that. Giorgio Armani, following ME around. Wanting to ride MY coattails. My life is f'ing amazing.

KAT(I)E: My life is awful. He won't even look at me.

GIORGIO: Actress girl! We need an inanimate object to be the limbo rod. Can they use you?

KAT(I)E: Thank God I had this smile surgically locked in or else I would be SCREAMING at some people right now and then Tom would make me sit in the audit closet for a week.

POSH: Allegedly.

KAT(I)E: Oh, whatever.

Interesting

Sounds like the Poodle may be in a spot of trouble.

Detectives investigating the cash for honours affair demanded that the prime minister maintain total secrecy over their decision to conduct a second interview with him to see if they could expose Lord Levy, Labour's chief fundraiser, giving misleading or contradictory evidence.

Mr Blair was interviewed as a witness for 45 minutes last Friday, four days before Lord Levy was arrested and questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. No 10 only revealed yesterday that Mr Blair had also been seen again, 24 hours after police gave it clearance to do so.

My Future Husband is such a humanitarian

And, well done, Roger.

Noel Gallagher, Kasabian and The Who are among the acts confirmed for this year's series of London shows aimed at raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity.

Oasis star Gallagher plays the first two nights (March 26/27), supported by The View and The Coral respectively. Kasabian play on March 29, while The Who, whose frontman Roger Daltrey organises the event, play on March 31.

There will also be a night of comedy hosted by Russell Brand and 'The Mighty Boosh' star Noel Fielding on March 28, with more names due to be announced over the coming weeks.

Announcing this year's line-up, Daltrey said: "Over the years these shows have really made a massive difference to the money available to build TCT units in NHS hospitals. They also give our teenagers the moral support to help fight this terrible disease".

Side note- I find Russell Brand rather attractive. I don't know if it's the hair, the mouthiness, him dressing up as Osama Bin Laden to interview Kylie Minogue (shortly before his going to rehab) or the fact that La Moss allegedly referred to him, in a positive manner, as a "sex insect."

What could that mean?

Does he have wings?

Does he fertilize flowers?

Does he have a particularly large stinger?

Aha, I think we solved the mystery behind that rave review.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention

the announcement on the Today show that caused me to sit straight up in bed and yell "HOLY FUCK" at the top of my lungs.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last of seven installments of the boy wizard's adventures, will be published July 21, author J.K. Rowling said Thursday.

Rest assured, Snoopy dancing ensued. Once I got out of bed, that is.

Burns Night

Blah, blah, blah, lovely event for charity, blah, blah, blah. Raised lots of money. Yadda yadda.

But what do we have here?

Lookee!
Ewan!
McGregor!
In!
A!
KILT!

(ignore Lulu)

TEH HOT! Nice sporran. Hee hee.

Stax Records

This article is fantastic. It's always nice to find out that I don't know every bit of rock and roll trivia.

I hope this special airs on BBC America.

In the six years since former country-fiddle-playing bank clerk Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton had renamed their tiny Memphis-based label, Satellite, Stax had come to epitomise Deep Soul. The tour was thus a defining moment for British fans - young mods, future stars, even the Beatles - turned out to hail the visiting emissaries.Some were surprised to discover that the blend of rolling organ, punchy horns, compulsively danceable bass and drums that defined the Stax sound was created by a mix of black (organist Booker T Jones and drummer Al Jackson) and white (writer, guitarist and A&R man Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn) musicians. Augmented by the Memphis Horns duo of Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love, Booker T and the MGs were the beating heart of the Stax studio - a disused cinema on McLemore Avenue, in the heart of Memphis's black ghetto. In the face of Southern supremacists battling civil rights activists, Stax's cross-cultural ethos was revolutionary - black and white musicians united behind an array of black stars.

And I LOVED this passage. Can't you just see it? (for you music non-junkies, Steve Cropper? Guitar player from The Blues Brothers, big white guy with the beard)

The extended Stax family was treated like visiting royalty by the UK press and public in 1967. Cropper was shocked to see crowds awaiting their plane at Heathrow.

The Beatles sent limos to meet them and broke from recording sessions to complete Sergeant Pepper to spend a night on the town with Otis. Upon meeting Cropper, all four Fabs reportedly stood in line and bowed from the waist in unison.

When I was in London for the History of British Rock and Roll study abroad program (God Bless Iowa State), I purchased a book about the concert tour where The Rolling Stones opened for Little Richard, Bo Diddley and The Ronettes. While I was aware of American music's impact on the British Invasion crew, it was incredible to see The Stones as young pups, clearly in awe of the company they were keeping.

I'd be a liar

if I said that I calmly watched Wellah! on Conan O'Brien.

I was of course jumping around like a spaz, shouting out to Steve (s) White and Craddock, as well as Paul.

Happy Birthday, Stace!

Today, my Hetero Life-Mate turns 31.

I'm truly blessed, in that I really don't have to look for a soul mate (with a guy)- I already have Stace, Traci, Casey, Carrie, Jen and Joy.

As discussed on SATC, men are just to have fun with. Except for my beloved Noel, Mani and Weller, of courses. *wink*

Stace, here's a little blast from high school to celebrate. Angus Young, quite like flowers, is always appropriate. Though cheesy, with the mechanical bull and exercise bikes and all....

Friday night, last orders at the pub

YAY, Lil!

Lily Allen has been confirmed for a coveted appearance on US show "Saturday Night Live".

Her ongoing assault on the American market will now include an appearance on one of the USA's biggest TV programmes next month.

Lily, who is also expected to be amongst the stars at Glastonbury 2007, is booked to play the show on February 3, with Drew Barrymore also scheduled to appear.

Good To Be Gone

My favorite song off the Sugababes's greatest hits album, Overloaded. I love Heidi's (the blonde) dress.

And Amelle's (brunette with the bangs) ring. I must have it.

Also, I want to look like Keisha (the remaining 'Babe) when I grow up.

Ah, hell

Molly Ivins, RIP.

Anyone who could coin the nicknames "Shrub" and "Goodhair" for our esteemed POTUS and Gov. Rick "MoFo" Perry, respectively, was a righteous woman.

Syndicated political columnist Molly Ivins died of breast cancer Wednesday evening at her home in Austin. She was 62 years old, and had much, much more to give this world.

She remained cheerful despite Texas politics. She emphasized the more hilarious aspects of both state and national government, and consequently never had to write fiction. She said, “Good thing we’ve still got politics—finest form of free entertainment ever invented.”

Molly had a large family, many namesakes, hundreds of close friends, thousands of colleagues and hundreds of thousands of readers.

via Atrios

I couldn't resist looking up some choice Molly quotes. God DAMN, she could write.

_"Naturally, when it comes to voting, we in Texas are accustomed to discerning that fine hair's-breadth worth of difference that makes one hopeless dipstick slightly less awful than the other. But it does raise the question: Why bother?", in a 2002 column about a California political race.

_ "The poor man who is currently our president has reached such a point of befuddlement that he thinks stem cell research is the same as taking human lives, but that 40,000 dead Iraqi civilians are progress toward democracy," from a July 2006 column urging commentator Bill Moyers to run for president.

_ "Many people did not care for Pat Buchanan's speech; it probably sounded better in the original German," Ivins in September 1992, commenting on the one-time presidential hopeful's speech to the Republican National Convention.

_ "....our very own dreaded Legislature is almost upon us. Jan. 9 and they'll all be here, leaving many a village without its idiot," from a December 2000 column.

via the Star-Telegram

For the love of Pete

As I read about Pete Doherty's latest drug scandal, the word 'pathetic' keeps popping up in my head.

Nothing says classy like calling the woman who is fianancing your lifestyle "paranoid," shortly after you go through a Buddhist commitment ceremony.

I hope that two of Kate's mentors (of sorts), Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull step in and tell her the gig is literally up.

Do not pass go, do not collect $100 dollars. They know from drug addiction and/or co-dependent relationships.

Because there isn't a damn thing that can stop his junkie ass from scoring. Until he wants to stop. What a pitiful waste of talent. A waster, if you will.

The Mighty Quinn

Jools Holland featuring La Winehouse, Wellah, Sam Moore and The Zutons.

My exact reaction to this clip? "Holy fuck, is that SAM MOORE standing by Amy?"

The View, The View, The View Are On Fire

Wasted Little DJ's. IIRC, about two female DJ's at The View's favorite club, who usually put songs on 'repeat' at the end of the evening, and procede to get trashed on the dancefloor with their friends. Girls after my own heart.

Rant-ette

Why, WHY, in the name of the Baby Jeebus, would you publish a review of a concert, say by Paul Weller, AND NOT INCLUDE THE FUCKING SETLIST?

His first all-Jam concert since they broke up- when I was 7!!!!!- and NO FUCKING SETLIST?

Okay, I'm through shouting now. We musical OCD persons need our fix.

Other sites on the Internets aren't cooperating, either. I'll just have to wait for the NME tomorrow.

You have GOT to be kidding me

This is appalling enough-

According to Fox News 13 in Florida, a 21-year-old woman was attacked in mid-afternoon and allegedly raped as she was leaving the Gasparilla Pirate Fest in Tampa.

Horrible enough. But when she called the police, instead of trying to track down her attacker, they arrested her, claiming to have found a warrant for her arrest from when she was a juvenile. (She and her family argue that the warrant, which says she owes about $4,500 in restitution, was cleared up years ago and exists now only as a paperwork snafu.) She was put in jail, with her bail revoked.

But then, we come to this-

Then, when she got to jail -- where she ended up staying for two days -- the jail's medical supervisor wouldn't allow her to take her second emergency-contraceptive pill because it went against the medical supervisor's religious beliefs.

I hope that everyone that perpetrated this travesty develops an incurable and disfiguring rash. On their faces.

Wellah in NYC

Forget 300 bucks, I'd sell (or seriously consider selling) my soul for tickets.

Yesterday marked the beginning of what might unofficially be called Paul Weller week here in New York City. The legendary Jam and Style Council frontman (and bona fide personal hero/role model to many) began his three-day invasion of the City via an absurdly anticipated performance last night at Irving Plaza. Outside, tickets were apparently changing hands for $300-$400 and inside a collection of rowdy British expats and thuggish Jerseyites in ill-fitting leather jackets lost their collective minds as Weller played one Jam hit after another. During “That’s Entertainment” we came very close to witnessing a room full of drunk, grown men sobbing.

Tonight Weller will reportedly change the set list to focus more on Style Council material, and Wednesday he will perform rock from his entire career. That final show will most likely reflect the feel of Weller’s new album Hit Parade, which features a well-balanced sampling of the Modfather’s best material. Classic Jam anthems like “Town Called Malice” and “Going Underground” sound as magnificent and brave as ever next to the elegant, clever piano and string pop of Weller’s Style Council years. And then there’s the solo stuff. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the solo inclusions from Hit Parade sound as good as they do. Weller has long been perceived as more than the frontman for one of the most important rock bands ever (as if that weren’t enough) but also as a formidable solo artist and songwriter, and on Hit Parade he reminds us why he’s so worshiped. Tracks like “The Changing Man” and the explosive, confrontational “Come On/Let’s Go,” sound vital and prescient, like he’s a free, wise sage and we’re the lucky disciples.

Born To Rock

Guitars played by Noel Gallagher, Kasabian and Franz Ferdinand will all feature at Europe's largest ever guitar exhibition, which kicks off in London later this week (February 2).

The event, called 'Harrods Rocks', takes place at the Harrods store in Knightsbridge from February 2 until March 3.

The collection includes many rare and extremely valuable guitars, both vintage and modern. Other famous names whose guitars are included in the collection include The Edge, Brian Jones, Keith Richards and Marc Bolan.

There will also be a collection of personally customised guitars from the likes of Neil Young, Bono, Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, Graham Coxon and Jennifer Lopez.

The exhibition space includes an art exhibition featuring the work of Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood , who will also be staging his own art installation in one of Harrods' main windows.

Further information is available now at Harrods.com.

The Babes and The Girls

Sugababes and Girls Aloud. So fun..... If I were cute(r:) and in a girl group, this is the type of pop I'd go for.

Bless Keisha, Heidi and Amelle, as well as Nadine, Nicola, Cheryl, Kimberley and my girl, Sarah.

New Order- Temptation

Please let me introduce my dual childhood crushes, Bernard "Barney" Sumner- rocking the short-shorts, and Peter "Hooky" Hook- on whom I find the tank top/short ponytail combo irresistible. Only on Barney and Hooky, mind. Anyone else, yeeeech.

May I point out that I was 9 when this was recorded.

And yes, though I was style-challenged, I was a rock-snob before the age of ten.

My other favorites? Ms. Aretha Franklin and The Spinners.

The Undertones- Teenage Kicks

Teenage dreams, so hard to beat.

Kasabian feat Noel Gallagher

Tom, Serge AND Noel? Be still, me fookin' heart.

Johnny Depp with a guitar

OMG, PONIES! Guh!

Popsugar's authors don't know what they're talking about with the eyeliner.


I'm afraid that Jordan Catelano is giving guys-with-eye makeup a bad, asshole-ish name.

Johnnny should always wear eyeliner. And jewelry. And a hat. And be a pirate.

Here's something you don't see everyday. Johnny Depp got down with his old band The Kids at a memorial concert for a Sheila Witkin in Florida this weekend. She was the mother of Johnny's friend guitarist Bruce Witkin and a huge promoter of the South Florida music scene in the 70's and 80's. We're not big fans of actors with bands but we'll give Johnny a break because it's for charity and he spared us from the black eyeliner. Plus, he looks kind of hot.

AL!

I have no idea if Al Franken would be a better senator than Norm Coleman, but he does have several advantages. One, he seems more intelligent than Coleman, two, he's actually from Minnesota, and three, he's intentionally funny, as opposed to accidentally hilarious.

Bill O'Reilly to blow gasket? Al Franken is leaving Air America to explore a run against Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman.

NME awards best album noms

Arctics and Kasabian do rather well

The nominations for Best Album at this year's Shockwaves NME Awards have been announced tonight (January 29).

This award will see the five bands who lead this year's nominations with four nods each doing battle in this highly competitive category.

The full nominations are:

Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'
Kasabian - 'Empire'
The Killers - 'Sam's Town'
Muse - 'Black Holes And Revelations'
My Chemical Romance - 'The Black Parade'

Lovely Dita

Wow, doesn't Dita Von Teese look fantastic? She seems a perfect match for Gaultier.

I'd think that Marilyn would be kicking himself, but he appears to be busy squicking me out by dating barely-legal Evan Rachel Wood.

Dita Von Teese cemented her style icon status this week as she took to the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier's couture spectacular. The retro-loving dancer, who has already appeared in adverts for Vivienne Westwood and fronted a Mac cosmetics campaign, was transformed into a Spanish-style Virgin Mary for the religious themed show in Paris.

Picture from The Age