The Decemberists are currently featured on Current TV's "Embedded" - which if you haven't seen yet is a great show on an equally cool network. The show has some exclusive rehearsal and live footage along with interview clips from the band. Check it out here and for those "down under" you can buy Decemberists tickets for their January Australian tour dates here.

Adam Lambert though may have stolen Michael Jackson's four award thunder from the American Music Awards with his "man on man" kiss. The former American Idol runner up has the morality police up in arms over his "offensive" behavior and the complaints are rolling in to ABC. Same sex kisses are nothing new to awards shows as we all remember the famous liplock and tounge swap between Madonna and Britney Spears. Speaking of...

Britney Spears has been rumored to be dating agent Jason Trawick and now the story takes a new twist. The Herald Sun is "reporting" that Britney asked Jason to marry her but he turned down the proposal to be Mr. Spears number three. Who knows if this is true but it has been awhile since Britney has been flashing photogs around Hollywood so maybe she was trying to settle down. Oh well, if he did turn her down, maybe we'll see more Britney Sprears threesome videos!

Labels: American Idol, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, The Decemberists, Tour Dates

It's Wednesday so many in America are wondering if Sanjaya will survive another week on American Idol. I'm not one of them, but there is something about Sanjaya and Idol that Google likes so hey why not pander a little, eh? I did get an interesting email from the folks at S.sanajayfannetwork.com who designed the site to influence the vote and "make an otherwise dull season more interesting and perhaps see if Simon Cowell will really quit." Now, that would be interesting.

Slash spoke out on the fun of getting together with Axl and the original GNR crew: "I'm not saying never. You know, I was saying it would be a good idea to get, just for a couple of shows, to get the original STP and the original Guns N Roses just to do a couple of shows for the fun of it." I'd like to see it, but would be very gun shy about buying tickets given Axl's habit of showing up late and pulling out of shows altogether.

Devo is apparently still whipping it. The band is on tour in Europe and has added a show at the London Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday June 19th. Tickets go on sale Wednesday April 18th. For the kids, here's "Whip It" from the YouTube archives.

Speaking of Youtube, the Zimmers - the world's "oldest rock band" - yes, even older than the Rolling Stones - are burning up the tube with their take on the Who's "My Generation." The lead singer is 90 and the "band" includes 99 and 100 year olds. The song is produced by Mike Hedges (U2, Dido, Cure), the video shot by Geoff Wonfor (Band Aid, Beatles Anthology). And, yes, these "elders" even have a MySpace page. Very cool.

Mp3 Offerings:
The Mother Hips: Grizzly Bear
White Shoes & The Couples Company: Tetang Cita
The Roadside Graves: West Coast
The Shins: Australia
Thrushes: Aidan Quinn

A look around the blog world shows BuzzSugar featuring Feist as track of the day with "1,2,3,4." LiveMusicBlog takes a look at Hype Machine Radio and the whole internet radio royalty issue. Stereogum gives the low down on the Urban Outfitters tour with the Klaxons, Annuals, Tapes 'N Tapes and many more. And, Sonic Itch is rockin' out to Explosions in the Sky.

Tea Leaf Green is ready to set sail on the "Rocks Off Concert Cruise" leaving from NYC on June 3rd. The show is just one on many TLG are doing in continued support of their latest release, Rock 'n' Roll Band. Complete listing of dates here.

The Noisettes, who have been on tour with TV on the Radio, release their full length What Time Is It Mr. Wolf? in the U.S. today. The band will play on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on April 30th and is set for some June dates with Bloc Party. Meanwhile, you can check out videos for "Don't Give Up" & "Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)."

Labels: American Idol, Guns N' Roses, Mp3s

American Idol watchers will be looking to see if there is any fall out from the latest Idol "scandal." Contestant Antonella Barba gained some unwanted publicity over last several days when half naked pictures of her surfaced on the internet. The Jersey girl is seen topless on the beach, but using her hands to cover sensitive areas. There are even shots that purport to show the Idol wannabe participating in a sex act. But, her friends say those photos are not her. The Top 10 Idol females left in the 2007 race perform on tomorrow night's show.

In tour news, Rage Against the Machine are doing some dates with the Wu Tang Clan this summer. What could go wrong there? Speaking of cops, the Police have already sold out several stadium shows in minutes. They've also added stops in Montreal, Phoenix, Arizona and Vancouver to their reunion tour.

MP3s, Video & Streaming Offerings:

Cute Is What We Aim For - "The Curse Of Curves" (Stream): Real Player / Windows Media.
Blue October (Video): Into the Ocean
Iggy Pop & the Stooges: My Idea of Fun
The Morning Benders: Damnit Anna, Last Today
Low Stars: Calling All Friends
Blonde Redhead: 23
Bright Eyes: Four Winds

Kate Moss is up for NME's "Sexiest Female" award. At least one singer doesn't like the model being included in the competition. The Gossip's Beth Ditto is quoted as saying: "It should be about music. For Kate to be up for anything to do with music is absurd." Hey, Pete Doherty did let her join his band, that makers her a musician, right? Flashback: Kate Moss pole dancing for the White Stripes.

Labels: American Idol, Mp3s, Pete Doherty, Rage Against The Machine, The Police

While American pop culture is often trashed as being too focused on the foibles of Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton seems our friends across the pond have their own trailer park-ish entertainment. Seems like every other day a spat arises between a couple of Brit artists. Even Lilly Allen is getting in on the act with a mini-feud with Lady Sovereign who had claimed Allen only got a break because he father is a well known British comedian. Allen has responded saying her dad has offered to adopt the pint sized rapper to help her get "a leg up." This spat is on the heels of Lily's run in with one of the guys from Jet. Maybe Justin Timberlake really wasn't speaking about Britney when he cautioned certain people not to drink too much at the Brit Awards.

Speaking of drinking, Avril Lavigne has found a new way to enjoy her music: alcohol. Lavigne tells MTV "I wrote 'Girlfriend' when I was drunk!" And she also gushed: "I was wasted, when I sang 'I Can Do Better'. You can tell I'm drunk in it, I'm laughing." Who knows maybe her stuff will sound better to me if I'm drinking too...

Mp3 offerings:
The Basement: Do You Think You're Moving
Explosions in the Sky: Welcome Ghosts
Mouthful of Bees: The Now
Andrew Bird: Heretics
Winterpills: Broken Arm
John Butler Trio: Better Than (Real / Windows)
Antibalas: I.C.E.
Baby Teeth: The Simp
The Postmarks: My Little Heart

The Kaiser Chiefs' drummer has reportedly compared fans asking about their hit song "Ruby" to Kurt Cobain's suicide. Nick Hodgson is quoted as saying "It's like people going up to Paul McCartney and saying, 'So, Paul. You know your song 'The Fool On The Hill'? Who's this fool and where's this hill?' This is what we're up against. This is what Kurt Cobain had to put up with. And what did he do? He blew his head off?" Yeah, it's just like that Nick, except for the part about those guys being legends...

If you hadn't noticed, American Idol is now in the "voting" stages of eliminating contestants. The final 24 is now down to 20 after last night's episode. Already, as in prior seasons, there is talk of vote rigging. While it may or may not be rigged, there does seem to be something to the reports of flaws in the voting process. You can only text vote if you are a Cingular Wireless customer. A big chunk of Cingular customers are in the south, from where all five previous winners hail. Coincidence??

Labels: American Idol, Kaiser Chiefs, Lily Allen, Mp3s

Courtney Love on American Idol as a Paula Abdul replacement? US Magazine says the rocker indicated it was a possibility. Would Idol really go from one train wreck to another? Oh wait, Courtney's cleaned up her act now, right?

The Police haven't confirmed a tour yet. But, Sting Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland will continue to stoke those flames by opening this year's Grammy Awards telecast. The February 11th performance will be their first together since their 2003 set at their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and could be a prelude to a highly anticipated 30th Anniversary tour.

Music mogul David Geffen is reporetedly opening his home to folks who buy $20 tickets (for $46,000) to a fundraiser for Presidential candidate Barack Obama. What's that saying...for the people, by the people?

Los Lobos has announced an acoustic tour. The Acoustic En Vivo Tour will feature tunes from their latest record The Town and the City and kicks off February 8th in La Jolla.

Billy Joel will also kick off a tour in February. And, in an attempt to corner the sappy market, is releasing a Phil Ramone-produced track on February 7th on People.com, where it will be available for streaming and as music for a Valentine's Day e-card. Awwww, so sweet.

Warner Brothers "indie rock" act (seriously, that's what they call themselves because they are on Doghouse, but apparently not realzing they've signed to one of the largest media companies in the world) The Honorary has an mp3 circulating from their new record Untouched & Intact that comes out in April.
Stream:: Untouched & Intact

The Makes Nice sent over a couple tracks from their Candy Wrapper and Twelve Other Songs release. The band consists of Josh Smith (guitar, vocals), Aaron Burnham (bass, vocals) and Jack Matthews (drums). The trio recorded the record with Phil Manley from Trans Am.
MP3s: Candy Wrapper and California Sun

Labels: American Idol, Billy Joel, Courtney Love, Los Lobos, The Police

Kelly Clarkson will have a little extra kick on her next record thanks for punk legend Mike Watt. Watt, currently playing with Iggy Pop and the Stooges, was impressed by the Idol's vocal abilities. He is quoted as saying "I heard that Kelly won some game show, but I was really impressed how she sang her ass off."

Kings of Leon told NME that their new record would be ready for an April 2nd release. But, the band also said we can expect a new single before then, probably in March.

Atlantic Records sent over a link to Paolo Nutini's vid for "New Shoes" - check it here.

The Post Chronicle speculates that Jewel may be in the running to replace Paula Abdul on American Idol if the spacey Paula continues her wacky ways. I don't see it happening. Fox is smart enough to know that people want to see what Paula will do next and the "is she or isn't she" tabloid headlines referring to intoxication are extra publicity for the show. Now, if she really goes off the deep end, maybe. But, for now I think Jewel will be sticking with Cowboy Troy on Nashville Star.

Minus the Bear is working on both a remix record and a disc of entirely new music. Scheduled for a summer release, the new record is tentatively titled Planet Of Ice and is being recorded by Matt Bayles (Isis, Mastodon). Meanwhile, MTB fans can look forward to Interpretaciones Del Oso, the band's remix record, which will be released Feb. 20th.

Deerhoof, who've toured with The Flaming Lips and Radiohead, is putting out their new record next week. Friend Opportunity hits stores on January 23rd and the band starts their US tour the next day in LA. Meanwhile you can check out their single "+81" here.

Jack Johnson, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab For Cutie, Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers, John Hiatt, Guster, Blues Traveler, Government Mule and a host of other artists will appear on a tribute record to The Band called Endless Highway: The Music of the Band. The compilation is due out later this month.

NYC's As Tall As Lions will be part of Alternative Press Magazine's "Band You Need To Know" tour. Cute Is What We Aim For, Circa Survive and Envy On The Coast are also on the bill.

The New Orleans area is still in need of help. If you can't afford move there like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reportedly have, you can hopefully squeeze in a visit. A prime time to head to the Big Easy would be the first week in May. You can catch the 6th Annual Ponderosa Stomp on Wednesday May, 2nd at the New Orleans House of Blues. Roky Erickson of 13th Floor Elevators Fame will appear along with a host of others.

Labels: Allman Brothers Band, American Idol, Death Cab, Deerhoof, Jewel, Kelly Clarkson, Kings of Leon, Mike Watt, Minus the Bear, My Morning Jacket

American Idol boasted over 57 million viewers for their first night of Season Six. That's more than they've gotten for some of their finale shows and their second highest single show to date. For comparison, it is also the highest rated Fox premiere in total viewers in the network's history. I guess, for better or for worse, there's no end in sight to the Idol franchise.

Next week is Memphis, but don't forget to look for Earvolution friend Sabriena Stone when the New York area auditions air. And, as for last night, yes the "Big Red" dude from Seattle creeped me out too.

Labels: American Idol, Sabriena Stone

We usually poke fun at American Idol, but our tune may have to change if Sabriena Stone makes it to Hollywood. Sabriena, who we've covered here as part of 5th of July and the 7/11 Project, has made it to Round 3 of the current American Idol auditions. Indeed, we were graced by her lovely voice this past Thursday at our Summer Jam at Sin-e in NYC.

After arriving for an early morning audition, Sabriena told the Associated Press that "It was pretty nerve-racking" and that "[She] felt confident for the most part."

She was right to be confident as she sailed past the first two auditions and Sabriena's next performance is before Randy, Paula and Simon. Sabriena we wish you well and be sure to wear that Earvolution shirt when you get to Hollywood!

Labels: American Idol, Sabriena Stone