No Rock And Roll Fun

WHAT THE POP PAPERS SAY: Dave Stewart's Wedding
It's one of those weeks where the NME does the odd double cover thing - probably because there's a free CD, and so for overseas editions they can remove the outer, Franz Ferdinand cover and thus take away all the mention of the free gift which is only available in the UK; but also because the inner cover has got Ian Brown on it, and, frankly, you don't want that staring out at passers-by.

The CD is a celebration of Domino Records, and it is indeed some sort of party: Clinic, Pavement's Range Life, The Kills and Franz Ferdinand. There's much room for debate over whether the 'me is as good as it used to be, but you'd have to be a hard faced caviller to suggest that the covermounts aren't every bit as wonderful as back when it was all Steinski and Mary Chain eps.

Even the news pages are starting to lose their patience with Pete Doherty, siding more with the pissed-off fans from his two aborted nights in London than Doherty's claim he was taking a stand against oppressive door staff. Interestingly, they've also found a bloke who saw the trouble which lead to the axing of the Barfly gig whose version differs quite markedly from that of Pete, making it seem like more of self-satisfied flounce than a departure on principle.

We've read Kelly Osbourne's statement that "People tend to say that Andrew Ridgeley was the talented one (of Wham), but, then again, where's Andrew Ridgeley now" (which we're sure we've heard her say before, actually) over and over. And we still can't tell if it's just a joke that doesn't work, or if she believes it.

Hope of the States burn a CD, using only the legalist of ingredients from Autechere, The Boggs and Liverpool's lovely Kling Klang.

In a bizzare Razorlight-imitates-Alicia Keys piece of spookiness, they've also stuck an aswerphone on the end of a phone number they've sung about it - 07761 010233. Luckily, this one won't terminate in Georgia with an angry former vicar.

The Mercury Nominated Amy Winehouse takes on Peter Robinson, and claims she'd love to do work experience for the NME. Steady on, love, there's a queue, you know.

We're still not sure about Annie, the Norwegian pop goddess who's this week's Radar act - in our experience even a slight dash of Norwegian blood makes for an incredible woman, and we love pop music like you wouldn't believe. But we can't help wondering if there's something just a little bit too well-prepared about her; like a public schoolboy turning up for a pub quiz.

Ian Brown is interviewed in the aftershock of his playing old Stone Roses songs in a National Trust garden - apparently he did this because he was begged to by people worried that John squire was giving the songs an airing on his solo dates, and "murdering" them. Asking Ian Brown to save songs from being murdered is a little like calling in Harold Shipman to make life-saving interventions on a geriatic ward, but we'll let that ride. Brown, however, is on a roll - apparently Squire was "playing the songs for himself" but Brown? He was doing it for "the people." Yes, he really does claim "these are the people's songs." Hang about... Squire murdering The People's Songs? Are we going to expect Al-Fayed to pop up at any moment? And don't expect a Roses reunion anytime soon - "kids say to me 'don't spoil it'" he says. Somehow, I doubt if anyone under about the age of 25 would be bothered by the prospect of a Stone Roses reunion, with the possible exception of the fear that their bloody Dad will bang on about it for ages.

Liam Howlett is back. The Prodigy haven't changed. It's just now, you know, these days, he's going to Dave Stewart's wedding...

Question: Do you like girls or boys or both?
Alex Kapranos: Like most people's social circles, ours is split pretty evenly between the sexes

The Posters are a bit rubbish, just reproductions of adverts for various Reading festivals. The only saving graces are the sponsors credits: seeing Melody Maker tucked in the very centre of the NME is kind of cute, and we'd totally forgotten Radio One's short lived odd handwritten 'one' logo. And, of course, ten years ago, what's now meant to be called the Carling Weekend was sponsored by Carlsberg.

reviews
live
har mar superstar - mean fiddler - "unsightly version of normal people [thrust] into the hyper-sexy world of R&B"
skinnyman - hackney cargo - "borefest"
gravenhurst - london infinity club - "wyrd folks own wandering drone minstrel"

albums
charlotte hatherley - grey will fade - "a minor triumph", 7
goldrush - ozona ep - "if they ever break down in Milton Keynes, they're fucked", 7
animals that swim - faded glamour - the best of... - "worth investing your faith", 8

singles
sotw
aberfeldy - heliopolis by night - "a blessed escape from the living hell of everyday normal life"
mylo - valley of the dolls - "belongs on ITV advertising low-fat chocolate"

And, finally, Steven Bayley from The Open loves Joy Division. Which is funny, because we were doing Ian Curtis dancing earlier this week.