This week just gone...

Seven days on No Rock and Roll Fun:

The ten most-read stories, roughly, were:

1. Beth Ditto naked on the NME cover: feminist statement or circus sideshow?
2. Lily Allen's seabed shuffle
3. R Kelly jury will watch sex video
4. McFly put their willies out in public
5. Heather Mills is no better than she ought to be
6. Amy Winehouse marries
7. Avril: "My tits aren't out on tits out cover"
8. Richard Fairbrass injured as Russian police arrest gay rights marchers
9. RIP: Rod Poole
10. Victoria Hart: George Clooney's Cannes "unknown" actually quite well known.

Also this week: Liam has paid for Noel to be blasted into space; Velocity Girl's Sarah Shannon resurfaced; CD Wow were fined for not ripping off British customers; Alex James revealed his brief time as Courtney Love's pompadour; bouncers beat up Laura from Blood Red Shoes at her own gig and the Mail on Sunday took out adverts to defend its Tubular Bells giveaway.

You can read the whole week on page or
browse the fortnight before that in a single post

Five years ago: Jeremy Vine was announced as Jimmy Young's replacement; Liquid News used a comedy sound effect to announce the death of DeeDee Ramone; the nme reported that the Gallagher brothers had been trying to interest TV networks in an Osbournes-style fly-on-the-wall series, but then went over the top about Fischerspooner; Alpinestars and Brian Molko tried to blame poor sales on the Queen's Golden Jubilee; Rock Stars of Love released a career-capping retrospective; The Face put the Prodigy on the cover (yes, only five years ago) while the Primals changed the name of Bomb The Pentagon to Rise because they didn't want to be put on a no-fly list (sorry, "be political")

This was this week's recommendations:


Balkan Beat Box: Dreadful name for a band, great mittel-Europa folk-meets-dancefloor music


Mark E Smith says the main difference between Von Sudenfed and The Fall is the Mouse on Mars guy don't respond to shouting


Hugely-belated UK release for Silversun Pickups' Carnavas


Northumberland pipe genius Kathryn Tickell returns with the first KTB album since 2004


Groove Armada's debut Northern Star gets a rerelease to mark its, um, ninth anniversary


PopMatters grumpily accuse Wheat's new album of "intentional obscurity", which seems high recommendation


Fiddle-centric ELO spin off Violinski collate the hit and, erm, some other stuff


Joanna Eden's My Open Eye - like taking a step from Feist in a jazz direction


Gypsy Creams & Ginger Nuts draws from Rediffusion's 1960s supermarket and airport muzak label's back catalogue


Do You Trust Your Friends seems to be Star's underrated Set Yourself On Fire from last year, only with less provocative marketing


We found the vinyl version of this in a charity shop ten years or more back - the highlight is Lee Hazelwood narrating the tale of making These Boots Are Made For Walking in lieu of a straight cover


The divine Sophie Ellis Bextor popped up plugging this on a German game show last weekend. Reason enough to buy it.


The Cribs' Mens Needs, Women's Needs didn't really need the oh-so-shocking video push


The Blue Aeroplanes return clutching a collection of covers from Harvest record's back catalogue