COOGAN: NA-AAAH

Steve Coogan isn't going to be the father of drug-addled Courtney Love's baby, apparently. Or so says his spokesperson, who claims it's "ridiculous". It's not clear if the spokesperson is dismissing the whole thing as ridiculous - we found the claims of Steve's Studliness to be a little stretching of the credibility-skin ourselves - or if it's just the pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Coogan's family aren't entirely thrilled at the prospect of what this will mean for future gatherings at weddings and Christmas, having Love crashing about, knocking over tables and offering to fight the vicar. It has had the happy side-effect of leading to The Mock Turtles getting their first mention in the papers since their Vodaphone-sponsored Indian summer:

His brother Martin, lead singer with 90s band The Mock Turtles, said: "I had no idea." His parents Anthony and Kathleen, both lay preachers, are understood to be deeply concerned.

One source claimed: "They are a very religious family and are horrified Courtney Love is expecting their grandchild.

"Courtney and Steve hadn't been seeing each other very long at all and she has a terrible reputation.

"Let's face it, she's hardly daughter-in-law material, is she?"

To be fair, Steve isn't exactly pushing an unblemished record as far as being a fine catch himself, is he?

music courtney love steve coogan

In their recent struggle to try and salvage a place in musical history beyond being "the fat band who stomped off Top of the Pops", The Magic Numbers insisted that being introduced as a fat melting pot of talent was akin to suggesting that Stevie Wonder would be ushered on as a "blinding talent." It gives us something to think about as we read the Arizona Daily Sun's headline on a piece about an upcoming artist:

Blind musician Raul Midon sees success

music

WELL, AT LEAST YOU WEREN'T STUCK AT HOME WATCHING THE BLOODY X FACTOR

Much unhappiness over at Ozzfest, where Bruce Dickinson and Sharon Osbourne seem to have had a rather huge falling out. Iron Maiden's show didn't run that smoothly last night in LA; now, there's some nifty mp3 footage of the various spat and counter spat. Enjoy - and remember, do shop at Asda.

music ozzfest iron maiden bruce dickinson sharon osbourne

TUNE IN, POD DOWN, WIG OUT

We're always happy to find a radio station that adds to the massive pile of stuff that's overwhelming us as we don't have time to listen to everything already and our head is going to explode, so welcome KEXP 90.3 FM, offering two weeks of streaming archive, a bunch of live performances from the likes of Maximo Park, Kinski and Sufjan Stevens, podcasts, and much more besides.

And we came to them through Face Without A View, a new indie mp3 blog type deal which is shaping up pretty well, too.

And, in turn, we came to that through Stairway To Heaven, an interactive music hide and seek type board. Dubious legal status ahoy, but worth a look.

music downloads

THERE'S YOUR LASTING LEGACY FOR YOU

We're sure that Ray Charles would be delighted to know that he's now become a street name for heroin cut with clenbuterol. Nice to leave a lasting legacy, isn't it?

[EDIT: The original link on this story, to http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_081605_raycharlesDRUGS.html has decayed; it's been replaced with a link to a story about the same report on the New York Times website - 24/01/06]

music ray charles

PROMOTEROBIT: Jess Nicks

The death has been announced of Jess Nicks. Although perhaps best known these days as father of Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac, Nicks made a wider contribution to the development of pop culture in 1979 when he (more or less) single-handedly invented the ampitheatre as venue:

"He was a pioneer," said Valley concert promoter Danny Zelisko of Evening Star Productions.

"Compton Terrace was one of the first 'sheds.' When Jess opened it, there weren't many venues like it. No one thought to dig a hole in the ground and hold concerts outdoors. Now there are 50 or 60 across the country," Zelisko said.

In recent years, Nicks (and his daughter) had been working to raise funds for the Arizona Heart Foundation.

On her website, Stevie Nicks wrote the following about her dad:

"He was a force of nature. He waited until the Fleetwood Mac Tour was over - I asked him for that. He waited until this summer tour was over - I asked him for that. He couldn't leave us during a tour - he knew that. . . . He waited for me."

music obit obituary jess nicks

DEATH COMES TO THE VEGAN CAFE

The stabbing to death of someone outside the uber-snoot Moby-owned cafe Teany in Rivington Street, New York is, of course, a bit grim and nothing that Moby can be blamed for. We've tried to find a way to blame him, but we came up with nothing. However, what is worth preserving is the reaction of cafe manager Roger Peffley, who saw the man die:

"This is shocking," he said of the stabbing. "This neighborhood is so pretentious the last thing you would expect is somebody running down the street bleeding."

What will it mean for the property prices?

music moby

POP STAR'S DAUGHTER MURDERED

A spot of horrible news from Essex - Lisa Sullivan, the daughter of Lennie Peters, has been murdered in her Walton-on-the-Naze caravan. Peters had a number of hits in the early 60s and 70s with his partner Dianne Lee, including Welcome Home and Jet Plane, a career that received a boost from both the Krays (who took an interest in Peters) and Hughie Green (like everyone else famous in Britain during the Wilson years, Peters and Lee were invented on Opportunity Knocks).

A neighbour, Terry Game, has been charged with Lisa's murder. Lisa is survived by her mother, Sylivia; her three children and her estranged husband.

music peters and lee

V OKAY

There's a surprising degree of excitement about the V festival turning ten years old this year - we guess it's not so much that nobody ever expected it to last that long as, really, nobody had really much noticed that it hadn't folded.

The Guardian's take on the decade mark was Pop festival once dismissed as spiritless becomes sell-out event - as if being soulless and empty has ever presented a problem selling stuff in a country where James Blunt has been number one for sixteen years. Although the existence of a major English festival that's not owned by Clear Channel is something we should celebrate, there's no avoiding the obvious fact that V has managed to carve out a niche because it's so innoffensive:

"It's become synonymous with mainstream rock and pop music lovers who perceive it as the most audience-friendly festival," said David Andrews, marketing director at Virgin Radio which, while no longer part of Richard Branson's stable, remains the key broadcasting partner for the event and makes its own marketing and PR mileage out of it.

Mmm. It gets even more exciting when David Kydd, from main sponsor Virgin Mobile, steps up to talk about the event:

"We've been very careful to only use our brand where it adds value. One year it ended up looking like Bluewater. You need to be clever about how you communicate."

The festival that adds value to a mobile telephone brand, eh? We're almost regretting our decision not to be part of that.

The NME is tied in with the event too, this year, and so it's giving rather excellent coverage over at NME.com: for example, the report on Oasis' set which focuses on the most interesting aspect - that Liam Gallagher saw a large, blow up penis and pretended he thought he was looking at Pete Doherty. Do you get it?

”It’s good to see Pete Doherty turned up,” he said, “one big cock.”

We can understand why the NME were more interested in this lame gag than the music itself - we caught the highlights on Channel 4 last night, and to say it was half-arsed would lay us open to letters of complaint from the monobuttocked of the UK. Wisely, the band avoided doing too much of the new stuff, and stuck for the most part to the bits from when they popular beyond their core fanbase:

* ’Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ (intro)
* ’Turn Up The Sun’
* ’Lyla’
* ’Bring It On Down’
* ’Morning Glory’
* ’Cigarettes And Alcohol’
* ’The Importance Of Being Idle’
* ’A Bell Will Ring’
* ’Live Forever’
* ’The Meaning Of Soul’
* ’Mucky Fingers’
* ’Champagne Supernova’
* ’Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’
And then they did an encore:
* ’Wonderwall’
* ’Don’t Look Back In Anger’
* ’My Generation’

- but the effect was more of a karaoke set than a rabble-rousing festival highlight stomp. The only people throwing themselves into things with any gusto were the crowd, who bellowed along with glee and enthusiasm while the band did the bare minimum to ensure they got their share of the cash.

Actually, viewed on E4 and Channel 4, V does look like it owes less to Virgin Radio, and more to the Century Radio stable's hairbrush diva low-concept. Maroon 5 doing that tick tick tock song? It's the crowd doing all the singing. In fact, next year V could save themselves loads of money by dispensing with the lead singers services altogether, and just go for the full karaoke effect. We don't think the people in the field would mind; it's possible they might not even notice.

The other thing that marks out this festival is the number of "unlikely" surprise guest appearances: Magic Numbers squeezing onstage with the Chemical Brothers; Goldie Lookin' Chain hooking up with Super Furry Animals; the rumour that Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand would work together (although last night that didn't happen) and, erm, The Kaiser Chiefs getting reunited with the Kaisersaurus.

And top marks to Mr. Red Penguin - astonishingly quick off the mark with the Magic Numbers downloads from the festival.

music v festival liam gallagher pete doherty oasis magic numbers

BAND ROBBED AT GUNPOINT

Cadillac were probably looking forward to a few quiet days in London, what with coming from Norway where it's a good day if one of your band doesn't get eaten by a death metaller before teatime. Turns out, though, the band weren't in for the restful minitour they were expecting, as shorly after they played the Brixton Windmill they got held up at gunpoint and had their takings stolen.

Obviously, the gunman didn't really know much about indierock, as you don't really need to go to that much effort to pinch the takings from a gig at the Windmill; nobody's going to put much of fight to keep that sort of take. In this instance, it was just about twenty-five quid.

music cadillac brixton

THIS WEEK, WE PLUGGED...

Lee Perry, playing live in Brighton, and on your DVD


The Rakes - like 22 Grand Job, it's alright


Supergrass acting their ages at last?

THERE'S CRUELTY AND THEN THERE'S CRUELTY

Lisa Moorish - the mother of Pete Doherty's and one of Liam's kids, and recent recipient of a bizzare cartoon apology from Channel 4 and NME as a result of something somone said during the NME awards show - has been accused of leaving her kids in a car on a hot day. It's the Sunday Mirror, though, which has the truly horrific detail: apparently, it was as hot inside the car as it would have been in high summer on the planet Mercury:



Eight Hundred Degrees Fahrenheit. Blimey - you'd think she'd at least have invested in some of those Winnie The Pooh window shades or something.

music lisa moorish pete doherty liam gallagher

IT'S A MIGHTY LONG WAY DOWN ROCK AND ROLL FROM KURT COBAIN TO ALAN PARTRIDGE

If the News of the World is to be believed, not only is Courtney Love in rehab, about to head back to jail and looking at dropping the threads of her life all over, but she's up the duff with Steve Coogan's kid. Courtney, of course, isn't doing interviews, but the paper has helpfully found "a pal" willing to provide background detail:

Courtney told her friend: "It was literally non-stop sex. Steve is a fucking sex addict [is there a non-fucking kind of sex?] and has a major substance problem. He even asked me to get ten Viagra pills for him so that he could keep going, despite the fact he was past the point of exhaustion. When I was with Steve, I did things that I shouldn't have done. I passed the line of what even I think is normal."

... too much background information:

"She told him she was too old for that. But Courtney told me, ‘That's his thing. 'He got a whole load of paraphernalia from the Hustler store up the road from their hotel. She also told me Steve talked her into doing something unsafe and said, ‘If he's given me anything, I swear to God, I'm going to cut his dick off!'"

We're not sure if she was including a bonny bouncing baby in that, but by the sounds of it, it might be a good idea to chop it off anyway.

What's really worrying Courtney, of course, is that Steve's not very rock and roll (despite, or perhaps because of, having played Tony Wilson in 24 Hour Party People:

"Tell me honestly...what does it make me look like that I slept with Alan Partridge? Given the grade A stars I've dated it's embarrassing. I mean...Alan Partridge!"

Come off it, love - you dated Billy Corgan; it's hardly like you're a by-word for taste in men.

music courtney love steve coogan

GOOD GOD, KT, FOR A MOMENT YOU WERE NEARLY INTERESTING

There had been a spark of a hint that KT Tunstall might have something other than the cold, meet-and-greeting heart of a vapid cabaret turn somewhere down in her soul last week when she sniffily dissed Dido.

That spark has been extinguished, though, as she's now apologised for being rude to her fellow 2D trill-tosser:

"I don't subscribe to this whole thing of being offensive to other artists. I know she is a musician doing what she really believes in."

It might still be faint praise, but it's a clear attempt to get back onto diplomatic good terms. Let's go back to pretending she doesn't exist, then.

music kt tunstall dido

MIKE HUTCHENCE: NOTHING LEFT

It's taken nearly eight years for the investigations into Michael Hutchence's finances to conclude that he was actually not worth very much at all. Before he tied himself up and died, he'd also tied all his property and earnings up in tax-dodging front companies and tax avoiding trust funds. And so effectively had Hutchence put this money beyond the taxman's reach, it was also firmly beyond his Estate's reach, too. So what is his kid going to get? A big fat nothing.

What's not clear, though, is what does happen to the millions of pounds worth of property held in all these front organisations strewn across the world.

music michael hutchence inxs

THERE'S GONNA BE A STATUE UNVEILING SOMEWHERE IN THIS TOWN

They know how to do a decent statue in Dublin, and to an already fine array of the often good and the sometimes great, they've added a brass of Phil Lynott. And, as you might expect, his Mam is really proud:



"It is the proudest day in my life. For over 20 years I have been looking forward to it.

"I am happy with the statue, I love it, I spent many days down at the foundry advising him. We walked in a few times and we took a chisel out to make sure he got his chin right."

She added: "I love him forever and I will miss him forever. Life is awful without him but knowing all these people are loving him the way they do, they are like a big woolly cloak around me. "

music phil lynott thin lizy

GENNARO CASTALDO WATCH

This is more like the Gennaro Castaldo we know and grudgingly respect - he might have been quiet for a few weeks, but with Eminem in rehab, he's swung back into action. Today, he's taken a deep, deep breath to bring his - and, by implication, HMV's - perspective on what it all means to the Guardian:

Gennaro Castaldo from HMV said: "While he may not be in the place he was three or four years ago, he has been following to an extent in Dr Dre's footsteps.

"He may have had a bit of a setback, but he is still incredibly well placed and he could take his career any way he wants to go. It could well be that he feels he has achieved everything he possibly can and he is looking to apply his talents to other things.

"I think he has been so busy and under a lot of pressure that he has been talking about stepping back, but it is difficult to believe he will walk away. This is an opportunity for him to back off a bit - but you can bet he will come back bigger and better than before.

"The latest news about being in rehab just adds to the mythology of an icon anyway - you can't be in rock'n'roll without the odd addiction and affliction."

So... let's just boil that down to its barest essentials: He could be feeling that he's gone as far as he can, and it's time to do something else, but it's hard to believe that he would quit. Righto. So: you don't know either, then.

music eminem gennaro castaldo

WE CAN HARDLY WAIT

If you didn't know who it was, you might allow yourself to get excited if someone announces their new album is going to sound like this:

"We took Nineties rock, mixed it with Eighties pop like Depeche Mode, the Cure and Bauhaus and smashed them together. It's fuckin' driving beats and walls of guitars."

You'd probably be putting your hat and coat on, ready to stride out to the shop to make an impulse purchase.

Hold on. It's Chester 'Cheeto' Bennington talking about his solo debut album. Suddenly, the prospect seems a lot less exciting, doesn't it?

music linkin park chester bennington

COMING SOON: BILLY IDOL - THE MOVIE

We're going to wait until it hits DVD so we can just fast forward to the motrobike accident, but apparently we won't have to wait very long. Because either the voices in Billy Idol's head have started to leave him answerphone messages, or someone really is planning on making Billy Idol's lifestory into a movie. Billy thinks that Brad Pitt might play him:

"We have a deal already but ideally I am looking at someone like Brad Pitt to play me on screen. He has stolen my look of late but it remains to be seen if he has the rocker in him and can sing my songs. But that is the plan and we know he is keen on the project too."

Bradd Pitt? Surely this is the part James Marsters was born to play, isn't it?

music billy idol james marsters movies

AH, SO THAT'S THE WHITE STRIPES' KEY MARKET

The White Stripes have seemed to be a bit confused about who they're aiming at these days: now, we've finally got some sort of indication of their masterplan: They're going after the kiddies. The US debut for the My Doorbell video is going to be on Nickelodeon.

It does make a certain sort of sense - the irritating, sing-songy lyric does sound like something you can picture The Tweenies bounding through. And, hey, you've gotta love the purchasing power of those pestering toddlers. We wonder if this means that Jack is giving up on grown-ups altogether?

music white stripes

GARTH DOES A DEAL WITH WAL-MART

There's very little to celebrate for anyone (besides Gath Brooks and Wal-Mart) in the news that Garth and the supermarket-cum-empire have cut a deal which will restrict sales of his entire back catalogue to Walmart, Sams Club, and Walmart.com.

It'll put the fear of god into other high street music retailers - if this sort of thing starts to happen a lot, HMV, Virgin and Tower might find their already stretched shops starting to look more and more threadbare; it'll unsettle online retailers like Amazon; it'll do consumers no good - if you want Garth Brooks records, you've now got no choice but to give trade to Wal-Mart.

And it reflects really badly on Brooks that he's happy to get into bed with such a dubious company. Not that it would bother the multi-millionaire much, but the rapidly-expanding chain is a bad neighbour. For example, it threw a hissy fit in Canada when its workers exercised their right to form a union, and closed the store in a huff. In another charming move, the company allowed a charity in Logan County to put a box by the doors to collect toys for underprivileged youngsters. As soon as the box filled, Wal-Mart manager Brad Barritt told his staff to remove the toys and place them back on the shelves because he had "no video proof" the items had been paid for. And so on. That's the corporate ethos that Garth has now delivered control of his art to.

Still, we imagine he'll do alright out of the deal. And he does have a wedding to pay for.

music garth brooks walmart

COURTNEY ORDERED TO HIT ROCK BOTTOM BY JUDGE

Actually, we guess than when he ordered Courtney Love to head back to rehab after she fessed up that she'd been taking drugs in violation of her parole terms, the judge didn't really mean he was sentencing her to total collapse - but it did sound like it:

The judge in the matter told her, "I think that you need to hit rock bottom before you make a decision about what you're going to do in the future." He also wanted to make sure she knew she is violation of probation in three separate cases. She answered, "Yes, your honor."

The rehab is part of the original sentence; Courtney will be back in court on September 16th for sentencing for the probation violation itself. And it doesn't look good for her:

[The judge] told her, "I think you either need a long-term drug program or a long term in County Jail."

music courtney love drugs

PUNKOBIT: Randy 'Biscuit' Turner

Randy 'Biscuit' Turner, singer with punk band The Big Boys, has been found dead at his home in Austin, Texas.

Alongside Tim Kerr, Chris Gates and Rey Washam, Biscuit's Big Boys attempted to throw off the increasingly dogmatic tone of US punk between 1978 and 1984; creating a funkier, less uptight branch of punk which would eventually lead to the likes of Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and crystallising a punk scene in Austin which remains active today:

It's hard to overstate how huge they were in Austin," Butthole Surfers drummer King Coffey said Thursday evening. "They weren't just a punk band. A really wide spectrum of people would check out the shows. It was due in a large part to Biscuit. Everyone in the crowd would be dancing and having so much fun, and Biscuit was like the ringleader of this band that would sometimes have a full horn section on stage. The band's motto was 'fun, fun, fun,' and that was Biscuit to a T."

Austin's love for Turner was reciprocated. On the day his body was found, he had been interviewed in the local paper, the Chronicle, and described how the city had felt like a spiritual home:

"Austin opened me up to the vastness of other people like myself, people I could really trust artistically and with my soul. People who would reassure me that I'm not crazy, that who I am is okay, and that the most important thing is to be happy. And I think moving to Austin showed me that right away.

"I had grown up in a horrid little backwater East Texas town and been earmarked almost from day one as resident weirdo. I remember I had to tuck my hair under my graduating hat in high school so that they'd let me graduate with the other students. I had a peacoat mod outfit and a little John Lennon hat I would wear that would freak people out. It was pretty weird, and that sort of leaves an impression on you. Even now I equate things like this: If it's not at Wal-Mart, it doesn't exist. And that's what I think all these small-town Texans think. If it's not at Wal-Mart, it's not real."

His nickname had come from the effect of just-dyed yellow hair peeking out from under a chef's hat, which made him look like a biscuit. The American sort. Apparently.

After the end of the Big Boys, Turner moved on to the sort-lived Cargo Cult and then the eight-member Swine King, while all the time developing a second career as a cut-and-paste artist. His art was inspired by the obvious reference points of Mark Ryden, Alexander Calder and Dali, but also Frank Lloyd Wright and Henry Moore. Asked by the Chronicle to describe his work, Turner eventually came up with "If clowns had art shows, then Biscuit would have the biggest red nose."

music obit obituary randy 'biscuit' turner

CONDEMNATION

Apparently, things are so quiet in Poland at the moment police there have nothing better to do than try to ensure the purity and integrity of Depeche Mode's new single. They pulled on their raiding trousers in order to arrest a bloke from Kielce who, they claim, had made the Mode's new single Precious (and the video for the track) available online.

Jeremy Banks, head of IFPI's Internet Anti-Piracy Unit said: "This action shows just how seriously the record companies view pre-release piracy.

"Pre-releases can be illegally posted, downloaded and distributed worldwide within hours. So it is crucial for the recording industry's cycle of reinvestment to prevent initial sales being lost to internet piracy."

We're not sure that anyone who is actually still so keen on Depeche Mode would be put off buying the single just because they'd downloaded a version of it - wouldn't that be like a drug addict saying "No thanks, had some yesterday"? But we're not entirely sure why Polish police are quite so concerned about ensuring Dave Gahan can buy a new hat - according to The 2005 Crime and Safety Report they're quite busy enough:

Crime has remained a problem in recent years with understaffed, under-funded police departments and slow, inefficient legal systems that are not effective at attacking criminal incidents.

We're sure the residents of Kielce will be delighted to hear that their overstretched force is putting the issues of international record labels first.

music depeche mode riaa

BANGS AND CRASHES

Franz Ferdinand tour dates, anyone?

Cardiff Arena - November 14
Brighton Centre - November 15
Birmingham NEC - November 16
Aberdeen AECC - November 21
Glasgow SECC - November 22
Hull Ice Arena - November 25
Manchester MEN Arena - November 26
Newcastle Arena - November 27
Nottingham Arena - November 28
London Alexandra Palace - November 30th & December 1

music franz ferdinand

LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

There's nothing big and clever about digging around in people's recorded statements to find what they were saying turns out to have been bollocks, of course, but that doesn't stop it being fun. So, let's dig out Mark Feehilly's contributions to a CD:UK chat:

worldpop: Is it impossible to date fans?

Mark: No, not impossible. Some of us actually have dated fans, but it's never been a serious relationship. It depends on which level they are fans. Say level one is a girl who has our album and likes it and level 10 would be a girl who sleeps outside our hotel. We could date, like levels one to three. But I wouldn't date anyone for the wrong reasons. A lot of girls like me just because I'm in Westlife. That's not enough to get me out on a date with them

Yeah, a girl would have had to have something extra about her to interest Mark...

worldpop: It must be a great feeling to have girls chasing after you?

Mark: I know we have the tools; power, fame and a bit of money, to get girls, and there's a lot of guys who would take the chance. For a lot of girls money and power are enough for them to go with a guy and I think it's sad to see that happen.

worldpop: Are you afraid you'll never find true love?

Mark: I'm a big believer in destiny and what's meant to happen will happen. If I'm meant to find the girl I'll love and want for the rest of my life, it will happen. Too many people go out there and try too hard to find love and it can turn out so wrong. I just sit back and let destiny take its course. I don't sit at home waiting for her to knock on my door, but I don't try to look for that special somebody.

worldpop: Have you been in love?

Mark: I haven't been in love, really. There's been few times when I though I was, and we dated for a few months but it never worked out. In a relationship, I'm very honest. You can never lose if you tell the truth. But I haven't had so many girlfriends, maybe seven or eight.

Meanwhile, what to make of this from Smash Hits?:

Shane: Mark's even started going out with a girl and actually seeing her again the night after. There's something strange going on!
Mark: I'm really broody, but I haven't got a hope in hell at the
moment.

I wouldn't be so sure, Mark - they're working on it at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority even as we speak.

And then there's this from Sneak:

Mark: "I miss meeting girls and they're being no celebrity thing attached to it – just me being normal Mark meeting a girl."

Obviously, he didn't miss it overmuch.

music mark feehily westlife

OH, AS IN MARVIN GAYE

We'd assumed when we were told that R Kelly had got hold of Gayes licence it was some kind of workaround paperwork - you know, like when the other members of Westlife say what a hit with the ladies you are. But it turns out that all it is that Marvin Gaye's widow has given Kelly her husband's old driving licence.

music r kelly

RACHEL TRIES TO SELL

We've got a soft spot for Rachel Stevens, who does have the knack of delivering a pop song really well. But we're really disappointed that she manages to make her new album sound about as exciting as ITV2:



I'm really proud of this album, ever since I started working in music it's been about releasing great pop tracks that everyone can dance and have fun to but this time I also wanted to express more of myself and give people a few surprises along the way.

"Although I've matured I still want to keep pop fun but a little naughtier!."

God, we hate people who try to talk about sex and shagging and snogging and filth and rude, rude touching and describe it as being "a little naughty." It's such a mimsying word.

And we're not entirely sure we want songs with more of you in them, Rachel. No offence, but stage-school girl turned underwear model isn't really a background which is going to turn you into the new Debbie Harry.

music rachel stevens

LABELOBIT

The death has been announced of John Loder, founder of Southern Records.

Loder's enthusiasm for music saw him build up the Southern network - label, distro, studio and a share in the establishment of Dischord Records - often losing his shirt and much cash on deals. Each setback he took on the chin, and just worked around it. In a long run of successes and setbacks, Southern gave a home to a number of bands, including Jah Wobble, Chumbawamba, Therapy, Carter and Silverfish; while their distribution arm got records into the public's hands from labels including Adult Swim and Kill Rock Stars. Loder wasn't just a passive supporter, though, and got his hands dirty - very dirty - producing and engineering for bands including the Jesus & Mary Chain (he engineered You Trip Me Up and Just Like Honey, amongst others), Crass, Shellac and PJ Harvey.

We probably can't sum up his importance on indie music in the last thirty-odd years any more effectively than the warm, enthusiastic messages left for him online.

Writing on the memorial blog, his daughter Natasha said:

As far as I am aware, the last word my father spoke was on Wednesday, was the word "blins". This is a made-up family word that is an expression of happiness, satisfaction and either comfort or delight. He said it after eating a Krispy Kreme donut with white icing and raspberry filling.

music obit obituary john loder southern

WHAT A SHOWER

So, you're pregnant, you fancy throwing an intimate baby shower for just you and your closest friends - naturally, you call in a party planner to do all the arrangements for you. So it was that Britney Spears came to be having an "African themed shower" - yes, all grasshuts and barefoot shuffling, with all the sensitivity and world vision you'd expect from a member of the actual royal family. Because they don't have shoes or bricks in Africa, you know.

The centrepiece was, apparently a cake in the shape of a Moroccan pot with a baby peeking out.

So... a heavily pregnant woman is chopping up a jam and cream filled effigy of a hiding child? Even if you don't believe in karma, there's something slightly disturbing about that, isn't there?

Britney got lots of gifts:

Presents included a white wrought-iron bassinet from her mum, Lynne, a car seat, a stroller, an infant bathtub and lots of stuffed animals.

Which is great, because when you're a young couple with only a couple of platinum selling albums behind you, that first kid can really put a strain on the family budget. Especially when you're shelling out thousands and thousands of dollars to sign your kid up to some sort of cult. It's great family and friends are able to help out.

“Everyone really outdid themselves,” the singer told People magazine. “Even the packaging on some of the gifts was heartfelt."

The packaging? Blimey, that's a hell of an instore giftwrap service - "would you like that wrapped, madam? And would you like that to be heartfelt or not?"

music britney spears pregnancy