[weblogs] Pearls asks: Who is the most repulsive woman in rock? “One of the great mysteries of the world is how Celine Dion manages to sing so loudly with that emaciated frame of hers. Now that same brittle vessel is carrying the seed of her 90-thousand-year-old manager/husband.”

[music] Yet another “Death of…” story, this time about CD’s and Cassette’s. ‘Although he sees a time when tangible media disappears altogether, he believes it won’t be for a long time yet. “CDs are a collectable item. People want all the artwork and sleeve notes so they can find out just who it was who played guitar on track three!”‘

[minogue] Minogue goes straight to Number 1…. demonstrates the power of PR, magazine covers and lucky, deformed, tiny ears!

[midi] Today’s theme is Dueling Banjo’s [from Deliverance]

[minogue] The Editor of GQ on Kylie’s bottom. “Kylie, I think, has come out of this rather well, at least as well as GQ. People are talking about her again, stills from her raunchy new video are being used liberally in the tabloids, and Radio 1 have even A-listed her single. So in a way we have been responsible for helping resuscitate the diminutive antipodean’s career. Which is nice.” Three Words: TINY DEFORMED EARS!

[weblogging] I Hate Music on Vindaloo by Fat Les. “I could use ‘Vindaloo’ as a springboard for any number of justified rants, but instead I’ll simply say this: FAT LES ARE A SMUG BUNCH OF MEDIA WHORES WHO SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN THE GROUCHO CLUB KISSING JONATHAN ROSS ON HIS HAIRY ARSE. And I’ll leave it at that.”

[music] The Observer takes a look at Eminem. “‘Listening to him is like watching somebody lose their head on Jerry Springer,’ says Harry Allen, self-proclaimed hip-hop activist and one-time member of Public Enemy. In recent years, Allen has testified on behalf of artists such as 2 Live Crew and Tupac Shakur in front of Senate Hearings on rap music. ‘Yes, he is coarse and violent. But he’s also indicative of white American suburban teenagers.'”

[minogue] Charlotte Raven on Kylie’s bottom. “Only clearing the net by a couple of inches, Kylie plainly hasn’t spent the day playing tennis. Her racket is loose in her left hand and the all-over-sheen of her body suggests that she’s spent longer being airbrushed in Photoshop than in the elements.”

[MP3] Napster endgame — The US Music Industry moves to close down Napster. Totally pointless, of course, the Net has moved on… check out Gnutella.

[music] newsUnlimited on the semi-breakup of Oasis. “What’s going on is that I’ve had a major disagreement with monkey boy, the singer[…]”

[music] newsUnlimited profiles the Dandy Warhols. “They put the ease into sleaze. Like the story of one of their label bosses who, Taylor says admiringly, ‘is a sleazy, sleazy man. He’s the coolest guy in corporate rock. If we had 10 of him at Capitol our worries would be over.'”

[music] Some crazy Ramones MIDI’s… I Wanna Be Sedated is particularly good listening! [via pearls that are his eyes]

[weird world] BBC News asks: Was Elvis Welsh? “According to Mr Breverton, his roots are in west Wales – the name Presley is related to Preseli – a hill range in Pembrokeshire. Supporting his theory is the legend of St Elvis of Muster who, it is said, baptised St David. Mr Breverton claims the family could well have had links with a nearby chapel dedicated to St Elvis – the only one known in Britain.”

[bbc] Perfect Day? Not if you’re working on a bank holiday!

[mp3] Lars from Metallica talks (at length) about Napster and MP3 on Slashdot.

[euro2000] Not So Soft has more links on Fat Les.

[sport] newsUnlimited profiles Fat Les — Damien Hirst, Keith Allen and Alex James — on their song for Euro 2000 “Jerusalem”. “He also relishes the thought that the fans at Euro 2000, whether they know it or not, will be led by the London Community Gospel Choir and the London Gay Male Voice Choir. ‘The idea of great big white fascist thugs singing along with this, going, “‘ang on – a choir of nonces? What’s this…?” I love that. What an amazing world we live in’.”

[mp3] Lars Urich and Chuck D talk about Napster. “It’s a parallel world, and a new paradigm is taking shape. You have to adapt to it. This goes beyond Chuck versus Lars. This is about the record industry versus the people. The people have got it on their side, and you’ve got to adapt.” – Chuck D [via Josh Blog]

[Mp3] More shit flies over MP3 / Napster — various links: You can PayLars if you feel guilty about downloading bootleg Metallica MP3’s of the net. Dr Dre warns Napster [interesting thread about this on Metafilter: Napster is nothing more than the new mix tape].

[Mp3] Metallica sues Napster: “it is sickening to know that our art is being traded like a commodity rather than the art that it is.” Guh?

[MP3] “Napster? Never heard of it mate” — UK reaction to Napster/MP3. It’s not an issue in the UK because nobody can afford to download MP3’s anyway. I reckon students are probably starting to get interested in it but you need free networking to make it fly like it is in the States — especially at American universities.

[tech] Useful article on which MP3 encoder is the best.

Media Nugget of the Day spotlights the Magnolia Soundtrack.

Fantastic interview with Richard Ashcroft of The Verve in News Unlimited.