Van Tango

KT Tunstall is preparing to make her big screen debut in Ruby Red Chequer alongside Brit actor Bob Hoskins and French star Josiane Balasko. This would be a good chance for Tunstall to showcase her songwriting skills - she is writing the theme tune of the movie. Wish her well. Now, someone hates writing songs while on tour - as only luxurious surroundings help his creativity. Keane pianist Tim Rice-Oxley has had to adjust to putting pen to paper on the back of a noisy tour bus after the band found worldwide fame. He says, "I love to write songs on a piano, in a house in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night with a bottle of wine. But when you're moving from one place to another, you don't have that luxury. So I had to learn to adjust to writing songs in the back of the bus. That was difficult, but it came together in the end". Oh simple things..where have you gone..


Urgh! What was Courtney Love thinking? She is poised to embark on a collaboration with Moby, because she wants to tap into his relaxed vibe. Balance of yin/yang? Love is convinced he will bring out the best of her talents, because he makes her feel so at ease. She says, "What me and Moby are going to do is three days of rehearsals and four days of recording; 'In Utero' style - lo-fi, no Pro Tools, all old gear. "I just sort of feel safe around him, I can't explain it, but we've been hanging out lots." Next thing you know, she'll stop drinking and turn into a female Moby. Just hope she won't retire if the new album flops. In the case of Jarvis Cocker, he once decided to retire from the music industry before changing his mind to record a solo album. Cocker has indulged in a period of intense songwriting, in a bid to prove to himself he was bored of music. But the songs impressed him so much, he now plans to record them for his debut solo album. That sounds lovely! He says, "I thought I was gonna retire. I thought I was too old. I'm a man in his forties now. I thought that's too old to be doing music and stuff. So as soon as I decided that, I started writing songs - just to fuck myself off. I've now got enough songs that are reasonably palatable, so I'm going to record them".

Simon Cowell believes Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry will make it an all-male American Idol final. He reckons that Katharine McPhee is "vulnerable" alongside E.Y - although he does think McPhee is improving. He said in a TV interview, "You can't rule out Katharine because she's just getting better and better, but if I had to put money on it, I think it will be between Chris and Taylor." Will be a close fight. As long as Taylor goes to the final, it's good enough for moi. Simon spoke with 'Good Morning America' [vid] to rate the egos of the show's judges, his pick to win this season, what it's like behind the scenes, Paula Abdul being "a bit crazy", going broke when he was 30, and more.

Casino Royale trailer - [English version]

Evangeline Lilly Does Elle (May 4, 2006)
























Kate Moss leaving her London Home


























Two new bands that have caught my attention of late:



Wolfmother = Shades of AC/DC, Led Zep & Sabbath... If you like those kinda stuff, then this should be a definite eye-opener. Their music video 'Woman' is quite impressive too.




Klaxons - Gravity Rainbow [vid]
As the pic shows, Klaxons likes to make use of colours...excessively I might add. Their brand of music is quite unique. Upbeat, unexpected twists, sense of urgency... Combo of WeAreScientists, TheCribs, 80s-match-box-b-line-disaster & Komakino.


Jewel took part in an Q&A with SheKnows.com, where she discussed her passion outside of music. "The thing I'm most excited about right now is that I'm starting to do a pilot called 'Punk Rock Angel Girl'," Jewel said. "It's a cartoon for Nickelodeon. And I drew it and conceived it, did the voice, made the whole world, and that's been a tremendous amount of fun. It's been really a thrill."

Jenny Frost has been hitting the gym to battle the so called 'saggy boops'. Jenny, who once described her boobs as a couple of "tea bags", told The Sun about her efforts to stop the forces of gravity as she ages. "I was being silly when I described my boobs as tea bags but I wasn't far wrong," she said. "Your boobs start to go south as you get older so I'm working out at the gym now to try and stop that happening so much." But she won't go under the knife to get a silicone boost. There's no need to. "I wouldn't get big implants though," she assured. "I'd just get my boobs lifted if they did end up sagging loads." Guess it would be ok.. by then.

Speaking of silicone boost..

Tash in Closer mag

























Well well well... looks like Brandon Flowers is feeling cocky nowadays. The band are currently at work on their second album - and he is confident it will be a massive success. He said: "This album will be one of the best albums in the last 20 years. Nothing will touch it." Oh really? The new album is due out in September. Don't worry. His words will be remembered and they will be back to haunt him. Last 20 years?

Donald Trump vs Ivana Trump. Who will be the winner? Donald Trump is involved in a legal battle to try to stop his ex-wife Ivana trademarking her name. His former wife has applied to trademark the term "Ivana Trump" to use in the real estate business. But then Trump says it would be "confusingly similar" to his own marks. Ivana had chosen to keep her former husband's surname since her divorce back in 92 and now, she is "attempting to go into business - the identical line of business as Mr Trump - using the Trump name and trademark". Her lawyers rejected the claim that confusion would be caused by her name being trademarked. In the document, filed late last month, they also say their client's continuing use of Mr Trump's surname has been with his "consent and acquiescence". This could turn out to be a very interesting "reality show"..

Avril Lavigne - People Magazine (May 06)












New videos!
Little Man Tate - What? What You Got?
She Want Revenge - These Things
The Futureheads - Skip To The End
Hot Chip - Boy From School

Exclusive video clip from the Bang Bang Diaries - footage of Dirty Pretty Things' adventures on the road.

The Hives... their next album is supposedly going to be named "The World's First Perfect Record". Those dudes are just infectiously cool. Can't wait for more dinosaur-us hives sounds.

Guitar music was bigger than pop in the UK last year. Figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) show that guitar music has a 36% share of UK album sales, while pop has just a quarter.

The top ten selling guitar albums are as follows:
1 X&Y - Coldplay
2 Employment - Kaiser Chiefs
3 Demon Days - Gorillaz
4 Eye to the Telescope - KT Tunstall
5 Hot Fuss - The Killers
6 Don't Believe The Truth - Oasis
7 American Idiot - Green Day
8 Hopes and Fears - Keane
9 Life in Slow Motion - David Gray
10 In Your Honour - Foo Fighters