HOT
Feud Watch
Feuds in the music world are nothing new. Hip Hop artists made a fine art out of it in the genre's heyday (before murder came along and ruined all of the fun). Now that rappers like Ludacris are taking on arch enemies like Oprah and Bill O'Reilly, we thought it was time to update you on what battles Rock stars are getting into (with a little help from their sensationalizing journalistic friends). Could nice-guy Indie Rock heroes Arcade Fire really be taking on über Rock gods U2? "Arcade Fire Vs. U2" was the headline on Yahoo! recently, but it turns out the "war" was really some comments made by AF's Win Butler to NME. The music press jumped on Butler's statements, which called out bands like U2, Oasis and The Stones for their crass proclamations of being "The Best Band In the World." Elsewhere, Kele Okereke, singer for Bloc Party, made news when he blasted Jack White for saying he didn't feel it was his place to talk about politics. Okereke told NME he felt White was being "complicit with the capitalist society" (unlike Bloc Party, who donate all of their earnings to charity, right?) and that White is more concerned with selling records than what's going on in the world today.
And, finally, it wouldn't be a Rock star "feud watch" without a Gallagher. Oasis guitarist Noel recently said Radiohead's Thom Yorke is more interested in "singing the news" than playing the band's hits. He also went to the old stand-by "He went to art school!" Yorke responded on the band's Web site with a simple, "I did (go to art school). It taught me to respect other artists." Oooh, burned! In more positive feud news, Noel might be trying to patch things up with former mortal enemy Damon Albarn of Blur (remember the overblown Blur Vs. Oasis public spats?). Noel once said he wished Albarn would catch AIDS and die, but he recently offered praise for Albarn's new project, The Good, The Band and The Queen. So, chin up, Thom Yorke — Noel will be your best bud in about 15 years.
WARM
Does This Mean He Has to Return the Gold Watch?
In the Internet age, rumors about a star's death can spread in seconds, whether true or not (Jello Biafra, for example, recently had to deny that he was not deceased). But how off the radar do you have to be to be forced to make a statement saying that, no, you are in fact NOT retired? That's what Jay Kay, the main man of Soul/Funk/Pop also-rans Jamiroquai, had to do recently. News reports spread saying Kay had announced his retirement following the end of his recording contract. He released a statement saying "there's no way I'm quitting the music business" and blamed the media for jumping on a "cheap headline." How's this one work, Mr. Kay: "Jamiroquai Not Quitting, Just Not That Famous Anymore."
COLD
RIAA's Hot New Web Site
Who says the Recording Industry Association of America isn't consumer friendly? After totally freaking out about growing technology they clearly didn't understand, the RIAA has joined the Net fray and launched a new Web site ... where you can pay your settlement fees after the big record companies sue you for illegal filesharing! At p2plawsuits.com, criminals can click a button that says, "Do You Want to Settle a Case Online?" to pay for their sins with VISA, MasterCard or Discover. We had so much fun navigating the site, we might just have to start looking into using this P2P thing. Now paying off your lawsuit is as easy as illegally downloading the new Rod Stewart album! We are eagerly waiting for the news story that says, "A 15-year-old German hacker has funneled millions of dollars in settlement fees from the RIAA Web site and started his own massive P2P service."
