The Strokes - Angles

The Strokes new album Angles will be released March 22. The first single "Under Cover of Darkness" will be available for download tomorrow from their website. Click here for that, as well as a review from Rolling Stone.

Track list:

1. Machu Picchu
2. Under Cover of Darkness
3. Two Kinds of Happiness
4. You’re So Right
5. Taken For A Fool
6. Games
7. Call Me Back
8. Gratisfaction
9. Metabolism
10. Life Is Simple In The Moonlight

The Metrodome Collapse

There will never be another Vikings' season like this. It has been, without comparison, the most bizarre year ever. Just when you think it can't get any weirder, the entire roof implodes. Metaphor for the season?

The Return Of The Strokes

Things seem to be heading in the right direction, at least. They've booked their first show since October 2006, playing England's Isle Of Wight festival in June. They're also scouting studio locations in NYC to record an album and maybe even release it in 2010. About time, boys.

Microsoft Faces New Browser Foe in Google

On Tuesday, Google will release a free Web browser called Chrome that the company said would challenge Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, as well as the Firefox browser.

"In A World Where..." Voice-Over Man Has Passed Away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QPMvj_xejg

Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the catch phrase "In a world where..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died. He was 68. LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from complications in the treatment of an ongoing illness, said Vanessa Gilbert, his agent.

LaFontaine remained active until recently, averaging seven to 10 voiceover sessions a day. He worked from a home studio his wife nicknamed "The Hole," where his fax machine delivered scripts.

LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career while working for the top studios and television networks.

In an interview last year, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind the phrase.

"We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to," he said of his viewers. "That's very easily done by saying, `In a world where ... violence rules.' `In a world where ... men are slaves and women are the conquerors.' You very rapidly set the scene."

This is America. We don't jail journalists here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Jailing journalists is unacceptable in a democracy. But that's exactly what is happening at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Award winning journalist and host of "Democracy Now" Amy Goodman was arrested by St. Paul police while covering a protest outside the Republican National Convention. Though clearly identified as press, Goodman was charged with "obstruction of a legal process and interference with a 'peace officer.'" Two of her producers were arrested for "suspicion of felony riot."

Goodman and her producers were released last night. (An AP photographer was also arrested and released). But the charges are still pending.

This story has been virtually ignored by the mainstream press. The cable channels are providing extensive coverage of events related to the Republican National Convention, but there has been a virtual news blackout on the arrest of Amy Goodman and the Democracy Now team.

Americans deserve to know that journalists are being jailed for trying to do their jobs. E-mail CNN President Jonathan Klein and NBC News President Steve Capus today (NBC News controls MSNBC) to demand coverage of this brutally important story.

Doubts Grow Over Flu Vaccine in Elderly

The influenza vaccine, which has been strongly recommended for people over 65 for more than four decades, is losing its reputation as an effective way to ward off the virus in the elderly. A growing number of immunologists and epidemiologists say the vaccine probably does not work very well for people over 70, the group that accounts for three-fourths of all flu deaths.

ASUS Spurs Green Computing Revolution with Bamboo Series Notebook

Whether counting its 23 Eee PCs or 50 plus models of traditional laptops, ASUS isn't exactly known for its frugality. So seeing yet another press release touting the launch of its bamboo -- a renewable material with immense tensile strength rivaling that of many metal alloys -- laptops shouldn't be a surprise. What's new here, perhaps, is the detail. Now in mass production, these partially biodegradable laptops come with either 11.1- or 12.1-inch, 1,280 x 768 pixel displays, your choice of 3/6/9-cell batteries, and ASUS' Super Hybrid Engine allowing you to dial down the power when the wails of the Antarctic penguins become too much to bear. The 12.1-incher is the relative powerhouse of the pair offering Vista a ride atop your choice of Intel T9400/P8600/P8400 Core 2 Duo processors, 256MB of NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics, a 320GB hybrid hard drive sporting 256MB of flash, and Intel's WiMAX / WiFi Link 5100 chipset. Pricing? Sorry, we'll likely have to wait for another press release for that detail.

Josh Homme to Produce New Arctic Monkeys Tunes?

"They want to submerge themselves in a place that's the opposite of where they're from and what they're used to," Queens of the Stone Age frontguy Josh Homme told NME.com about his plans to fly Sheffield, England's Arctic Monkeys to Joshua Tree, California for some Homme-helmed recording sessions next month. Sounds like that ought to do it.

Homme's reportedly bringing the Monkeys out to the desert to, as he puts it, "make something that they dig so much that everyone else can too." This is like their Beatles meet Maharishi moment, isn't it? Or, at least, their Beatles get introduced to pot moment?

The king of Queens also spoke to BBC 6 Music about his intentions to record the Arctics in Joshua Tree. Quoth Homme, "Being Arctic Monkeys, the polar opposite would be Desert Monkeys, so they're going to come out and just experience that, and their idea is to submerge themselves in something else and do some tracks. That's the sort of pressure-free 'lets-do-something-cool' environment that really pays musical dividends at the end, you know? They're a talented bunch of guys-- it's going to be a lot of fun."

What we can glean from this: 1. Josh Homme is still funny; 2. Josh Homme likes the word "submerge."

Homme's camp did not respond to requests for comment, while a rep for the Arctics' label, Domino, would neither confirm nor deny Homme's claims.

Homme and his Queens are lying fairly low following last week's tribute concert for recently deceased Eleven frontwoman/sometime Queens touring member Natasha Shneider. They did, however, put together an auction to raise additional money for the Natasha Shneider Memorial Fund; check that out here.

As for the Monkeys, drummer Matt Helders' Late Night Tales mix is due October 13 on Azuli, and frontman Alex Turner's other act, the Last Shadow Puppets, will hit the road again that same month.

• Video: Arctic Monkeys: Teddypicker [from the Favourite Worst Nightmare LP]
• Video: Queens of the Stone Age: 3's & 7's [from the Era Vulgaris LP]

California Moves on Bill to Curb Sprawl and Emissions

The measure, which the State Assembly passed on Monday and awaits final approval by the Senate, would be the nation’s most comprehensive effort to reduce sprawl. It would loosely tie tens of billions of dollars in state and federal transportation subsidies to cities’ and counties’ compliance with efforts to slow the inexorable increase in driving. The goal is to encourage housing near current development and to reduce commutes to work.

Radiohead to Webcast Tonight's Show Live

Jeez guys, why don't you just change your name to Webcasthead already? (Actually, on second thought, don't.) In the spirit of various previous webcasts and last-minute announcements such as this one, Radiohead have made the last-minute announcement that they will webcast tonight's (August 28) gig in Santa Barbara, California live, warts and all.

Writes Colin Greenwood on Dead Air Space,

Hello! To celebrate the end of a brilliant tour, we're going to webcast the last show here in America. We'll be playing live in Santa Barbara, at the Bowl. It's one of our favourite places to play; I think we've ended tours there before, once even playing a cover of [Neil Young's] ' cinnamon girl '. It's not too big, in fact it's very intimate, a small arena with a dirt floor, set in pretty countryside. It should be a special night, for lots of reasons, and we're going to try and share as much of it as we can on the webcast. Nigel [Godrich], our producer, will be helping out getting it to you, so if it goes wrong....It's live!

Thank you so much to everyone who's come and seen us this year; it has truly been the most special and exciting tour for all of us.

Webcast details to follow...
x

Colin

Tonight's gig at the Bowl is scheduled to begin to 6:30 p.m. Pacific time, with Liars opening (no word whether they'll be webcasted too, but boy I hope so). Best to set up shop in front of your computer around then and stay tuned to Dead Air Space for instructions. So that's why it's all dreary here in Chicago today...

Webcasthead:

08-28 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl *
10-01 Osaka, Japan - Municipal Central Gymnasium
10-02 Osaka, Japan - Municipal Central Gymnasium
10-04 Tokyo, Japan - Saitama Super Arena
10-05 Tokyo, Japan - Saitama Super Arena
10-07 Tokyo, Japan - Forum
10-08 Tokyo, Japan - Forum

* with Liars

• Video: Radiohead: Bangers & Mash [Pitchfork.tv]

Al Gore Addresses the DNC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFeLGy3JoAg

Snow Patrol announce US release of fifth album

Snow Patrol have announced details of their brand new album, and have scheduled the release date for October 28.

Israel, After 43 Years, Is Ready for Beatlemania

In 1965, when Israel had no television, and public entertainment consisted largely of kibbutz songfests celebrating the wheat harvest, the Beatles, already international celebrities, were booked for a concert here. To young Israeli fans, it seemed an impossible dream. And so it was. Until now.

Is ‘Burn After Reading’ a Good Stupid Coen Brothers Comedy? Or a Bad Stupid Coen Brothers Comedy?

Because the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading is the follow-up to No Country for Old Men, pretty much everyone has high hopes that it's a goofball comedy like their good one, The Big Lebowski, instead of a goofball comedy like their two subsequent crappy ones (The Lady Killers and Intolerable Cruelty). Is it? No one can agree! "Those who relish this movie might treat it as the second coming of The Big Lebowski," says The Hollywood Reporter, who liked it. "Nothing about the project's execution inspires the feeling that this was ever intended as anything more than a lark, which would be fine if it were a good one," says Variety, who didn't. The Guardian loved it and says the Coen film it most resembles is Intolerable Cruelty.

We seem to remember critics being similarly unsure what to make of Lebowski as the follow-up to Fargo, so we're still inclined think Reading is gonna be awesome. If it turns out terrible, though, we suppose we've been warned.

A tightly wound triumph [Guardian]
Burn After Reading [Variety]
The Coen brothers are in a goofy mood as pure lunacy engulfs a spy thriller [HR]

TV on the Radio Comes Through Loud and Clear

As good as TV on the Radio’s recorded work has been, nothing matches the transcendence of their live shows, especially when they perform with the horn section from Antibalas. Dear Science could change that. This is the sound of a band at the peak of its powers, effortlessly mixing noise and pop, density and light, funk and soul and rock. Guitarist Kyp Malone sings almost half of the songs, busting out a couple times in a funky falsetto that begs comparison to Prince. Singer Tunde Adebimpe delivers a heavier dose of vocal intensity, though the two singers’ voices often meld gloriously—to the point that you can’t distinguish them. The production style here is pretty slick. There are strings and all manner of electronic treatments, and one tune, “Family Tree,” with its echoing piano chords, strays as deep into Coldplay territory as one can imagine TVOTR going. But the songs brim with the relentless energy that will, no doubt, translate brilliantly onto the stage. Starting October 14, they’ll play three straight nights at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn.

Are You Ready for ‘Happiness 2’?

New indie production and finance shingle Werc Werk Works has stepped in to fully finance and produce writer-director Todd Solondz’s next film, an untitled part-sequel, part-companion piece to his controversial dark comedy "Happiness."

Researchers Report Advances in Cell Conversion Technique

Biologists at Harvard have converted cells from a mouse’s pancreas into the insulin-producing cells that are destroyed in diabetes, suggesting that the natural barriers between the body’s cell types may not be as immutable as supposed.

This and other recent experiments raise the possibility that a patient’s healthy cells might be transformed into the type lost to a disease far more simply and cheaply than in the cumbersome proposals involving stem cells.

Do Not Fuck With Axle Rose

The guy that leaked tracks from the forever-forthcoming Chinese Democracy has been arrested by the FBI.

Brando unites external iPhone battery with speaker at long last

Nothing says "I'm mad as hell about my iPhone 3G's battery life and I'm not going to take it anymore" better than blasting it out of a loudspeaker. Bonus points for that loudspeaker being integrated with a battery pack, which in turn connects to your -- you guess it -- iPhone 3G (or original iPhone, if that's how you roll). Well, $44 to the folks at Brando will buy you that very opportunity, it turns out. Who knew?