Erik Nelson's documentary, Dreams with Sharp Teeth, includes extensive interviews with the author and footage of him reading from his work, as well as talking-head chats with a few of his famous friends.

Associated Press has reported that Malaysian officials have cancelled a scheduled Kuala Lumpur appearance by Avril Lavigne after the Islamic opposition decried the Canadian pop singer's show as "too sexy" for the country.

One of the best-known exponents of the genre has made a deliberate departure from the everything-louder-than-everything-else blueprint and mind-numbing blast beats of death metal.

‘Inní mér syngur vitleysingur’ - Official Video

Possibly the creepiest music video ever. If you didn't like Pan's Labyrinth, you're not gonna like this.

From the Bollywood feature of the same name, starring Akshay Kumar.

Legendary soul man Isaac Hayes died yesterday in Memphis at the age of 65. While he was arguably best known to anyone under 30 for providing the voice of Chef on South Park, he will also be remembered for albums such as Black Moses and Hot Buttered Soul and, of course, the Shaft soundtrack.

Ladytron's latest gets a stylish black-and-white treatment.

As Kanye West wrapped up a recent show at Madison Square Garden, he told the audience he was about to let them hear a new beat he had made. He then went one better and brought out the man for whom the beat had been made: Jay-Z. The song, which seems to be called "Jockin' Jay-Z" is apparently intended for Hova's upcoming Blueprint 3 album.

On display at the Jeffrey Boone Gallery, the White Rock–based painter’s recent impressionistic portraits depict local skaters, but leave the actual skateboards out of the picture.

David Gilmour fans, rejoice. In September, Fender will release a guitar based on the legendary Pink Floyd member's classic black Stratocaster. Sadly, Fender is offering no guarantee that the instrument's purchase will get you any closer to playing like Gilmour. If you want all the specs, click here. If you'd rather just hear the man himself play the original, see below.

It seems you either love Bono or hate him. A few of those who fall into the latter camp are petitioning the U2 singer and lefty lobbyist to retire from public life, arguing that his efforts in the international arena are self-righteous and ineffective.

It’s hard to remain casual when one of your idols is in the room. Now imagine said idol happens to be a member of one of your all-time favourite musical acts, and that he’s recording tracks for your album.

I'll admit I'm not a big Vampire Weekend fan. Something about extremely white trust-fund kids trying to play African pop doesn't quite work for me (and it doesn't work when Paul Simon or David Byrne does it either). But there's something slightly amusing about this video, which plays on two beloved teen-movie stereotypes: the popular preppy and the gothic outcast.

The Black Crowes (remember them?) have accused country singer and self-professed redneck woman (like that's something to be proud of) Gretchen Wilson of ripping off their song "Jealous Again" for her new "Work Hard, Play Harder".

Perhaps attempting to avoid the sort of violence that has erupted in Mexico over emo music and fashion, a proposed new Russian law would effectively ban the style, which has become popular with young people worldwide.

As anyone who has ever listened to his music can tell you, Dr. Dre likes his music with a wide spectrum of frequencies, ranging from bowel-rumbling bass to high-pitched synth squiggles. So it makes sense that the rapper-producer wouldn't want people listening to his songs (or anyone elses's) with crappy equipment.

Backlash can happen to the nicest people. Case in point: Interpol’s most recent album, Our Love to Admire, is the New York band’s highest-charting and biggest-selling effort to date, but its release last July was given the cold shoulder by certain hipper-than-thou blogs and on-line arbiters of indie cool.

Ever wonder what would happen if you strapped a Barbie doll to some cheap fireworks and lit the fuse? Well, you need wonder no more (and you certainly don't need to find out firsthand!) because the folks over at Something Awful have done the dirty work for you.

The song's in Spanish, but the video looks like the world's cheapest Bollywood musical. If the producers of an incredibly low-budget Bollywood musical could somehow afford to hire Devendra Banhart's girlfriend, that is. (That's Natalie Portman, for all of you who don't check TMZ and Perez Hilton twice an hour like we do.) Warning: if you play the following video you will have a brief glimpse of Banhart's pubic hair. Don't say we didn't warn you.

You force the music section to mop up Angelina Jolie’s afterbirth, and we reward you with a Payback Time T-shirt, two recently released major-label CDs, and two tickets to a Live Nation club show taking place in Vancouver within the next four weeks. Here’s this week’s winning whinge.

Well, at least it's not a Bon Jovi cover.

If you're one of the three people who actually wants to hear this song again, and if you love counting, then go nuts:

Nas takes on Fox News in particular and corporate media in general. In case you're wondering why the guy's so mad at Bill O'Reilly, click here for the back story. Oh, and the song rocks, too.

The public performance-art/comedy group Improv Everywhere, known for pulling attention-getting stunts such as Frozen Grand Central, has struck again.

Any quintet of Brooklynites whose MySpace page lists the Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Blonde Redhead, and the Sundays among its influences has my immediate attention. Conspicuously absent from that list is Stereolab, perhaps because it would be too obvious. Monocle's vintage keyboards, motorik beats, and cooing vocals are unmistakably influenced by Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier's long-running band, though. This is not a bad thing, as far as I'm concerned.

Confession time: I'm a Strat man, and I happen to think Billy Corgan is an incredible guitarist, so I'm not exactly unbiased about this blog item.

After last week's Glastonbury shenanigans, during which Jay-Z responded to a Noel Gallagher diss with one of his own, the rapper and the Oasis guitarist are making conciliatory gestures.

This new Akon song leaked a few days ago, and the big deal is that it features a cameo by Michael Jackson. The song is expected to show up on both artists' forthcoming albums. So, without further ado:

Someone has stolen Joy Division singer Ian Curtis's headstone from his Macclesfield gravesite. The morbid thief made off with the stone some time between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. The local police are appealing for anyone with information on its whereabouts to come forward. Curtis's gravestone (click here for a photo) is inscribed "Ian Curtis, 18-5-80", along with the words "Love Will Tear Us Apart", the title of Joy Division's best-known song.

All hail the Holy Grail: the new stage-musical adaptation of the Monty Python classic maintains the original's deadpan surrealism and sheer absurdity while also sending up musicals.

If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to post them below.

Here's the official word, according to a news release issued by Live Nation today:

The first single from the new album, Donkey, due out July 21.

Having beef with other performers is a hip-hop tradition, and pissing everyone off is an Oasis tradition. A few months back, Noel Gallagher combined the two by opining that a rapper like Jay-Z had no place at Glastonbury, which is one of the world's biggest rock festivals.

For a clever example of the film-within-a-film approach, check out this short from the Netherlands.

Because of a pending court case, singer Boy George has been denied a visa to enter the United States. This has forced the former Culture Club front man to cancel his scheduled North American tour (which was to stop in Vancouver on July 21).

For someone who named his band after a Jerzy Kosi?ski book and penned a song called “East of Eden”, inspired by the John Steinbeck novel of the same title, Dominique Fricot has a surprising admission. “I wouldn’t call myself a big reader,” the Painted Birds singer-guitarist-keyboardist says, reached in Toronto in the middle of a cross-Canada tour.

The story behind this clip is that Phoenix Suns centre Shaquille O'Neal took the stage at a New York nightclub on June 22 to freestyle some rhymes to crow about his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, having lost the NBA championship. He had particularly colorful words for Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant.

In a blog item posted on You Thought We Wouldn't Notice on June 13, the design company Alphabet Arm pointed out similarities between the cover of a new album by emo band Cute Is What We Aim For (see above right) and a Counting Crows logo (above left) that Alphabet Arm designed a few years ago:

Modern Guilt, the new Beck album, is scheduled to come out on July 8. Here's a suitably '60s-inspired teaser trailer for what sounds like a psychedlia-tinged effort.

Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia (Upper Management Recording Co.)

Darling Democrat (Independent)

In a recent interview with BBC 6, John Lydon responded to rumours that the Sex Pistols are planning a new album by neither confirming nor denying it. “It’s a nice rumour and it might possibly be true we are attempting to," the singer said. "It’s like all things Sex Pistols—it’s riddled in chaos. You know, who knows what the future will hold, maybe no future. So far I’ve proved that wrong. I’ve got a splendid future.”

LimeWire Music Blog has compiled some of the best on-stage rock-star meltdowns and audience altercations, from Bjork freaking out in the Tokyo airport to Kurt Cobain smashing his guitar into the face of an overzealous bouncer. Click here to check it out.

Like Sigur Ros's "Gobbledigook", this video features lots of naked people (mostly hot girls, to put it simply). However, it also features lots of black bars covering up what are arguably the best bits. Oh well. It's still a fun song.

According to an Associated Press article posted on Billboard.com, R&B singer R. Kelly was acquitted on all counts today in his child-pornography trial in Chicago.