Idolator

Now that she's sort of returned to the arena-tour world, Britney Spears is back in the studio and working on the follow-up album to last year's album Blackout, according to her no-doubt-thrilled label Jive Records. "Britney Spears is spending her summer in the recording studio, working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters. We're very excited about what she's accomplished so far," says the statement, which is co-signed by Spears manager Larry Rudolph. I really liked Blackout's "dancefloor of the millennial apocalypse" feel, I'm cautiously optimistic about this album, although I know fully well that a few ill-timed run-ins with paparazzi could scotch the whole project. But no matter! Entertainment Weekly got on the horn with Sean Garrett, who's one of the producers attached to the record, and he burbled some similarly enthusiastic words, promising that he's going to "come up with something crazy" for Spears. Which is something to look forward to, given that he's helped pen a few of the past few years' more delicious pop treats. A few are are after the jump. More »

- This TMZ item on Brandy is admirable in how it goes from unintentionally funny to intentionally funny to absurd in just a few sentences. Except for the part about the person dying. That's not funny. [TMZ]
- A federal judge has ruled that deputies did not use excessive force when they arrested Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson during a 2003 altercation in Florida. The decision took fourteen minutes to read aloud, and included a drum solo consisting entirely of cymbal crashes. [AP]
- Lady Sovereign has canceled the rest of her European tour, due to obscurity. [NME]

- T.I. may face legal action after he allegedly botched a Saturday-night concert at Duke University, partially because he had to attend an "unrelated dinner" at P.F. Chang's Lucky Bistro. Damn you, T.I.! We told you to always keep your rhymes tight, and your dinners related! [HHNLive.com and The Chronicle]
- There's new Radiohead music on the web—if by "new Radiohead music" you mean "sporadically interesting stuff strung together in a Quicktime video." [Forkcast]
- Brandy's auto accident last year may have cost her a gig on America's Got Talent; she's expected to rebound with a role on America Could Give Two Shits. [TMZ]

The Smoking Gun has the details of the wrongful-death lawsuit filed yesterday against singer-actress Brandy, who was involved in an auto fatality in Los Angeles last month when her car struck another vehicle, sending it into traffic. The complaint—filed by the victim's family—asks for $50 million, and it will no doubt rankle the civil-rights organization that claims Brandy is being unfairly targeted because of her fame (this TMZ.com story has those details, not to mention all the intelligent comments-section back-and-forth you'd expect from a celebrity-gossip site when the topic of race is brought up). More »