Recommendations made while browsing music stores such as iTunes or social networking applications such as I Like on Facebook proved popular for 40 per cent of respondents.

This was just pipped by the opinion of family, friends and other shoppers at 41 per cent of respondents.

Although the internet is proving a popular place for sharing music tastes, many are still divided on its effectiveness as a delivery platform.

Some 51 per cent of those surveyed said that they prefer to purchase CDs, compared with 25 per cent who opt for digital downloads.

No statistics on "turning away," no numbers regarding people thinking less of critics (if they're thought of at all). And the headline is "Music fans looking online for guidance," but who are some of the people giving those recommendations on "social networking applications such as I Like"? Why, the same friends and family who make up that less-wired—and therefore non-lede-worthy—41%. So basically, from these numbers, you learn that Jane Record Buyer is looking to the opinions of her friends, and not the 75-word blurbs in Blender, for opinions on music that's coming out. Wow, what will Avail think of next? I hope it's a cutting look at how people are more likely to communicate online with people they know than with strangers!

Music fans looking online for guidance [VNUNet]

Madonna's album title, release date confirmed [Hollywood Insider]
[Photo: AP]

If you want to call bullshit on the project (as many, many of you have) feel free to do so. We enjoy how many of you think that causes us to be upset. You bring us joy bullshit-callers! Keep up the good yelling.

Also, as many of you have suggested to us, by providing examples of our work we're likely placing ourselves in the open for a lawsuit from...someone. We feel that complying with the "Evidence Requests" would only put us in a spot where we'd be poised for a large amount of legal trouble. We love the project but don't want to ruin our lives because of it.

Which brings us to the least enjoyable aspect of all this: the death threats. Our inbox has been flooded with messages from people all across the globe and while we certainly don't mind negative messages we've been disturbed by the ones threatening violence or murder. Is this really necessary? (I know, the same question can be asked of us as well) What a boring, unoriginal, uninspired response. Is that really the cost of admission for jump starting a conversation with unusual methods these days?

The short answer: Yes. The not-as-short answer: Dude, you're trying to reason with people who still think Michael Winslow is worth a LOL. It's best to just assume that they're not even one step above mouth-breathers.

You Will Not Die, It's Not Poison [The Overdub Tampering Committee]

"It's a true story. Barsuk [Records, which is putting out the record] had hired a courier — who does international stuff all the time and who they had used before — to bring [the album] back from Canada, where I was working on it. And he got to the border and he had all his paperwork and it was all cool, only they turned him away, and they confiscated the drive and gave it to the computer-forensics division of our Homeland Security-type people," sighed Walla, who has produced nearly all Death Cab's output, as well as records by the Decemberists, Hot Hot Heat, Nada Surf, Tegan and Sara and others. "And now I couldn't even venture a guess as to where it is, or what it's doing there. I mean, I can't just call their customer-service center and ask about my drive. There's nothing I can do. I don't know if we can hire an attorney ... is there a black-hole attorney? You can't take a black hole to court."

Putting aside the idea that Homeland Security definitely needs a customer service number for this kind of situation (hey, it would give Americans jobs! Unless, uh, the government decided to outsource it), I'm going to guess—upon reading the descriptions Walla offers, and the likelihood that said paperwork had the phrase "field manual" somewhere within—that the hard drive was red-flagged for content-related reasons. (Perhaps I'm a little suspicious of governmental intentions on this point because the last time I ordered a package from overseas, the damn thing had been ripped open, although my Siobhan Donaghy CD was unscathed inside.) On the bright side, though, Walla will now have something to chat about with ?uestlove the next time the two of them share a green room!

Death Cab For Cutie Guitarist Baffled By Homeland Security's Seizure Of His Album [MTV]

"It's been wonderful because I've been talking to them a lot lately. They feel the same way I do — it's just a matter of Axl wanting to, [being] ready to do it. But all four of us wanna do this — have a nice, good reunion and play for everybody. Finish what we started doing. That's what we wanna do. And Slash and Izzy and Duff — even Axl, but I Axl wants to put his record out. I don't know... I can't say."

(Transcription via Blabbermouth.) You get the feeling that everyone just really wants to be nice to Steve from all of these interviews he's doing, right? And that no one has the heart to take him aside and say, "Look, this just isn't going to happen, dude." Maybe they have about as much faith in Chinese Democracy ever coming out as I do, so they figure that "Axl wanting to put his record out" is the ultimate excuse, and they're probably hoping against hope that the guy never gets his shit together.

In all fairness to Adler, though, out of everything he does say, there's one thing (aside from his repeated assertions that he loves to smoke up) that doesn't seem completely borne from his head. And that's the fact that Weiland may be kind of a dick:

"Yeah, it was great. Matt Sorum and that other guy, that singer, that Scott Weiland guy [of VELVET REVOLVER] — that's why Slash didn't come up and play, because they kept calling him and being all upset, like, 'What are you doing here?' Like little babies, little kids. I was like, 'What the fuck? Just go have him play a couple of songs.' They were like, 'Oh, we don't want you to.' It was crazy."

See, I can believe that! So maybe he's not wrong about the Guns N' Roses thing ... right? Oh, come on, I'm just trying to be nice.

Steven Adler interview [MP3; rockumweb.com, via Blabbermouth]
[Photo via MySpace]

Yes, according to noted Friend of Punk the BBC, nice fiftysomething British chaps the Sex Pistols are reuniting for no less than the third go round, this time at Brixton Academy to celebrate Never Mind The Bollocks being (holy crap) one year older than I am. Being the third time—and having witnessed John Lydon's silly-ass post-alt-rock trail of non-musical gigs, from mouthy nature show host (the weirdest) to spiked Simon Cowell (the saddest) to VH1 talking head (happens to the best of us) to reality TV star (more money there than in music)—I don't know why I still got some kind of punk rock muscle memory twitch of sadness/embarassment at the prospect of 51-year-old Lydon dusting off the shiny Ma$e suit from the Filthy Lucre tour so he can run through more compressed, glitzed up 21st-century versions of "Bodies" and "Pretty Vacant." And I really don't know why I'd be grabbing the sleeping bag and telling Maura I'd be be back in a week if they announced a one-time Public Image Ltd. reunion with the original line-up.

Sex Pistols To Make Live Comeback [BBC via Blabbermouth]