catchiest. na na. ever.

dyslexic heart : paul westerberg

click on the image to listen

There's been a lot of buzz lately about Elizabethtown, the new film by Cameron Crowe, and not all of it is positive. (Like this very harsh review by Chicago Tribune.) But I look forward to seeing it, first because I like almost every movie Crowe has directed (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, Say Anything) and also because he probably compiles the best soundtracks in Hollywood. You have to at least expect that from a former Rolling Stone journalist. This song by ex-Replacement Paul Westerberg comes from Crowe's 1992 masterpiece Singles, plays at the opening credits, and sets the perfect tone for the rest of the film. With the equally jangly Waiting for Somebody from the same soundtrack, Dyslexic Heart would prove to be the commercial zenith of Westerberg's career after The Replacements disbanded in 1991. He released a best-of album last May, called Besterberg, which seems to satisfy those who know him casually and those who know him well, judging by the number of songs in it: 20. Anyway, the soundtrack to Elizabethtown is now on sale on iTunes Music Store, and I'm happy to see Crowe include a song I've posted here before: Don't I Hold You, by Wheat. The soundtrack version is different, though, as Wheat laid a fast beat over the song and shortened it a bit. Listen to the original from the link.

Depeche Mode has uploaded their entire new album, Playing the Angel, for streaming on their MySpace site. Check it out here. While you're at it, you may also want to stream an album's worth of Wu-Tang Clan sounds merged with indie hip-hop here. The album is called Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture and is the brainchild of Brooklyn DJ David Kruger. Details.

I was half hoping it was a joke, but it's true. Sony BMG has released Trees, the song written and performed by Rockstar INXS runner-up Marty Casey, as a single. It's much more polished than his TV performance, obviously, but no less inane. Sorry, but no matter how philosophical some will probably say the song is (which I doubt), I still can't get over its dumb chorus. Download or sample the song from iTMS.

Readers of the entertainment magazine Variety has just crowned The Beatles as the number one icon of the past 100 years, beating Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Mickey Mouse, and 96 other venerable and questionable characters.

Pop Star Quote of the Day: "There was a moment when I was onstage and I was just so angry. I thought, 'Something is wrong. I have the applause, I have a great band behind me, I live comfortably...' I was starting to become a victim of fame. Everything was too serious and I wasn't enjoying it." The newly buzz-cut Ricky Martin, to People Magazine, on how fame hit him at the height of his career in 2002.