Will Oldham has always been fascinated with pop icons (check out this video for Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me”). He’ll take on R. Kelly, Danzig, and Bjork with his Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy outfit release Ask Forgiveness. It will include eight covers in all.

New York Mag inspires us to finish The Brothers Karamozov starting tonight. We swear!

Jay-Z will come out of his 23rd retirement to perform at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Nov. 13.

iTunes revs up their film archives. Selma Blair’s boobs, which star in Ed Burns’ new movie Purple Violets, are going to look mighty tiny on the iPod screen.

A documentary about Karl Lagerfield will screen at Film Forum tomorrow night, with the director on hand for discussion about black clothes and Nicole Kidman.

It's that time again. Here, in full, are Howard Wolfson's picks for Albums of the Year:  read more »

Dixie Chicks -- Taking the Long Way and Alejandro Escovedo - Room of Songs

In retrospect, the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" on their last album was a pretty clear sign of the direction they were headed. Even before Natalie Maines' comments about the President, Lubbock was beginning to recede in the rear view mirror and California lay ahead. Maines' remarks accelerated a process already in place away from country radio; the "incident" as the Chicks call it, was less a sharp break than a final straw.]]> http://www.observer.com/2007/wolfsons-list#comments Arts & Culture Politics Beirut Bruce Springsteen Howard Wolfson Pearl Jam Will Oldham Fri, 05 Jan 2007 06:48:10 -0500 Azi Paybarah 31091 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/39499 A chorus on Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s new record, The Letting Go (Drag City), begins  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/39499#comments Arts & Culture Alan Lomax Emmett Kelly Sub Pop Ltd. Will Oldham Sun, 01 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400 I-Huei Go 39499 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/52740 A chorus on Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s new record, The Letting Go (Drag City), begins with a fami  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/52740#comments Arts & Culture Bonnie Prince Emmett Kelly Sub Pop Ltd. Will Oldham Sun, 01 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400 I-Huei Go 52740 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/52716 In the beginning of September, Beyoncé celebrated her birthday and Justin Timberlake brought the se  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/52716#comments Arts & Culture Bonnie Prince Billy The Decemberists Tom Waits Will Oldham Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:00:00 -0400 I-Huei Go 52716 at http://www.observer.com