The Flaming Lips on Sunday: They sounded like shit (did somebody try to strangle Wayne Coyne in his sleep?), but dammit, the show was still fantastic. All dressed up in animal suits—a couple of bunnies, a frog, and the happiest cheetah we’ve ever seen—beaming flashlights over the crowd and throwing nonstop confetti bombs, the Lips seemed hell-bent on turning their segment of the Unlimited Sunshine tour—which also featured De La Soul, Cake, and Kinky—into a party, and they succeeded. Sticking mostly to The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the band bounced from the excellent “Do You Realize?” and “Fight Test” to “Race for the Prize” and even “She Don’t Use Jelly”—with one spacey, whacked-out cover of Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” bringing it all the way into Weirdville. Coyne talked to the audience about the tour, which also features Modest Mouse in every city but ours, because of stringent Bumbershoot rules (you play the Labor Day fest, you don’t play any other in-town shows for weeks, or else you don’t get paid), wrapping it up with a succinct “That’s fucked up.” We agree. . . . If you missed the show, you could still get your celebrity drool on for five bucks: De La Soul showed up later that same night for Chop Suey‘s hip-hop weekly, Yo, Son!, along with Dead Prez and Dres of Blacksheep. . . . All Tomorrow’s Parties is growing like a mutant fungus. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks have just been picked to curate an East Coast edition of the hipster festival (good readers will recall that Matt Groening is heading this year’s L.A. edition, and Autechre the London outpost), to be held in September 2003 in Asbury Park, N.J. . . . Speaking of Mr. Malkmus, Pavement‘s seminal Slanted and Enchanted is getting the full-meal-deal 10th anniversary treatment from Matador,

complete with an expanded re-release featuring four tracks off the Watery, Domestic EP, B-sides like “Trigger Cut” and “Summer Babe,” and sexy studio outtakes. Also coming Oct. 22—a two-disc DVD, Slow Century, stuffed with all the band’s videos, plus an hour-long documentary and two full live concerts. . . . OK, maybe we haven’t been paying attention lately, but who are all these people on the Mercury Prize short list? The high-cred U.K. music award usually goes to acts we’ve heard of (P.J. Harvey, Badly Drawn Boy) and have even been known to enjoy in the comfort of our own home, but besides David Bowie and the Doves, we feel like they’re speaking Portuguese over there. The Bees, the Coral, Joanna McGregor, Ms Dynamite? Either stuff’s not jumping the pond like it used to, or we need a rock refresher course at the New School, stat. . . . This coming January, Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr will finally release his long-in-the-works debut with band the Healers, through the Web-based label iMusic. Trivia tidbit: The band’s drummer is Ringo Starr‘s son Zak Starkey. . . . So we finally figured out that’s Gene Hackman doing those Home Depot voiceovers, but do you, like us, ever go crazy trying to figure out what song you’re hearing on commercials? Maybe not. But anyway, ever since the Nick Drake Volkswagen spot, ad guys have been going cuckoo for obscure (to most Wal-Mart-shopping, Faith-Hill-loving Americans) sound clips, and even though we know some of them straight off, other ones just niggle away at our little brains, begging to be identified. On a tip, though, we went to www.songtitle.info, and solved many of the mysteries. That hot pop-and-lock girl in the Mitsubishi ad? She’s dancing to Dirty Vegas‘ “Days Go By.” And if you didn’t pick up Andrew W.K. for Coors Light or

the Stranglers for Adidas, well . . . maybe you just watch less TV than us. . . . Get yourself a copy of this month’s Spin with Axl on the cover, and turn to page 33 for a photo and item on locals-turned-major-label-downboys (and Weezer openers) Loudermilk, smiling for the cameras with Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix, who is quoted as saying of the former Guns N’ Roses cover band, “They fucking rocked. They’ve got that dirty, nasty, gritty Seattle sound.” We have absolutely nothing to add to that. . . . Looks like the honeymoon’s over for Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. This summer’s sweetest tourmates aren’t so sweet on each other anymore, according to Hagar. Van Halen’s second emperor recently called Diamond Dave “an asshole” and “a joke,” and after a few choice words about the former sex god’s (sprayed on!) hairdo, finished with the crushing “He will never go on tour with me again. He’ll have to draw a crowd of his own.” . . . The Midwest’s own Har Mar Superstar—a.k.a. the Ron Jeremy of indie rock—is rising to the top like cream. According to a recent message on his Web site, the Kill Rock Stars artist is busy “sippin’ Cristal, sexin’, and working on new joints. If you’re in Minnesota and see a chromed-out black limousine rolling through the Mall of America parking lot, give respect. I’m the best.” And he isn’t just talking out of his ass: Rumor says that Har Mar (his mom calls him Sean Tillman) is going big-time. HMS was in New York recently writing and recording material for Kelly Osbourne‘s upcoming Epic Records debut (he’s also set to assist with older, camera-shy Osbourne sister Aimee‘s album). While working on the Osbourne project, Har Mar’s gifts caught the ear of Epic executive Ric Wake, who usually works with the likes of Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Jennifer Lopez. Apparently he liked what heard, because now

he’s commissioned Har Mar to come up with a song for—no joke—the booty-ful one herself, J.Lo. We wonder if Har Mar knows Miss Jennifer is recently single. If he does, all we can say is, girlfriend doesn’t stand a chance.

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