Rumours and Downright Lies

Rumour of the week: It's likely that velvet-throated crooner Tom Waits will be in Dublin this summer. I'll be the one down the front with the bull horn and the jack hammer.

From the complete bollocks department comes the whisper that Bowie will be at the Electric Picnic. I would put this suggestion up there with the notion of me being made president -both good ideas that would bring pleasure to a lot of people but highly, highly unlikely.

Another hero who won't be knocking around Ireland this summer, at least not to my knowledge, is Elvis Costello, and more's the pity. Console yourself by checking out an awful lot of his music here. The highlights are too many to mention but do check out the underrated "Brutal Youth" as well as "King Of America".

Talking of Tom Waits and David Bowie (clever link this), Scarlett "Horn On a Concrete Elephant" Johansson has an album of Tom Waits covers coming out next month, with Bowie providing backing vocals on a couple of tracks. How nice it is to see these two old men help out a young women in this manner, with absolutely nothing in it for them. Anyhow, the first single's knocking around the web, I don't think much of it (you can't be blessed with everything young lady!) but have a listen here.