Kiefer Sutherland Now Using "24" Interrogation Techniques in His Real Life

Kiefer Sutherland put designer Jack McCollough in the hospital after head-butting him at a party Monday night at New York City club Submercer. Kiefer says he was defending the honor of Brooke Shields. (NYPost)  Brooke says "No Way" (TMZ). The NYPD says, "Maybe so." (TMZ again). More to follow, endlessly, until everyone gets tired of talking about it.

Toby Keith Talks About Playing for the Troops

Toby Keith gets a Distinguished Service Award from the Military Officers of America and talks about his USO tours. (via DODvClips.mil)

The Return of Cracker

Today Cracker releases "Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey," its tenth studio album. "Turn On Tune In Drop Out With Me" is the first single and lead singer/songwriter David Lowery is the guest editor at Magnet Magazine's online site all week. Read Magnet's Q&A with David here. 

Buy "Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey" at Amazon or iTunes.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records. He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

Celebrities Still Have No Idea What They're Talking About

In his new documentary "PoliWood," Barry Levinson (director of "Rain Man" and "Diner") examines the weird relationship between TV news and Hollywood celebrity. Filmed at both the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions, the film digs into what Levinson calls an "unholy alliance" of politics and culture: television covers celebrities' political pontificating for the ratings they bring rather than any substantial contribution to the debate. Read more at The Daily Beast.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records. He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

Someone at Apple Finally Listened to the Lyrics to "Closer"

There's been a lot of online drama about Apple's mysterious approval process for applications sold in the iTunes store. There's not a definitive list of rules about acceptable content and the rejection letters are notoriously vague. Sometimes the decision gets reversed with no real explanation. Just last week the wildly offensive Baby Shaker was approved and yanked only a few hours after appearing in the store.

Trent Reznor announced over the weekend (via his Twitter account) that Apple has rejected an update to Nine Inch Nails' popular nin:access app because of "objectionable content" from "The Downward Spiral."

As anyone at his old record company can testify, Trent can whip online news sites into a frenzy and create an uproar. Look for the app to get approved by the end of the week and expect Apple to offer no explanation whatsoever.

Read more at Pitchfork. Trent posted the full rejection letter from Apple at the NIN forum. You can still get the original version of the app at the iTunes store.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager, music business technology consultant and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records (back in the 90s when that meant something). He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

Maverick Did Have Some Judgment Issues

All those rumors about Kelly McGillis, the actress who played Charlie in "Top Gun," turn out to be true. Fox News has the story, if you need the details.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager, music business technology consultant and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records (back in the 90s when that meant something). He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

Ranchero Music is the Latest Weapon in the Homeland Security Arsenal

Homeland Security hired an ad agency to write and record "Miga Corridos," a CD full of Spanish-language songs about "tragic border crossings" designed to discourage illegal aliens. Here some music here and read more about the CD at Idolator.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager, music business technology consultant and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records (back in the 90s when that meant something). He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

Toby Keith: Afghanistan Scene Report

Toby Keith finished up a 15-show USO tour of Afghanistan on Monday. Read about the tour at the American Forces Press Service site or check out Toby's blog about the tour.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager, music business technology consultant and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records (back in the 90s when that meant something). He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

The True Father of Country Rock

Country singer Vern Gosdin died last night at 74. Even though he enjoyed great success as a solo artist in the '70s and '80s, his real contribution came with the Gosdin Brothers in California right before the '60s country-rock explosion. 

With his brother Rex, Vern recorded backing vocals for "Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers," the lost classic 1966 album recorded by Clark right after he left the Byrds. The real breakthrough came with "Sounds of Goodbye," the Gosdin Brothers' album released in 1968 that featured future Byrd Clarence White on guitar. Check out "Hangin' On" above, a song that scraped the bottom of the country chart. 

Read more about Vern Gosdin at CMT. Buy "Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers" at Amazon or iTunes. Buy "Sounds of Goodbye" at Amazon.

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager, music business technology consultant and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records (back in the 90s when that meant something). He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.

Dave Draiman No Longer Disturbed About Hezbollah

Disturbed's Dave Draiman talks to the Department of Defense about the band's current tour and suicide prevention, but somehow gets no followup questions about earlier comments where he suggested the Israeli military should wipe out Hezbollah. (via Department of Defense New Media)

James Barber has written about music and movies for Slate, Blender, Good and AlltheMusicNews.com. He is also a record producer, band manager, music business technology consultant and was an A&R guy at Geffen/DGC Records (back in the 90s when that meant something). He has never been a celebrity chef in Canada, even though he gets a lot of internet fan mail for that guy.