The Morning Mix: Young Pheezy Goes All Akon; Message in a Wine Bottle; JoBros Create Sticky Situation

Headlines: Joaquin Phoenix, who has hip-hop's best Hell's Angels beard since Rick Rubin split with Def Jam, interrupted his own concert in Miami to attack a heckler in the audience. Is Young Pheezy's recent run of bizarre behavior just an act? The Reliable Sourcettes think so. ... They won't quite be spirits in the material world, but Sting is about to start selling wine made at his country estate in Tuscany. "Every sip you take," etc. ... Idolator wonders: "How Do Publications Handle The Jonas Brothers Ejaculating Foam On Their Audience?" ... Where's the beef? Let me answer that as carefully as possible, what with 50 Cent taking his hate-a-thon with Rick Ross to the next, much lower level. Fiddy is apparently releasing a porn video starring Ross's babymama. ... Recent Twitter convert Trent Reznor thinks rocker Chris Cornell's new Timbaland-produced dance album is a scream. In a bad way. "You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable?" Reznor tweets. "Heard Chris Cornell's record? Jesus.

More Headlines: Thom Yorke kinda, sorta responds to Kanye and Miley, whose feelings he hurt at the Grammys. The more notable Radiohead headline: The beloved band is working on new material, according to Ed O'Brien. ... Is Chris Brown so radioactive that he's even being frozen out by a labelmate and collaborator? AP says that T-Pain is offering radio stations an alternative version of "Freeze" that deletes Brown's vocals. ...The attorney defending Phil Spector has rested his case in the pop producer's murder trial. ... Jamie Lynn Spears is going country. Big yawn, y'all. (More interesting is CMT.com chiding the Boston Herald for using "tarnation," "fixin'" and the phrase "dip me in sugar and call me dessert" in its report. Sez CMT's Alison Bonaguro: "Do they honestly think that's how people in Nashville talk?") ... Meanwhile, Britney just released the video for "If U Seek Amy," the song with the controversy-causing title. ... The Grammys will be moved up on the 2010 calendar, to Jan. 31. Music's biggest night (TM), whose TV audience is getting smaller and smaller, usually takes place in February.

Blowhard Vs. Blowhard

Bob Lefsetz -- one of the music industry's most influential online analysts, and certainly the loudest -- published a Gene Simmons take-down yesterday, prompting Simmons to respond in ALL-CAPS, characteristically sleazy form. Wrote Simmons: "NO NEED TO BE JEALOUS, BABY. JUST BECAUSE I REMEMBER YOUR MOMMY BACKSTAGE AND THEN AT THE HOTEL IS NO REASON TO BE ENVIOUS OF MY GOOD LOOKS." Simmons also noted that Lefsetz still lives in his mother's basement (actually, as I discovered last year, Lefsetz lives in a rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica; his mother lives back east). The two did agree on at least one thing, though. "I know Gene loves that I'm writing this," Lefsetz wrote, to which Simmons responded: "SURE. I LOVE ANYONE WHO TALKS ABOUT ME."

Say What?
"People think people like me are overpaid and over-nourished, and they're not wrong. What they're missing is, how does a songwriter get paid? There's no space for a Cole Porter in the modern age. It's not the place for rich rock stars to ask for more money, but somebody should fight for fellow artists, because this is madness. Music has become tap water, a utility, where for me it's a sacred thing, so I'm a little offended." -- Bono, discussing music piracy. U2's "No Line on the Horizon" was illegally downloaded at least 445,000 times before the album went on sale; it sold 484,000 copies in its first week.

Video of the Day

Post Rock on the Radio
I'll be on WYNC's "Soundcheck" with the composer David Lang today at 2 p.m. to talk about the manifestation of wrath in pop music. It's part of Soundcheck's weekly series, "Seven Sins: The Deadly Medley." And it may be the only time in radio history that 2Pac's "Hit 'em Up," John Lee Hooker's "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" and Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" appear on the same playlist. If you're so inclined, you can listen to a live stream here.

Today in Weekend
Alex Baldinger writes about six local acts on the rise, including Tabi Bonney, Middle Distance Runner and the Hall Monitors. ... Album reviews: Dan Tyminski (at the Birchmere tonight); William Elliott Whitmore with Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers (at DC9 tonight); Crystal Stilts (at DC9 on Sunday); Eric Brace and Peter Cooper (at Rockville's Saint Mark Presbyterian Church on Monday); A.C. Newman (at the Black Cat on Wednesday).

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By J. Freedom du Lac |  March 13, 2009; 9:23 AM ET Morning Mix
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Posted by: msto | March 13, 2009 1:52 PM

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