Let's start, in a break with tradition, with some news that actually excites us. On February 15th Philadelphia MC Freeway releases his third official studio album, The Stimulus Package. Best of all, as well as featuring guest spots from the likes of Raekwon, the entire shebang has been produced by Jake One. Yes, he's probably best known for his G Unit nonsense, but he's actually an indie hip hop producer par excellence. We reviewed his White Van Music LP last year which, while a tad patchy, had some moments of absolute brilliance.

The clip below features some natty beats but, more importantly, footage of The Stimulus Package's frankly genius packaging. We want.

There's also a free mixtape entitled The Beat Made Me Do It which you can download here. See, Flashlight can do nice..

Yep, we're always keen to give a leg up to artists we like that deserve to find a wider audience. Which is why, when we heard about little known rock 'n' roll band AC/DC being signed up to provide music to some indie arthouse film called Iron Man 2, we were keen to get involved. Basically, as if the thought of Downey Jr and Mickey Rourke clad in metal beating seven shades of shit out of each other wasn't enough, they will be doing it set to some truly rifftastic tunes. On April 19th, Columbia are to release AC/DC: Iron Man 2, which features 15 tunes and 485,712 riffs taken from ten of the band's albums. Should be great fun, and the film itself looks like it may just rule. Hard. The tracklisting for AC/DC: Iron Man 2 is as follows:

1. 'Shoot to Thrill'
2. 'Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation'
3. 'Guns for Hire'
4. 'Cold Hearted Man'
5. 'Back in Black'
6. 'Thunderstruck'
7. 'If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)'
8. 'Evil Walks'
9. 'T.N.T.'
10. 'Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be'
11. 'Have a Drink on Me'
12. 'The Razor’s Edge'
13. 'Let There Be Rock'
14. 'War Machine'
15. 'Highway to Hell'

I need a lie down after that unexpected wave of goodwill and genuine positivity. Right now I need some kind of easy target, someone who you just know will have done something completely idiotic in the last few days..now who shall I google? Amy Winehouse - a positive recluse at the moment
Robbie Williams - no chance, I may stumble across a stupid picture of his stupid face
Keane - nah
Pete Doherty - BINGO!

Yep, Mr Doherty was today fined 750 quid for the truly moronic crime of being found with four grams of smack in his coat pocket during his last court appearance, which was for a dangerous driving charge. Now I know it may seem like Doherty is a constant visitor to courts up and down the land but, fair's fair, he managed over a month this time, as the court appearance he got arrested at was way back on December 21st. In fact, so unused to being in court is Doherty that he forgot to turn up to Gloucester Magistrates Court until 40 minutes after he was due to. A fine effort, I'm sure you'll agree.

District Judge Joti Bopa Rai questioned the motives behind the whole incident, saying: "Either this was sheer stupidity or a ploy to get more publicity." In fairness, he'd need to actually make a record worth buying (for the first time in 8 years) for it to be a publicity stunt, so we're going to plump for the rank monginess option. Oh, and as if to prove the point, it turns out he has yet to pay the 2 grand fine from the initial court appearance. Doherty claimed that he assumed his accountant would pay, but Judge Bopa Rai was having none of it, and ordered Doherty to pay it immediately. What a complete and utter doofus.

Now, I've loved - by which I mean I will one day marry her - Hope Sandoval for many a year. Her breathy, sultry vocal style makes her the perfect hired gun vocalist (her turn on the new Massive Attack album is truly beautiful - review coming tomorrow), and she's a decent songwriter in her own right. Her band, Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions have announced a one off gig at London's Bush Hall on May 27th. Annoyingly this is to tie in with their appearance at the Matt Groening-curated ATP Festival which takes place at Butlins in Minehead. This is annoying because Flashlight are going to the Pavement ATP, which thus far (The Fall, Faust and obviously Pavement themselves apart) is not looking exactly star studded.

In fact, even worse, Spiritualized have also been added to Groening's bill, playing another one of their mesmerising Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space sets. The Stooges are also set to play. All of which makes us think that Pavement, while a brilliant band, are not very good at curating, as all these bands would probably have agreed to play the following weekend if asked. Gits. Anyway, till next time..