This 33 1/3 by Scott Tennent is a great read.

Tom Waits is in top form during his acceptance speech into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, wishing aloud that the trophy came in a keychain size. He also calls the induction “encouraging.” Ha. The man is a goldmine of one-liners. This video splices up his speech with two performances and a trip down memory lane. All great stuff. [via About Today]

In an unlikely pairing, David Lynch, the acclaimed director of Eraserehead, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive will join forces with Duran Duran, helming the controls for a live webcast of the band’s concert on March 23rd at 10pm to be held at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. The concert will be streamed via Duran Duran’s YouTube channel. Lynch, who is notorious for baffling both critics and fans with his imagery and unorthodox direction, has issued a statement explaining that the idea “is to try and create, on the fly, layers of images permeating Duran Duran on stage, a world of experimentation and hopefully some happy accidents.” The concert follows the physical release of Duran Duran’s Mark Ronson produced 13th studio album, All You Need Is Now, by one day. [via Twitter]

Well, at least it’s for charity. Michael drenches his voice in so much auto-tune it sounds like a bad joke. A really bad joke. Woof.

Battles has paired down to a three-piece, but the departure of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Tyondai Braxton hasn’t quashed my excitement for the new record, Gloss Drop, one bit. (That album title, by the way, is the win). In fact, as long as Ian Williams is on board, I’m on board. The new record is out June 7th via Warp and is to be followed by an extensive multi-continent tour spanning several months. If you fancy having your mind blown, try these guys live. Later this year the band will help curate ATP‘s Nightmare Before Christmas with Caribou and Les Savy Fav. [via Pitchfork]

Battles’ 2011 Tour Dates:

04-01 Osaka, Japan – Zettai-Mu
04-03 Tokyo, Japan – Sonar Sound
04-07 Rotterdam, Netherlands – Binnenstad
04-08 Rotterdam, Netherlands – Motel Mosaique
04-09 Luxembourg, Luxembourg – Out of the Crowd
04-10 Berlin, Germany – Festsaal Kreuzberg
04-11 Brussels, Belgium – Domino Festival
04-12 Lille, France – Aeronef
04-15 Milan, Italy – Elita Festival
04-20 London, England – ICA
04-26 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
04-27 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge
04-29 Toronto, Ontario – Horseshoe
04-30 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
05-02 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
05-03 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
05-04 Portland, OR – Doug Fir
05-05 Seattle, WA – Crocodile
05-27 Barcelona – Primavera Sound
05-28 Dudingen, Switzerland – Kilbi Festival
05-31 Marseille, France – Espace Julien
06-02 Poitiers, France – Confort Moderne
06-03 Brighton, England – Concorde 2
06-04 Manchester, England – O2 Apollo
06-05 Dublin, Ireland – Forbidden Fruit Festival
06-06 Leeds, England – Cockpit
06-07 Glasgow, Scotland – The Arches
06-10 Dortmund, Germany – FZW
06-11 Munich, Germany – Feierwerk
07-02 London, England – Hyde Park (Wireless Festival)
12-10 Minehead, England – Nightmare Before Christmas ATP

The new Strokes sounds like the old Strokes, which is definitely better than the last Strokes.

George Michael is set to release a cover of New Order’s “True Faith” on March 13, 2011 to raise money for Comic Relief. Seems a bit of a left-field choice for Michael, but New Order’s (ex) own Peter Hook has given his slightly backhanded blessing, saying, “It blew me away when I heard it. Not exactly to my taste, but it did blow me away.” New Order’s original single was released back in 1987- the same year that George Michael stormed the American charts with a slew of hits off his Faith album.