Stevie Nicks Can Withstand the Testosterone A Little Longer

Sheryl Crow told Spinner, an AOL music website, earlier this month that she and the members of Fleetwood Mac "definitely have plans for collaborating in the future," apparently implying that Stevie Nicks would like to add a bit more estrogen into the mix. Christine McVie left the band in the late 1990s, making Nicks the group's only female. However, Lindsey Buckingham told Billboard after she made that statement that the members of Fleetwood Mac were all "a little surprised." I'm with Lindsey on this one-if Fleetwood Mac wants another female on board, I feel like they wouldn't be hard pressed to find a better replacement for McVie.

Don't get me wrong, Sheryl Crow has made some worthy contributions to pop music in the past. Tuesday Night Music Club is one of the better pop records of the 90s; belting "Strong Enough" while driving in my car will never get old for me. And as far as I'm concerned, female musicians who continue to write their own music and can hold their own on lead guitar are great. I haven't given Crow's latest effort, Detours, a listen to yet, but her first single sounds like a Jack Johnson rip-off. The chorus of "Love is Free," the first single, repeats "everybody's makin' love because love is free." Last time I checked, things you make yourself are usually free of charge. It seems like Crow is jumping on the neo-hippie bandwagon, and with very little originality. While I am happy to see her return to the formula that made her famous with "All I Wanna Do" and "Strong Enough"- stripped down rock tunes- Detours seems a bit fake. After all, can you really be environmentally and socially conscious and a spokesperson for Revlon at the same time? (Granted, some of the proceeds from her ads are going to charity). While "Love Is Free" aims to bring people together, it really just makes me want to get as far away as possible from people who actually buy that crap. Keep your options open, Fleetwood Mac.

Danger, Gnarles Barkley, Danger!

According to a recent article from Billboard, watching the new Gnarles Barkley music video "Run" is prone to causing epileptic seizures. Apparently, the video failed to pass the Harding Test, a computer program devised by British professor Graham Harding which analyzes the amount of flashing images and pattern types within a video.Because of this, MTV is refusing the air the video on broadcast television, although one can easily find the flashy seizure film on their website (as well as directly below).

Personally, I wasn't even aware that such a standard was applied to television, although I suppose it makes sense, as we wouldn't want the worlds epileptic population seizing every time they watched television. It seems as though Gnarles Barkley's Danger Mouse was also unaware of the measure from the looks of this quote from the Billboard article:

"I don't know exactly what's going on, but we're having issues. I think [the video] is cool. It works for me. But I'm not necessarily that easily seasick," he says with a laugh. "We can't predict how people are going to interpret it."

After watching the video myself, I can say I felt somewhat dizzy, but I'm not sure if it was from the actual patterns or just the corneyness of the imitation Soul Train hosted by good old Justin Timberlake. But don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourself.

UPDATE: Fortunatly, this problem has been resolved, according to Billboard. Everyone may now safely watch the video on television (at least in the UK) without having to worry about spontaneously seizing. Phew...