Photo: Fusco/Getty

The Roots are counting their blessings after a serious accident destroyed their tour bus. 

En route to Paris late Wednesday night, their double-decker bus did a 360 in the middle of the highway and slid off the road. 

According to ?uestlove's thorough blog post about the incident, it was truly horrifying.

"I just wanted someone to calmly tell me the weight of my body was NOT going to push us down a mountainside," he wrote. "Then i wanted assurance that the bus was NOT going to explode."

Thankfully, everyone involved is okay. 

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Remember the 1992 MTV VMAs where Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic tossed his bass way the eff up in the air only to have it come crashing down on his head?

Sad. Funny.

In his column in Seattle Weekly, Krist relives that fateful day.

A few nugglets:

-- Axl Rose was annoyed when Courtney Love, sitting with Kurt Cobain and baby daughter Frances, called out to him as he walked by, telling him that he "is the godfather" of the baby. Axl went up to Kurt and told him to "keep his woman in line." (Hence the incessant "Hi, Axl!" shouts from Dave Grohl after the song.)

-- MTV reps did not want Nirvana to play "Rape Me," which is the only song Kurt wanted to play. A compromise was made, and the band played the first few bars of "Rape Me" and went into "Lithium" after that.

-- Krist threw the bass guitar partly due to the horrendous sound coming form the shitty amp he was using, partly because it's a pretty cool stage trick, but also out of pure frustration. 

-- Turns out he was faking the whole injury. He wasn't in much pain, and he was acting when he stumbled off stage. In his words, "I faked like I was knocked out, perhaps expressing my inner torment over a taxing evening."

-- A few minutes later, donning a small bandage, Novoselic was sipping champagne with Queen guitarist Brian May.

Here's video from the carnage.

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Photo: Matt Calabrese/Bravo

Next Wednesday, Foo Fighters will make a special appearance on the Bravo culinary extravaganza, Top Chef!

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Need we say more? 

Check out this amazing track, "The Mountain," from the Heartless Bastards. 

Erika Wennerstrom is the genius behind the Bastards, which she formed a few years back in Ohio. She recently moved to Austin, Texas, where she recorded an album (also called The Mountain) with producer Mike McCarthy, who's done amazing work with Trail of Dead and Spoon. The album is out next February, but dig this in the meantime.

"Well, thank you," Erika said in her southern drawl, when we called her this afternoon to tell her how much we loved the song. "I'm really happy with how that one came out."

Heartless Bastards: "The Mountain"

Photo: Cortez/AFP/Getty

The Smashing Pumpkins played  the Chicago Theater on Tuesday night, with classic cuts like "Tonight, Tonight" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" as well as newer tracks like "G.L.O.W." and even a few covers, including the Searchers' "Everybody Come Clap" and Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun."  

Journalist Greg Kot wrote in the Chicago Tribune: "For part of the 2 ½-hour show, he kept up his end of the deal with original Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin at his back, and an assortment of replacement Pumpkins and backing musicians --- a nine-piece band in all – playing with a road-tested roar that was spirited, lacerating, goofy and indulgent, sometimes all at once.

"And then it all ended in deflating weirdness, with Corgan ranting on the microphone while the crowd filtered out wondering what happened. After a rousing first half, the momentum ebbed and flowed, and then finally nosedived."

In the end, Billy Corgan ranted into the mic. "Why are you upset with us?" Corgan asked. "It's 'cause we don't do what you want us to do… We don't know what the fuck you want from us."

Let us tell you, Billy, what the fuck we want:

1) We want a few songs from Gish. How about "I Am One," "Rhinoceros" and "Bury Me" -- songs that remind us what a brilliant album that was. 

2) We want a few guilty pleasures from Siamese Dream, like "Soma," "Hummer" and, say, "Cherub Rock."

3) We want all 11 minutes and 1 second of "Starla," from Pisces Iscariot -- the greatest Pumpkins song ever.

4) We want you to play more hits from Mellon Collie. Why not "1979" and "Zero"?

When you play songs that people actually know and enjoy, then you have the opportunity to stretch out and perform new songs and deep covers. 

When you play new songs that no one's ever heard, songs that are half-baked and pale in comparison to your catalog of brilliant work, no one will pay attention.

If you can't wait two days, or you don't live near a Best Buy, you can now listen to Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy in its entirety on their MySpace.

Enjoy.  

Photo: Loud/Getty

In a recent interview Ryan Adams ill-spiritedly bashes both R.E.M. and the Killers!

And it's pretty hilarious. The reporter from the U.K.'s Guardian simply recited famous lyrics that happen to be questions, and Adams runs with them. 

Question: What's the frequency, Kenneth?

Ryan: I mean, seriously, who is Kenneth? The answer should be, "Hey Michael [Stipe], what would happen if you sat down and actually thought this shit out for 10 minutes?" I mean, no offense but there's a slight difference between Monster and Fables Of The Reconstruction and we all know what that is; it's a level of giving a fuck. $80m will do that to anyone who has a credit card and access to a Barney's. I have seen the band since and I say all this as a fan, by the way.

Question: When will I be famous? [This is from the 1988 hit by BROS]

Ryan: If you're lucky, never! Fame is an unnatural construct and those who go in search of it are the least likely to find it. I mean, really, does anyone want to sit through a show by the Killers? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unfortunately with the exception of the Killers.

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In a touching post on his blog, Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus writes about the recent tragedies that have struck the Blink universe. There was the passing of their longtime producer, Jerry Finn, followed by the horrendous plane crash that killed friends Chris Baker and Charles "Che" Still and left ex-Blink drummer Travis Barker with extensive burns.

According to Hoppus, the horrible events from the last two months have brought the three members of Blink-182 together again, after nearly four years of "not talking." In his blog posting, he hints at the possibility of a reunion.

"Tom, travis, and i have all spoken together. first through a number of phone calls, and then a couple of weeks ago we all hung out for a few hours. they’ve all been great, very positive conversations. we’re just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking. it’s a good thing. obviously the first question for a lot of people will be 'does this mean a blink-182 reunion?' the answer is none of us know. we haven’t talked about it at all. right now it’s just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect, and let the past be the past. the events of the past two months supersede everything that happened before. life is too short."

We're glad that the trio has reconnected as friends, but please never play again. It was bad enough when it happened the first time, and because of Blink's success we're now stuck with people like Avril Lavigne.

We rest our case.

Photo: Getty

This news should come as a surprise to everyone who loves Coldplay, hates Coldplay, hates to love Coldplay and loves to hate Coldplay.

NME reports that Chris Martin has announced that Coldplay will break up once their 2009 is over. 

Martin allegedly said he feels bands should quit before they get too old. 

"I'm 31 now and I don't think that bands should keep going past 33," he said. "So, we're trying to pack in as much as possible. Up until the end of next year, we'll just go for it in every sense.

"I don't believe in time off. We've still got most of our hair, we can still fit into our musical trousers and we've got to make the most of that."

Do you care that Coldplay might call it quits? Do you think Martin is lying? Or do you not give a flying shit?

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Photo: Retna

If he hadn't died in 1971, December 8th may have been Jim Morrison's 65th birthday.

Now, to celebrate the non-occasion, Los Angeles radio station KLOS will host a special broadcast at Morrison's former hang out, the West Hollywood dive bar Barney's Beanery. 

On hand for the event will be former Doors Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, who will autograph copies of the Doors newly released double-disc, Live At The Matrix 1967. 

But it's the unveiling of the pee-pee plaque that is most exciting! 

Morrison was once ejected from Barney's for urinating ON the bar. Now, the bar will memorialize that event by placing a plaque in the exact spot the alleged urination occurred.

"I'm hoping Ray's incredibly sharp memory will help us locate it," says Barney's co-owner David Houston. "Wherever he says it happened, that's where we'll put it up."

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