The Futureheads made a bold move by releasing This Is Not the World on their own label, Nul Records. However, that might be the boldest thing about it — This Is Not the World often feels like the band’s take on a pop album, full of streamlined, punchy songs that aren’t exactly dumbed-down, but do sound much more straightforward than any of the Futureheads’ earlier music. Trying to keep up with all the harmonies, quick tempo changes, and razor-sharp riffs the band crammed into The Futureheads and News and Tributes was a big part of what made those albums so appealing and rewarding on repeated listens, so This Is Not the World’s simpler approach is a little disappointing.

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Facebook will soon offer concert tickets on the network’s website, courtesy of a new partnership with Live Nation. [Variety.com]

Phoenix, AZ: Sprawling mess of a southwestern city, or rock & roll’s next musical hotbed? [Spinner.com]

M. Ward and doe-eyed actress/singer Zooey Deschanel — the musical duo otherwise known as She & Him — have announced a summer tour. [CMJ.com]

Steven Tyler didn’t enter rehab for substance abuse; rather, he just needed to heal his foot. Limp this way! [People.com]

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Just four days after the passing of legendary television composer Earle Hagen follows the disclosure that Alexander Courage, composer of the famous theme for the series Star Trek, died May 15 in Rancho Mirage. In an uncanny coincidence, both Courage and Hagen were 88 years old. Known as “Sandy” to his friends, Courage was a Philadelphia native who earned his diploma from the Eastman School of Music in 1941; after a stint in the Army Air Corps, he worked as a staff arranger for CBS Radio. In 1948, Courage joined the staff of MGM as an orchestrator and arranger, working mostly on musicals, and several years passed before began to compose original scores. Courage’s first credits were earned on films that no one else wanted to do, such as early rock and roll pictures like Hot Rod Girl (1956). Courage’s score for the western The Left Handed Gun (1959), starring Paul Newman, finally gained some recognition for Courage’s talents within the industry.

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T.I.’s 1000 hours of community service — a precursor to his one-year prison sentence on weapons charges — will be captured in a documentary series for MTV. [AOL.com]

It’s Cookmania! Brand new American Idol David Cook takes over the charts, with 11 of his songs debuting in the Hot 100 and 14 songs on the Hot Digital Songs chart. [Rolling Stone]

Definitive Jux emcee Camu Tao, a member of the MHz crew, lost his two-year battle with lung cancer over the Memorial Day weekend. [HipHopDX.com]

Just like Anthrax guitarist and Battlestar Galactica blogger Scott Ian, former Garbage singer Shirley Manson is getting in on the sci-fi action. She’ll appear on the second season of FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. [Spinner.com]

Yellow Magic Orchestra will reunite for the Massive Attack-curated Meltdown Festival on June 15. [BrooklynVegan.com]

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Sometime around 1992/93, after the rise of alternative rock and before the death of Kurt Cobain, there was a sweetspot in the pop-culture landscape for DIY punk, noise rock and myriad permutations of lo-fi pop. Record buyers turned on by the immediacy of guitar-driven pop songs and still reeling from the shoegaze bender of the early ’90s gravitated toward the grassroots zine and 7″-driven music scene that surrounded punk and indie rock bands at the time. And perhaps no band was sweeter or more lo-fi than Crayon. –>

Jimmy McGriff’s B3 sound was always rooted in blues and gospel, and his soloing could be very smooth and polished. But every once in a while, he had to break out of his own soulbox and tear it up on a session. The Worm, issued on Solid State Records in 1968, is the very first place he did this. This is the first true, all-out funky burner from McGriff, and it sounds very different from most of the other titles on his shelf. Having such a solid band certainly helped; trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Fats Theus (with Bob Ashton on baritone and Danny Turner on alto), alternating drummers Mel Lewis and Grady Tate, bassist Bob Bushnell, and guitarist Thornel Schwartz were all in their prime in 1968.

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Meet Miley Cyrus’ newest fan, Letters to Cleo’s Kay Hanley. [Boston Globe]

Earle Hagen, one of television’s most prominent composers, passed away at age 88. [Idolator]

Madonna can adopt another Malawian child. [CNN]

Take a listen to Jessica Simpson’s new country direction. [WQIK]

First Paul McCartney got an honorary degree, now Bono receives one from Keio University. [Spinner]

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