R. writes:

Don't know how new this news is but Morrissey is listed in a music industry database (subscription only) as being signed with Lookout Management in Santa Monica. This database is very reliable - I use it for my job booking concerts in Buffalo, NY.

I don't how long they have been his managers but this is their whole roster of clients...

An anonymous person writes:

In the German-based music magazine "Intro" there's a beautifully written review about the "Under the Influence"-album.

the article can be read online:

Intro review - "Under the Influence"

henke_hp writes:

American "Parasol" is about to give out all 11 records of Swedish band The Bear Quartet including the brand new album "Angry Brigade" (named after British anarchists in the 70's). At Parasol.com Morrissey and Marr is mentioned as an interesting parallel to two of BQ's members.

An excerpt:

"...As they grew and matured their songs became in turns more Beatlesque, Go-Betweens-y, Neil Young-ish, and Smiths-like. The Bear Quartet even have a similarly styled duo: vocalist Mattias Alkberg is a big blond Morrissey in many ways, also one of the finest pop crooners I've ever heard. Likewise, diminutive guitar-slinger Jari Haapalainen (he's so tiny!) is very much Johnny Marr to Mattias' Morrissey, and one of the most expressive and unconventional guitarists you'll ever hear. And while The Bear Quartet's latter albums in my opinion are more accessible and more "pop" they can be equally challenging, as the band's unswerving integrity eclipses their desire for any commercial appeal, because sometimes this band likes to fuck with you, outright. Sometimes for a song, sometimes for half-a-fuckin' album...without apology. And really that just makes their genius and their music all the more human and tangible...so much so that I will may have trouble adequately relating how glorious this band is..."

The whole article here:
http://www.parasol.com/blog/archives/00000109.htm
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Update: 08/15 22:10 GMT: "Angry Brigade" chronology link removed at the request of the story submitter.

Abrahán Garza writes:

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs*
*A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman

On page 44, when speaking of Billy Joel the author writes:

"Every one of Joel's important songs-including the happy ones-are ultimately about loneliness. And it's not the "cleverlonely" (like Morrissey) or "interesting lonely" (like Radiohead); it's "lonely lonely," like the way it feels when you're being hugged by someone and it somehow makes you sadder."

On page 175: "I once did a feature for SPIN magazine that tried to explian why Morrissey has become a cult figure with Latino teenagers in California, and I suggested a variety of explanations for why a forgotten, asexual Oscar Wilde fanatic would resonate with Hispanic kids in East L.A. What I came to realize is that relating to Morrissey is easy for anyone who puts forth the effort to try; Moz sings about universal problems (loneliness, alienation, emotional fraud), and he sings about those problems in a way that's oddly literal. His voice is clear, the meanings can be appreciated on two (and sometimes three) different levels, and you can always hear every thought. He lets you get close to him. I'm more suprised that Latinos are the only kids who still love him."

From Press Release: "From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City -- the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo -- comes Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs -- the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs is ostensibly about movies, sports, television, music, books, video games, and kittens...but, really, it's about us. All of us. As Klosterman realizes late at night, in the moment before he falls asleep, "In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever 'in and of itself.'"

--The book will be released on August 26th, 2003.