LINKS: GIRLS ALOUD CHEMISTRY GOES POP

Somewhat sad (as sad as pop music can be, I guess) news today as Girls Aloud, performers of one of last year's best singles, "Biology", can't seem to keep it together. Also features on Oneida and the latest edition of Electric Independence. But first, here's what I wrote about "Biology" for last year's ILM singles poll:

I have never seen an episode of American Idol. In fact, I avoid it like the plague. I do my best not to watch any reality TV, so I definitely have never seen any British reality TV. I have no idea who Girls Aloud are (and I probably would have never even heard of them if not for ILM). But I do not care who Girls Aloud are. I don't care what country they're from, or how they got together, or why they're making music, or how many records they've sold. All I want to know is [BUM BUH DA BAH BUM] "WHY DON'T YOU FOOL ME, FEED ME, SAY YOU NEED ME, WITHOUT WICKED GAMES?" And that's kind of the point, innit?

» POP outfit GIRLS ALOUD are to split, I can exclusively reveal.

Girls Aloud for the high jump: The five-piece girl band, who scored two No1 singles and two Top Ten albums, will go their separate ways next year following a string of furious rows.

» Flickr: Photos from DFA Records

DFA Records photolog on flickr

» Oneida: Happy New Year: Pitchfork Record Review

Genre-hopping Brooklynites are all over the place as they inch closer to capturing on record their epic live sound.
» The Many Ideas of Oneida

More confounding innovation from Brooklyn's weirdest and finest

» Only Pick One: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

ILM thread

» The Android You're Looking For: Thom Yorke's The Eraser

Radiohead head broods beautifully but anticlimactically

» Viceland - ELECTRIC INDEPENDENCE

Diskokaine has got to be one of the worst names ever for a record label. Not only is disco spelt incorrectly, but the illegal drug cocaine is clearly referenced, and it is also spelt incorrectly. What kind of example are the people behind Diskokaine...

For those interested, more Girls Aloud reading here.

Also, I've got a new working version of a calendar up on my site, thanks to Upcoming.org, which is a lot nicer to use than Google calendar for my purposes (one of the few times Yahoo beats Google). Add me if you're already an Upcoming member.