Dlisted — Why didn't Johnny Cash appear in a ring of fire to punch Adam Lambert in the mouth and then burn that "Mad Max gone wrong" jacket over his body?! Adam's performance of "Ring of Fire" made my ring of fire (I'm putting cream on it) throb... more info

MTV.com News — Lambert's 'Ring of Fire' rendition throws judges for a loop.By Gil Kaufman Adam Lambert performs on "American Idol" on Tuesday Photo: Michael Becker/ Getty Images/ Fox Country nights on "American Idol" are often the great equalizer. And Tu... more info

Rolling Stone — American Idol — the show that will honor itself with trading cards (we kid you not) — honored country music last night, bringing in Randy Travis to teach the kids a few things about getting to the Grand Ole Opry. Lesson one: dudes in nail polish ... more info

Guardian Music — Neko Case talks to Leonie Cooper about the ups and downs of being a country singer raised on rockEight years ago, Neko Case played a "plaza party" at the home of country music, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. It didn't go well: partway th... more info

Guardian Music — The trend for bands offering glorified bootlegs of their own gigs ignores why we go in the first place – to construct our own idealised version of a great live experienceFranz Ferdinand are the latest in an increasingly long line of bands offe... more info

Idolator — One of the benefits to surrounding yourself with friends obsessed to a greater or lesser degree with pop culture is that you're rarely lacking for agreeably inane chitchat during late-night bull sessions or trips to the bar. When they're smart people... more info

Idolator — Hey, it's a list! Let's argue about it? Esquire has published an "unranked, incomplete, yet highly tasteful and informative" rundown of 75 long-players that "every man should own" with the usual bite-sized commentary the magazine devotes to these sor... more info

JamBase — ELECTRO POP SURVIVORS TOUR THE UNIVERSE Do you like my clingyspace age shirt? Depeche Mode will begin the North American leg of their "Tour of the Universe" on July 24th in Toronto. With more than 2 million tickets already sold for their Europ... more info

Guardian Music — Few can chronicle the storms of an economically-savaged America better than the BossLast month saw the release of Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, a film set in working-class New Jersey. For the closing track Aronofsky chose seasoned soundtrack artis... more info

Pitchfork — Virgil Griffith is a 25-year-old grad student at Caltech, and in his spare time he makes elaborate charts comparing people's SAT scores to their tastes in music and books. And you know what that means: Caltech grad students have way too much spare t... more info