Mike writes:

This will be the cover of this weekend's Guardian Weekly Guide supplement with article about the Smiths Symposium weekend in Manchester:

Click to enlarge

Simon from The Smyths mentions the band is featured on the cover.
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moderndayphilistine writes:

i was just tucking into my tea, waiting for the news, when all of a sudden 'first of the gang' was playing on the telly. i later discovered that morrissey will be featured on a free cd with this weeks guardian -out on saturday, i think- alongside the likes of depeche mode and new order (ooh how controversial!). i think the track was taken from 'live at earl's court', but i'm not sure. well worth a look at for those who haven't got the album yet.
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Nick also writes:

Live version of the First Of The Gang To Die included with a free CD this Saturday with the Guardian newspaper that all includes tracks by New Order and Embrace.

someraincoatedlovers writes:

from: ChartAttack - Your Canadian Music Source

The full article here.

The relevant part:

Final Fantasy’s Pallett Says Morrissey Should Have Side Projects
Thursday April 21, 2005 @ 01:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

After working on records by The Hidden Cameras, Jim Guthrie, Picastro, The Arcade Fire and Les Mouches in the last two years, you’d think Owen Pallett would be ready to soak up some glory on his own. But the way he talks about Final Fantasy, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be in the spotlight for long.

“It's a side project,” the singer and violinist says of his one-man band. “But then again I've come to realize it's a good idea to treat everything like a side project. I was just reading about Morrissey and how after every Smiths single came out he'd be going on about how they would all be entered into the great pantheon of music.

“And the Smiths are one of my favourite bands, but they're so overrated. I mean, they have like, 10 or 12 great songs and hearing Morrissey natter on about how great a song ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’ is, I mean, if Morrissey had some side projects, he'd feel better about his work.”

sid_sideburn writes:

In the May edition of Musikexpress Germany both the Earls Court CD and the Manchester DVD get fantastic reviews and 5 stars out of 5.

"On his live album, Morrissey sings so good it makes your ears spin (...) this is art in its highest form, with a perfection and a flawlessness that no other singer has." The review also gives the link to morrissey-solo.com.

The Manchester concert is the DVD of the month, described as "magic, hard to put into words (...) he sings like never before (...) people in ecstasy, lip-synching every verse, stretching out to him as if this man could heal them."

Jim Roberts writes:

21st Century Rock by Chuck Klosterman [subscription required]

Excerpt:

People who have real jobs don't listen to contemporary rock music. People who have real jobs watch network TV and go to sleep; that's pretty much their entire social life. A month after Morrissey released Maladjusted in 1997, I called the most intense heterosexual Morrissey fan I knew, and I said, "You know, critics are attacking this record for being sonically maudlin and lyrically lazy, but there are some interesting songs here. It's not as deep as Vauxhall and I , but it's worth buying."

His response: "Morrissey still makes records?"

Hello Indie writes:

New Musical Express have covered a small story of The Smiths symposium. Was really intresting to read. But the funniest part of the story was when they wrote " Morrissey's non-sex life was a myth, in fact he was ment to of been at it, hammering and tounges during the eighties. But people didn't come forward for fear of getting their arses sued ". Hahaha good one Mozza'. :-)

goinghome writes:

In my ongoing relationship with inanimate objects, TV in this case, I caught an interview with Elton John by Sir David Frost that was broadcast on C4 TV on Thurs April 21st.

Recalling prior run-ins between Morrissey and Elton, and Morrissey’s apparent apology for the jibe on his documentary, it was amusing to hear some of Elton’s own jibes. He accused Madonna of miming her songs – lip-syncing; George Michael of wasting his time singing around the house; and Posh Spice of not spending enough time with her husband. ‘Cos he cares, he said, and values loyalty above all: “sometimes tough love is the best”! Still he has publicly been thanked for providing medical advice and support to both Anasthasia and Rufus Wainwright, a bit like Morrissey whose counsel to associates has been recorded as being especially sensible.

He cited his heroes as Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and Nina Simone, and he was received by the Queen in Buckingham Palace on occasion, without the aid of ‘a sponge and a rusty spanner’!

His grand show style and big break in Los Angeles in 1970, now the darling of Las Vegas, plus his views on the decline of musical innovation, particularly in America, and the demise of the live music experience and of a memorable melody, also compare with Morrissey. He agrees that the pauses, what isn’t played, can be more important than the ‘noise’. On his song ‘Rocket Man’, he described it’s depiction of a lonely star amongst adulating strangers who only feels at home and in control on stage.

At age 57, his new album ‘Peach Tree Road’ (where he lives) features a video starring ‘Desperate Housewives’ Teri Hatchard, and a film of his life is under negotiation. His pet project is an Aids Foundation for Africa for which, despite his vocal criticism of the Bush regime, he’s received the blessing of the White House. He’s eschewed alcohol for the last 15 years, and claims he’s his own worst enemy, but ‘why do I have to shut up? – I’m a human being with the same rights as anyone else!’

His favourite type of book is autobiography, so no doubt he’ll be first in line for Moz’ gestating Penguin blockbuster!