Amy Winehouse drug-possession case

Amy Winehouse wants to reschedule a drug-possession case because she said she wasn't aware of its date.

The "Rehab" singer doesn't want to have to appear in court in Norway on Friday to contest charges of marijuana possession that stem from an October arrest, according to the Associated Press. Winehouse's lawyer contends she never received the letter that informs her of the trial date.

Police say she should have known about the upcoming hearing, whether or not she got the letter.

Black Francis new EP or a mini-LP

Black Francis is ready with an EP or a mini-LP or whatever you call a seven-song set of tunes these days.

The on-again-off-again Pixies singer/guitarist will drop Svn Fngrs March 4 through Cooking Vinyl Records. The seven-song set was recorded by Jason Carter (who also plays drums on the set), and recorded in a six-day whirlwind.

"I won't bother you here with what the damn concept is, but let's just say the theme revolves around a lot of nasty sex, nastier death and beautifully strange birth," Francis said in a statement.

Svn Fngrs' track listing is:

The Seus
Garbage Heap
Half Man
I Sent Away stolen from Averison
Seven Fingers
The Tale of Lonesome Fetter
When They Come to Murder Me

Against Me unreleased song recorded

Against Me is sending an unreleased song recorded the last time it went into the studio to the download companies.

You know what's a good way to make a little extra money between albums? First, you record an album and only slap 10 tracks on it; Against Me called it New Wave (review) (Sire). Make sure not to work too hard to round out the record to a respectable 12 or 13 songs, whatever you do. Then, a little down the line, plop one of the songs that wasn't good enough to make the final cut onto your anemic record onto iTunes and Amazon.com; Against Me is calling it "Gypsy Panther." It arrives on download sites' servers Tuesday if you don't feel too jilted to boycott that cash cow.

Maxim Faking CD Review

Since apparently everyone thinks you should actually listen to an album before reviewing it, Maxim magazine issued an apology for not doing that.

The frat-clown men's magazine got into hot water late last week when The Black Crowes discovered the magazine reviewed its new album despite the fact no promo copies were in existence. When the band called out the magazine for its editorial malfeasance, its representative said it was common for "educated guess previews" to stand in for actual reviews of a record its writers haven't heard yet.

Now, the magazine's flip-flopping on that stance, saying the indiscretion was nothing more than a one-time slip-up.

"It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety," the rag's editor, James Kaminsky, said in a terse statement on the magazine's website. "Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers."

With that settled, Maxim, the music world awaits your apology for Blender.

SIMPLE PLAN FAN COMPETITION

In honor of Simple Plan's new album and SPO's 4 year anniversary, we bring you the SimplePlanOnline.com 2008 Fan Competition! Correctly fill out the 79-clue crossword puzzle by March 15th and you could be the grand prize winner! Why explain the contest when Simple Plan can do it much better...

ONE LUCKY GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE CONTAINS:
# (1) Phone call from Simple Plan (group or random individual member)
# (1) Autographed Simple Plan Limited Edition CD/DVD
# (1) Autographed Simple Plan converse sneakers
# (1) Autographed Simple Plan 8x10 glossy photo
# (2) Simple Plan t-shirts
# (2) Role Model t-shirts
# (1) Limited edition Samsung Simple Plan New Year's Eve t-shirt

ONE LUCKY RUNNER UP PRIZE PACKAGE CONTAINS:
# (1) Autographed "When I'm Gone" CD single
# (1) Autographed Simple Plan 8x10 glossy photo
# (1) Simple Plan t-shirt

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download and print the Crossword Grid and Clues PDF
2. Search SimplePlanOnline.com, SimplePlan.com and the internet to correctly fill in all 79 answers.
3. Fill in your answers and information by downloading the answer form
4. Submit the document via email to contest@simpleplanonline.com

A grand prize winner and runner up will be chosen at random from all correct entries by March 17th.

http://www.simpleplanonline.com/contest/