Chatterbox: Blindspott pushing into Asia

If we are, as a former PM famously claimed, a part of Asia, it's odd how many bands ignore it. Lotta consumers up there folks, some of them might even like your noise - as Blindspott are discovering. The rowdies are doing a week-long promo in Indonesia and playing a televised gig in Bali for the 10th anniversary of MTV. Their first video, of Room to Breathe, went to number two on local MTV, and the second, of Nil By Mouth, is number five on MTV Sky. After that trip they do the gigs and promo in Sydney and Melbourne, come home for a cup of tea and biscuits, then head back to Indonesia for an eight-date tour before two weeks of promo in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. See, rock'n'roll pays - those are places you pay to go to on your holidays.

SIMON SINGS: Inspired late at night by thoughts of the forthcoming AK03 festival programme, the director Simon Prast was moved to write a song about the event. We feel compelled to reproduce some of the lyrics here: "Your whisper elusive, only rhythm I hear. A sweet pulse so conducive, compelling me near. As closer you're coming, so much closer you get. We'll hunger for nothing, and I'll never forget. From across the oceans, across the seas, awakening emotions, AK03." Spinal Tap were apparently unavailable so Tama Waipara wrote the music and Annie Crummer has recorded it. Regrettably the single is unavailable as yet but Prast is soliciting for record company interest. We here - who collect albums by Paul Holmes and singles by Suzanne Paul - are sincerely hoping he is successful in his solicitations and welcome a whole album of original material of this calibre.

DO I LOOK BIG ON THIS? Image retouching is all the rage: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts have all been retouched for US magazine covers - but pity poor Shakira. Her body was replaced in an ad for Reebok. "Shakira complained about how her body appeared" when she saw a rough draft, a source told the London Evening Standard. Rather than slimming her by photo manipulation, the ad agency "found it was easier to replace her with one of their female employees. Shakira doesn't know yet that it's not her body that appears in the ad." Well, she does now.

ME AND RENEE Z: Actress Renee Zellweger has signed on to play Janis Joplin in a biopic of the gravel-throated singing legend who died of a drug overdose in 1970 at the age of 27 (and was once voted the ugliest man on campus at her Texas high school). Piece of My Heart will start filming after she finishes her current movie, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Guess she won't have to slim down much after Big Bridget for this role.

FAN MALE: The Datsuns have a fan in Metallica's Lars Ulrich, who said recently, "I love The Datsuns, they showed up on my radar about a year ago and I've been a champion of theirs." (Get in line, buddy!) He also seems to want to work with them. "I've been trying to get The Datsuns for months. We have to do something with that band real soon." The Datsuns are in the middle of their European Festival tour and play the Shepherds Bush Empire, London, on Tuesday. Very special support guests will be the Brunettes.

RETURN OF THE DOGS: The soon-to-be-famous Dogs on Prozac are reforming to perform their first gig since the death of bassist Baz Turner, killed in a car crash with his girlfriend Yuki in January. The gig with PanAM on July 25 at Barbarella's in Rotorua will celebrate the release of their EP, Songs For The Soon To Be Dead. .) The six-song EP will be released via their website (dogsonprozac.com) on July 13. The CD will also include an interactive CD-Rom featuring three videos.

NOISE ANNOYS: On July 17 a big line-up which includes Chris Knox, Graham Brazier, Shona Laing, Hammond Gamble, Mahinarangi Tocker and others will be playing a fundraiser for the Temple on Queen St which has so far spent $10,000 fighting off noise complaints from people who have moved in near the venue. With Eddie Rayner, Alistair Riddell and Paul Crowther also appearing, we're looking dangerously close to a Space Waltz/Orb reunion.