Geoffrey O’Connor, frontman for Australian indie pop band Crayon Fields, released his debut record under his own name this week with Vanity Is Forever, a dark and sexy collection of new romantic pop reminiscent of Bryan Ferry and later-period Roxy Music. It’s gorgeous stuff, and tonight he’ll play it at Hollywood Forever Cemetery alongside Swedish songsmith Jens Lekman at 8 p.m. I took a minute to chat with O’Connor about his music upbringing and influences — surprise, it’s not all ’80s all the time!

PST: Can you tell me a little bit about your musical background up until releasing Vanity Is Forever?

O’Connor: I’ve been writing and recording songs since high school, which is when I started playing with Crayon Fields — we are now working on album number three. I released a solo record in 2007 as Sly Hats, but then decided to drop the name for the one my mother gave me.

PST: What are some of the influences, musical or otherwise, that got you making the music that appears on this album?

O’Connor: Classics like Fleetwood Mac, Lou Reed and Dory Previn are the first musical influences that come to mind. I work in a cinema and get to see a lot of free movies — often there will be a memorable scene or quote that will trigger a song idea, even in the ones I don’t like.

PST: I definitely hear a cinematic quality to your music. Have you or would you consider scoring a film?

This time last year on a Saturday morning in Sydney, Australia Laurie Anderson led a small but powerful four piece music ensemble in an outdoor concert by the Sydney Opera House for dogs and their owners. But the unique concert was less for humans and primarily music for the dogs (approximately a thousand in all in all sizes and breeds) in attendance since it was a “high-frequency concert” with sounds and frequencies that were geared for dogs' hearing ranges.

As you can see from the three video clips below some dogs liked the sounds a lot while others appeared to find them discomforting. But all reacted somehow and mostly in a positive & peaceful fashion. And as Anderson notes with pleasant surprise in one of the clips below following the 20 minute concert "There were no dog fights!"  Anderson, who was accompanied to Sydney by husband Lou Reed who did not perform but is seen behind the sound board, also said that the June 5th, 2010 Music For Dogs performance was the best concert that she ever part-took in.

Above is an excerpt from the set that got Lou Reed, John Zorn, and Lauriie Anderson booed onstage and caused unhappy concert goers to walk out on the trio's improv free jazz set Friday (July 2nd) at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Reportedly many ticket holders for the show expected, or were led to believe from the pre-publicity for the festival, that Lou Reed would be playing some of his better known solo songs or some familiar Velvet Underground selections. Hence, when, along with his wife Anderson and avant-garde musician Zorn, he played an all improv set, many in the crowd jeered in disapproval. Others walked out after Zorn, in response to the loud boos plus one attendee shouting "play some real music," told the audience, "If you don't think this is music, you can get the fuck out of here.”

Harsh words? Maybe, but he's absolutely right. Reed even said in a pre-concert interview that they would be playing "100% improvised...non-rock.” Not to mention that it was a jazz festival he was playing at, and his two collaborators were his experimental music artist wife and the king of avant-garde, Zorn.

Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber, and Game each share the experience of having been the targets of fake death hoaxes. Early this Monday morning rumors began circulating on various websites that rap star Game (pictured left & formerly known as The Game) had been shot and killed. In actuality, he hadn't, but these false rumors spread so rapidly that within hours the rapper's management had to issue a statement to dispel the untrue report. So, too, did the very much alive and well rap artist, who was in Sacramento Monday, when he tweeted, "If u gone [sic] spread rumors, b more creative. Say, I had a fight wit the Toy Story cast or sumn & it turned fatal ha ha.." But the ever shrewd rapper took it a step further by utilizing the incident as a prime opportunity to promote his forthcoming album. "My funeral is 8-24-10 @ da nearest Best Buy," he tweeted @ihategame.

While Game had one rumor of his apparent death, pop star Justin Bieber has been plagued by them. The sixteen year old Canadian singing sensation has been falsely pronounced dead a total of five times in the past year (all internet generated hoaxes), most recently on June 10th. 

The famous, urban legend scale "Paul is dead" celebrity death hoax about the supposed passing of Paul McCartney, began in 1969 with a claim that the Beatle had died a few years earlier in a car crash and had been replaced by a sound-alike/look-alike. Proof of his passing supposedly could be found by playing certain Beatles records backwards or analyzing various Beatles album art. "Paul is dead" was not only one of the most well constructed death hoaxes but also one of the most widely repeated (and believed) hoaxes in pop history.