M.I.A. is clearly still very, very pissed off with the New York Times, and specifically reporter Lynn Hirschberg. Following last week’s tirade at the journalist, where she posted Hirschberg’s phone number online, M.I.A. has posted audio excerpts of the conversation the two had on her label’s website, along with a new song that takes several stabs at journalist. “You’re a racist, I wouldn’t trust you a bit,” she sings, and wonders, “Why the hell would journalists be thick as thick as shit?” You can hear the song on the site - the page is a bit headache-inducing, but you’ll find the song about halfway down. The row follows the publication of Hirschberg’s article, which was the cover story for the paper’s weekend magazine last week.



The article made a number of accusations against M.I.A., arguably portraying her as a hypocrite and a rabble-rouser. Hirschberg speaks to Sri Lanka Democracy Forum's Ahilan Kardigamar, who suggests that her rhetoric about the Tamil Tigers and the political situation in Sri Lanka is unhelpfully inflammatory: "When Maya does a polarizing interview, it doesn’t help the cause of justice." The accusation doesn't appear to have been put to M.I.A. to answer, which judging by the song she's posted, is something clearly rankles. 

The excerpts that she's posted online also appear to indicate she was misquoted; Hirschberg quotes her as saying, "I'm tired of pop stars who say, 'Give peace a chance.' I'd rather say, 'Give war a chance.' The whole point of going to the Grammys was to say, 'Hey, 50,000 people are gonna die next month, and here's your opportunity to help.' And no one did.'" The tape indicates that she said, "It wasn't just about me, and me getting to the Oscars, or me going to the Grammys. That doesn't mean anything. The whole point of the journey was so you can go, 'Hey, 50,000 people are going to die next month. Here's your opportunity to to help.' And no one did, and they still died. It wasn't about accolades or fame."

The other question, of course, is where the recordings M.I.A.'s posted online came from. Did she secretly record the interview herself? We wouldn't be surprised... Whatever else you say about her, she's nobody's fool.

Wolfmother have cancelled their appearance at next month’s Download Festival in the UK. Festival organisers put out a press release over the weekend, blaming an illness in the band for the cancellation: “We’ve just had a message from the team at the Wolfmother camp, who have been in touch with us to tell us that with great reluctance the band are going to have to pull out of this year’s Download Festival. One of the band is unfortunately sick, and won’t be able to fly out to Donington for their performance on Friday 11 June.” No word on which member is ill, or the nature of the illness. The band will be replaced by Killswitch Engage.

And ultra-successful Byron Bay hardcore exports Parkway Drive announced today that they’ll be releasing a new album next month. The album is called Deep Blue and is due out on Friday 25 June. The band also announced a tour for late September and early October; they play the Riverstage in Brisbane on Wednesday 22 September, Byron Bay High School on Thursday 23 September, the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on Friday 24 September, the Royal Theatre in Canberra on Saturday 25 September, Panthers in Newcastle on Monday 27 September, Festival Hall in Melbourne on Wednesday 29 September, the Hobart Showgrounds on Friday 1 October, Adelaide University Cloisters on Saturday 2 October and Challenge Stadium in Perth on Sunday 3 October. All shows have licensed and all-ages areas available, except for the Byron Bay show which is (obviously) all ages.