Pitchfork reports Crowded House’s Neil Finn, Johnny Marr, Ed O’Brien (Radiohead drummer), Phil Selway, Jeff Tweedy, KT Tunstall, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone and others have formed this supergroup-esque collaborative follow-up to 2001’s 7 Worlds Collide. Unfortunately, Monsters of Folk just announced their record and Dead Weather remains fairly awesome. Too many supergroups in existence at one time will swallow all other non-super bands into a supergroup black hole, but we can look the other way just this once because this one’s a benefit for Oxfam International and not just a publicity stunt or excuse to tour with your bros. It’s also less a supergroup and more Judgement Night-style pairings of famous artists with other famous artists for individual tracks, only instead of rappers pairing up with rockers and our music collections suddenly including a Mudhoney/Sir Mix-A-Lot song, Neil Finn teams up with KT Tunstall and a ton of little kids around the world get to eat.

It was only three weeks ago we reported Jay Bennett’s claim against his former bandmates in Wilco for breach of contract and unpaid artist’s royalties. Now those claims and any disputes between him and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy seem like a distant and irrelevant side note in the story of Bennett’s life. Jay Bennett passed away Sunday morning in Urbana, Illinois. He was 45 years old.
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Join the band. Argue. Make up. Break up. The cycle used to end there, but former Wilco member Jay Bennett is adding a new phase — the law suit. He’s taking Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy to court to recoup money he claims he’s owed from his years in the band.
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