Music News: Winehouse Sings Via Satellite, Neil Young Gives Up, Timbaland’s On the Phone, Beck Admits to Nonsense

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Amy Winehouse, denied a visa to come to the States for the Grammys on Sunday, will appear on the broadcast via satellite from London. Winehouse actually used the phrase “raring to go” in a statement.

Neil Young either got up on the wrong side of the bed, or has given up all hope for the future of mankind. Introducing a film in Berlin on Friday, he told the audience that “the time when music could change the world is past.” Some of us are so cynical we’d make a joke about that time not existing ever, but we got up on the wrong side of the bed, so we don’t really care.

Hello, Timbaland calling: the super-producer has announced a deal with Verizon Wireless to create a “mobile album,” available only on the carrier’s service. And you thought mp3s sounded bad! A Verizon spokesman managed to keep a straight face while calling the deal “a marriage of promotional opportunity and a large distribution platform,” but I bet he was doing something funny with his fingers behind his back.

Beck has confirmed that some of the lyrics on his seminal 1995 album Odelay were “scratch” lyrics, i.e., nonsense meant as a placeholder during the recording process. “We just grew attached to them,” said the singer. So you’re telling me those years I spent on my dissertation trying to parse “mouthwash jukebox gasoline” were a waste?