When Christina Aguilera enlisted Ladytron to write songs for her upcoming fourth album, 'Light & Darkness,' she could have wielded her diva powers and told the British electro-pop group exactly what she was looking for. Thankfully, that's not what happened. "She just told us she wanted to enter our world," Ladytron multi-instrumentalist Reuben Wu tells Spinner. "She didn't want to give us any idea what she wanted the music to be. She wanted us to do our own thing."

Wu says Aguilera approached the group two years ago and that the surprisingly modest pop star wasn't shy about declaring herself a fan. "She said she was inspired by our music and we were one of her favorite bands," he says. Although Wu and his cohorts -- fellow keyboardist Daniel Hunt and vocalists Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo -- were initially required to remain hush-hush about the project, they couldn't keep their secret from everyone.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, guitarist Joe Perry says that Steven Tyler has quit Aerosmith, supporting recent rumors that the band has been considering replacing its lead singer.

"Steven quit as far as I can tell," Perry told the Sun, speaking from his home in Boston following the band's recent return from a performance in Abu Dhabi. "I don't know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don't know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don't know."

He added that Tyler does not return his phone calls.

Location: The Pink Toothbrush, 19-23 High Street, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7EW

Website: http://www.pinktoothbrush.co.uk/

Capacity: 200-400

Come to see: These days it seems that the Pink Toothbrush has opted for a DJ-only policy with no up and coming gigs listed at the club. There are however a host of bands and celebs spinning a mixture of alternative and indie tunes to an extremely up-for-it crowd on Fridays and Saturdays .

The atmosphere: You'd hope "minty fresh" with its nod to dental hygiene but according to the locals it's anything but. One patron's web testimonial describes the 'Brush in the following affectionate way – "It's dark, it smells and your feet stick to the carpet," and "when the pubs shut 80% of the punters take the short walk up the High Street (via Kebab Hut) to get three extra hours drinking in." Another says it's the, "best club in the area as it plays proper music."

Sasquatch! is, once again, returning to the Pacific Northwest for Memorial Day weekend. No surprise there. There aren't too many other details available yet but the little bit of news that we do have is, actually, huge: Pavement is on the lineup. Yes, that's right. After years of a rumored reunion at Coachella and after a few lucky New York fans thought that they'd get to witness the band's first licks back in Central Park next September, Sasquatch! has pulled off a bit of a coup.

Our money is that the rest of the lineup is going to be pretty killer as usual. And even if it wasn't, Sasquatch! would probably still be worth going to for the scenery alone -- it's held in the belly of Washington's Columbia River Gorge, at one of the most jaw-dropping places in the world where there's a stage, rigging and overpriced concessions: the Gorge.

Paul Preminger, former drummer for the notorious Vancouver-based garage punk band the Smugglers, died of an apparent heart attack on October 27. Preminger -- who co-founded the band in the late 1980's, but left to become a chef in 1992 -- played on the band's early singles, debut EP and compilation tracks.

Smugglers vocalist Grant Lawrence, who doubles as a CBC Radio 3 host, described the kitman in a news interview with Vancouver's Georgia Straight. "[Paul was] a guy that hit the drums hard, and who lived hard," Lawrence said. "He was a Joe Pesci, bulldog kind of a guy, but very smart, very funny and very kind. He was one of those guys who'd sit on the couch and answer every single question on Jeopardy!, and you'd be like, 'What the f---? How does this Bukowski-esque character know all this?'"

Rock troubadour Brendan Benson is letting fans into the inner workings of his creative process with four weekly webisodes on Spinner, in which he talks about his fourth album, 'My Old, Familiar Friend.' In his fourth video, Benson talks about the construction of his songs and how he doesn't always have a clear goal, but usually ends up with something that makes sense:

"Some songs are really concise and conveyed a real, actual feeling or idea, and then there are other songs that just ... sound cool. That's the cool thing about music -- you can leave it kind of vague."