"I farted," Passion Pit keyboardist Ayad Al Adhamy says midway through an interview with Spinner. This is ironic, primarily because it's been seven months since Passion Pit released their full-length debut, 'Manners.' The album was born from frontman Michael Angelakos homemade 2008 'Chunk of Change' EP, a valiant poor man's Valentine's Day gift to his former girlfriend that caught blog wind thanks to the hyper-catchy single 'Sleepyhead.'

There is no denying the Boston-based electro-pop band is on fire. Passion Pit have just completed their second sold-out US tour, which has been coupled with back-to-back trips to the UK and Europe this year alone. That's not too shabby considering Passion Pit has only been playing together for a year and half.

When Jason Boesel went down to Mexico in 2008 with Conor Oberst, his objective was simple: play drums. That's one thing he knew he could do. After all, Boesel had been hitting the skins for Oberst both in Bright Eyes and the Mystic Valley Band and others such as Rilo Kiley for 15 years. But as recording sessions for Oberst's self-titled solo disc unfurled, Oberst increasingly looked to his band for collaborative support, loosening up his role as a solo artist and even giving the group their own name -- the Mystic Valley Band. For Boesel, the experience proved to be cathartic.

"I've learned so much from Conor over the last five years," Boesel tells Spinner. "Being able to observe his songwriting process over the course of a few records has been really inspiring. I've been a big fan of his songs for a long time now. I've always really liked his intense passion for words and what they mean, and how they can mean many things at once."

Over its 15-year history, the Warped Tour has played host to the likes of Bad Religion, Blink-182, Katy Perry, Ice-T, NOFX, No Doubt and on and on. In fact, it's pretty much a rite of passage for every punk band -- and artists who embrace the punk spirit -- to hit the asphalt with Warped at least once.

But even with the literally thousands of acts have played the festival in past, Warped founder Kevin Lyman still has a wish list, albeit a very small one, he'd like to get out there in the future. "Sadly those are mostly bands that people have died in and they'll never be there. Joe Strummer was supposed to do the Warped tour the year he passed away," he tells Spinner, noting that there are still a few living acts he'd hold a spot for. "I don't think it'll ever happen but it'd be interesting to see if the Ting Tings would do good on the Warped tour. I think they'd do fantastic out there. I think the Ting Tings would be awesome on Warped Tour for some reason."

"If you don't send your boyfriend naked pictures then I feel bad for him." --Rihanna

In a recent interview, the uber sexy singer somehow managed to make herself seem even hotter.

Gogol Bordello doesn't need to make their steamrolling brand of gypsy punk any more intense, but if anyone could improve upon their critically acclaimed sound, it's Rick Rubin. The legendary knob-twister lended his magic touch to the wild New York collective's latest, as-yet-untitled album, due out in early 2010. Bordello bassist Tommy T (aka Thomas T. Gobena), who also has a solo album of Ethiopian-flavored music out in November, tells Spinner that their new material is "stronger, more rocking and fierier."

"He's a genius. He's a person who's absolutely confident and absolutely believes his instincts. And that means he's going to bring the best out of you," Gobena says. "His instincts are deadly -- you can see that through his work, many years through many styles."

What's better than Wayne and Garth rocking Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? The Muppets, of course. Henson Studio's felt friends have always been willing to rock -- as fans of Weezer's 'Keep Fishin'' video will recall -- but their video parody of the iconic rock tune is ... well, watch for yourself after the jump.

Last month, Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn revealed that he was co-writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of Chuck Klosterman's celebrated book, 'Fargo Rock City.' Now, the singer reveals that he and 'Late Show With David Letterman' writer Tom Ruprecht have finished their version.

"That's been done just for a little bit," Finn tells Spinner. "It was fun to do. At this point it's just a script. I'd love to do something like it again. At this time, I don't know what will happen with the project."

Like many great undertakings, the project started on a whim. "Tom just said 'We should do this,'" Finn says. "He had an idea of a script based on the book and he asked me to help him. We went in and knocked it out, mostly over his break in August. He had a two-week break, so we really pushed hard and then we slept on it for a little bit, like a month then came back and made some changes. I just saw Chuck the other day and he read it and he was happy with it, which was a relief obviously."