According to federal agents, rapper T.I. aka Clifford Harris, is in custody for sending his bodyguard and errand boy to purchase machine guns and silencers because T.I. a convicted felon, was unable to purchase them himself - TMZ Kate Hudson and Dax Shepard have broken up, because Kate got bored - Daily News In a hilarious turn of events, Tara Reid, the original party girl herself calls Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan stupid - Page......

+ Rumors of the new Beastie Boys cd being all-instrumental are starting to come beautifully correct - Stereogum + Hey, our favorite Wilshire Blvd. Mason Hall is up for sale - Curbed LA + They put an Effiel Tower in Japan? - The Cobra Snake + Earthlink's plans to make for a wi-fi Anaheim are being foiled by the thickness of the walls in Starbucks; only 72% reliability in the 20 spots that should......

Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case (Jive) J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido (Reprise) The Chelsea Smiles - Thirty Six Hours Later (Acetate) El Goodo - El Goodo (Empyrean) Europe - Secret Society (Sanctuary) The Evens - Get Evens (Dischord) Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (RCA) Josh Groban - Awake (Reprise) Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (Koch) Librarians - Alright Easy Candy......

Grim news about a Southern California staple: Chris Morris, a 103.1 dj, says in the Hollywood Reporter that the nation's largest free-standing record store chain, Tower Records, is in huge financial debt and may not last another year: The amount of money that Tower owes evidently is staggering. One confidential source familiar with Tower's balance sheet put the company's debt to Warner Music Group's distributor WEA Corp. at $20 million. The same source said......

Tuesday is the biggest day of the week for audiophiles. We're like kids in a candy store. In the spirit of that dizzy euphoria, we're launching our weekly guide to what's hot and what's not. Since LAist is an online entity, our primary focus on Tuesdays will be digital downloads. Why? We think digital is the future of music. For instance, Warner Music recently announced plans for a digital label, dubbed Cordless; Apple, Cingular......

According to the press release we've recently dug up from the Grammy Foundation, Warner Music Group chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. will deliver the keynote address at the 7th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Luncheon & Scholarship Presentation on Feb. 11, 2005, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The event begins at 11 a.m. and will feature live performances by special guest artists, in addition to the scholarship presentations. Wonder......