by SHANE SINNOTT

Sometimes I find it hard not to get excited anticipating how crappy something is going to be, which is exactly what happened when it was brought to my attention that Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson are releasing an album of duets in September. Called Break Up, its promoters are trying to sell us on the idea that it will be in the “spirit of Serge Gainsbourg’s 1960s recordings with Brigitte Bardot.” Right. In an attempt to build early hype, you can listen to a stream of the track “Relator” from the album at thebreakupalbum.com. Utterly forgettable, like most things Johansson does.

R. Kelly, meanwhile, has been slowly transitioning into a not-being-on-trial-for-child-pornography existence by announcing his first official album after that debacle. In an either clever or douche-y move, depending on your perspective, it’s called Untitled. To keep you busy while you’re waiting, he’s released a mixtape called The Demo Tape. You can listen to the whole thing over at imeem.com by following this link: tinyurl.com/pbgvk5. If you don’t have a membership, you’ll have to get one, but it’s free and well worth it to hear the predictably sex-obsessed songs. Women all over the world must be swooning at the thought of Kelly “going under” till they “shake like a horror movie.”

Yo La Tengo announced this week that they will release their first record since 2006, called—this must be the week of smart-assed album titles—Popular Songs. Matador is offering a free download of the track “Periodically Double or Triple,” which is one of the most Booker T. & the MGs-influenced things I’ve ever heard. Download it at tinyurl.com/pljqpo.

Anyone who followed the Conference Board story I wrote about last week—the report calling Canada the “file-swapping capital”—will know that it turned into a big debacle. It made national news (tinyurl.com/r9lgtu) because it was not only wrong, but plagiarized as well. It all culminated in this gem: the board pulling the reports because they didn’t “follow research standards”: tinyurl.com/lp9zvc.