WHAT?S this thing about trash talking in urban grooves? There has never been quite like it in our sungura, chimurenga or dendera music. I remember there was once a crop of brilliant musicians in the likes of Biggie Tembo, James Chimombe and the inimitable Leonard Dembo.

When Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts announced nominees for the 2008 Country Music Association Awards Wednesday, there were many surprises. Some were good. Others were bad.

MUSIC: Torontonian electro-soul group Pants and Tie are celebrating the release of their new single, "Washing Machine," with a party tonight at Sneaky Dee's . The single, mixed by Dale Morningstar , will be available on both CD and vinyl at the show.

Patience pays, an adage says, and with a growing interest in world music, contemporary musicians are at last getting their share of limelight.

POP The music reviewer branch of the Eastern Liberal Media Elite has been hailing Brooklyn, N.Y.-based TV On The Radio as the great black-and-white hope - a symbol of all that's creative, forward-thinking and unifying in music today. When exposed to their new