According to a poll at online music store MusicMagpie.co.uk. Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album has the most iconic cover artwork of all time.

The poll, which is made up exclusively of rock and indie artists, also features albums from David Bowie and Paul Weller.

The cover art for Joy Division's debut album was created by Peter Saville in 1979 based on an image guitarist Bernard Sumner saw in an astronomy encyclopedia. The art, white lines across a black background, represents 100 pulses caused by the collapse of a star.

The top ten iconic album covers are:

1. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
2. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
3. The Beatles - Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
4. The Smiths - Meat is Murder
5. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
6. The Beatles - Abbey Road
7. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
8. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
9. Paul Weller - Stanley Road
10. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks

You've got to love a woman who has a great sense of humor. Take M.I.A. for example. It's been known that she had to cancel some shows while promoting her previous album, Arular, and had to sacrifice working with the likes of Missy Elliott and Timbaland as her current album, Kala, was being conceived due to Maya's association to the Tamil Tigers (she is the daughter of Tamil activist-turned militant Arul Pragasam).  Apparently, Homeland Security had flagged her as a potential threat due to said association.

Is it a stretch to think that the title of this EP is her way of giving the finger to Big Brother? Maybe?

Here's the track list of the Paper Planes: Homeland Security Remixes EP which was officially released today:

1. Paper Planes - Blaqstarr Remix feat. Rye Rye & Afrikan Boy

2. Paper Planes - Remix For The Children by Adrock

4. Paper Planes - DFA Remix

5. Papre Planes - Scottie Boy Remix

I've been fortunate enough to hear most of these tracks in one way or the other but the one remix that I think stands out is the one that created by DFA. Diplo's sample of The Clash's Straight To Hell may be gone but in typical DFA fashion the beat if freaked up enough that it does not have to compete that hard with the original version because the track stands out as a variant. A real remix in my book.

What can I say about the man, the myth, the legend Diplo that hasn’t already been said (or blogged) about? The man is is a busy, busy person this time of the year as he has just been added to perform in this year’s South by Southwest music festival. He is one among 3,498,013 other acts that you can catch in this incarnation of the ever popular (and growing) event.

So you said you can’t make it down to Austin to catch the dude, eh? No problem, along the way he’ll be on tour with The Spinal Tap of electronic music Justice as they zig-zag their way through  America from 3/19/08 (Detroit’s Royal Oak Music Theater) until 3/31/08 (The Mayan in Los Angeles).

As a parting shot I give you this. I’ve been thoroughly digging the new Hot Chip album Made In The Dark, and this track was the D- side, double vinyl, limited press for Ready For The Floor. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have!

With Radiohead’s In Rainbows breaking the mold of cutting off the middleman in order for their music to get out to the masses Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor is following suit with his new project Ghosts I – IV.

Get it here.