Amy Winehouse is back in the headlines, but this time it’s nothing too scandalous, although it probably has the head honchos at Island Records pulling their hair out. Wino was set to take a trip to the Bahamas to begin recording her follow up LP to Back In Black with famed producer Saleem Remi, but backed out at the last second, according to The Sun:

“It was a very expensive trip and it was hoped they would make some decent progress recording the album. But Amy pulled out at the last minute.

The album was planned for late 2008, but her label is now privately admitting it’s unlikely to happen until 2009” The Sun.

In other news, Amy Winehouse has also reportedly developed a new addiction, ironing. The instinctively addicted Wino apparently can’t stop ironing anything she can get her hands on, smoothing out everything from towels to scarves and sheets. I guess we should be thankful that this time around Wino can get her fix without the use of white-lines, prison or needles.

One of my shitty bands got the chance to share the stage yesterday with a couple slightly less shitty bands, the surprisingly badass Phantom Planet and a band I’d never really heard of called Takota. I don’t think anyone else had really heard of them either, but I get the feeling that’s about to change: they’re second disc, Just Before Morning is set to come out on Island Records later this year and if it’s anything like their live set, its gonna be filled with epic vocal hooks ( ala Dredg ) set atop guitar-driven midtempo pop rock, with a little synth grandeur added in for good measure. Someone told me they sounded like the Scorpions gone modern emo, which might sound like a dig, but if you know shit about epic ’80s ballads you know the Scorpions are on point. Anyways, since they’re on some major label bullshit they only have brief clips of some songs on their Myspace but you can get a pretty good gauge of what the band is all about regardless. If you’re on the east coast you can also check them out on tour with Third Eye Blind next month. Oh and if yourre wondering who the sore thumb dude is in the above picture (for those too obtuse for old adages, sore thumb as in sticking out) he’s not just some random old dude who slapped on an H&M sweater to try to look more croosh, he’s Justin, one of the old drummers from Reel Big Fish. That’s cred.

Amy Winehouse preforms Love is a Losing Game at the Island Records showcase at SXSW on Friday.