It’s safe to say that Pope Benedict didn’t curate the Vatican’s new MySpace celebrity playlist (I mean, U2 would’ve totally been on there), but Vatican City clearly houses at least one DJ with eclectic tastes. To celebrate the launch of MySpace Music in the UK, the social networking site posted celebrity playlists by a handful of actual, human celebrities (Nelly Furtado, etc.), plus one curated by a city-state.

Sure, Mozart made the cut, as did “Advocata Nostra” from the Pope’s first solo album (seriously), but then things get interesting: Fleet Foxes’ “He Doesn’t Know Why,” Muse’s recent hit “Uprising,” and Tupac’s “Changes” are listed, as well. Tupac’s classic song about gang life and police brutality is labeled “explicit,” but I’m still a bit surprised the Holy See had the guts to endorse gangsta rap.

Here’s how they explain their choices:

Talk radio host and Fox News personality Glenn Beck revealed his inner Muse fanboy today on the radio by praising their new album, The Resistance, for allegedly depicting the political landscape in the same way he sees it. Actually, Beck also tweeted about the band a few weeks back, saying, “These guys are right on the money. Lyrics on target, talent off the charts. They ‘get it’. Libertarian!”

***Update: Glenn Beck now claims he was joking about the whole thing and has retracted his Muse retraction. You can listen to him rant about bloggers, etc. here.

The radio show raves must’ve been the final straw, however, as minutes after Beck went off on his new favorite band, he announced: “Uh, just got an email from the representation of Muse. They would like me to retract my endorsement. [laughter] My apologies to Muse for saying that I like them. I didn’t mean to destroy all their credibility.”

Listen to it all go down below (via Media Matters):

TwenytFourBit’s going on an interstate road trip for most of today, but here are a few bits to enjoy until we get back online.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt announced the band will go on hiatus after their current U.S. tour. “You never know,” he said. “This could be be the last tour. We do every show like it’s our last show anyway.” More details and (final?) tour dates over at Consequence of Sound.

Lily Allen’s MySpace blog post on file sharing, which calls out Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, and others, is causing quite a stir in the UK. Now Patrick Wolf has posted a response and Muse’s Matt Bellamy has emailed his thoughts to Allen, which she promptly posted.

The Daily Swarm found this interesting bit: Jay Farrar recorded his own version of Mermaid Avenue, “original music based on unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics at the behest of his daughter.” You know, the record that Wilco already made. What’s more, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James is also on the to-be-announced LP.

The Pavement reunion is not only confirmed, but guitarist Scott Kannberg is now talking. “It’s not gonna be like Echo and the Bunnymen, where they don’t talk to each other, yet they tour every year,” he tells Rolling Stone.

That’s my favorite stuff for today so far. Provided there are no car breakdowns, high speed police chases, or mishaps on the road, we’ll be back shortly.