Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but copy editors, at least in the US, prefer blond, which is the standard spelling for the adjective in all uses and for the noun when applied to males. The only acceptable use of blonde, with that "e" at the end, is as a noun describing a woman with blond (no "e") hair. So let's call the new FRANK OCEAN album BLOND since that's what it actually says on the cover, even if OCEAN himself uses the spelling BLONDE elsewhere. "Blonde (stylized as blond)" is how the hyperliteral editors at WIKIPEDIA put it in their entry on the album. Better is OCEAN's own "I got two versions," uttered during the intro to the album's APPLE-exclusive first video, which can apply to any number of stunts OCEAN has pulled in the past few days. (And which is a better explanation than anything that, say, RYAN LOCHTE had to offer over the weekend. But I digress.) I listened through a few times SUNDAY in less-than-optimal conditions to the APPLE-exclusive streaming version and I have nothing intelligent to say about it yet, and I have questions for anyone who thinks they do (though the phrase "PM DAWN album track" did pop into my head more than once). We've collected the first round of reactions and think pieces on both BLOND and last week's ENDLESS in our REDEF MusicSET BLOND OR BLONDE: REVIEWING FRANK OCEAN, and we'll be adding to it over the coming days... I wish I had a smart insight into why beloved CANADIAN rockers the TRAGICALLY HIP never quite made it in the US, but all I can offer is the obvious, which is that the US pop market is tough to crack and most bands from CANADA (and all other countries, even the ENGLISH-speaking ones) don't. Their farewell show SATURDAY night was all but a CANADIAN national holiday, and it became clear during the encores, reports the TORONTO STAR's NICK PATCH, that cancer-stricken singer GORD DOWNIE didn't want to stop. "Eventually," PATCH writes, "the emotion seemed to be too much for him, and, frankly, for us." Read a couple accounts of the HIP's emotional farewell in our updated MusicSET LAST WALTZES: ARTISTS SAY GOODBYE... Legendary pop manager and convicted felon LOU PEARLMAN, who died FRIDAY, was exactly the kind of guy of whom you could write, in his obit, "every act under PEARLMAN's domain except one (the minor boy band US5) ultimately [sued] him for misrepresentation and fraud," and it wouldn't be close to the worst thing you could say about him. He also was the catalyst behind both the BACKSTREET BOYS and 'NSYNC and therefore, in his own compromised way, one of the most influential businessmen in modern pop. RIP... RIP also to MATT ROBERTS of 3 DOORS DOWN and TOM SEARLE of ARCHITECTS... A huge thank you to COURTNEY E. SMITH and JEN GUYRE, who lent their curatorial ears to MUSICREDEF while I was away the last couple weeks and who, I hope, will be back soon.