Jarvis Cocker, the former frontman of the British band Pulp, was the 1990s poet of seedy nightclubs. His pop music gems often featured him leering from the shadows and his songs were creepy and intoxicating.

He's back with a new solo album and his music is as inspired as ever. Though he may be more interested in glam-rock foot-stompers now rather than voyeurism and debauchery, his dark side (and his song-writing chops) are still alive.

But if you really want to get close to Jarvis, turn down the music and turn on his podcasts — or Jarvcasts, as he calls them. (Find them on his MySpace page: http://myspace.com/jarvspace or on iTunes.) They're stripped-down affairs: no rants, no high-production, no music. Just Jarvis reading a story.

One episode features him reciting J.D. Salinger's "The Laughing Man;" another stars a 19th century Danish fairy tale; another showcases the Brothers Grimm's "The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage."

They're dark, whimsical, and wickedly smart — much like Cocker's lyrics.

His dark-molasses voice, his English accent and his sense of theater make him a terrific storyteller — a good thing since some of his podcasts are 45 minutes long. They're small examples of the weird serendipity that is the Internet at its best.

Cocker may be a creepy candidate to read bedtime stories — who knows where that mouth has been? But give in. How often does a rock star offer to read to you?

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Sam Dolnick does not have an English accent.

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