PLAYING THE WEB

Paula Cole reveals how she learned to sing ''from the crotch up.'' k.d. lang chats about being ''musically promiscuous.'' The singers bare their...souls on the Net home of Sessions at West 54th (www.sessionsatwest54th.com), the new weekly hour-long television series offering musical encounters with pop artists for the post-Beavis and Butt-head set. The site provides atmospheric, downloadable screensavers, QuickTime video highlights from the series, and unaired, behind-the-scenes outtakes from celeb interviews -- including those intriguing Cole and lang snippets from the show's July 5 debut. (Cole learned her lesson by listening to Aretha, she told host and NPR contributor Chris Douridas.) The eclectic roster appearing in upcoming weeks includes a cappella guy Bobby McFerrin, Cuban-American singer-songwriter Nil Lara, folksters Nanci Griffith and Billy Bragg, and art rocker David Byrne. These colorful Sessions present musicians as more than simply talking (or singing) heads.