This week the WB's "Smallville" soundtrack offers up some super music: Weezer's "Island in the Sun," the Flaming Lips' "Fight Test," Ryan Adams' "Nuclear" and Phantom Planet's "Lonely Day."

Former Verve man Richard Ashcroft releases his second solo album, Human Conditions, which finds the morose musician introspective as usual and also dabbling in some existential contemplation on such songs as "Lord I've Been Trying" and "Paradise."

Cheeky electro group Fischerspooner consider their album #1. The LP includes the breakout single "Emerge" and a cover of Wire's "The 15th." The Minus 5's Down With Wilco, meanwhile, was recorded around the same time as Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and features all four members of Wilco as well as R.E.M.'s Peter Buck.

Peanut Butter Wolf's Badmeaningood Vol. 3 has remixes of Grandmaster Flash, Human League and Iron Butterfly, while Roc-a-Fella rapper Freeway, known for the single "Roc the Mic" and cameos on Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2, finally releases his long-awaited Philadelphia Freeway featuring "What We Do."

And now what we do is list the rest of this week's releases ...

Out Tuesday, February 25:

• A18 - Forever After Nothing (Victory)
• Mindi Abair - It Just Happens That Way (Universal)
• Alpinestars - White Noise (Astralwerks)
• Scott Amendola Band - Cry (Cryptogramophone)
• American Hi-Fi - The Art of Losing (Island)
  Read: "American Hi-Fi Master Art Of Losing, Art Of Partying"
• Eric Andersen - Beat Avenue (two CDs, Appleseed Recordings)
• Richard Ashcroft - Human Conditions (Virgin)
• Audio Adrenaline - Worldwide (ForeFront)
• B3 Bombers - Live at the Green Mill (Alltribe)
• A Band of Bees - Sunshine Hit Me (Wall of Sound/Astralwerks)
• Doyle Bramhall - Fitchburg Street (Yep Roc)
• Burrito Deluxe - Georgia Peach (Lamon)
• Calavera - Tequilamatic (CBM)
• Communiqué - A Crescent Honeymoon (EP, Lookout!)
• Count the Stars - Never Be Taken Alive (Victory)
• Evan Dando - Baby I'm Bored (Generic)
• The D.O.C. - Deuce (Red Urban)
• David Darling - The Tao of the Cello (Hearts of Space/Valley Entertainment)
• Jesse Davis - The Setup (Alltribe)
• Dirty - Keep It Pimp & Gangsta (Universal)
• Vikter Duplaix - International Affairs (Hollywood)
• Echoboy - Giraffe (Mute)
• Essence - Mariposa (O.R. Music)
• Terry Evans - Live Like a Hurricane (AudioQuest/Valley Entertainment)
• George Fenton - "Sweet Home Alabama" score (Hollywood)
• Fischerspooner - #1 (Capitol)
• Freeway - Philadelphia Freeway (Def Jam)
• Funky Meters - Fiyo at the Fillmore Vol. 1 (Varese)
• Donald Glaude - Mixed Live 2nd Session (Moonshine Music)
• Peter Green Splinter Group - Reaching the Cold 100 (Eagle)
• Eileen Ivers - Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul (Koch)
• Juggaknots - Clear Blue Skies (Third Earth)
• Kem - Kemistry (Motown)
• Jeannie Kendall - Jeannie Kendall (Rounder)
• Jay Klum - Home Cookin' (Alltribe)
• Little Brother - The Listening (ABB)
• Lo Fidelity Allstars - Abstract Funk Theory (Obsessive)
• Lyle Lovett - Smile (MCA)
• Mae - Destination: Beautiful (Tooth & Nail)
• Tak Matsumoto - Hana (Favored Nations)
• Edwin McCain - The Austin Sessions (ATC)
• Maureen McGovern - Music Never Ends: The Lyrics of Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Varese)
• Memento - Beginnings (Columbia)
• Cory Morrow - Full Exposure (Write On)
• Mountaineers - Mountaineers (EP, Mute)
• Movielife - Forty Hour Train Back to Penn (MCA)
• Murder 1 - On High (Music Cartel)
• The Music - The Music (Capitol)
• Sevara Nazarkhan - Yol Bolsin (Real World)
• The Notwist - Neon Golden (Domino)
• Orchestre National de Jazz - Charmediterraneen (ECM)
• Paper Lions - The Symptom and the Sick (Kindercore)
• Peace 586 - Generations (Uprok/Tooth & Nail)
• Peanut Butter Wolf - Badmeaningood 3 (Ultimate Dilemma)
• Rachel Portman - "Nicholas Nickleby" score (Varese)
• The Rocket Summer - Calendar Days (Militia Group)
• Rockin' Highliners - Sputnik Cafe (Severn)
• Rufio - Rufio (EP, Nitro)
• Brady Seals - Thompson Street (Image Entertainment)
• Adrian Sherwood - Never Trust a Hippy (Real World)
• Slide Hampton - Spirit of the Horn (Manchester Craftsmen's Guild)
• DJ Smash - Phonography No. 2 (Blue Note)
• Soul Embraced - Immune (Tooth & Nail)
• Spyro Gyra - Original Cinema (Heads Up)
• Summon - And the Blood Runs Black (Napalm)
• John Surman With Jack DeJohnette - Free and Equal (ECM)
• Swingin' Utters - Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass and Bones (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown (Red Ink)
• Tosca - Dehli 9 (two CDs, Studio K7)
• Steve Turre - One 4 J: Paying Homage to J.J. Johnson (Telarc Jazz)
• Wilco & Minus 5 - Down With Wilco (Yep Roc)
• David Wilcox - Into the Mystery (What Are Records)
• Willie and Lobo - Manana (Narada World)
• Zao - All Else Failed (Tooth & Nail)
• Various artists - All Together Now (Music for Little People)
• Various artists - Covered in Filth - A Tribute to Cradle of Filth (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Down & Out With the Dolls(Lakeshore)
• Various artists - Songs From the Material World: A Tribute to George Harrison (Koch)
• Various artists - Kloned and Remixed - A Tribute to Korn (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Sky Lounge (Water)
• Various artists - "Smallville" Soundtrack: The Talon Mix (Elektra)
  Read: "Weezer, Ryan Adams, Lifehouse On 'Smallville' Soundtrack"
• Various artists - This Is Electroclash (Hypnotic/Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Tribute to Avril Lavigne (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to Coldplay (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to LeAnn Rimes (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to P.O.D. (Big Eye)
• DVD: Various artists - Punk-O-Rama DVD Vol. 1 (Epitaph)

March 4:

• Cursive - Ugly Organ (Saddle Creek)
• Fabolous - Street Dreams (Elektra)
• Hootie & the Blowfish - Hootie & the Blowfish (Atlantic)
• Lil' Kim - La Bella Mafia (Atlantic)
• Special Goodness - Land Air Sea (Control Group)
• Voivod - Voivod (Navarre)
  Read: "Jason Newsted Says His New Band Can Kick Metallica's Ass"

March 11:

• Various artists - Punk Goes Acoustic (Fearless)

March 18:

• Buzzcocks - Buzzcocks (Merge)

March 25:

• Celine Dion - One Heart (Sony)
• Linkin Park - Meteora (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Linkin Park Discuss Meteora, Plan Surreal Video"

• Fischerspooner
• American Hi-Fi
• Richard Ashcroft
• Freeway
• The Movielife

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft has fallen ill and has rescheduled a North American tour that was set to begin Saturday in Chicago, a spokesperson for the singer said.

Ashcroft released his first solo album, Alone With Everybody, in June. Though the singer broke with the Verve in 1999, Alone With Everybody carries on the grandiose tradition of Verve songs like "The Drugs Don't Work" and "Bitter Sweet Symphony," [RealVideo] from their 1997 album Urban Hymns.

Prior to starting the rescheduled tour at Chicago's Double Door on January 19, Ashcroft will appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman" during the week of January 15, his publicist said.

Richard Ashcroft's rescheduled North American tour dates:

• 1/19 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 1/20 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 1/21 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
• 1/23 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 1/24 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 1/27 - Boston, MA @ Paradise
• 1/28 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 1/29 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 1/31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
• 2/1 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 2/3 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 2/4 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 2/5 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
• 2/5 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
• 2/7 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft has confirmed plans for a 10-date solo tour of North America set to begin on November 4 in Chicago.

For the outing, which is in support of his "Alone With Everybody" solo debut, Ashcroft will adopt the same stripped-down approach to his live sets that he employed for his two "secret" shows in Toronto and New York City in May.

During those two gigs for media and label reps, Ashcroft took to the stage by himself, surrounded only by several acoustic and electric guitars and an amplifier.

Even though he only has eight American shows scheduled, the upcoming gigs will mark Ashcroft's most extensive round of U.S. tour dates since the Verve's 1998 summer tour.

Ashcroft has just issued "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" as the third U.K. single from "Alone With Everybody," and he is slated to launch a European tour on September 20 in Brussels, Belgium.

The schedule for Ashcroft's North American tour:

• 11/4 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 11/5 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
• 11/7 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 11/9 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 11/11 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 11/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater Of Living Arts
• 11/13 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 11/15 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 11/17 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
• 11/18 - Vancouver, BC @ Sonar

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Ev-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft continues to dominate college radio with his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," fueled by the record's second single and video, "Money To Burn."

Ashcroft plans take to the road in Europe and Japan in September and October to support the new album, and while he has yet to announce any planned U.S. tour dates, Ashcroft had shot the "Money To Burn" video during a visit to New York City earlier this year.

According to Ashcroft, who filmed the clip during a rainy morning on Wall Street, the song is about trying to maintain a carefree attitude toward worldly fame and riches, even as others glorify in selling out and cashing in.

"'Money To Burn' is [about] the point where you're either being treated so much like a rock star that you're going to act like one," Ashcroft said, he continued, "these moments in life when money isn't the issue. Y'know, like I've got money to burn, and I'm feeling so good, I just want to burn this sh**.

"And 'money to burn' is also an old English phrase. It might [have the same meaning] over here, saying, 'Oh, who does he think he is? He thinks he's got money to burn, this bloke.' So, there's bit of a twist on it there, but it's really a celebration of life, a celebration of love, mixed in with a big two fingers to all the people who think money is the answer to all our problems." [RealVideo]

Ashcroft has already completed a video for "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)," the next single from "Alone With Everybody," which is set for release in the U.K. on September 11.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Richard Ashcroft, Death In Vegas, Leftfield, and Coldplay are among the artists whose work has been nominated for this year's Technics Mercury Music Prize, one of the U.K.'s most prestigious awards honoring the best and most innovative album of the year.

The twelve nominated albums were announced on Tuesday during a press conference at London's Commonwealth Club, with the winner to receive the Prize during a gala ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on September 12.

Other albums and artists up for the 2000 Mercury Music Prize include The Delgados "The Great Eastern," Helicopter Girl's "How To Steal The World," and MJ Cole's "Sincere."

Following a head-turning performance at this past summer's Glastonbury Festival and the chart-topping debut of its first album, "Parachutes," British oddsmakers have tagged newcomer Coldplay as the early favorite to take the award.

A panel of select music journalists and industry professionals decide upon the winner, with Gomez's "Bring It On" album taking home the award in 1998 followed last year by Talvin Singh's "OK."

For Ashcroft, the nomination for his new solo album, "Alone With Everybody," was almost expected, as his last record with his former group, "Urban Hymns" by The Verve, was also nominated for a Mercury Music Prize,

But as he recently told MTV News, Ashcroft realizes it'll take more than a few awards and some past hits to help bring "Alone With Everybody" to the same number of people who caught on to "Urban Hymns."

"In England, it's a small country, and to be famous in England is completely different to being a kind of cool artist in America, which I actually am now," Ashcroft told MTV News. "I think once the 'Bittersweet Symphony' thing has died down, [the album will] probably go back to the people who bought 'Urban Hymns' when it came out and 'A Northern Soul.'

"I'm comfortable at that level, and I'm also comfortable if the record kicked off by word of mouth and things like this, where people will have a chance to listen to it and open up to it. That's the way the record will kick off, I think, and if it doesn't, I'm right there as well.

"I can go anywhere, really. I can find good in both outcomes. The record could bomb, and I'd be happy, 'cause I made one of the greatest records that ever bombed," [RealVideo] he said, laughing.

The full list of nominees for the 2000 Technics Mercury Music Prize:

• Richard Ashcroft - "Alone With Everybody"
• Badly Drawn Boy - "The Hour Of Bewilderbeast"
• Coldplay - "Parachutes"
• MJ Cole - "Sincere"
• Death In Vegas - "The Contino Sessions"
• Delgados - "The Great Eastern"
• Doves - "Lost Souls"
• Helicopter Girl - "How To Steal The World"
• Leftfield - "Rhythm And Stealth"
• Nicholas Maw - "Violin Concerto"
• Nitin Sawhney - "Beyond Skin"
• Kathryn Williams - "Little Black Numbers"

• Richard Ashcroft
• Coldplay
• Death In Vegas
• The Verve

Richard Ashcroft, the former frontman for The Verve, is set to return to record stores this week with his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," a title lifted from a poem by Charles Bukowski.

The Verve, who scored a huge hit in the U.S. several years back with "Bittersweet Symphony," officially called it quits in April 1999, although Ashcroft says that his solo effort is pretty much a continuation of the sound of the band's final LP, "Urban Hymns."

"What really was clear in my mind," Ashcroft told MTV News, "was that I didn't want to leave what I'd started on 'Urban Hymns,' as far as the production and what I was gonna do with my voice, and the layering of the voices, and infusing gospel and country and blues and all of these styles. You know, bringing instruments out of context and infusing them in a different backdrop.

Ashcroft also said that he and co-producer Chris Potter intentionally layered the voices and instruments on "Alone With Everybody" to such a degree in order to give the album a rich, textured sound that was reminiscent of certain "head music" records of his youth.

"I knew what I was like when I was 17, 18 years old," he said.

"All these different levels that great music should really work on is where I'm at. I'm totally up for experimental music. I'm up for music that they don't play on the radio, and I take in all of it. But my thing, the thing that comes most natural to me, is making the stuff that has a melody, it has a soul to it, yet it's head music. Whatever people may think of it, it's pretty out there as well." [RealVideo]

For more from our interview with Ashcroft, be sure to check out the recent MTV News Online feature, "Richard Ashcroft: Everybody's Talking."

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft is set to release his first solo album, titled "Alone With Everybody," on June 27, and the video for the first single, "A Song For The Lovers," is already drawing raves for its rather unorthodox style -- as well as its striking image of the topless singer.

Ashcroft collaborated on the clip for "A Song For The Lovers" (see "Richard Ashcroft Draws Inspiration From Joy Division") with director Jonathan Glazer, although as he recently told MTV News, he wasn't quite prepared for the state of undress required for the shoot.

"It was a bit bizarre when I turned up," Ashcroft said, "because I had no idea. I thought I was doing it with the top on -- I've said this before -- but no, it was like a 'top-off shoot' kind of thing.

"It's a good laugh, really," Ashcroft said. "It's using the medium well. It's doing everything that I want a good video to do. But the unfortunate thing is that I have to star in it. [Laughs] It'd be great if it was someone else." [RealVideo]

Ashcroft has already shot another video for the track "Money To Burn," which features him walking down Wall Street in the rain, although it's not yet known if "Money To Burn" will be the second U.S. single from "Alone With Everybody."

For more from the MTV News interview with Richard Ashcroft, be sure to check out the online feature, "Richard Ashcroft: Everybody's Talking," premiering here on Friday, June 16.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

• Richard Ashcroft

A little more than a year after formally putting The Verve to rest, Richard Ashcroft is nearing the much-anticipated release of his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," and has already issued the initial single and video from the LP, the sweeping "A Song For The Lovers."

According to the former frontman for The Verve, "A Song For The Lovers" was inspired by his wife, Kate Radley, as well as a certain Joy Division song Ashcroft heard one night while holed up in a seedy U.K. hotel.

"'A Song For The Lovers,' if I look back, it's kind of inspired by my own love affair with Kate and a moment when I was in a hotel room," Ashcroft explained.

"So, that fused a few ideas and I had some chords," he continued, Ashcroft said, paraphrasing the song's lyrics.

"It's just kind of fusing an emotion into a track," he added, "and when the track bursts into its instrumental bit after that rant, that's it. That's the moment for me. I should have put just that on the record, just that one moment." [RealVideo]

While in New York City last week to complete promotional rounds for the new record, Ashcroft shot scenes on Wall Street for his next single and video, "Money To Burn."

"Alone With Everybody" is due in stores on June 27, and Ashcroft is tentatively expected to tour the U.S. following its release.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

The Verve's ex-frontman Richard Ashcroft is getting ready to release his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," on Virgin Records on June 27, and in the meantime he's been getting a crash course in parenting a newborn.

Ashcroft and wife Kate Radley, the former Spiritualized keyboardist who also plays on her husband's new record, gave birth to a boy named Sonny on March 23 (see "Ex-Verve Frontman Richard Ashcroft Fathers Son").

Despite the hectic promotional schedule for his new solo album, Ashcroft told MTV News that he has managed to fit some sleep into his schedule in between changing diapers and minding Sonny.

"I've managed to grab a few hours [of sleep] now and then," Ashcroft said. he said, "and continues to be, on a daily basis, an affirmation of life from the moment I wake up, which is an incredible feeling."

Ashcroft also mentioned that the completion of his "Alone With Everybody" album came at almost the exact same time as Sonny's birth.

"It was almost a race at one point," he said.

"A Song For The Lovers," a track Ashcroft said was inspired, in part, by the Joy Division classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart," is the first single from "Alone With Everybody," and Ashcroft has already lined up "Money To Burn" as the second single from the record.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse, Duffy & More Play Glastonbury Fest

• Amy Winehouse
• Jay-Z
• Richard Ashcroft
• Duffy
• Leonard Cohen