In honor of Wave of Mutilation, let's sprinkle a little Pixie dust on this week's new releases. The newly reunited Pixies drop their second version of a complete best-of album (Death to the Pixies being the first), highlighting their work from Doolittle, Surfer Rosa, Bossanova and Trompe le Monde, and including special features like rarities, B-sides and cover songs.

Next up, last season's "American Idol" finalist Kimberley Locke releases her album of adult contemporary songs, One Love, featuring the single "8th World Wonder."

Lola Ray say I Don't Know You, but you will know them and their power pop after the release of their debut album on Benji and Joel Madden's DC Flag label. Meanwhile, the Magnetic Fields' I is an album full of songs beginning with the letter "i," and the French Kicks begin The Trial of the Century this week with their pretty, synthy album.

Mission of Burma's Onoffon presents the band's first new music in 22 years, Porno for Pyros guitarist Peter DiStefano releases his solo album Gratitude, and Icarus Line attend a Penance Soiree.

The Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix features unreleased material from Prince, Eric Clapton, and other tracks by Sting, Santana, Lenny Kravitz, Musiq and Cee-Lo.

Finally, considering this will be the third time this album title has been used (first released as individual EPs and now the two combined into a full album), Ryan Adams really, really thinks Love Is Hell. Meanwhile, the equally negative Beta Band go from Heroes to Zeros with the help of Nigel Godrich, and comedian David Cross isn't too confident about his own work either, because his album is called It's Not Funny.

Out Tuesday, May 4:

• Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell (Lost Highway)
  Buy Now: Love Is Hell (Lost Highway)
  
• Atomship - Crash of 47 (Wind-Up)
• The Beta Band - Heroes to Zeros (Astralwerks)
• Big & Rich - Horse of a Different Color (Warner Bros.)
• Black Cat Music - October, November (Lookout!)
• Blueprint Car Crash - Rhetoric of a Marionette (Militia Group)
• Bo-Keys - The Royal Sessions (Yellow Dog)
• Broken Spindles - Fulfilled: Complete (Saddle Creek)
• Buddahead - Crossing the Invisible Line (Sanctuary)
• David Cross - It's Not Funny (Sub Pop)
• Peter DiStefano - Gratitude (Sanctuary)
• The Divine Comedy - Absent Friends (Nettwerk)
• Eliane Elias - Dreamer (Bluebird)
• Amy Farris - Anyway (Yep Roc)
• Flaw - Endangered Species (Republic/Universal)
• Rosie Flores - Single Rose (Durango Rose)
• French Kicks - The Trial of the Century (Star Time International)
• Happiness Factor - Avoid Danger (Paisley Pop)
• Patterson Hood (of Drive-by Truckers) - Killers & Stars (New West)
• The Icarus Line - Penance Soiree (V2)
• Informatik - Re:vision (Metropolis)
• Jackpot - F+ (Surfdog)
• Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Dress Rehearsal (Arista)
• Eyvind Kang - Virginal Co Ordinates (w/Mike Patton) (Ipecac)
• Angélique Kidjo - Oyaya! (Columbia)
• Patti Labelle - Timeless Journey (Def Jam)
• Oliver Lake - Dat Love (Passin' Thru)
• Mark Lane - Golden State of Mind (Orange Deuce)
• James - Last Spring Fling (Eagle Rock)
• Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb)
  Read: "American Idol' Finalist Kimberley Locke Is Radio's '8th Wonder' "
  Buy Now: One Love (Curb)
  
• Lola Ray - I Don't Know You (D.C. Flag/Epic)
  Read: "Good Charlotte Hope To Make Lola Ray Rich And Famous"
  
• Los Lobos - The Ride (Mammoth)
• Joe Lovano - I'm All for You: Ballad Songbook (Metro Blue/Blue Note)
• Magnetic Fields - I (Nonesuch/Atlantic)
• Jennifer Marks - Jennifer Marks (Bardic)
• John Arthur Martinez - Lone Starry Night (DualTone)
• David Mead - Indiana (Nettwerk)
• Mirah - C'mon Miracle (K)
• Mission of Burma - Onoffon (Matador)
• Múm - Summer Make Good (Fatcat)
• Willie Nelson - Live at Billy Bob's Texas (Smith Music Group)
• Not Long After - Tomorrow Come Save Us (New School)
• Open Road - In the Life (Rounder)
• Outlie - Companions to Devils and Saints (Porterhouse)
• Pip Pyles Bash - Belle Illusion (Cuneiform)
• The Pixies - Wave of Mutilation: Best of the Pixies (4AD)
• Vernon Reid & Masque - Known Unknown(Favored Nations)
• Lionel Richie - Just for You (Island)
• Seabound - Poisonous Friend (Metropolis)
• Frank Sinatra - Three of a Kind (Capitol)
• Steven Sondheim - "Bounce" soundtrack (Nonesuch)
• Michael Tolcher - I Am (Octone)
• Torchbearer - Yersinia Pestis (Metal Blade)
• Univers Zero - Implosion (Cuneiform)
• University of Errors - Jet Propelled Photographs (Cuneiform)
• Armand Van Helden - New York: A Mix Odyssey(Tommy Boy)
• Vision Divine - Stream of Consciousness (Metal Blade)
• The Wildhearts - Must Be Destroyed (Sanctuary)
• Various artists - The Buzz (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - "The L Word" soundtrack (Tommy Boy)
• Various artists - Power of Soul - A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (Experience Hendrix)
  Read: "Prince, Santana, Others On Board For Jimi Hendrix Tribute Album"
  
• Various artists - Totally Hits 2004 (BMG Heritage/Warner)
• Various artists - "Van Helsing" soundtrack (Decca)
• DVD: Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Godfathers & Sons, Red, White & Blues and the Road to Memphis (Hip-O/UME)
• DVD: Celine Dion - CBS Special (Epic)
• DVD: John Oates - Live at the Historic Wheeler Opera House (Phunk Shui/dke)
• DVD: Ween Live in Chicago (Sanctuary)

May 11:

• Judas Priest - Metalogy (Sony)
• Teena Marie - Dona (Cash Money)

May 18:

• Lenny Kravitz - Baptism (Virgin)
  Read: "Lenny Kravitz Ditches Funk, Feels Reborn On Baptism"
  
• Method Man - Tical 0: The Prequel (Def Jam)
  Read: "Missy, P. Diddy, Snoop, Busta Join Method Man On New LP"
  
• Alanis Morissette - So-Called Chaos (Maverick)
• Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary)
• New Found Glory - Catalyst (Drive-Thru)

May 25:

• Everlast - White Trash Beautiful (Island)
• Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (Arista)
  Read: "Avril Lavigne: No Looking Back"
  
• Monster Magnet - Monolithic Baby (Hunter)
• Slipknot-Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses (Roadrunner)
  Read: "Slipknot Album Preview: More Structured, But Still Programmed To Kill"

June 1:

• Auf Der Maur - Auf Der Maur (Capitol)
• Truth Hurts - Ready Now (Pookie)

June 8:

• The Calling - Two (RCA)
  Read: "The Calling Returning With New LP, New Hired Hands"
  
• The Corrs - Borrowed Heaven (Atlantic)
• Gene Simmons - A--hole (Sanctuary)
• Velvet Revolver - Contraband (RCA)
  Read: "Velvet Revolver Album Preview: GN'R + STP = Uphill Battle"
  
• Stevie Wonder - A Time 2 Love (Motown)

June 22

• Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare (Jive)

• Kimberley Locke
• The Pixies
• Patti Labelle
• Lola Ray
• The Beta Band

Bjork performs at Coachella
Photo: Jay Morel

INDIO, California — To the left, a full moon illuminated a row of palm trees swaying in a mellow breeze as the Beta Band played their melodic pop. To the right, a red sun set over a gorgeous mountain range as Siouxsie and the Banshees wrapped up their first festival performance in more than seven years.

Ahead, DJ Z-Trip captivated a titanic tent overflowing with dancers by marrying Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Rage Against the Machine's "Testify." It was a stereophonic moment of musical bliss. It was Coachella in a nutshell.(click for photos.)

The third annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival took over the Empire Polo Fields (with a few horse "droppings" still on the ground) in this upscale desert town over the weekend and celebrated the unavoidable diversity of today's musical climate.

Part rock concert, part rave, the event takes everything fans and artists love about the Europe's summer music festivals and transports them to a Stateside locale known for spa resorts and country clubs. The result, at least this year, was 30,000 sunburned music geeks racing back and forth between four stages.

Interestingly, Coachella 2002 as a whole was far more compelling than any of the performances, which — for a festival that is supposed to be more progressive than the garden variety radio station hooplas — were relatively risk-free.

Headliners Björk and the Chemical Brothers on Saturday and the Prodigy and Oasis on Sunday lived up to their top billing by stocking their sets with hits but did little to differentiate their shows from any other night on a stage.

Björk, beautiful in a white satin dress and olive green belt, and polite in her execution during and in between songs, seemed to the be the festival highlight, judging by the size and energy (mosh pits?!) of the audience during her show, which drew heavily from last year's sonically adventurous Vespertine.

Coachella house band the Chemical Brothers (in their third appearance at the festival) appeased the masses with near-album versions of their glowstick-toting rock anthems, such as "Block Rockin' Beats," opting to let Sasha and John Digweed, who performed simultaneously in the Sahara Tent, get creative with the club cuts.

In their first show on American soil in a half-decade, the Prodigy performed as though five years hadn't passed, urging the crowd to go crazy for "Smack My Bitch Up" and "Breathe." Many did, and for good reason since the fist-pumping tunes still sound ahead of their time, although you couldn't help but yearn for a grander re-entrance. And what about the new music Liam Howlett and the guys have been supposedly recording in recent years?

After hearing Keith Flint's high-pitched screams for the better half of an hour, the tunefully textured voices of Oasis' Gallagher brothers were a warm welcome. In a set that included four new tracks from their soon-to-be-released Heathen Chemistry, the British rockers showcased their penchant for sing-along radio fare, especially on "Go Let It Out" and "Supersonic."

Two of Coachella's best performances were unannounced. On Saturday, at the end of DJ Z-Trip's fascinating show, Beck took the stage to a mix of his own "Where It's At" and sang and breakdanced to it before sitting down for an impromptu three-song acoustic set that featured the classic "A--hole."

On Sunday, Tenacious D introduced their friends the Foo Fighters by performing a few of their most hilarious numbers. Jack Black, flapping around onstage like a drunken peacock, won over the D-Fest (as he called it) crowd with his between-song banter. "Where's the interactive sex tent?" he asked, before closing the set with "Tribute."

Z-Trip and the Foos were highlights, even without their special guests. The former messed with pop culture in dangerous ways (Jacko and Zacko together?) but made everything sound even cooler than before. Dave Grohl was a blast of fire in his day job, busting through most of the Foo Fighters favorites. The band also played a few new tunes, which gave nods to classic rock ditties like the Who's "Baba O'Riley."

In his night job, Grohl played some ferocious drums with Queens of the Stone Age on Saturday. With the former Nirvana drummer providing the beats and former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan adding vocals, Queens sounded almost like a different band than on 2000's Rated R. Some things never change, though, as they were definitely the loudest group of the weekend. Song-wise, the new material was as crunchy as ever, but with a more melodic twist.

Queens with Grohl was one of Coachella's must-see shows, though not as buzzed-about as the Stokes' performance. Attracting an audience of stars flocking from the VIP area — including Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Robbie Williams, Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, Crazy Town's Shifty Shellshock, Kelly Osbourne, Andy Dick and even ex-MTV VJ Jesse Camp — the New York garage rockers busted out a solid set capped off by "Last Nite." It was a mostly between-the-lines set, but the Strokes excited their fans by debuting a few new songs.

Another one of the festival's hotly tipped acts were the Vines from Australia, who rocked the Mojave Tent as Björk played the main stage. Sounding like early Nirvana, the rock trio ripped through several of their rhythmically fluctuating tracks before animated singer Craig Nicholls and crew ripped out a stellar cover of Outkast's "Ms. Jackson."

Some of Saturday's other standouts included Cornershop in jam-band mode, Forest for the Trees' bagpipe pop, and the one-two punch of roots rock from Pete Yorn and Jack Johnson. The former's "Strange Condition" and the latter's "Flake" provided the perfect soundtrack for sprawling across the grass and relaxing.

Sunday was crammed with some memorable ensemble bands, ranging from Mos Def's "ghetto metal" Black Jack Johnson to Latin hip-hoppers Ozomatli. The Sahara Tent was the place to be if you wanted to dance, however, boasting a raver's dream lineup: BT, Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong, DJ Tiesto, Bad Boy Bill and Sandra Collins in a matter of hours.

And, of course, Coachella veteran Perry Farrell took the decks, delivering a mix of tropicalia and trance perfect for a sunset as stunning as the day before.

It wasn't as magical as the Monterey Pop Festival or the Woodstocks, but the 24 hours of music and more than 50 performances that made up Coachella were far from "droppings."

Read about all of the shows we've recently covered in Tour Reports.

• Björk
• Beck
• The Strokes
• The Prodigy
• Foo Fighters

Beta Band
Photo: Jason Campbell

Call it Hot Tickets II.

The Beta Band will follow up their summer tour opening for Radiohead (see "Beta Band Give Hot Talk, Ready Radiohead Plans") by headlining a fall trek of North America.

Promoting Hot Shots II, their recently released second album (see "Beta Band Prepared To Be Hotshots"), the British electro rockers will kick things off October 15 in Atlanta and wrap up November 16 in Los Angeles.

The Beta Band — singer/guitarist Steve Mason, bassist Richard Greentree, DJ/sampler/pianist John MacLean and drummer/pianist Robin Jones — will have more live instrumentation and visuals this time around, their publicist said.

Beta Band tour dates, according to Astralwerks Records:

• 10/15 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
• 10/17 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 10/18 - New York, NY @ Supper Club
• 10/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
• 10/20 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 10/22 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
• 10/23 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 10/24 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
• 10/25 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
• 10/26 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
• 10/27 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
• 10/29 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
• 11/1 - Portland, OR @ B Complex
• 11/2 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
• 11/3 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 11/5 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
• 11/6 - Los Angeles, CA @ Mayan Theatre

• The Beta Band

Beta Band
Photo: Corinne Day

How did the techno-prog-folkies of the Beta Band land the opening-act slot on Radiohead's Amnesiac tour? The old-fashioned way: They earned it.

"[Radiohead] pleaded, begged and came to church meetings," frontman Stephen Mason joked, "and we eventually said, 'Yes.' " The Scottish quartet is happy to be touring with fellow nonconformists (see "Radiohead Begin Tour Mid-June, Beta Band To Open"); known for blending disparate influences, Mason said the Beta Band's new work was inspired by Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan, among others. They're not without pre-tour jitters, however.

"We used to play to audiences of 50 to 75 people," Mason said. "Now we'll be playing to 20,000 at a time. That's quite a jump for us." Accordingly, the band will have to switch up its onstage presence for the Amnesiac outing.

"Usually, our shows are more multimedia-enhanced," drummer Robin Jones said. "Each song is accompanied by its own video, but we're going to have to ditch all that. Our projector just isn't very strong — [the videos] would be about the size of a telly in front of 20,000 people.

"When we come back and do our own headlining tour, you'll get the whole Beta Band experience," he added. The band is expected to return to the States on its own in October in continued support of its second full-length album, Hot Shots II, due July 17 (see ). "It's more focused, more pop-oriented," Mason said of the LP, which was produced by R&B producer C-Swing. "We tried to condense the songs down from 15 or 30 minutes to four. We wanted to make them more exciting to listen to rather than a pain in the butt." "When we made the last album, we didn't end up making what we wanted to," bassist Richard Greentree said. "There was less emotional trauma this time around. We've sorted things out and become more enlightened and relaxed. [As a result], the music is more positive, the melodies are more beautiful." While on tour with Radiohead, the band will play "mostly new stuff," Mason said. "It's more exciting to play — we've been playing 'Dry the Rain' for the last four or five years." Even so, "We're definitely going to do 'Dry the Rain,' because people here have gotten into that through 'High Fidelity,' " the frontman explained. The track was featured prominently in the 2000 film and on its soundtrack.

"It'll be a really uplifting, spiritual, dancing time," Mason said of the tour, which kicks off June 18 in Spring, Texas. "As long as everyone goes home happy. That's all we can wish for." The first U.S. single from Hot Shots II, "Squares," will hit radio around the same time the band hits the States with Radiohead. "Squares" was also intended for single release in the U.K., but plans changed when I Monster released a single that, like "Squares," sampled the '60s easy listening track "Daydream" by the Gunter Kallman Choir — a sample already familiar from Portishead's 1994 single "Sour Times." The I Monster song has since become a hit in the U.K.

The track listing for Hot Shots II, according to Astralwerks:

• "Squares"
• "Al Sharp"
• "Humanbeing"
• "Gone"
• "Dragon"
• "Broke"
• "Quiet"
• "Alleged"
• "Life"
• "Eclipse"
• "Won"

• The Beta Band
• Radiohead

Radiohead
Photo: Pennie Smith

After playing only two small-scale U.S. shows in support of their last album, Kid A, Radiohead will meet the masses next month on their first full-fledged North American tour in three years.

Following the June 5 release of Amnesiac, the formerly reclusive experimental rockers will begin a tour of outdoor amphitheaters on June 18 in Spring, Texas, just north of Houston.

From there, the first leg of the U.K. band's tour will move through the West, ending June 30 in Santa Barbara, California. More dates are expected to follow, but no others have yet been confirmed.

Another critically acclaimed act, Scotland's eclectic Beta Band, will open for Radiohead on the tour, according to the band's publicity firm, Nasty Little Man. The Beta Band, whose sound ranges from folk to techno, is slated to release its second album, Hotshots II, in July. John Cusack's character in last year's "High Fidelity" touted the band by name, and their track "Dry the Rain" was heard in the soundtrack.

Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood has described Amnesiac as falling somewhere between the band's original, guitar-driven sound and the icy electronics of the chart-topping Kid A (see "Radiohead's Amnesiac Doesn't Forget About Kid A").

"It's about 50-50," Greenwood said earlier this year. "It's got more traditional Radiohead-type songs together with more experimental, nonlyrical-based instrumental-type stuff as well, and it works as a record in its entirety, which is what we care about." Radiohead tour dates, according to Capitol Records:

• 6/18 - Spring, TX @ C.W. Mitchell Pavilion
• 6/20 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• 6/23 - George, WA @ The Gorge
• 6/24 - Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
• 6/27 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
• 6/29 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
• 6/30 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl

• Radiohead
• The Beta Band

Beta Band

The Beta Band, the U.K. neo-folk outfit consigned to forever have "High Fidelity" scribed near its name in pop culture's annals, is ready to issue its next salvo.

On July 3, fans of the Betas eclectic, techno-rootsy sound can get their hands on Hotshots II, the band's second full-length LP.

Hotshots II is the follow-up to the band's self-titled 1999 album (see "The Beta Band Doesn't Believe Its Own Hype"). The 3 EPs, the compilation that benefited from ample advertisement and screen time in the film "High Fidelity," was released the previous year.

A summer tour is also in the works for the group, said a publicist for the band's U.S. label.

A U.K. track listing for Hotshots II has been posted at the band's official Web site (www.betaband.com) though the publicist cautioned that the U.S. version of the album would be slightly different.

• The Beta Band

The Beta Band, a deeply eclectic combo comprising three Scots and one Englishman, touched down these shores recently to play a handful of shows in support of its first full-length (and self-titled) album.

• The Beta Band