George Clinton reaches out to a crowdmember during the Heroes Red, White and Blue Military Ball
Photo: Erica Anderson

As they say in the biz, the show must goes on. And on the eve of President Barack Obama's inauguration, the Heroes Red, White and Blue Military Ball had to do just that.

Scheduled performers Jamie Foxx, Nas, Josh Groban and Tiki Barber ultimately did not appear, putting ball sponsors USO, TAPS and Citizens Helping Heroes in a difficult position. Nevertheless, adjustments were made and the night was a huge success, with performances by Parliament Funkadelic mastermind George Clinton — who is renowned for his wild live shows — David Banner, Memphis Gold and others.

"We can be so proud," Captain Angelina Carrera said. "We served our country with love and honor."

Carrera served in Iraq with her husband, Colonel Stephen K. Scott. He was killed by a mortar round in Baghdad last April. Carrera's remarks came during an intermission between performers Memphis Gold, Peter Paul and George Clinton in the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.

During Obama's inaugural address earlier that day, the president stressed that American civilians should follow the example of men and women in uniform.

Staff Sergeant Calvin Linnette, who was wounded twice in Iraq, said Obama's remarks made him feel good.

"A lot of people today wouldn't join the military," he said. "A lot wouldn't dare join. But Obama sees the courage in us, he sees what we endure. For him to make that comment, about our service, it means so much. He understands what we sacrifice."

The sacrifice wasn't lost on the quickly organized group of performers, including George Clinton and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, who stepped up to give America's heroes a show.

"This is an honor," Peanut of George Clinton's entourage said. "We don't say it enough. We don't say 'thank you' enough."

Watch "Be the Change: Live From the Inaugural" online now, and come back Thursday for the full performances from Kanye West, Kid Rock and Fall Out Boy. Stick with us for wall-to-wall coverage of the inauguration and of the scenes in Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Kenya.

• The Presidential Inauguration Of Barack Obama

• Nas
• David Banner
• George Clinton
• Josh Groban

50 Cent's <i>The Massacre: Special Edition</i>
Photo: Aftermath/Interscope

50 x 2: With a replacement black backdrop on the cover and a bonus DVD adding an extra ounce or two in weight, it won't be hard to distinguish the special edition of 50 Cent's The Massacre from the previous pressings — the enhanced version, the collector's edition, et al. The audio disc has a remix of "Outta Control" with Mobb Deep and the DVD features a video for every song on the original release.

Bang and Blame: The Rolling Stones' first studio album in eight years, A Bigger Bang, isn't all hyperbole. The album reportedly represents the band's fascination with the scientific theory of the origin of the universe — as also illustrated by the cover, which depicts the Stones staring into a ball of light. Tracks include: "Sweet Neo Con," their supposed bash on Bush; "Laugh, I Nearly Died"; "Look What the Cat Dragged"; and "Rough Justice."

Bloom's Day: If you're living in Canada and carrying a computer, you've got an extra edge when it comes to hearing Sarah McLachlan's stuff, as the north-of-the-border singer put out an exclusive EP through iTunes Canada in anticipation of her second remix album, Bloom. Tracks from the LP include: "Train Wreck (Sly & Robbie Mix)," "Dirty Little Secret" (Thievery Corporation Mix)" and "Just Like Me (Will.I.Am Remix)," which is actually a song McLachlan collaborated on with DMC.

E Springs Eternal: As it spells out on the cover, this package binds together the best-of Eazy-E collection Eternal E, with the new bonus track "Lil Eazier Said" by Lil E., and a DVD featuring seven clips by E and two by N.W.A. The video disc closes with three public-service announcements by the nonprofit health-care organization Kaiser Family Foundation, a touching reminder of the rapper's tragic end.

Allstars Duke It Out: In one corner we have blues jammers North Mississippi Allstars tag-teaming with Lucinda Williams, Robert Randolph, Al Kapone and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Electric Blue Watermelon. In the other we've got George Clinton and his indomitable P-Funk All Stars with How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent. Seeing as how this is the inauguration of Clinton's the C Kunspyruhzy label and he's got a 50th-anniversary tour in the works, he deserves the heavyweight title.

Have We Seen You Before?: Released on a tiny independent label, Seu Jorge's Cru squeaks by this week, mirroring the Brazilian artist's fleeting (but hilarious) presence singing David Bowie covers in Portuguese in Wes Anderson's oddball pic "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." José González has made a slight appearance on the small screen — or at least his music has, on "The O.C." Veneer features "Crosses," a song that surfaced on one of the episodes.

Song Titles Of The Week:

"Mediocrity Gets You Pears (The Shaker)" (Against Me!'s Searching for a Former Clarity)

"Woe Is the Contagion" (Twilight's Twilight)

Other Notables:

Joan Baez's Bowery Songs: With covers galore — Bob Dylan, whom she has saluted tirelessly throughout her career, Steve Earle, and Natalie Merchant — Baez also chips in with four unreleased songs on this November 2004 concert. There isn't much break between numbers, save a brief dedication to Michael Moore.

Richard Youngs' The Naive Shaman: Purported to feature the Glasgowian's first kazoo work since 1992's obscure New Angloid Sound, the prolific multi-instrumentalist also lets loose with a 16-minutes-plus track, "Summer's Edge II." (There is no "Summer's Edge I," of course.) He also shines bright with "Life on a Beam" and "Illuminated Land."

Richard Thompson's "Grizzly Man" soundtrack and The Old Kit Bag reissue: The guitarist who was once notorious for releasing the worst-selling album in the history of Warner Bros., Henry the Human Fly, takes on a different species with a documentary soundtrack. Fans might raise their eyebrows at this one, but they'll undoubtedly want to pick it up — it's 84 minutes of pure Thompson. A DualDisc version of 2003's The Old Kit Bag also comes out this week.

New Releases:

• 32 Leaves - Welcome to the Fall (enhanced; Double Blind)
• The Absence - From Your Grave (Metal Blade)
• Against Me! - Searching for a Former Clarity (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Doug Alan - Sun, Surf and Sand (AmeriMusic)
• Augustana - All the Stars and Boulevards (Epic)
• AZ - AWOL (Fastlife)
• Joan Baez - Bowery Songs (live recording from November 6, 2004, in New York; Koch)
• Baleen - Follow Me Blind (LiquiLab)
• Bellini - Small Stones (Secretly Canadian)
• Between the Buried and Me - Alaska (Victory)
• Black Dice - Broken Ear Record (Astralwerks)
• Brick Bath - American Currency (Crash)
• Blood on the Wall - Awesomer (The Social Registry)
• Bozzio Metropole Orkest - Chamber Works (Favored Nations)
• King Britt - King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan (Ropeadope)
• Kate Campbell - Blues and Lamentations (Large River)
• Johnny Casino's Easy Action - We've Forgotten More Than You'll Ever Know (Steel Cage)
• Casual - Casual Presents Sam Rockwell (Hieroglyphics)
• George Clinton Presents the P-Funk All Stars - How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent (C Kunspyruhzy)
  Buy Now: How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent (C Kunspyruhzy)
• Barbara Cook - Tribute (DRG)
• Deaf Pedestrians - Deaf Pedestrians (Dot Point Period)
• The Divorce - Gifted Program (Made in Mexico)
• Dreamside - Spin Moon Magic (Dancing Ferret)
• Drums & Tuba - Battle Olé (Righteous Babe)
• Exploited - Beat the Bastards (Reis) (Abstract Sounds)
• Frontier Index - Frontier Index (Rainbow Quartz)
• José González - Veneer (Hidden Agenda)
• Adam Harnett - Adam Harnett (Goretti)
• Beth Hart - Live at Paradiso (Koch)
< LI>Richard Hawley - Cole's Corner (Mute)
• Heatmakerz - Crack, Vol. 1 (Fastlife)
• Heaven 17 - Before/After (Ninth Wave)
• Armand Van Helden - Nympho (Ultra)
• Honky - Balls Out Inn (Small Stone)
• Immaculate Machine - Ones and Zeroes (Mint)
• The Immortal Lee County Killers - These Bones Will Rise to Love You (Tee Pee)
• Indukti - S.U.S.A.R. (Laser's Edge)
• Liz Janes & Create (!) - Liz Janes & Create (!) (EP; Asthmatic Kitty)
• Howard Jones - Revolution of the Heart (Koch)
• Seu Jorge - Cru (Wrasse)
• Little Bruce - Base Rock 2 Pimp Socks (High Speed Entertainment)
• Mad Science Fair - ... For a Better Tomorrow (Mud)
• Marat - Again (Morisen)
• Sarah McLachlan - Bloom Remix Album (Arista)
• James McMurty - Childish Things (Compadre)
• Merciless - Block Monster (Big Gun)
• Mortal Decay - Cadaver Art (Crash Music)
• Alison Moyet - Voice (Sanctuary)
• Johnny Napp - Cowboy Up and Party Down (Johnny Napp)
• New Model Army - Carnival (Attack Attack)
• New Monsoon - The Sound (Harmonized)
• North Mississippi Allstars - Electric Blue Watermelon (ATO/RCA)
  Buy Now: Electric Blue Watermelon (ATO/RCA)
• Hope Partlow - Who We Are (Virgin)
• The Peasall Sisters - Home to You (DualTone)
• Duane Peters & the Hunns - Beyond Warped Live Music Series (Immergent)
• The Phenomenauts - Beyond Warped Live Music Series (Immergent)
• Qualo - Believe. (The Movement)
• Stan Richardson - Moon on the Water (Gemini Sun)
• The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang (Virgin)
  Read: "Rolling Stones Announce World Tour, Unveil New Song"
  Buy Now: A Bigger Bang (Virgin)
• Secret Oyster - Vidunderlige Kaelling (Laser's Edge)
• Sexsmith & Kerr - Destination Unknown (Emergent)
• Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand - Dream Big (Capitol)
• Robert Skoro - That These Things Could Be Ours (Yep Roc)
• Socratic - Lunch for the Sky (enhanced; Drive-Thru)
• Space Mtn - A Drawing of a Memory of a Photograph of You (Aeronaut)
• Angela Strehli - Blue Highway (M.C.)
• Symphorce - Godspeed (Metal Blade)
• Ben Taylor - Another Run Around the Sun (Iris)
• Lewis Taylor - Stoned (with bonus tracks not on European version; HackTone)
• Richard Thompson - "Grizzly Man" soundtrack (Cooking Vinyl)
• Big Mama Thorton - Big Mama Thorton in Europe (Arhoolie)
• Twilight - Twilight (Southern Lord)
• Dinah Washington - Blues for a Day (Delta)
• Watch Them Die - Bastard Son (Century Media)
• Kathy Valentine - Light Years (All for One)
• Valina - Epode EP (54º40' or Fight)
• Valis - Champions of Magic (Small Stone)
• Viva K - Viva K (Stinky)
• Wobbler - Hinterland (Laser's Edge)
• Richard Youngs - The Naive Shaman (Jagjaguwar)
• Various artists - Aerosmithsonian: A Tribute to Aerosmith (Perris)
• Various artists - All Men Country (Direct Source)
• Various artists - The Best of Just Jazz (Direct Source)
• Various artists - Putumayo Presents: Latin Lounge (Putumayo World Music)
• Various artists - Summoning of the Muse: A Tribute to Dead Can Dance (Projekt)
• Various artists - Tone Poets (Acoustic Disc)
• Various artists - Ultimate Pickin': The Best of Instrumental Bluegrass (Pinecastle)

Notable Reissues:

• 50 Cent - The Massacre: Special Edition (CD/DVD; Aftermath/Interscope)
  Buy Now: The Massacre: Special Edition (Aftermath/Interscope)
• Billy Bragg - Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (double disc with bonus tracks; Cooking Vinyl)
• Eazy-E - Eternal E: Gangsta Memorial Edition (Priority)
  Buy Now: Eternal E: Gangsta Memorial Edition (Priority)
• The Human League - Hysteria (Astralwerks)
• M83 - M83 (Mute)
• River City Tanlines - River City Tanlines (collection of 7-inches; Dirtnap)
• Richard Thompson - The Old Kit Bag (DualDisc; Silverline)
• Run-DMC - King of Rock, Raising Hell, Run-DMC and Tougher Than Leather (Arista)
  Buy Now: King of Rock (Arista)
• Steve Vai - Archives, Vol. 4 (Favored Nations)
• Venice Underground - Venice Underground (DualDisc; Immergent)
• Van Zant - Brother to Brother (DualDisc; Silverline)

DVDs:

• Dave Brubeck - "Brubeck Returns to Moscow" (Koch Vision)
• Lunachicks - "XXX Naked" (Koch)
• Mariah Carey - "Music Video Box Document" (Koch)
• Rolling Stones - "Music Video Box Document" (Koch)
• Bruce Springsteen - "VH1 Storytellers" (Columbia)
• Various artists - "Punk: Attitude" (Capital Entertainment)
• Various artists - "Rockin' the Corps" (Image)

Coming Attractions:

September 13:

• Pussycat Dolls - PCD (A/M)
• Paul Wall - The People's Champ (Atlantic)
• Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound (Columbia)
  Read: "Switchfoot Look Like California Raisins After Video Shoot"
  Buy Now: Nothing Is Sound (Columbia)

September 20:

• David Banner - Certified (Universal)
• Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
(Columbia Records)
• Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Disturbed Songs Will Be 'United In Anger' On Third Album"
  Buy Now: Ten Thousand Fists (Warner Bros.)

September 27:

• Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Highway)
• Blackalicious - The Craft (Anti-)
• Sheryl Crow - Wildflower (A/M)
  Buy Now: Wildflower (A/M)

• 50 Cent
• The Rolling Stones
• Sarah McLachlan
• Eazy-E
• George Clinton

Justin Timberlake (file)
Photo: John Shearer

Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Outkast are among the latest performers added to the 46th annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy announced Tuesday (January 13).

The acts will join previously announced performers the White Stripes (see "White Stripes To Perform At Grammy Awards") at the February 8 ceremony, to be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Former "Mickey Mouse Club" co-stars and 2003 tour mates Justin and Christina will, of course, perform separately, while Andre 3000 and Big Boi will be joined onstage by George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic; Earth, Wind & Fire; and Robert Randolph & the Family Band for a tribute to funk music.

Outkast enter the Grammys as leading contenders, along with Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams, with six nominations each (see "Jay-Z, Beyonce, Outkast, Pharrell Nab Most Grammy Nominations").

The Atlanta duo's landmark double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is up for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, while "Hey Ya!" will vie for Record of the Year, Best Urban/Alternative Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. Dre and Big Boi will also compete against the Neptunes, the Matrix, Nigel Godrich, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

Timberlake is right behind Outkast with five nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Justified, Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Where Is the Love" with the Black Eyed Peas, and Best Pop Male Vocal Performance for "Cry Me a River."

Aguilera, meanwhile, has three nominations: Best Pop Vocal Album for Stripped, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Beautiful" and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Can't Hold Us Down" with Lil' Kim. "Beautiful" is also nominated for Song of the Year, a songwriters award that would go to author Linda Perry.

The legendary soul ensemble Earth, Wind & Fire are also nominated, in the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance category for "Hold Me," as is pedal steel virtuoso Robert Randolph and his band, for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Squeeze" and Best Rock Gospel Album for Unclassified.

Airing on CBS at 8 p.m., the Grammys will be broadcast in HDTV with 5.1 Surround Sound, according the academy.

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

• Justin Timberlake
• Christina Aguilera
• OutKast
• George Clinton

Phish's Trey Anastasio (file)
Photo: Theo Wargo / Wire Image

MIAMI — While millions were glued to TV screens, waiting for a ball to drop, 18,000 Phish fans milled about the American Airlines Arena on Wednesday, waiting instead for the other sandal, so to speak, to drop.

It was time for the beginning of 2004 and time for the end of a four-night stand that Phish had packed with tried-and-true crowd-pleasers, covers and songs that hadn't been performed for years, like the oddly lyrical "Weigh" and the groovy "Shafty." And, in a particularly historic 20 minutes, Phish had shared the stage with George Clinton, Gary Shider and Bernie Worrell when several members of P-Funk joined them the day before.

"I feel like I let you all down saying that [drummer Jonathan Fishman] would sing 'Touch Me' and that he can't because we can't remember it and we don't have a horn section with us," explained guitarist Trey Anastasio. "So instead of singing 'Touch Me,' if you can just wait for second we'd like to bring Parliament Funkadelic onstage with us. And that's even better than 'Touch Me.' "

Suddenly the stage was crowded with funk masters, and Clinton positioned himself front and center. Bookended by Phish's own reggae-based "Makisupa Policeman," the collective engaged in a lengthy medley wherein Clinton commanded, "Make my funk the Phish funk, I wants to get funked up."

It was a highlight that would not only keep fans talking, but one that compelled many to attend P-Funk's late-night warehouse show, where bassist Mike Gordon returned the favor with a guest appearance.

With all these elements in play, by Wednesday the run was being touted as an unqualified success. The set lists read like those of the '90s, for the most part ignoring the band's less popular new songs. The buildup, some feared, might be leading toward a bigger letdown than the one Anastasio had joked about.

But on Wednesday when Phish launched immediately into the ending of "Wilson," a song they'd opened with the night before, it was clear that even the most cynical fans were in for some surprises this New Year's Eve.

The group segued from the 30-second finale to the familiar, bass-friendly triple shot "Mike's Song," "I am Hydrogen" and "Weekapaug Groove." The set seemed to be finished an hour later with the epic trampoline extravaganza "You Enjoy Myself," but they jumped instead into the danceable instrumental "First Tube" and closed the set with the end of "Tube."

With midnight less than two hours away, Phish returned from intermission to warm up the crowd with a solid but uneventful hour-long middle set. Then they exited again, giving fans time to collect their champagne, hit the bathroom and anticipate what antics might lie in store. After all, Phish's New Year's shows are the stuff of legend — featuring everything from time machines (1995) and huge flying hot dogs (1994) to dance troupes (1998) and Tom Hanks impersonators (2002).

The last time Phish visited Florida was 1999's three-day New Year's festival on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. This year the climate was completely different. Late night hotel swimming pool parties and after-show concerts replaced campground gatherings. South Beach cafes stood in for festival vending. Where in '99 one red balloon had floated through the swampy air as the sun came up, this year thousands sat waiting in nets hanging from the rafters, ready to drop when the clock wound down.

The band returned only 12 minutes before the countdown was to commence, easing into "Jungle Boogie," a first-time cover. Crew members scrambled to move Fishman's drums as a light blue '68 Mini Cooper detailed with pink flames was lowered in their place. The door swung open and one by one by one, like circus clowns from a magic car, sprung the members of the Palmetto High School marching band and cheerleaders wearing freaky bunny masks. Here was the horn section Anastasio had pined for the night before, and much more.

Phish deferred to the marching band's drum section through the countdown, but as the balloons fell Anastasio wailed his traditional "Auld Lang Syne" guitar interpretation, leading the whole ensemble into an instrumental rendition of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." Then, with the stage covered in giant balloons, the marching band marched through the audience toward the back of the arena while an invisible Anastasio started "Runaway Jim."

The set seemed to return to relative normalcy (by Phish standards), but then the a cappella "I Didn't Know" brought Fishman (a.k.a. Henrietta) out from behind the kit to "play" a vacuum cleaner solo.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Anastasio announced, "in his first song of 2004, Henrietta is now going to play for you a version of one of his favorite songs, and this is in honor of the Miami Heat. He would now like to do a vacuum rendition of 'Feel Feel Feel Feel Feel Feel Feel Feel My Heat' from the 'Boogie Nights' soundtrack."

Fans went wild as Fishman ran laps around the stage, stopping to take exaggerated bows at the microphone and climbing onto Page McConnell's piano.

"You're feeling something," Anastasio noted. "It's tingling in your body. It's moving up your spine. You feel it in your hips. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Henrietta's heat.

"Can you," he asked, laughing, "feel it? Feel his heat!"

To close the set, the band settled down for the slow, 15-minute snowball effect of "Run Like an Antelope" and returned for a "Frankenstein" encore, ending the show, the run, and the year at 1:10 a.m.

Dec. 31, 2003, set list:
Set 1

• "Wilson"
• "Mike's Song"
• "I Am Hydrogen"
• "Weekapaug Groove"
• "Moma Dance"
• "Guyute"
• "You Enjoy Myself"
• "First Tube"
• "Tube"

Set 2

• "Stash"
• "Seven Below"
• "Lawn Boy"
• "Chalk Dust Torture"
• "Slave to the Traffic Light"
• "Chalk Dust Torture"

Set 3

• "Jungle Boogie"
• "Auld Lang Syne"
• "Iron Man"
• "Runaway Jim"
• "Simple"
• "Reba"
• "I Didn't Know"
• "Feel the Heat"
• "Run Like an Antelope"

Encore

• "Frankenstein"

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Phish
• George Clinton

While the new album opens by saying, "Everything's been said before/ There's nothing left to say anymore," Marilyn Manson manages to squeeze out 13 more songs on the sleazy The Golden Age of Grotesque. The first single, "mOBSCENE," utilizes the classic cheerleading lilt for what is usually "be aggressive, b-e aggressive," but Manson twists it for his purposes into "be obscene."

Also on the album are other smirking song titles like "Slutgarden," "Use Your Fist and Not Your Mouth" and "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag."

While Manson is busy in the Golden Age, Cold think it's the Year of the Spider. The album, more melodic than efforts past, finds Scooter Ward singing about being a loner, a loser, a winner in his own mind, a good one, a bad one and a sick one with a smile.

Alkaline Trio use their emo-punk to say Good Mourning while Third Eye Blind release their third album, Out of the Vein, whose primary function is emotional bloodletting. The lyrics on the record stay pretty intently focused on a relationship gone wrong. Note: "Pretty intently" means 12 out of 14 songs.

Out Tuesday, May 13:

• Affair - No Substitute (MTM)
• Matti Alfonzetti - Machine (MTM)
• Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning (Vagrant)
• Bill Anderson - Classics (Varese)
• Aria - Soldier Boy (Oh)
• Alex Bach - Miles to Go (Orchard)
• Beavershot - Beavershot (Raucous)
• Biloxi - Right the Music (MTM)
• Black Tape for a Blue Girl - With a Million Tear Stained Memories (Projekt)
• Blue Epic - Love and Hate (EP, TVT)
• Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies - Daddy of Western Swing (Proper Box)
• Chimaira - Impossibility of Reason (Roadrunner)
• Lucia Cifarelli - From the Land of Volcanos (Universal)
• George Clinton - Six Degrees of P-Funk: The Best of George Clinton (Sony)
• Cold - Year of the Spider (Interscope)
  Hear: The Leak: Cold - Year of the Spider
  Buy Now: Year of the Spider (Interscope)
• Rusty Cooley - Rusty Cooley (Lion Music)
• Paul Craver - Let the Music Play (Ripete)
• Deadbolt - Haight Street Hippie Massacre (Headhunter)
• Deadline - Back for More (Captain Oi!)
• Sir Bald Diddley & His Wigouts - Man With Two Left Hands (Raucous)
• The Duece Project - Stone Cold (Warner Bros.)
• Dying Fetus - Stop at Nothing (Relapse)
• Dysrhythmia - Pretest (Relapse)
• John Eddie - Who the Hell Is John Eddie? (Universal)
• Empire - Trading Souls (Lion Music)
• FBC - Born to Hustle (Shot Callin)
• Fiend - Can I Burn 2 (Fiend Entertainment)
• Eternal Flame - King of the King (MTM)
• The Forgotten/The Headaches - Split (People Like You)
• Frantic Flintstones - EP Collection (Raucous)
• Frolic - Beaten: The Black and Blue Album (Orchard)
• Hirsh Gardner - Wasteland for Broken Hearts (MTM)
• Dana Gillespie - Staying Power (Ace)
• Griffin - Turn the Light On (Orchard)
• The Guild League - Private Transport (Matinee)
• Cornell Hurd - Live at Jovita's: Don't Quit Your Night Job (Behemoth)
• Hybrid Freak Division - Non Conformative (Lion Music)
• Ignition - Ignition (MTM)
• Jadis - Fanatic (Inside Out Music)
• King Drapes - King Drapes Stomp (Raucous)
• Kuprij/Ferrigno/Leal - Promised Land (Lion Music)
• The Liberty Ship - Northern Angel (EP, Matinee)
• Love and Rockets - So Alive (Psychobaby)
• Marilyn Manson - The Golden Age of Grotesque (Interscope) Read: "Marilyn Manson Hits Below The Belt On Grotesque New LP"
  Buy Now: The Golden Age of Grotesque (Interscope)
• Marcel - You, Me and the Windshield (Universal)
• Lars Eric Mattsson - Power Games (Lion Music)
• Melodie Group - Updownaround (Matinee Recordings)
• The Meteors - Psychobilly (People Like You)
• Nasum - Helvete (Relapse)
• Ohm - Ohm (Lion Music)
• Franky Perez - Poor Man's Son (Atlantic)
• Jeff Potter & the Rhythm Agents - Rhythm Riot (Raucous)
• Reckless Kelly - Under the Table and Above the Sun (Sugar Hill)
• Ritual - Think Like a Mountain (Inside Out Music)
• Lee Rocker - Upright and Kickin' (Raucous)
• Ruthless - Ruthless 4 Life (Dirty South)
• Slur - Independence (Tarpit)
• T-Rock - Defcon, Vol. 1: Lyrical Warfare (Secret Service Ent.)
• Todd Snider - Near Truths and Hotel Rooms Live (Oh Boy)
• Street Talk - Restoration (MTM)
• Sweet Jimmie - I Still Got It (Orchard)
• Los Tahures - Mi Borrachera (Sony)
• Tennis - Laundromat (Sound Gizmo Audio)
• Third Eye Blind - Out of the Vein (Elektra)
  Buy Now: Out of the Vein (Elektra)
• 1349 Rykkinn - Brown Ring of Fury (Jester)
• Pat Travers - P.T. Power Trio (Blues Bureau)
• Deanna Varagona - All the Goodbyes Have Been Taken Hello (Gadfly)
• Joop Walters - Workshop (Lion Music)
• Weak - Weak (Orchard)
• Lizz Wright - Salt (Verve)
• Yo Gotti - Life (TVT)
• Various artists - 26 Tracks (Ninth World Music)
• Various artists - Hits of 1952 (Memoir)
• Various artists - Circuit Party, Vol. 8 (SPG)
• Various artists - Drew's Famous Big Country Hits (Turn Up The Music)
• Various artists - Old School Jams, Vol. 4 (SPG)
• Various artists - Lowrider Oldies, Vol. 7-9: Cruisin Chrome Series (Thump)
• Various artists - It'll Come to You: The Songs of John Hiatt (Vanguard)
• Various artists - Sk8erboy Rock, Vol. 1 and 2 (Critique)
• Various artists - Xtasy: The First Roll (KMJ)

May 20:

• Deftones - Deftones (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Deftones Almost Done With Deftones — For Real This Time"
  Buy Now: Deftones (Warner Bros.)
• Less Than Jake - Anthem (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: Anthem (Warner Bros.)
• Live - Birds of Pray (MCA)
• Staind - 14 Shades of Grey (Elektra)
  Read: "New Staind LP Marked By Grey Matters"
  Buy Now: 14 Shades of Grey (Elektra)
• The Thorns - The Thorns (Sony)

May 27:

• Lillix - Falling Uphill (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Lillix Pair Angelic Voices With Rock Sensibilities On Debut"
• Local H - No Fun (Thick)
• Vince Neil - Live One Night Only (Image)

June 3:

• Jewel - 0304 (Atlantic)
  Read: "Jewel Bites Into A Musical Pickle-And-Peanut Butter Sandwich"
  Buy Now: 0304 (Atlantic)
• Monica - All Eyez on Me (J)
  Read: "Monica Revises Leaked LP With Help From Missy Elliott"
• Sugar Ray - In Pursuit of Leisure (Atlantic)
  Read: "Babies, Marriage Somehow Lead Sugar Ray To Write A Club Song"
• Train - My Private Nation (Sony)

June 10:

• Duran Duran - Singles Box Set 1981-1985 (Capitol)
• Justin Guarini - TBD (RCA)
• Metallica - St. Anger (2 CDs, Elektra)
  Read: "Metallica Album Preview: Damage Inc. Is Back In Business"
  Buy Now: St. Anger (2 CDs, Elektra)
• Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
  Read: "New Radiohead Album, Hail To The Thief, Due In June"
• Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father (J)

June 17:

• Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive)

June 24:

• Gang Starr - The Ownerz (Virgin)

July 8:

• Beyoncé - Dangerously in Love (Sony)
• Triumph the Insult Comic Dog - TBD (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Eminem Enemy Triumph Previews LP; Beefs With Bow Wow, Benji"

July 15:

• Macy Gray - The Trouble With Being Myself (Sony)

• Marilyn Manson
• Cold
• Alkaline Trio
• Third Eye Blind
• Chimaira

Prince
Photo: Steven Parke

NEW YORK — Alicia Keys, George Clinton, ?uestlove and Doug E. Fresh were among the surprise guests to appear onstage with Prince early Wednesday morning at Times Square's The World nightclub.

Free for members of Prince's NPG Music Club, $40 for nonmembers, the show began at 2 a.m., a few hours after a full concert uptown at the Lincoln Center (see "Prince 'Goes There,' Avoids The Obvious At New York Gig").

With bassist Larry Graham (who appeared briefly at the previous show) and saxophonist Candy Dulfer joining most of Prince's core band — Renato Neto on keys, John Blackwell on drums, Maceo Parker on sax and Greg Boyer on trombone — the freeform funk session began with a Prince oldie, "Joy in Repetition." As the slow groove morphed seamlessly into funk classics like James Brown's "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing" and a repeat of "Pass the Peas," the lineup altered randomly as well.

Clinton, whose P-Funk All-Stars had played the club earlier in the evening, stuck around to play while most of his gang headed for Cleveland. Dr. Funkenstein wandered out early in the show, rasping, "We do this/ This is what we do" over a basic funk groove. P-Funker Gary Shider also hung back and later provided vocals on Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music."

Original beat box rapper Fresh, a veteran of Prince aftershows, moved the jam to a lengthy old-school rap interlude including "La-Di-Da-Di" and returned later to engage Blackwell in a beat box/drum duel. Musiq Soulchild joined the crew for "Just Friends." At some point — so much was going on that it was difficult to pinpoint exactly when — ?uestlove took over on drums and Rhonda Smith took over on bass.

While Prince played bass on "777-9311," Keys whirled in like a welcome storm, improvising lyrics. Admitting an inner dialogue she enjoyed earlier, she recalled herself saying, "Self, if you were to die tomorrow, God forbid, what is the one thing you would want to do tonight?" And with that she sat with Prince at the keyboards to sing her own energetic version of "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" and played on "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker."

The show ended at 4:05 a.m., with Prince asking (rhetorically, one would assume), "Did we turn it out?"

• Prince
• Alicia Keys
• George Clinton
• Doug E. Fresh

George Clinton
Photo: MTV News

P-Funk fans may say this ruling is funked-up.

A Tallahassee, Florida, judge ruled on Monday that legendary funk master George Clinton does not own rights to any of the music he wrote from 1976 to 1983, which would include his contributions to the Funkadelic classics One Nation Under a Groove (1978) and Uncle Jam Wants You (1979) as well as the solo effort Computer Games (1982), which spawned "Atomic Dog." Without those rights, the man known to many as Dr. Funkenstein is losing out on royalties amounting to $100 million, according to a press release on Clinton's official Web site that has since been removed. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle's ruling upheld the validity of a contract Clinton signed in 1983 that forfeited the rights to music written during that period to Michigan-based publishing company Bridgeport Music, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Bridgeport Music President Armen Boladian testified that the deal was struck so his company could recoup an advance of over $1 million that Clinton received before his finances plummeted in the early 1980s.

Even if he had the rights, Clinton, now 60 and living in the Tallahassee area, would not be able to profit from the songs, according to Hinkle's ruling, because he failed to disclose them as possible future income when filing for bankruptcy in 1984.

Clinton's lawsuit, originally filed in 1999, asserted that the Bridgeport contract was never valid. Don Wilson, Clinton's attorney, insisted that the signature on the contract did not belong to his client, though a handwriting expert secured by the defendants testified it was. The plaintiffs also argued that even if the John Hancock was Clinton's, his wife, Stephanie, co-owned the rights to the songs, so the contract would have required her signature in order for the rights to be transferred. The judge ruled otherwise.

The lawsuit also alleged that the Godfather of Funk never received fees from artists who sampled his material from that period. After the decision, Wilson told the Tallahassee Democrat that there would be no further legal action on the case. Clinton left the courtroom without comment, the paper reported.

• George Clinton

Prince will party like it's "1999" at his upcoming pay-per-view special, "Rave Un2 The Year 2000," then he'll put the millennial song to rest...forever.

-- David Basham

• George Clinton
• Prince

The musical spirits of Third Eye Blind, Wyclef Jean, Moby, and the Roots will be getting restless in the swamps of the Big Easy next month as part of the first annual Voodoo Music Festival being held, appropriately enough, on Halloween.

-- David Basham

• George Clinton
• Moby
• Third Eye Blind

At one time, B-52 planes landed at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York to refuel and rearm. But on Thursday night, George Clinton and his Parliament/Funkadelic accomplices refueled themselves and landed "the Mothership" there as part of the kickoff to Woodstock '99.

Even though the music festival wasn't scheduled to officially start until Friday (with a special opening set from Godfather of Soul James Brown), that didn't stop Clinton and his merry brand of Afro-nauts from delivering a cosmic slice of intergalactic funk for a teeming crowd of those arriving early to the site of this, the third edition of the Woodstock franchise.

Clinton -- who was also using the occasion to celebrate his 59th birthday -- let some of his friends and bandmates get the special concert started, as longtime P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell was the first to take the stage, which was set up at one of the massive hangars remaining at the decommissioned air force base.

Worrell led his band through a crowd-warming pair of opening tunes, including a funky reading of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House." A heavily-improv'd version of Parliament's "Bop Gun" followed, served up by a contingent of Parliament/Funkadelic's present day roster (minus the notable absence of bassist Bootsy Collins, who recently rejoined Clinton and Worrell in the studio for a new group project.

By the time the birthday boy joined the party going on onstage, the band had locked into such a boisterous groove that Clinton quickly fell on all fours during "We Want the Funk," then hiked up a hind leg in gleeful response to the jam.

Guest violinist Lili Hayden reeled off a surprisingly rocking solo during an extended take on "Up for the Down Stroke," which dovetailed into an equally scorching rendition of Funkadelic's '70s political diatribe "Free Your Mind."

Bootsy Collins finally appeared to lend some throbbing bass lines to "Mothership Connection," which ended with a scaled-down version of the legendary setpiece landing at the front of the stage, and with Clinton emerging from the vessel in a costume that seemed tailored from a stylized United Nations flag.

Illustrator Peter Max, who also designed the proscenium artwork that graces Woodstock's main stage, then appeared to present Clinton with an original painting that appeared to cast him as an interplanetary "Cat in the Hat."

With the clock striking way past midnight, Collins, Clinton, and Worrell then unleashed a thrashing version of Clinton's 1982 solo hit, "Atomic Dog," a move that seemed to suggest that the recent rap-rock success of Limp Bizkit has not been lost on Parliament/Funkadelic.

Winding down the near three-hour show with a series of "Atomic Dog"-inspired solos and jams, Clinton and the rest of the P-Funk gang proved that they still know how to throw a party --especially a birthday one.

• George Clinton

Pharrell, Mary J. Blige, T.I., Game, Remy Ma, Nick Cannon At The 2005 'Vibe' Awards Red Carpet

• T.I.
• Game
• Ludacris
• Mary J. Blige
• Nick Cannon

Alanis, Vanessa Carlton, Robbie Williams, More Rock The Vote

• Alanis Morissette
• Peter Gabriel
• Robbie Williams
• Vanessa Carlton
• Chuck D