Spice Girls
Photo: MJ Kim/ Getty Images

What looks to be the last slow Tuesday of the year for a long while in terms of new releases sees a medley of music-makers hitting stores: a sugary U.K. veteran pop squad; likely the only pianist who has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Fort Minor and Tony Bennett; a synth-pop dude who spells his name "Stephin" instead of "Stephen"; the least-appreciated member of the four Beatles; a soulful crooner signed to Jive by none other than DJ Jazzy Jeff; and the frontman for a SoCal alterna-rock crew. We assume you'll be able to guess which is which ...

Spice Rack: Shouts of "Girl power!" were heard throughout Victoria's Secret stores in mid-November when the Spice Girls issued their Greatest Hits collection there, but now Mel B, Geri Halliwell and the rest of the gang are breaking out the previously exclusive set in retail stores nationwide. As promised, they're now rolling out two additional versions of the release, the standard edition of which has two newly recorded songs ("Headlines [Friendship Never Ends]" and "Voodoo"). The deluxe edition has a DVD with all the Girls' promo videos, while the gift-box version also contains a karaoke disc and friendship bracelet.

Return of the Piano Man: In case you didn't see John Legend on his recent Show Me Tour, there's a new CD immortalizing one of the gigs. The exclusive Target release has 19 songs by the singer/songwriter, including his covers of Beatles and Sly & the Family Stone covers, as well as newer cuts "Slow Dance" and "Where's the Love," which features a duet with Corinne Bailey Rae. The deluxe edition comes with a 30-minute DVD featuring more live-performance material, an interview and videos for "Show Me" and "Another Again."

Fields' Recordings: Magnetic Fields fans will want to gravitate to stores this week — the group's first new album in four years is dropping, even though it's been more or less on the down low. Stephin Merritt and company have come up with a new gimmick for Distortion, their eighth album: Per its title, every instrument, save the drums, was designed to blurt out feedback. "I don't know if anyone has done feedback piano before," Merritt said in a statement. The typically quiet act aimed for a noisier approach, á la Jesus and Mary Chain, on songs like "Zombie Boy," "The Nun's Litany" and "Too Drunk to Dream." Fans might also recognize a voice they heard on the Fields' 1999 classic, 69 Love Songs — Merritt's friend Shirley Simms is contributing background vocals again. Initial pressings of Distortion come with a bonus single: "The Man of a Million Faces," which Merritt wrote for NPR.

Slipping Out From The Archives: In case you didn't know already, the European eel uses the Earth's magnetic field for direction, which is cool if for no other reason than it allows us to shamelessly segue between Merritt's release and two from Mark Oliver Everett, another lo-fi singer/songwriter legend. Eels, Everett's project, are taking a look back with a two-pronged comp attack: Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. 1, 1996-2006, a CD-plus-DVD set; and the equally self-explanatory Eels Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased - 1996-2006, which comes in the form of two CDs and one DVD. The videos are actually reaching the DVD format for the first time ever, and fans will also drool over Everett's notes, which he scribed for every song.

Starr Power: In case you happened to be in Liverpool, England, on Saturday, you likely heard about hometown legend Ringo Starr performing to help kick off the city's Capital of Culture extravaganza. Well, he was also using that gig to fittingly launch Liverpool 8, his new studio album and first involving old buddy Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. Starr co-wrote all 12 of the album's tracks with Stewart, who also lent his production skills. Songs include "Love Is," "It It's Love That You Want" and "Think About You," all of which could have passed for the titles of Beatles songs, if you ask us.

The Raheem DeVaughn Experience: Speaking of love, DeVaughn may be one of the more underrated R&B crooners out there, but he has two things working in his favor: He recently earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his song "Woman"; and his last album had a notable debut, at #46 on the Billboard albums chart. Now DeVaughn is chasing his first LP, 2005's The Love Experience, with Love Behind the Melody. Don't miss "Friday (Shut the Club Down)," "Four Letter Word" and "Marathon," which spots a guest spot by Floetry.

This week's top hitters may not be all that heavy, but some big names helped out with some of the other titles lurking in the ranks:

· Nelly Furtado's collaborations with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland have earned her Grammy nominations — and a win — over the past two years, and now someone else is looking to horn in on the action: none other than ... adult-contemporary legend Anne Murray! Shelby Lynne, Martina McBride and others also populate Murray's Duets: Friends & Legends album.

· Switchfoot allowed frontman Jon Foreman to take a break and drop the second in his seasonal EPs this week: Winter, which is coming out digitally as a standalone release. In retail stores, though, it's available as a two-disc set, along with Foreman's November EP, Fall.

· Members of Lamb of God, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Trivium, the Haunted and Children of Bodom help Annihilator bring the Metal on their latest disc.

· Animal Collective's Paw Tracks imprint is dishing up Black Habit, the new disc by New York's First Nation ... er Rings. The trio changed their name after one member left and Abby Portner, sister of Animal Collective member Dave Portner, took up the role.

· Band of Horses had guitarist Tyler Ramsey on tour with them late last year, but that still left time for him to slap together a solo disc. The plucker's A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea was produced by My Morning Jacket collaborator Danny Kadar.

· Velvet Revolver and Slayer collaborator Josh Abraham originally recorded Egypt Central's self-titled debut two years ago, but now the effort from the Memphis heavy-rockers is finally hitting stores after undergoing a bit of an overhaul.

· Brooklyn, New York, shoegazers Dirty on Purpose chalk up a cover of Real Life's "Send Me an Angel" from for their new EP, "Like Bees." Doesn't get any gnarlier than that.

Song Title of the Week:

"If You Can't Be Good, Be Gone" from The SteelDrivers

Album Cover of the Week:

Rings' Black Habit

Other Notables:

Charlie Nothing's 40 Years of the Ding: A Charlie Nothing Anthology
In 2003, Minneapolis label De Stijl partnered with Sub Pop for the excavation of the Michael Yonkers Band's Microminiature Love, which was recorded 35 years earlier. Now, after teaming for a handful of additional releases, the labels have assembled this collection, which culls the psychedelic musician's long-lost recordings for Takoma, a label run by steel-string pioneer John Fahey, plus songs he made for private release — and some he even recorded while in jail.

Mike Ladd's Nostalgialator
The Afro-punk experimentalist is rubbing elbows with El-P, Aesop Rock, Cage and other underground hip-hop luminaries on Definitive Jux, the label that is re-releasing this 2004 effort, which was originally made available internationally on K7. The Boston native — who now calls Paris home — hooked up with New York producer Scotty Hard (Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul) for the genre-busting release.

Paleo's "The Song Diary"
This is about as DIY as you can get: Unsigned songwriter David Strackany spent a year touring the country, living out of his van, and writing and posting a song every day on his Web site. Now he's put together a DVD encompassing all 365 tunes, with a list of the dates and cities in which he recorded them, as well as a limited-edition 470-page book of lyrics. Fittingly, there are only 365, hand-numbered copies of the latter.

New Releases:

· 46bliss - Wish Me Away (Pistachio)
· Annihilator - Metal (SPV)
· Bob Bruzman - Post-Industrial Blues (Ruf)
· Steve Bug - Fabric 37 (Fabric)
· Peter Daily - Who Is Peter Daily? (EP; Sideshow Media Group)
· Raheem DeVaughn - Love Behind the Melody (Jive)
· Dirty on Purpose - Like Bees (EP; North Street) [Buy Now]
· Egypt Central - Egypt Central (Fat Lady/ Independent Label Group)
· Eliane Elias - Something for You: Eliane Elias Sings and Plays Bill Evans (Blue Note)
· Dan Ferrari - Don't Let It Fall (available at CDBaby.com and other indie outlets; AtoZ)
· Jon Foreman - Fall/Winter (EPs; two CDs; lowercase people/ Credential)
· Gamma Ray - Land of the Free II (SPV)
· Marianne Keith - Beautiful Distraction (Unison)
· John Legend - Live From Philadelphia (with DVD; available exclusively at Target; G.O.O.D./Columbia) [Buy Now]
· Magnetic Fields - Distortion (Nonesuch) [Buy Now]
· Mars Arizona - Hello Cruel World (Big Barn)
· Anne Murray - Duets: Friends & Legends (Manhattan/EMI)
· Fernando Otero - Pagina de Buenos Aires (Nonesuch)
· Peech - Peech (Unison)
· Tyler Ramsey - A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea (Echo Mountain)
· Rings - Black Habit (Paw Tracks)
· Ringo Starr - Liverpool 8 (Capitol/EMI) [Buy Now]
· Roomful of Blues - Raisin' a Ruckus (Alligator)
· Duane Stephenson - From August Town (VP)
· The SteelDrivers - The SteelDrivers (Rounder)
· Noah Sugarman - Art of Starting of Fire (Unison)
· Matthew West - Something to Say (Sparrow)
· Winger - Winger Live (two CDs; Shrapnel)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Buju Banton - Inna Heights: 10th Anniversary Edition (with DVD; VP)
· Tommy Bolin - The Ultimate: Redux (three-CD box set; Friday)
· Billy C and the Sunshine - The Lost 70's Tapes (two CDs; Blue Label)
· Charlie Nothing - 40 Years of the Ding: A Charlie Nothing Anthology (De Stijl/ Sub Pop)
· Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - The Early Years 1967-1970 (two CDs; Blue Label)
· Miles Davis - Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Columbia/Legacy)
· Eels - Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. 1, 1996-2006 (CD and DVD; Dreamworks/Geffen/UMe); and Eels Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased - 1996-2006 (two CDs and one DVD; Dreamworks/Geffen/UMe) [Buy Now]
· Aretha Franklin - Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Columbia/Legacy)
· Nnenna Freelon - Better Than Anything: The Quintessential Nnenna Freelon (Concord)
· Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear (two CDs; Hip-O Select)
· Billie Holiday - Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Columbia/Legacy)
· Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene (with DVD; Caroline)
· Kottonmouth Kings - Greatest Highs (two CDs; Capitol/EMI) [Buy Now]
· Mike Ladd - Nostalgialator (Definitive Jux)
· Barry Manilow - Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Columbia/Legacy)
· Ricky Nelson - Greatest Love Songs (Capitol/EMI)
· Olivia Newton-John - Olivia's Live Hits (Capitol/EMI)
· Nurse With Wound - Gyllenskold, Geijerstam and I at Rydberg's (Durtro Jnana)
· Kenny Rogers - A Love Song Collection (Capitol Nashville/ EMI)
· Frank Sinatra - Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Columbia/Legacy)
· Spice Girls - Greatest Hits (enhanced; two discs; Virgin) [Buy Now]
· Trisha Yearwood - Love Songs (MCA Nashville)
· Zucchero - All the Best (Verve)
· Various artists - Slow Jams: The Definitive Collection (Capitol)
· Various artists - Disco Not Disco: Post Punk, Electro & Leftfield Disco Classics - 1974-1986 (Strut)
· Various artists - Doo Wop Love Songs (four-CD box set; Shout! Factory)
· Various artists - Monterey Jazz Festival: 50th Anniversary All-Stars (Concord)
· Various artists - Sides of Blue: The Jazz Greats Who Played on Kind of Blue (Fantasy)
· Various artists - "The Jewish Americans" soundtrack (Rounder)

Music DVDs:

· Olivia Newton-John - "Olivia Newton-John and the Sydney Symphony: Live at the Sydney Opera House" (Capitol/EMI)
· Marilyn Manson - "Lord of Darkness: The Early Years" DVD (Candlelight)
· Paleo - "The Song Diary" (self-released)
· Winger - "Winger Live" (Shrapnel)

Digital Releases:

· Jon Foreman - Fall/Winter (EP; lowercase people/ Credential)

Coming Attractions:

January 22:
· Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine (Epic)
· Cat Power - Jukebox (deluxe edition with bonus CD due same day; Matador)
· Matt Costa - Unfamiliar Faces (Brushfire)

January 29:
· Beck - Odelay - Deluxe Edition (two CDs; Geffen/UMe)
· The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath (Universal)
· Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL)

February 5:
· Christina Aguilera - "Back to Basics: Live and Down Under" (two DVDs; RCA)
· Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static (Brushfire)
· Lenny Kravitz - It Is Time For A Revolution (Virgin)

• Spice Girls
• Magnetic Fields
• John Legend
• eels

Arctic Monkeys' <i>Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not</i>
Photo: Domino

Arctic Breeze: The British music press is no stranger to hyperbole, but after topping the charts and picking up a key Brit Award (for Best British Breakthrough Act) in their homeland, the Arctic Monkeys could be on to something. The Stateside release of their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, is frill-free, but songs like "Mardy Bum," "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But ..." and "Red Light Indicates the Doors Are Secure" are fun for the whole family.

Diddy on Their Minds: In what could be one of the weakest disses ever recorded — if you could even call it that — Dilated Peoples take one of Diddy's famous lines ("Don't worry if I write rhymes/ I write checks") and turn it into — don't look! — "Don't worry if I write checks/ I write rhymes." Whichever way they're facing on "Back Again," the good-natured Peeps — who featured Kanye West on their 2004 single "This Way" — get a few lay-ups by Talib Kweli and a bunch of underground talent: Dr. Greenthumb, Defari, Capleton and Krondon.

Wicked World: Stumble across the Wicked Wisdom Web site and you probably wouldn't guess the band is Jada Pinkett Smith's metal project, for which she is apparently going by the name Jada Koren. But judging from the track list of the Wicked's self-named debut, there's little doubt as to who this record's about: "Something Inside of Me," "Bleed All Over Me," "Set Me Free" and "Don't Hate Me." (Also feeling wicked this week is Bird York, whose 12-track Wicked Little High features her "In the Deep" contribution to "Crash.")

Hello William: So what's William Orbit been up to since producing Blur's Think Tank in 2003? Well, cultivating some Depeche Mode archival releases, but also fine-tuning his first solo record since 2000's Pieces in a Modern Style. His new one, Hello Waveforms, features Tricky's brother Finley Quaye — Orbit produced his Much More Than Much Love — plus the Sugababes and his old Strange Cargo pal, Laurie Meyer. Let's hold off on the astronomical puns this time around, people.

Unrepentantly Indie: Death Cab for Cutie's hop from career-long label Barsuk to major label Atlantic for last year's Plans helped generate that many more radio spins of "Soul Meets Body." But Chris Walla & Co. are going covert again for The John Byrd EP, which cobbles together live cuts from the band's Transatlanticism tour. Gaining them a few extra indie-cred points, Death Cab tack on an unreleased cover of Sebadoh's "Brand New Love."

Not to be confused with Sebadoh's Jason Loewenstein is Tim Loewen, who plays bass on the new Destroyer album, Destroyer's Rubies. New Pornographer contributor Dan Bejar expands his side project into a full ensemble this time around, turning to Mayo Thompson of Red Krayola and saxophone player Scott Morgan on tracks like "A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point," "Priest's Knees" and "Sick Priest Learns to Last Forever."

Identity Crisis: An album of songs sung by '80s action-star/cyborg Robocop might come across as rather, uh, one-note, but luckily there's Nuremberg, Germany's Robocop Kraus to take up the mantle. The man-machine would probably have trouble understanding one track in particular on They Think They Are the Robocop Kraus: "You Don't Have To Shout" revolves around Mathias Rust, who flew took off in a plane in Hamburg and landed in Communist Moscow — smack-dab in the middle of the Red Square — at age 19.

Back to cases of mistaken identity, that's not Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" who's putting out The Day the River Sang. It's the John Stewart of your parents' (or grandparents') generation, the Kingston Trio guy. One standout track is "New Orleans," on which Stewart reminisces about the Katrina catastrophe amid a spare piano.

And speaking of veteran musicians paying tribute to the Crescent City, Kinks leader Ray Davies provides a similar reflection on "The Tourist," which is centered around his home in New Orleans.

Heavy on the Visuals: As the tension builds over the major-label debut by metal's latest and greatest hope, Atlanta's Mastodon, their former label, Relapse, has been emptying out the archives. Call of the Mastodon, issued earlier this month, huddled together the band's earliest recordings, while this week's "The Workhorse Chronicles" DVD has a startling 30 tracks (the band's only put out two albums so far) and loads of interview material.

Eels also dump a bundle of tracks onto Live at Town Hall, for which E is backed with a string quartet and two multi-instrumentalists. The concert release comes as a digipak or as a standalone DVD with additional songs, four short docs and more.

Elbow are also feeling the video bug: A limited edition of their Leaders of the Free World comes with a bonus DVD, and they're distinguishing the special package with an olive-green cover.

But while many are transforming audio content to video this week, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Bad Seeds, Dirty Three) head in the opposite direction with their soundtrack to "The Proposition." Cave wrote the screenplay to the Australian indie flick, which stars Guy Pearce and Emily Watson; the funereal musical accompaniment features a lot of tribal drumming and extended drones.

Cracker Vs. Cracker: One, two, three, four, Virgin and Cooking Vinyl declare a Cracker war. The major label — which released Cracker's first four albums — wants fans to get Get on With It: The Best of Cracker. Virgin advertises the "first single-disc compilation of their best songs," which has the original versions of classics like "Euro-Trash Girl" and "Low," as being "produced in collaboration with the band!" Cooking Vinyl, however — they who put out a 2002 Cracker live record — say Greatest Hits Redux is "the officially sanctioned greatest-hits package," even though the songs themselves are re-recordings. To make matters worse, the track lists are nearly identical ... who said a little competition wasn't good for the marketplace?

Song Titles of the Week:

"Engrish Bread," "Push the Eagle's Stomach" and "Fishstick Gumbo" from Man Man's Six Demon Bag

New Releases:

• Adair - The Destruction of Everything Is the Beginning of Something New (Warcon)
• Agnes Chan - Forget Yourself (with DVD; Bungalo)
• Arab Strap - Last Romance (Transdreamer)
• Architects - Revenge (Anodyne)
• Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino)
  Read: "You Hear It First: Arctic Monkeys"
• Bad Wizard - Sky High (Howler)
• Bleeding Kansas - Dead Under Decor (Abacus)
• Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - "The Proposition" soundtrack (Mute)
• Chicago Underground Duo - In Praise of Shadows (Thrill Jockey)
• Coldcut - Sound Mirrors (Ninja Tune)
  Buy Now: Sound Mirrors (Ninja Tune)
• BJ Cole - Trouble in Paradise (DualDisc; Silverline)
• Cowboy Mouth - Voodoo Shoppe (Eleven Thirty)
• Ray Davies - Other People's Lives (V2)
• Death Cab for Cutie - The John Byrd EP (Barsuk)
  Read: "Death Cab For Cutie Live EP Due March 1; Next LP In The Works"
• Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies (Merge)
• Dilated Peoples - 20/20 (Capitol)
  Buy Now: 20/20 (Capitol)
• Jimmy Edgar - Color Strip (Warp)
• Eels (With Strings) - Live at Town Hall (digipak; Vagrant)
• Elbow - Leaders of the Free World (limited-edition version with DVD also available; V2)
• Evans Blue - The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume (Hollywood)
• Ex-Boyfriends - Dear John (Absolutely Kosher)
• Folly - Resist Convenience (Triple Crown)
• Stephen Fretwell - Magpie (Interscope)
• Gamble Brothers Band - Continuator (Emergent)
• Tony Gilkyson - Goodbye Guitar (Rolling Sea)
• Jesse Harris - Mineral (digipak; Secret Sun)
  Buy Now: Mineral (digipak; Secret Sun)
• Head Like a Kite - Random Portraits of the Home Movie (Pattern25)
• Hell Is for Heroes - Transmit Disrupt (Burning Heart)
• Janis Ian - Folk Is the New Black (Cooking Vinyl)
• Bob James - Urban Flamingo (Koch)
• Arden Kaywin - Quarter Life Crisis (Arden Kaywin/PEGA)
• Kidz Bop Kids - Kidz Bop 9 (with comic book; Razor & Tie)
• Nils Landgren and Joe Sample - Creole Love Call (Highnote)
• The Lashes - Get It (Red Ink/ Epic)
• Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Strings and Things (Ubiquity)
• Lilys - Everything Wrong Is Imaginary (Manifesto)
• The Loved Ones - Keep Your Heart (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Andrew Hill - Time Lines (Blue Note)
• Man Man - Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
• Marley's Ghost - Spooked (Sage Arts)
• Metal Hearts - Socialize (Suicide Squeeze)
• Midstates - Blocking Twilight (Reincarnate Music)
• Willie Nile - Streets of New York (Reincarnate)
• William Orbit - Hello Waveforms (Sanctuary)
• Anna Oxygen - This Is an Exercise (Kill Rock Stars)
• Lori Perry - I Found It in You (Alliant Music Group)
• Gianluca Petrella - Indigo4 (Blue Note)
• The Product - Scarface Presents the Product: One Hunid (Koch)
• Remembering Never - God Save Us (Ferret)
  Buy Now: God Save Us (Ferret)
• Robinella - Solace for the Lonely (Dualtone)
• Robocop Kraus - They Think They Are the Robocop Kraus (Epitaph)
• Shanice - Every Woman Dreams (Playtyme)
• The Slackers - Peculiar (Hellcat)
  Buy Now: Peculiar (Hellcat)
• Slave to the System - Slave to the System (Spitfire)
• Souls She Said - As Templar Nites (Dim Mak/ Vice/ Atlantic)
• John Stewart - The Day the River Sang (Appleseed)
• Street Drum Corps - Street Drum Corps (Warcon)
• Teddy Thompson - Separate Ways (Verve Forecast)
• Torture Killer - Swarm! (Metal Blade)
• The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines (Columbia)
• Two Gallants - What the Toll Tells (Saddle Creek)
• Wicked Wisdom - Wicked Wisdom (Suburban Noize)
  Read: "Jada Pinkett Smith Lives Out Her Axl Rose Dreams"
• Bird York - Wicked Little High (Narada)
• Various artists - Kidz Bop 9 (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - Take Action! Volume 5 (enhanced; Sub City)
• Various artists - Texas Unplugged - Vol. 2 (digipak; Palo Duro)
• Various artists - "Madea's Family Reunion" soundtrack (Motown)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• APB - Something to Believe In - 20th Anniversary Edition (two CDs; Young American)
• Billy Bragg - Billy Bragg: Volume 1 (box set), Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Life's a Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Live & Dubious/ The Internationale and Talking With the Taxman About Poetry (Yep Roc)
• The Byrds - Preflyte (Sundazed)
• Califone - Roomsound (Thrill Jockey)
• Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash - 16 Biggest Hits (Columbia/Legacy)
  Buy Now: 16 Biggest Hits (Columbia/Legacy)
• The Chieftans - The Essential Chieftains (two CDs; RCA/Legacy)
• John Coltrane - Coltrane Live in Paris (Passport Audio)
• Cracker - Get on With It: The Best of Cracker (Virgin)
• Cracker - Greatest Hits Redux (Cooking Vinyl)
• Flamin' Groovies - Bust Out at Full Speed: The Sire Years (box set; DBK Works)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Twelve Inches (ZTT)
  Buy Now: Twelve Inches (ZTT)
• Merle Haggard - Hag/ Someday We'll Look Back, Mama Tried/ Pride in What I Am, Sing Me Back Home/ The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde and Strangers/ Swinging Doors and the Bottle Let Me Down (Capitol)
• Merle Haggard - Live From Austin TX (New West)
• The Knickerbockers - Rockin'! With the Knickerbockers (Sundazed)
• Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes and Mott (Columbia/Legacy)
• Santana - Santana III: Legacy Edition (two CDs; Columbia/Legacy)
• Seven Dub - Dub Club Edition: Rock With Me Sessions (Collision Cause Chap)
• Various artists - Essential Irish Drinking Songs and Singalongs (two CDs; RCA/Legacy)
• Various artists - Original Irish Tenors: The Legendary Voices of Celtic Song (RCA/Legacy)

DVDs:

• GG Allin and the Murder Junkies - "Terror in America - Live 1993" (Music Video Distributors)
• Syd Barrett - "Under Review" (Music Video Distributors)
• Blow Monkeys - "Animal Magic - Blow Monkeys Live" (Cherry Red)
• Eels (With Strings) - "Live at Town Hall" (Image Entertainment)
• Europe - "Live From the Dark" (special edition with bonus CD; Music Video Distributors)
• Iron Maiden - "Death on the Road" (three DVDs; Columbia)
• Kid Dynamite - "Four Years in One Gulp" (Jade Tree)
• Mastodon - "The Workhorse Chronicles" (Relapse)
• Elvis Presley - "The Memphis Flash: Elvis Presley, Sun Records and How It All Began" (Music Video Distributors)
• Third World - "Music Hall in Concert" (Music Video Distributors)
• Turbo - "The History: 1980-2005" (Music Video Distributors)
• Johnny "Guitar" Watson - "Music Hall in Concert" (Music Video Distributors)
• Various artists - "Metal's Darkside: The Hard and the Furious, Volume 1" (Music Video Distributors)

Coming Attractions:

February 28:

• Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely (Victory)
  Buy Now: If Only You Were Lonely (Victory)
• Kid Rock - Live Trucker (Atlantic)
  Buy Now: Live Trucker (Atlantic)
• Ne-Yo - In My Own Words (Def Jam)
  Read: You Hear It First: Jay-Z's Picks
  Buy Now: In My Own Words (Def Jam)

March 7:

• Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas (V2)
  Buy Now: Ballad of the Broken Seas (V2)
• Juvenile - Reality Check (Atlantic)
• Matisyahu - Youth (Epic)
  Buy Now: Youth (Epic)

March 14:

• E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros.)
• Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree: Limited Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour Edition (Island)
  Read: "Fall Out Boy Promise An 'Event' Video For 'Sixteen Candles' "
  Buy Now: From Under the Cork Tree: Limited Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour Edition (Island)
• Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV (Atlantic)
  Read: "You Hear It First: Hard-Fi"

• Arctic Monkeys
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Dilated Peoples
• Mastodon
• Nick Cave

Ashlee Simpson (file)
Photo: Getty Images/Peter Kramer

Ashlee Simpson's tour is over, but she might still be willing to give you a private show if you can pony up the dough — the big dough, as in $35,000 a song. That's the going rate to get the singer to play your birthday, as she did on Friday night at New York's Cipriani restaurant for one lucky 14-year-old, whose daddy just so happens to be wealthy fashion mogul Silas Chou, a bigwig at Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors who could easily afford the $145,000 price tag for the Willy Wonka-themed fest. ...

For all you kids who'd love you some Bo Bice, the "American Idol" finalist and his hometown band, Sugar Money, have released an exclusive single for the launch of GarageBand Podcast Studio, the first Web-based tool to record, mix and publish a podcast. "Papion" by Bo Bice & Sugar Money is now available through GarageBand.com. ... Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue, 36, is recuperating after successful surgery on Friday at a Melbourne, Australia, hospital to treat an early form of breast cancer, according to a Reuters report. The singer's doctors said they are confident that they caught the cancer in time. Australian clinics are reporting a deluge of women coming in for breast exams in the wake of Minogue's diagnosis. ...

As Michael Jackson's defense attorneys start to wind up their case, they attempted to drive home on Monday (May 23) their argument that the accuser's mother is a gold-digger after the singer's money. A social-services employee testified that the mother did not declare on her welfare application the charitable contributions her family had received for her son's cancer costs, and did not mention the settlement her family had received from JC Penney, despite a question on the form that asked "Has anyone in the family received a court settlement?" The social-services worker said this constituted welfare fraud. The accuser's aunt on his father's side also took the stand on Monday, saying that she had heard on TV there was a need for blood for her nephew, so she organized a blood drive. But, the aunt said, the mother had complained to her about it, saying she didn't need the blood, she needed money. ... According to a spokesperson for System of a Down, frontman Serj Tankian has been working on material for masked funk axeman Buckethead's forthcoming album. Buckethead, he of the failed Guns N' Roses reincarnation of a few years back, sent Tankian some instrumentals, and asked the singer to help enhance the tracks with different vocalists, including poet Saul Williams. ...

In what can be attributed to an extreme act of facial-hair bias, the Darkness have parted ways with mustachioed bassist Frankie Poullain. Actually, the reason for the split appears to be rather tame. In a posting on the band's official site, TheDarknessRock.com, the band cites "musical differences" as the cause for Poullain's departure, adding that "a replacement will be named within [the] coming months." The Darkness are currently in the studio, working on the follow-up to 2003's Permission to Land with Cheap Trick and Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker. ... Two members of Bobby Brown's entourage were hospitalized on Monday for treatment of knife wounds after a fight erupted at Justin's Restaurant and Bar in Atlanta, according to The Associated Press. Brown was performing at a weekly open-mic event at the restaurant owned by P. Diddy when two of his people got involved in an altercation. The suspects fled immediately after the fight. Authorities say the singer was not involved, and the cause for the fight was not immediately known. Both men remain in stable condition. Meanwhile, Diddy and his Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group are cooperating with authorities in the criminal investigation. ...

Willie Nelson is going reggae. His next album, Countryman, includes covers of Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come" and "Sitting in Limbo" as well as duets with Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals. Other reggae-infused country tunes on the album, due August 2, include "I'm a Worried Man," written by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, as well as nine originals, such as "Darkness on the Face of the Earth," "I've Just Destroyed the World" and "I Guess I've Come to Live Here." ... British rockers Def Leppard will release Yeah! on September 20, according to the band's Web site. An album's worth of cover tunes (22, to be precise), the disc will include Def Lep adaptations of Thin Lizzy's "Don't Believe a Word," David Bowie's "Drive-in Saturday," Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone," MC5's "Kick Out the Jams," Roxy Music's "Street Life," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "American Girl" and the Police's "Roxanne." ...

E has mapped out a June tour for his band the Eels, which will kick off on June 15 in San Francisco. The 13-date trek, in support of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, will hit Seattle, Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston before coming to a close on June 30 in New York. ... Morrissey hardly seems the type to make a fuss on his birthday, but the legendary mope-rock pioneer celebrated his 46th in style Sunday night catching psychobilly band Tiger Army, who were playing one of five sold-out nights at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Tiger Army leader Nick 13 dedicated a cover of "The Loop" to his idol, who was sitting in the balcony. ...

05.20.2005

Britney Spears might be more of a practicing Baptist or sometime Kabbalist, but she also gives props to the pope in a new video tribute. She joins 'NSYNC, Monica, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry in reading inspirational prayers, stories and poems from the late Pope John Paul II in a clip available for download at popejpII.navio.com. ...

Kelly Clarkson will perform in New York's Central Park on Saturday afternoon. The concert is part of Allure magazine's Beauty Live event, which will include a beauty village filled with free makeovers, product samples, expert skincare advice and more, with proceeds benefiting the Skin Cancer Foundation. ... You might associate Mötley Crüe with strip clubs and hard liquor, but frontman Vince Neil is actually more of a fine-wine guy — so much so that he's making his own. Vince Vineyards will release its first two wines this spring — a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2003 Sonoma Chardonnay — which will be available in Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Nashville, Tennessee; and New York (national distribution will follow). "I have enjoyed great wine for most of my life and wanted to create something other wine lovers could experience and appreciate," Neil said. "Our first two releases are both amazing wines and I can't imagine enjoying fresh seafood or grilled steak with anything else." ...

Add Madonna to the list of well-wishers hoping for a speedy recovery for Kylie Minogue, who is undergoing breast-cancer surgery this week. "I was saddened to learn about Kylie's diagnosis," Madonna posted on her Web site. "I'm so grateful that they found it early. Aside from being tremendously talented, Kylie's a fighter and I know this is a battle she will win." Madonna also called the news "yet another reminder for all women to have annual mammograms." ... Meanwhile, a judge in Mons, Belgium, has frozen royalties for "Frozen" in that country — until a plagiarism lawsuit against Madonna is resumed next month. Composer Salvatore Acquaviva is suing the Material Mom, accusing her of lifting the melody of her 1998 hit from his 1993 song "Ma Vie Fout L'camp" ("My Life's Getting Nowhere"). Madonna's lawyer Fabienne Brison denied the charge, telling Belgian television station RTL, "Just because there are similarities between two songs, it doesn't mean it has been plagiarized." ...

Cut Chemist has ripped it up for Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli, and now the DJ is getting busy on a solo LP. The album, The Audiences' Listening, is due this fall, and he describes it as a mix of Brazilian samba, rock and hip-hop beats, electro and samples — lots of samples. "The album is hip-hop in the sense that it's cut-and-paste, and there's a lot of turntablist stuff on there," he said. "You really get a feel of me going through records to put this together." ... The Offspring have one new song called "Can't Repeat" slated for their upcoming greatest-hits collection, due June 21. The Offspring's Greatest Hits will also include "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)," "Self Esteem," "All I Want," "Gone Away," "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" and "Defy You." The DualDisc version will include an acoustic performance of "Dirty Magic." The group is also releasing a music-video collection, due out July 5, which will include the band-produced rarities "Da Hui" and "Cool to Hate" as well as live television performances. ...

The String Cheese Incident will headline the Big Summer Classic 2005 tour, which launches July 2 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver and wraps up later in the month. Keller Williams, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey's McGee and New Monsoon are also on the bill. ... Street Drum Corps, a street-drum exhibition that No Doubt's Adrian Young and Bad Religion's Brooks Wackerman have previously participated in, will perform at the California and Arizona dates of this summer's Vans Warped Tour, from June 29 to July 7. SDC will perform a 15-minute set five times a day on its own stage. Each performance will feature a special guest joining the group. ...

Louis XIV shot a video for "God Killed the Queen" Thursday night in Los Angeles, where fans were invited to be in the crowd for the live-performance scenes, if they "dressed to impress." The clip was directed by the collective Made by Robots, and it's supposed to have a "Sid & Nancy," rock-and-roll-mayhem-at-the-Chelsea-Hotel feel to reflect the band's glam-punk vibe. Meanwhile, the group's tour with the Killers, which was to start Monday in St. Louis, is now slated to kick off Wednesday in Chicago. The Monday St. Louis and Tuesday Louisville, Kentucky, dates were postponed by the Killers for "personal reasons," according to Louis XIV's Web site. ... A remix of "Shed Your Skin" by Tom Morello, a live performance of "Ramblin' Round" with Ani DiFranco and a collaboration with Michael Stipe on "I'll Give You My Skin" are among the tracks featured on the Indigo Girls' new Rarities collection, due June 14. Covers of "Clampdown" from 1999's Burning London - The Clash Tribute, and "Uncle John's Band" from 1991's Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead are also included. ...

• Ashlee Simpson
• Kylie Minogue
• Serj Tankian
• eels

Eels' E
Photo: MTV News

HOLLYWOOD — While Eels singer E was traveling back to Los Angeles from London recently, he spent the entire 10-hour flight feverishly writing a shot-by-shot video treatment for the first single from his new record.

It wasn't until he landed that he learned he had no budget.

"So I had to figure out how to rise to that occasion," E said last week during a break from rehearsing for his upcoming tour. "That's kind of been the whole Eels career: How do you rise to these occasions that you don't necessarily want to rise to, which is partly what the song is about."

In the end, E (whose real name is Mark Oliver Everett, but he introduces himself as E) shot what he boasts is the cheapest video ever made for "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)."

"I'm the cameraman, the star, the soundman, I did the catering, I did everything," he said. "I had to film myself with the song on the stereo. You got all the trappings of working at home when you're making a video like that. I wasn't really warmed up properly. I did a couple of soul screams that I do on the record, but I did them kind of off-key and the dog started howling. It was a mess."

E shot one take and then played it back.

I was really embarrassed for myself, and that's what convinced me that I should put it out," he said. "It's so real. It's not a flattering portrait of the artist whatsoever. There are no special effects. No flying around. No people turning into vegetables. Those days are over."

So "Hey Man" doesn't come with the same stunning visuals as past Eels singles like "Novocaine for the Soul" and "Last Stop: This Town," but the tune is just as catchy as the simplistic sing-alongs that put the husky-voiced singer/songwriter on the map.

"People think it's supposed to be a funny song, and I don't see it that way at all," E said of the new single, which opens, "Do you know what it's like to fall on the floor/ Cry your guts out till you got no more?" "That's not supposed to be ironic in my mind. I'm just saying there's things in life people say yes to and there's things in life people say no to, and I was just trying to say, you say yes to all of it if you really want to live."

That mindset is exactly how E approached his sixth Eels studio recording, the 33-song Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. Although he's always said he would never make a double album, the songs just kept coming, and he said yes. Well, to an extent.

"It could have been four discs, so consider yourselves lucky," E joked. "I don't think everything I do is great and should come out. I worked really hard for several years editing it into the most succinct, direct version it could be."

E actually started work on the album in 2002 but quickly got frustrated with all of the orchestrations. So he picked up an electric guitar and wrote 2003's Shootenanny! After playing more than 80 shows in support of that record, he was ready to go back to the more subdued Blinking Lights, which has garnered comparisons to 1998's morose Electro-Shock Blues.

"Lyrically, I think it's getting a bad rap about having more to do with death than it really does," E said. "People love that for some reason. People love death. I don't know why. But it's really about life."

The album was inspired by the song "Blinking Lights (For Me)," hence the title Blinking Lights and Other Revelations.

"I wrote that several years ago and I was writing that to comfort someone who was close to me," E said. "I was looking out the window one night and I saw this plane flying over the night sky and I was thinking about people who are scared to fly, what would be comforting about that plane? And I thought, what about the light blinking on that plane. What if it were a Morse code signal that said, 'Don't worry, everything's all right.' Then I got the idea I wanted to make a record that could be a friend to the listener, offer some sort of comfort, maybe."

Along the way, E got some comfort from a few of his heroes, singer Tom Waits, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and the Lovin' Spoonful singer John Sebastian.

"I didn't set out to make my Santana duets album," E said. "But if you find yourself talking to Tom Waits on the phone, you better not let him get off without asking him if he wants to come work on a dance number you're in the middle of recording."

• eels

Amerie's <i>Touch</I>
Photo: Sony

While Amerie gave her fans All I Have as her debut, she's opting to let them Touch a more mature side of her this time around.

The R&B songstress worked again with Rich Harrison, who produced 2002's All I Have, though this time Amerie took more control over her album. She co-wrote all of the tracks on Touch, including the go-go-infused first single, "1 Thing." Amerie got a hand from big-name producers, including Lil Jon, Dre & Vidal, Red Spyda and others, but distanced herself from other mainstream R&B artists by featuring only one guest MC, Eve, who appears on one verse of the "1 Thing" remix.

Another artist keeping things simple on his new album is the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. His 13th studio album, Devils & Dust, a series of Springsteen's characteristic narrative songs, finds the artist working with only select members of his E Street Band, including violinist Soozie Tyrell and wife Patti Scialfa.

It's been four years since we heard from New Order, but that's nothing considering fans had to wait eight long years for 2001's Get Ready. With so many new bands drawing upon New Order for inspiration (Interpol, the Killers), it was high time the influential group released its new album, Waiting for the Sirens' Call.

Bay Area rapper Lyrics Born releases an album full of remixes of his 2003 debut, Later That Day ... , aptly titled Same !@#$ Different Day. The new release features eight remixes from the first album and five new tracks. Goth-inspired punk cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls, meanwhile, reissue their self-titled debut, this time with the backing of a bigger label.

Also out this week are albums by the Eels (Blinking Lights and Other Revelations), Feist (Let It Die), Ben Folds (Songs for Silverman), Porcupine Tree (Dead Wing), No Address (Time Doesn't Notice) and Johnathan Rice (Trouble Is Real).

Out Tuesday, April 26:

• Acceptance - Phantoms (Columbia/RED Ink)
• Amerie - Touch (Sony)
  Read: "Amerie Shoots Down Goody-Goody Image, Says 'I'm Not A Prude' "
• Cheryl Bentyne - Let Me Off Uptown (Telarc)
• Debby Boone - Reflections of Rosemary (Concord)
• Brain Failure - American Dreamer (Thorp)
• Tim Burgess - I Believe (Koch)
• Caesars - Paper Tigers (Astralwerks)
• Charivari - A Trip to the Holiday Lounge (Rounder)
• Jordan Chassan - East of Bristol, West of Knoxville (Strong)
• Coastline Band - Sweet N Ripe (Landslide)
• Steve Cole - Spin (Narada)
• Jack DeJohnette - Music in the Key of Om (Golden Beams/Kindred Rhythm)
• Jack DeJohnette and Foday Musa Suso - Music From the Hearts of the Masters (Golden Beams/Kindred Rhythm)
• Discover America - Psychology (Tooth & Nail)
• DJ Spooky Vs. Dave Lombardo - Drums of Death (Thirsty Ear)
• Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls (Roadrunner)
  Read: "Dresden Dolls Making The World Safe For Punk Cabaret"
• Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Vagrant)
  Buy Now: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Vagrant)
  
• Feist - Let It Die (Interscope)
• Fisher - The Lovely Years (Iris)
• Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman (Epic)
  Buy Now: Songs for Silverman (Epic)
  
• Tracy Grammer - Flower of Avalon (Signature)
• Brian Haas - The Truth About Hollywood (Sin-Drome)
• Hater - The 2nd (Burn Burn Burn)
• Eric Heatherly - The Lower East Side of Life (Koch)
• Hiroshima - Obon (Heads Up)
• Hot Snakes - Peel Sessions EP (Swami)
• Buddy Jewell - Times Like These (Columbia)
• Jim and Jennie and the Pinetops - Rivers Roll on By (Bloodshot)
• John Brown's Body - Pressure Points (Easy Star)
• Love as Laughter - Laughter's Fifth (Sub Pop)
• Luciano - Jah Words (Sanctuary)
• Lyrics Born - Same !@#$ Different Day (Quannum/Epitaph)
• Jo Dee Messina - Delicious Surprise (Curb)
  Buy Now: Delicious Surprise (Curb)
  
• Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree (Beggars Group)
• Oliver Mtukudzi - Nhava (Heads Up)
• New Order - Waiting for the Sirens' Call (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: Waiting for the Sirens' Call (Warner Bros.)
  
• No Address - Time Doesn't Notice (Atlantic)
• Oz Noy - Ha! (Magna Carta)
• Porcupine Tree - Dead Wing (Lava/Atlantic)
  Buy Now: Dead Wing (Lava/Atlantic)
  
• John Prine - Fair and Square (Oh Boy)
  Buy Now: Fair and Square (Oh Boy)
  
• Joel Rafael Band - Woodyboye: Songs of Woody Guthrie (and Tales Worth Telling) Volume II (Appleseed)
• Red Stick Ramblers - Right Key, Wrong Keyhole (Memphis International)
• Johnathan Rice - Trouble Is Real (Warner Bros.)
• Peggy Seeger - Love Call Me Home (Appleseed)
• Settlefish - The Plural of the Choir (Deep Elm)
• Frank Sinatra - Live From Las Vegas (Capitol)
  Buy Now: Live From Las Vegas (Capitol)
  
• Bruce Springsteen - Devils & Dust (Columbia)
  Buy Now: Devils & Dust (Columbia)
  
• Susie Suh - Susie Suh (Epic)
• Jimmy Thackery - Healin' Ground (Telarc)
• Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman's Woman (Rough Trade/Sanctuary)
• Us3 - Questions (Us3)
• Bobby Valentino - Disturbing Tha Peace Presents (Def Jam)
  Read: "Launching Bobby Valentino's Career Is All In A Day's Work For Ludacris"
• Jim Verraros - Rollercoaster (Koch)
• Various artists - Africa Remix (Milan)
• Various artists - Broadway Today: Broadway 1992-Now (Decca/Universal Classics)
• Various artists - Family Guy Live in Las Vegas (Geffen)
• Various artists - "Fever Pitch" soundtrack (Ryko)
• Various artists - Golden Slumbers: A Father's Love (Rendezvous)
• Various artists - "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists - "King's Ransom" soundtrack (Ryko)
• Various artists - "Layer Cake" soundtrack (Virgin)

May 3:

• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cold Roses (Lost Highway)
• Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth (Interscope)
  Read: "New Nine Inch Nails LP Takes Risks — By Being Accessible"
• Stevie Wonder - A Time to Love (Motown)

May 10:

• Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up (RCA)
• Spoon - Gimme Fiction (Merge)
• Weezer - Make Believe (Geffen)
  Read: "Weezer Album Preview: Wailing Guitars And New-Wave Ballads"

May 17:

• Def Leppard - Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (Mercury/Universal)
• System of a Down - Mezmerize (Sony)
  Read: "System Of A Down Album Preview: Band Pulls No Punches With The Pummeling Mezmerize"
• Various artists - American Idol Season 4: The Album (RCA)

• Amerie
• Bruce Springsteen
• New Order
• Lyrics Born
• The Dresden Dolls

Nas was due in court Monday in New York to face charges of assault, but the case was adjourned until September 21. No explanation was given by the district attorney's office. The case stems from an incident in December in which the rapper allegedly threw a bottle at a man at a New York nightclub. ...

Rapper Cam'ron is the fifth celebrity to design a baseball cap for New Era's 59Fifty Capture the Flag limited-edition hat series. Cam's cap features the Diplomats logo on the front, accented in his favorite color, pink, against a mainly purple background — keeping true to the theme of his upcoming album, Purple Haze. Roger Clemens, Fabolous and Bobbito are other celebs who have designed hats for the series. ... The photographer run over by Britney Spears' mother on Sunday turned out to have only minor injuries from the accident. Though he was taken to the hospital with a suspected broken ankle, X-rays determined that there were no broken bones. The paparazzo has some swelling and is said to be at home resting. Police who arrived at the scene did not ticket Lynne Spears. ...

Yellowcard want to know: Does your band have what it takes to open for them on their 2005 tour? Takeover Records is looking to release an album by one talented unsigned band. Interested artists should visit the tent that the label will be sharing with Yellowcard on every date of the upcoming Vans Warped Tour, and drop their demo CD off in the "Demo Submission Van" that will be parked next to the tent. At the end of the tour, Takeover will select 10 of the best demos, post one song from each on the front page of PureVolume.com, and give the public a week to pick the winner. Check out yellowcardrock.com for more details. ... "The Wu-Tang Manual," a book about the Staten Island, New York, rap crew, will be released on October 5. The project is being put together by RZA, who promises the book will tell the Wu-Tang Clan's history, decipher the members' varying alter egos and explain the numerology and Eastern philosophies that inform the group's identity. ...

Scott Weiland has until the end of the month before he'll have to stand trial for driving under the influence of drugs in Los Angeles. His court date, which has already been pushed back several times, was postponed once again on Tuesday, to June 30. ... Velvet Revolver/ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan will appear on the Saturday episode of "America's Most Wanted" to talk about the unsolved murder of Lorella Lepper, who oversaw the Web site of McKagan's former band Loaded. In November 2002, Lepper was stabbed to death in her apartment in Los Angeles. ...

Make that two Roc-A-Fella honchos with their own kicks. Dame Dash has purchased Pro-Keds sneakers but says he'll still wait a few more months before he thinks about retiring his Nikes. ... The lineup for next month's fundraiser to benefit Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has grown to include Dave Grohl. The event, to be held July 6 at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre, also includes Liz Phair and Tenacious D. ...

The second annual World Peace Music Awards, originally scheduled to take place Tuesday in Hanoi, Vietnam, has been postponed until September. The event, which would have featured performances from artists including the Black Eyed Peas, Hootie and the Blowfish, Lionel Richie and Gloria Gaynor, would have been the biggest international music show ever in Vietnam. The concert's executive producer, Matt Taylor, told reporters on Monday that the postponement is due to "completely unforeseen and insurmountable circumstances," stemming from a "glitch" in communications between the concert's organizers and sponsors. Taylor added that he hopes to reschedule the event — which would have honored musicians including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and others for their protest songs during the Vietnam War — as a more scaled-down affair. ... Bob Dylan has done some fairly un-Dylan things of late, including lending one of his songs to a Victoria's Secret commercial. Now, the rock and roll icon is joining forces with Willie Nelson for the Bob Dylan Show, a 22-date concert tour of U.S. minor league baseball parks. The trek will kick off on August 6 in Cooperstown, New York, the home of Baseball's Hall of Fame, and end on September 4 in Kansas City, Kansas. This is the first time Dylan and Nelson will be touring together. "What we aim to do with this tour," Dylan said in a recent statement, "is hit the ball out of the park, touch all the bases and get home safely." ...

Ben Shabalala, a former member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, was killed in unknown circumstances on Wednesday in a suburb of Durban, South Africa. Shabalala first joined the South African group in 1979 and was with it when it worked with Paul Simon on his Grammy-winning album Graceland. ... Audiovent, the band that featured the brothers of Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd and guitarist Mike Einziger, have broken up. "After 12 years of playing music together, we've now decided to part ways, guitarist Benjamin Einziger said. "We've kept all our friendships intact, which I think is the most important thing, and are now interested in pursuing other creative endeavors." ...

Eels are the latest artists caught in the constrictive net cast by major-label mergers. After an eight-year, six-album career on the DreamWorks label, the band is leaving parent company Universal, whose Interscope Records imprint inherited most of the artists on the now-defunct DreamWorks. Frontman E plans to issue a new Eels album next year on another label. ... Southern rockers Kings of Leon have finished their second album, A-Ha Shake Heartbreak, and hope to release it before the end of the year. Song titles on the follow-up to last year's Youth & Young Manhood include "Taper Jean Girl," "King of the Radio" and "Pistol of Fire." ...

Zo Vizza, the singer for Pulse Ultra, has left the band. No reason was given for his departure and no replacement has been named. In a post on the band's Web site, Vizza wrote, "I would like to thank all the fans that supported us during the past four years. I wish nothing but the best for this band and I hope you will all keep on supporting them through their struggles." ... Swedish prog-metal band Meshuggah are planning to release the EP I on July 13. The effort will be the band's first to feature new bassist Dick Lövgren, who replaced Gustaf Hielm in March. ...

06.21.04

Britney Spears' mom ran over the foot of a photographer in Los Angeles on Sunday — paparazzi got too close to her vehicle as she tried to drive Britney and her sister Jamie Lynn away from a pet store in a black SUV. Police and paramedics were called to the scene; there's no word yet if the singer's mom will be ticketed or what the photographer's condition is. ...

Velvet Revolver canceled a show in Austin, Texas, on Thursday because singer Scott Weiland developed a bronchitis-related infection. The show has been rescheduled for October 29. Velvet Revolver's next concert is Tuesday in Denver. ... Only one week into the debut season of "Method & Red" and one of the show's co-stars/executive producers is already talking trash about FOX's handling of the fish-out-of-water comedy. "This is frustrating for me, and it's not turning out for me as expected," Method Man told The Los Angeles Times. "I'm trying to keep this show ghetto, and there's a way for it to be both ghetto and intelligent," he said. "But it's not going that way." ...

Beyoncé has worked out a few of the details for her upcoming fragrance line with Tommy Hilfiger. The collection is to be called True Star, and the scent will contain contrasting florals as well as notes of toasted grains to add softness and warmth. The collection will come in Eau de Parfum, body lotion, shower gel, and fragrance satin shimmer, and will hit retail in October. The ad campaign will feature Beyoncé singing "Wishing on a Star" a cappella. ... Carson Daly will host Macy's annual Fourth of July fireworks show for the second year. The pyrotechnic special will include such guest stars as Fantasia, in her first network prime-time appearance since winning "American Idol," as well as Donald Trump, Sheryl Crow, Sylvester Stallone and Robert Redford. The program airs Independence Day at 9 p.m. on NBC. ...

Madonna hopes to have her next feature-length documentary ready to debut at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. A sequel of sorts to "Truth or Dare," the film chronicles her current Reinvention Tour and the "new" Madonna, among other things. Director Jonas Akerlund ("American Life," "Ray of Light") said that after each night's concert, he heads back to his hotel room to start editing, because the amount of footage he's collected so far is massive — some 150,000 feet in just the last two months. His crew said that the hardest part is keeping up with the Material Mom, who seems to have endless amounts of energy to dance, do yoga and run. ... Linkin Park, Korn, Quincy Jones, Enrique Iglesias, Trapt, Slipknot, Hoobastank, Slash and others have autographed or donated items for an eBay auction to raise money to help save the life of 20-year-old Kelli Jaunsen. The Palm Desert, California, native is in need of a heart and liver transplant, but her insurance company refuses to cover her since she has more than one major organ failing. Skateboarder Danny Way, Orlando Bloom, Adam Sandler and various sports figures have also contributed to the auction. ...

While some hip-hop artists are launching their first clothing line, Snoop Dogg is already working on his second. The rapper has teamed up with Pony International for a line called The One and Only, which takes its name from a track off 2002's Paid Tha Cost to Be Da Boss and promises to blend Snoop's laid-back style with Pony's classic designs. Pieces from the collection will be unveiled in November, though items won't be in stores until next year. Snoop's first foray into fashion, Snoop Dogg Clothing, was introduced in 2001. ... On Saturday in Atlanta, club Insomnia hosted an afterparty for radio festival Birthday Bash 9. Lil Jon, Monica, members of T.I.'s PSC clique and Baby Dee all came to get it crunk. ...

Iron Maiden received a Special Achievement Award from Nordoff-Robbins on Friday at its 29th gala charity lunch in London. The band was praised for its support of music therapy for people in need. In addition, Iron Maiden have been honored by artist Ray Santoleri, who has created a bobblehead of their zombie mascot, Eddie. The figure was based on art from the band's Somewhere in Time album and will be available in July. ... With no plans to record an album, the Cardboard Vampyres, featuring former Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy and ex-Mötley Crüe singer John Corabi, will be rocking the summer away with a handful of live shows beginning Thursday in New York, including one in August that finds them opening up for ZZ Top. Additional dates are expected to be added. ...

Original Kiss drummer Peter Criss will guest on the new animated show "Fatherhood," which is based on Bill Cosby's book of the same name. The episode featuring Criss will air in July. ... CDs featuring rare studio and live recordings by Jet, Sum 41, Our Lady Peace and the Tragically Hip will be included with cases of Labatt Blue beer, starting Monday in Ontario and July 1 in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I., Canada. ...

• Nas
• Cam'ron
• Britney Spears
• Yellowcard
• Foo Fighters

Outkast's Andre 3000 is in talks to play Jimi Hendrix in a biopic directed by Allen and Albert Hughes ("Menace II Society," "American Pimp"). But first the rapper will star in an HBO movie coinciding with his group's just-released Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, and then a film with Morgan J. Freeman ("Hurricane Streets") called "Love Hater." ...

Linkin Park will have to tone down their act when they play Malaysia on October 15. The government has granted the band permission to play a 50,000-seat stadium in Kuala Lumpur on the condition they don't jump around onstage, swear or wear shorts, according to wire-service reports. Officials in the conservative Islamic nation regularly prevent Western rock acts from playing there. ... Korn's sixth album, Take a Look in the Mirror, the first LP fully produced by the band, will drop November 18. In the meantime, fans can catch the first single, "Right Now," rocking radio early next month. ...

Beyoncé Knowles will play herself in an episode of the UPN sitcom "All of Us," airing October 7. ... Next year, the Grammy Awards will return to Los Angeles. The ceremony will take place February 8 at the Staples Center. The show was scheduled a few weeks earlier than usual so it wouldn't bump up against the Oscars and other awards programs. ...

Soulfly bassist Marcello D. Rapp, drummer Roy Mayorga and guitarist Mike Doling have left the band, the group's label confirmed. No reason was given. They have been temporarily replaced by bassist Bobby Burns (ex-Primer 55), guitarist Marc Rizzo (ex-Ill Nino) and drummer Joe Nunez. "This is no big deal," frontman Max Cavalera said in a statement. "Soulfly is always evolving. I'm always going to introduce new musicians to the fans. In fact, there has never been the same band on any consecutive Soulfly record." ... Following up performances in New York and San Juan Capistrano, California, Gina Gershon and current backup band Girls Against Boys will take their act to the House of Blues Sunset in West Hollywood on September 25 to promote the "Prey for Rock & Roll" soundtrack, due October 7. Seven additional dates will follow, and the trek wraps in Philadelphia on October 15. ...

Latin rock and electronic band Kinky have set a November 18 release date for their second album, Atlas. Cake singer John McCrea, who met the band on the recent Unlimited Sunshine Tour, is featured on the first single, "The Headphonist," while Itaal Shur, who won a Grammy for co-writing Santana's "Smooth," co-wrote another tune on the album, "Not Afraid." ... After a dynamic performance for 14,000 fans in Lima, Peru, Alanis Morissette ended the show by shouting, "Thank you, Brazil!" In a press conference in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Morissette said she had been drinking before making the gaffe. "I don't remember saying that," she said at the conference, according to the BBC. "I think I was drunk." ...

Hardcore metal band Life of Agony will release a double CD of their January reunion shows, River Runs Again: Live 2003, on October 14. And the reunion looks like it won't be short lived: The band has booked shows in Long Island, New York, for December 11 and 12 and will start working on a new studio album before the end of the year, which is tentatively scheduled for release in 2004. ... AC/DC's 1991 Monsters of Rock festival performance at Donington Castle in the U.K. is captured on the DVD "AC/DC Live at Donington," due November 11. In addition to the concert, the disc features remastered sound, band commentary and the ability to focus on just one member throughout an entire song. ...

The Sunday accident that caused David Lee Roth to get 21 stitches in his face and forced the cancellation of a handful of shows turned out not to be a run-of-the-mill concert misstep. No, it was "a very fast, complicated 15th-century samurai move" gone wrong that put the former Van Halen singer out of commission, according to his publicist. ... E should hope for straight A's when his band, the Eels, embarks on its Fall Tour of College Duty on October 16 in Lawrence, Kansas. The traipse through mostly college towns winds down November 8 in Brooklyn, New York. ...

9.23.2003

A St. Paul, Minnesota, security company filed a lawsuit against Fred Durst on Monday seeking $49,663 in workers' compensation the company had to pay to a security guard the Limp Bizkit singer allegedly kicked in the head during a 1999 concert. Durst, who was arrested after the incident but later saw the charges against him dismissed, settled a civil lawsuit brought by the guard for $100,000 in April 2000. ...

Eminem joined Obie Trice onstage Sunday at Detroit's State Theatre to celebrate Tuesday's release of Trice's Cheers. The duo performed the "8 Mile" soundtrack cut "Love Me," the "Cradle 2 the Grave" soundtrack song "Go to Sleep" and Cheers' "Lady." ... The building that houses P. Diddy's studio Daddy's House, which has given rise to LPs by Notorious B.I.G., Mase and Diddy himself, is reportedly in the process of being sold for $36 million. ...

Following the second successful year of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, an album and DVD commemorating the event are on the horizon. The 23-song double LP Live From Bonnaroo, featuring tracks from festival headliners the Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, Jack Johnson, Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth, is due September 30. The home video 270 Miles From Graceland — Bonnaroo 2003 will drop October 21. ... The British branch of the Universal Music Group has posted a 45-minute documentary on the making of the Metallica video for "Frantic" on the Web site www.thedevelopmentline.co.uk/clients/metallica/franticGame. The footage can be viewed after answering a brief questionnaire. ... Meanwhile, Metallica will play a New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel's 1,400-seat club the Joint. ...

In March, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey will begin recording the first Who album in 21 years, according to a post on Townshend's Web site. The material will be based on the guitarist's recently completed story "The Boy Who Heard Music." ... It's a marriage made in heaven. On Monday, Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Vince McMahon's WWE announced that they have started the "Two Million More in 2004" campaign. The nonpartisan movement is aiming to register 2 million or more potential voters in the 18-30 age range. ...

Restaurant bible Zagat has moved from food to music with the first "Zagat Music Guide," rating and reviewing the best 1,000 albums of all time, thanks to a 10,656-person survey. Four Beatles albums made the cut for the most popular albums, with Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run taking the top slot. Coldplay, Norah Jones, the Strokes and the White Stripes were included in the top albums of the 2000s. The guide also features the best music for making out, breaking up, driving, working out and cocktail parties. ... The chiropractic industry is sure to soar after the MTV2 Headbangers Ball Tour rolls into town. With headliners Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God and Shadows Fall, the 24-date trek begins October 28 in Montreal and runs through December 3 in New York. The tour commences exactly three weeks after the MTV2 Headbangers Ball album drops. ...

U2's Bono and his two daughters contributed 16 illustrations to a booklet to accompany an updated musical interpretation of the classic children's tale "Peter and the Wolf." The proceeds from the enhanced CD, recorded by Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer, will go to the Irish Hospice Foundation. The project is slated for release October 3. ... The Ataris and Vendetta Red will embark on the VW Music Ed Tour, which kicks off October 3 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The 20-city outing wraps November 6 in Claremont, California. ...

Former House of Pain main man Everlast is planning to release his fourth solo album on the Island Def Jam label early next year. The as-yet-untitled effort follows 2000's Eat At Whitey's. ... Three new Flaming Lips songs will appear on the group's forthcoming seven-song EP, Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, set for release November 18. The holiday song "A Chance at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)," two remixes of "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" and one of "Do You Realize??" round out the set. ...

Wilco, Bright Eyes, Spoon and Super Furry Animals are among the bands lending their talents to the third volume of The Amos House Collection, a series that benefits the Rhode Island charity that helps disenfranchised families get back on their feet. The double-disc set is scheduled for release in December. ... As if her pint-sized figure doesn't already speak volumes about Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, she's decided to name her next album Body Language. The follow-up to last year's Fever is due February 10. "Slow" will serve as the LP's first single in the U.K., surfacing November 3. A U.S. single has yet to be determined. ...

Black Sheep's Dres and Mista Lawnge have reunited and are cooking up a new LP. The duo are still gathering beats for a project they hope to release next year. Black Sheep are best known for their hit "The Choice Is Yours," from their 1991 album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. ... Quiet Riot have reached condition critical. After 28 years of heavy metal madness, the Los Angeles band has decided to quit rioting, drummer Frankie Banali said. On their Web site, www.quietriotforce.com, the band has posted an image of a face peering through a welder's mask and the message: "1983-2003. To our fans: Thank you for 20 years of rock & roll." The comment suggests the band considered its 1983 major-label debut, Metal Health, to be its first record, even though the group had been bashing around the club scene since 1977. ... Fresh from the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour, O.A.R. have lined up a fall trek to support their latest album, Between Now and Then. The six-week outing begins October 17 and culminates with a pair of shows at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on November 28 and 29. ...

• OutKast
• Linkin Park
• Korn
• Beyoncé
• eels

E from the Eels
Photo: Dreamworks

It's hard to imagine Eels principal E bursting with vigor and verve.

Even at his most rocking, there is always a cool, subdued presence about the off-kilter icon. There was, however, a time when Mark Oliver Everett attacked an entire day with the impassioned energy of a wide-eyed child.

That time, as pointed out by his latest single, "Saturday Morning," was when he actually was a wide-eyed child.

"The song's about that unique period in your life when you're a little kid and you wake up too early on the weekend," E explained. "When you're 8 years old, a day is a big part of your life. If you've only known 8 years, then a day is a big piece of it. So days go on forever if you're a little kid and don't have anything to do and you wake up too early in the morning. It's just agonizing trying to pass the time. You want some fun, you want some action."

E's mellowed since those mornings, evidenced by his five LPs that span seven years. His latest, Shootenanny!, released June 3, continues in his whispered, musically eclectic tradition of turning the mundane into introspective poetry. But unlike 1996's Beautiful Freak, 1998's Electro-Shock Blues, 2000's Daisies of the Galaxy or 2001's Souljacker, the Eels' new LP may become part of the pop-culture vernacular.

"Well, I'm telling you, that's gonna be the next wave of street talk," he said of the title. "It's a hybrid of something from the hills mixed in with something from the street. Hillbilly thug, exactly. 'There was another shootenanny at the high school yesterday' — that kind of thing. It'll be a word that the newscasters on 'Entertainment Tonight' will feel good about saying too."

Besides working on Shootenanny!, E's had his hands full with other projects. His soundtrack to the film "Levity" was released in April, and he appeared as a guest on MC Honky's I Am the Messiah LP, which was also released that month. The album was recorded in 2000 and also features Beck/R.E.M. drummer Joey Waronker, frequent Eels collaborator Koool G. Murder and Li'l 'Fer.

For the unfamiliar, E described Honky as "a reclusive DJ in Silver Lake, an older guy, like 50-something, who doesn't want any part of the limelight." It has been said that E hails from the same hipster neighborhood in Los Angeles.

The pair hooked up after Honky's daughter gave E a tape of her father's work. Since then E "made it his life to spread the word about him." The book may be closed on the Honkey gospel according to E, however. After the British press credited I Am the Messiah to E, Honky blew his top and a rift between the two erupted.

"I hope MC Honky dies of SARS," E wrote on his Web site.

There may be some truth to the talk that E and Honky are one in the same. They haven't been seen in same place at the same time. It's one of the many mysteries surrounding the Eels. Chalk it up next to the one about why, in these troubled times for the music industry, the Eels are still signed to DreamWorks.

That doesn't mean E hasn't worried about getting his walking papers.

"The president of the label called me at home, and I was thinking, 'Oh, he must need to drop me from the label.' But he actually called to invite me to a family gathering, so I must be better off than I thought."

Perhaps the credibility the Eels offer DreamWorks is akin to Sonic Youth's nearly two-decade run on Geffen Records. There's a music industry joke about it: No one wants to go down in history as the guy who drops Sonic Youth. The same rationale may apply to E and company.

"Actually, I probably have already been dropped," he said, "just nobody's been the guy who wants to tell me."

Although he may joke about his place on the Billboard albums chart (#145 this week, for those keeping score), he's not above being optimistic.

"I just want to say to everybody that I know, the Eels are going to blow up this year, but I won't forget you," he announced. "Thanks for being there when I needed you, but I've got bigger fish to fry.

"Now get away from me, kid, you bother me."

Eels tour dates, according to DreamWorks:

• 6/17 - West Hollywood, CA @ Roxy Theatre
• 6/18 - Santa Ana, CA @ Galaxy Theatre
• 6/19 - West Hollywood, CA @ Roxy Theatre
• 7/11 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 7/12 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
• 7/13 - Vancouver, BC @ Richard's On Richards
• 7/14 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
• 7/17 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
• 7/19 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
• 7/20 - Omaha, NE @ Ranch Bowl
• 7/22 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
• 7/23 - Chicago, IL @ Metro/Smart Bar
• 7/25 - Cleveland, OH @ Odeon Concert Club
• 7/26 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
• 7/28 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
• 7/29 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rosebud
• 7/31 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 8/1 - Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theatre
• 8/2 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre Of Living Arts
• 8/3 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 8/4 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
• 8/7 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
• 8/8 - New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina's Uptown
• 8/9 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa

• eels

Sugar Ray is In the Pursuit of Leisure, and that process apparently involves Mark McGrath and company reuniting with their longtime producer, David Kahne. The new album features the group's usual mix of '80s-inspired tunes, a flirtation with hip-hop, and lighthearted party songs, plus a cover of Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out with Him" and the first single, "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)."

Jewel channels her inner Prince on 0304, using such song titles as "Run 2 U," "Yes U Can," and "U & Me = Love." Meanwhile, Nina Nastasia issues the beautifully haunting album Run to Ruin, engineered by Steve Albini, and Northern State, the all-girl hip-hop group from Long Island, New York, who fancy themselves a Beastie Boys for a new generation, is Dying in Stereo.

Eels deliver Shootenanny!, a solid pop album, while Souls She Said, a band featuring former members of the Icarus Line and Ink and Dagger, release the EP Rub the Sleep Out. Also out this week is Paper Monsters, the debut solo album from Depeche Mode's David Gahan.

The Yes New York compilation features Longwave, the Walkmen, and the Strokes on a live recording of "New York City Cops." Another team effort, Warped Tour 2003, contains songs from the Used, NoFX and Andrew W.K., among other performers at this year's festival.

Finally, indie hip-hop heads, Aceyalone and Saul Williams both release albums this week. The emcees espouse their political poetry on Love and Hate and Not in Our Name, respectively. Also on the independent hip-hop radar is S.A Smash/Cage's Smashy Trashy, produced by El-P and featuring Def Jux favorite Aesop Rock.

Out Tuesday, June 3:

• Aceyalone - Love and Hate (Red Urban)
• Adequate Seven - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Household Name)
• Amazing Transparent Man - Taking Back the Covers (EP, Springman)
• Joan Armatrading - What's Inside (Denon)
• Armor for Sleep - Dream to Make Believe (Equal Vision)
• Aspera - Oh Fantastica (Jagjaguwar)
• Audio Bullys - Ego War (Astralwerks)
• Gene Autry - Singing Cowboy (American Legends)
• Aziza A - Kendi Dunyam (Doublemoon)
• Belvedere - 'Twas Hell Said Former Child (Household Name)
• Brendan Benson and the Wellfed Boys - Metarie (Star Time)
• Biff Bang Pow! - Best of Biff Bang Pow (Rev-Ola)
• Big Star - Big Star Story (Rykodisc)
• Bodies Lay Broken - Eximinous Execration (Deathvomit)
• Marc Bolan - Work in Progress (Edsel)
• Bonepony - Jubilee (Superduper)
• Bride of No No - Bride of No No (Atavistic)
• Budapest One - This Town Just Gave You a Dreamer (Beatville)
• Canned Heat - Friends in the Can (Varese)
• Andre & Martine Charbonneau - Air Mail Music: Spain - Guitare Flamenca (Playasound)
• Chatham County Line - Chatham County Line (Bonfire)
• Don Chezina - Live from Miami (D.C.)
• The Clique - Vanbrugh Park (DeTour)
• Cousin Harley - Jukin' (East Side)
• Curse of the Golden Vampire - Mass Destruction (Ipecac)
• Terence Trent D'Arby - Wild Card (Compendia)
• The Daycare Swindlers - This Is No Way to Make a Living (Vile Beat)
• Dead Meadow - Shivering King and Others (Matador)
• Death Comet Crew - DCC America (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Dee Rangers - Pretty Ugly Beat (White Jazz)
• Depswa - Two Angels and a Dream (Interscope)
• Destruction Made Simple - Terror Sticken Youth (Af )
• Divine Empire - Nostradamus (Olympic)
• DNA - Influences (Tommy Boy)
• Don't Look Down - Five (EP, NIT)
• Gordon Downie - Battle of the Nudes (Rounder)
• The Dragons - Sin Salvation (Gearhead)
• D.R.I. - Dirtiest ... Rottenest (Restless)
• The Durutti Column - Someone Else's Party (Artful)
• Dusty Drake - Dusty Drake (Warner Bros)
• Dust to Dust - Sick (Music Cartel)
• Stacey Earle/Mark Stuart - Never Gonna Let You Go (Evolver)
• Earth Quake - Purple: The A&M Recordings (Acadia)
• Eels - Shootenanny (DreamWorks)
• Elephant Micah - Elephant Micah, Your Dreams Are Feeding Back (Bluesanct Musak)
• Enon - In This City (Touch & Go)
• Erase Errata - Dancing Machine (EP, Troubleman Unlimited)
• Essential Logic - Fanfare in the Garden: An Essential Logic Collection (Kill Rock Stars)
• Extreme Noise Terror - From One Extreme to Another (Anag Punk)
• The Fall - It's the New Thing (Sanctuary)
• Federation X - X-Patriot (Estrus)
• Flamethrower - Flamethrower (DeAd Teenager)
• Adam Forkner - [[[[VVRSSNN]]]] (K)
• From Monument To Masses - Impossible Leap in 34 Simple Steps (Dim Mak)
• David Gahan - Paper Monsters (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan Working On Solo Debut"
  
• Gasman - Remedial (Planet Mu)
• Ghetto Superstars - Ghetto Classics (Blackstone)
• The Gift Machine - Don't Turn Me Off (KNW-Yr-Own)
• Give Up the Ghost - Background Music (Equal Vision)
• Goldberg-Miller Blues Band - 1965-66 Blowing My Mind Plus (Acadia)
• Gold Chains - Young Miss America (Pias America)
• Grave Digger - Rheingold (Nuclear Blast America)
• Buddy Guy - Blues Singer (Jive)
• Steve Hackett - To Watch the Storms (Inside Out)
• Hoods - Pray for Death (Victory)
• Horace X - Sackbutt (Omnium)
• Hotwire - Routine (RCA)
• Glenn Hughes - Live in Tokyo (Shrapnel)
• The Jealous Sound - Kill Them With Kindness (Better Looking)
• The Jets - Bolt of Lightning (Krypton)
• Jewel - 0304 (Atlantic)
  Read: "Jewel Bites Into A Musical Pickle-And-Peanut Butter Sandwich"
  Buy Now: 0304 (Atlantic)
  
• Jumpin' Jack - Rhumba Lee (Back Bender)
• Josh Kelley - For the Ride Home (Hollywood)
• King Prawn - Got the Thirst (Golf)
• Landing - Passages Through (K)
• Langhorns - Mission Exotica (Bad Taste)
• Last Days of April - Ascend to the Stars (Crank)
• Chris Lee - Cool Rock (Misra)
• Barry Levenson & Johnny Dyer - Hard Times Won (Storyville)
• Limecell - It's Gonna Get Ugly (TKO)
• Erik Lindgren - Sound on Sound (Arf Arf)
• The Lonesome Organist - Form and Follies (Thrill Jockey)
• Lonestar - Greatest Hits (BNA)
• Lousy - Babylon District (Knockout)
• Love and Rockets - Sorted: The Best of Love and Rockets (Beggars Banquet)
• David McWilliams - Reflections of David McWilliams (RPM)
• Mea Culpa - They Put You in a Mask (Empty)
• John Cougar Mellencamp - Trouble No More (Sony)
  Buy Now: Trouble No More (Sony)
  
• Millencolin - Battery Check (Burning Heart)
• The Mink Lungs - I'll Take It (Arena Rock)
• Mister Zippy - Ambition Is Critical (Golf)
• Mistreaters - Playa Hated to the Fullest (Estrus)
• Moka Only - Lowdown Suite (Battle Axe)
• Eddie Money - Then and Now (Sanctuary)
• The Moondogs - John Peel Sessions (DeTour)
• The Movies - In One Era out the Other (Gern Blandsten)
• Nina Nastasia - Run to Ruin (Touch & Go)
• New Orleans Klezmer All Stars - Borvis (Kismet / Mri)
• None More Black - File Under Black (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Northern State - Dying in Stereo (Star Time)
  Read:"Ain't No Bling In Their Thing"
  
• Nuclear Saturday - Best Time You Never Had (New School)
• Louis Osbourne - Motion Audio (Blue Chip)
• Paradise Island - Lines Are Infinitely Fine (Dim Mak)
• Dolly Parton - Ultimate Dolly Parton (RCA)
• Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham - Avventura (Jetset)
• Pineapple Corner - Soul G & Tony Match (Milan)
• Planet Smashers -Mighty (Stomp)
• Puffball - Leave Them All Behind (Burning Heart)
• Rattlesnakes - I, Explosion (Localhost)
• Lou Reed - NYC Man: The Ultimate Lou Reed Collection (RCA)
• The Riffs - Death or Glory (TKO)
• The Riverboat Gamblers - Something to Crow About (Gearhead)
• Roxy Music - Live (Eagle)
• Carla Rugg - Dynamite (East Side)
• S.A. Smash/Cage - Smashy Trashy (Definitive Jux)
• The Satellites - Jump (Planet X)
• Saxon Shore - Four Months of Darkness (Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• Brian Setzer - Jump, Jive an' Wail (Interscope)
• Seventh Star - Dead End (Facedown)
• Shoe Suede Blues - Saved By the Blues (Beachwood)
• Sinister - Savage or Grace (Nuclear Blast America)
• Skinless - Sacrifice to Survival (Relapse)
• Sleep - Dopesmoker (Tee Pee)
• Snuff - Kilburn/Caught in Session (Golf)
• Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild (Century Media)
• Souls She Said - Rub the Sleep Out (EP, Buddyhead)
• Spacegirl - Alone (Topaz)
• Rebecca Spencer - Wide Awake and Dreaming (LML)
• Strung Out - Live in a Dive (Fat Wreck Chords)
• A Sudden Sway - Seventysix Kids Forever (Cherry Red)
• Sugar Ray - In the Pursuit of Leisure (Atlantic)
  Read: "Babies, Marriage Somehow Lead Sugar Ray To Write A Club Song"
  Buy Now: In the Pursuit of Leisure (Atlantic)
• Surface of Eceon - Dragyn (Strange Attractors)
• Tabula Rasa - Role of Smith (Af)
• Tegan & Sara - If It Was You (Sanctuary) Read: Tegan & Sara: Just Don't Mention The Name 'T.A.T.U.' "
  
• Testostarone Kill - War All the Time (Fortified)
• They Came from the Stars - What We Are Doing Here (Lo.)
• Three Inches of Blood - Battle Cry Under a Winter Sun (Infect)
• Throw Rag - Desert Shores (Better Youth Organization)
• Devin Townsend - Terria (Inside Out)
• Train - My Private Nation (Sony)
  Buy Now: My Private Nation (Sony)
  
• Pete Turland - Both Wheels Left the Ground (East Side)
• Unseen -Explode (Better Youth Organization)
• Vanilla Muffins - Drug Is Football (Knockout)
• The Vanishing - Songs for Psychotic Children (Gold Standard)
• Variable Unit - Handbook for the Apocalypse (Wide Hive)
• Gillian Welch - Soul Journey (Acony)
• White Light Motorcade - Thank You, Goodnight! (Octone)
• Saul Williams - Not in Our Name (EP, Synchronic)
• Wirebox - Prison Cell (Tru-one)
• Woman & Children - Woman & Children (Attack 9)
• Zion - Zion (Native)
• Various artists - 25 Beach Music Classics (Varese)
• Various artists – “Beer: The Movie” soundtrack (Triple Crown)
• Various artists - Best of America, Vol. 2 (Curb)
• Various artists – “Bruce Almighty” soundtrack (Varese)
• Various artists - Cat'n Around, Vols. 1 & 2 (Pink & Black)
• Various artists - Compunktion, Vol. 2 (Sucka-punch)
• Various artists - Deadly Dose of Wylde Psych (Arf Arf)
• Various artists - Dream Babes, Vol. 4: Go Girl (RPM)
• Various artists - Forgive This Foolish Man: Hi Records' Deep Soul (Hi)
• Various artists - Grimey, Vol. 1 (Image)
• Various artists - Jesse and Jorge Morales Presents Z: Banda Rap (Sony)
• Various artists - Liberation Songs to Benefit PETA (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Various artists - Magpie (RPM)
• Various artists - Old School Oldies (Thump)
• Various artists - Pawn Stars!: The Pawn Label Story 1974-1978 (Hi)
• Various artists - Snoisses: The Skateboarder Sessions (Sessions)
• Various artists - Spanish Fly (Universal Latino)
• Various artists - Swami Sound System, Vol. 1 (Swami)
• Various artists - Terminal Sales (Sub Pop)
• Various artists - Ultimate Smash Hits (Arista)
• Various artists - Underground Radio: Volume High (Morisen)
• Various artists - Warped Tour 2003 (Side One Dummy)
• Various artists - We Are Tottenham (Cherry Red)
• Various artists - World Wide Noise Attack (Retch)
• Various artists - Vital Idol (Idol)
• Various artists - Yes New York (Atlantic)

June 5:

• Metallica - St. Anger (2 CDs, Elektra)
  Read: "Metallica Album Preview: Damage Inc. Is Back In Business"
  Buy Now: St. Anger (2 CDs, Elektra)

June 10:

• Duran Duran - Singles Box Set 1981-1985 (Capitol)
• Justin Guarini - TBD (RCA)
• Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
  Read: "New Radiohead Album, Hail To The Thief, Due In June"
  Buy Now: Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
  
• Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father (J)

June 17:

• Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive)
• Monica - After the Storm (J)

June 24:

• Beyoncé - Dangerously in Love (Sony)
  Read: "Beyonce Pushes Up Release Date Of Solo Debut"
• Gang Starr - The Ownerz (Virgin)

July 15:

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

• Sugar Ray
• Jewel
• eels
• Northern State
• Dave Gahan

Mariah Carey shot a video for "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" in Los Angeles recently. "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson appears in the clip along with Dave Navarro, who plays guitar on the song, first made famous by Def Leppard. ...

Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Chairman Russell Simmons has sent an open letter to President Bush asking him to reconsider his hawkish stance on Iraq. In the letter, the hip-hop mogul urges Bush to let the U.N. inspectors do their job without establishing a deadline for war, and states, "Domestically, Mr. President, rampant poverty is on the rise ... we in the hip-hop community know and feel the pain, misery and wretchedness of the social condition of our communities. Now with the prospect of a multi-trillion dollar federal budget deficit, an unnecessary war on Iraq is only going to increase the cold damp hands of social dereliction that have a deadly choke hold on too many Americans across the nation." ...

Da Brat is finally ready to make her comeback with an album this summer. The LP's first single, titled "In Love Wit Chu," finds the Chi-Town rapper talking about the bliss she feels with her Mr. Right. That cut will hit radio soon. ... MC Lyte will release her new album, Underground Heat Vol.1, on May 27. The video for the first single, "Ride Wit' Me," features cameos by Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Erick Sermon and Jamie Foxx, who "hosts" the album, recorded at his Foxx Hole studio. ...

Experimental metal bands Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lad will sweep through North America for a 23-date tour beginning April 25 in Seattle and wrapping up May 17 in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. Meshuggah's latest disc, Nothing, came out in August, and Strapping Young Lad's new one, SYL, was released February 11. ... Thanks to some cracked vertebrae and whiplash, Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan is heading home to Florida and canceling the remaining dates of the band's current tour. While en route to a Wisconsin tour stop, the onetime Morbid Angel guitarist was in a weather-related accident which totaled their van but left his bandmates unharmed. "We apologize to the fans and the promoters," Rutan said via a statement, "and we will be back [on tour] as soon as possible to make up for this." ...  

The Eels are prepping for the release of their new album, Shootenanny!, by offering fans a chance to hear one track a week via their Web site (www.eelstheband.com) until the LP's release in June. ... After two years of work, Guster are ready to release their fourth LP, Keep It Together. The band will begin touring at the end of March in support of the June release. ...

03.11.03

Numerous 2003 NAACP Image Awards were awarded to musicians on Saturday. India.Arie won Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Duo or Group (with Stevie Wonder), LL Cool J won Outstanding Male Artist, Ashanti took Outstanding New Artist and Mary J. Blige took Outstanding Music Video (for "No More Drama"). The event was held at the Universal Amphitheatre in Hollywood, and will be broadcast on Thursday at 8 p.m. on Fox. ...

Blink-182, Puddle of Mudd, 311, Def Leppard, Sum 41 and Trapt have been lined up for this year's Rolling Rock Town Fair. Set for July 26, the event will be staged at Heinz Field, home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. ... The Flaming Lips will launch their first headlining tour in support of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots on April 15 in Athens, Georgia. The band, which toured last fall with Beck, will wrap the trek May 4 in Urbana, Illinois. ...

New York metalcore powerhouse Sworn Enemy, whose forthcoming major-label debut, As Real As It Gets, was produced by Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta, have been added to this year's Ozzfest festival. Up-and-comers Motograter have also joined the second-stage lineup. ... Black metal mavericks Mayhem created a little more carnage than they bargained for at a recent show in Norway. While carving up a dead sheep onstage, the band lost control of the head and the thing rocketed out into the crowd, smacking square into Per Kristian Hagen's head and fracturing his skull, according to the Associated Press. The concertgoer later said, "My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air." Hagen has filed involuntary assault and battery charges against the band, which has offered him a free ticket to its next show. ...

String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe are headlining the first Suwannee Bound festival on April 19 and April 20 in Live Oak, Florida. The North Mississippi Allstars, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Charlie Hunter are also on the bill. ... Garbage, Beth Orton, Travis frontman Fran Healy, Evan Dando, Echo & the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch and others still to be announced will perform at the One Big No anti-war concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on Saturday. Yoko Ono and Badly Drawn Boy are expected to deliver video messages at the event, the proceeds from which will go to the Stop the War Coalition and the Council for Nuclear Disarmament. ...

TheDoors' Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger have been hit with another lawsuit from another drummer. Stewart Copeland, formerly of the Police, is seeking $1 million from Manzarek and Krieger for breaching an oral contract to use him for the upcoming Doors 21st Century tour and album. Original Doors drummer John Densmore sued the group earlier in the year for using the Doors name without his consent. ... The debut album from Amphibious Assault, the solo project of former Kittie guitarist Fallon Bowman, has been pushed back. District 6, which features a guest appearance by Bowman's fellow Kittie expatriate Talena Atfield, won't be released until sometime in the spring, according to the group's official Web site. …

• Mariah Carey
• Russell Simmons
• Da Brat
• Meshuggah
• eels