Word out of the Outkast camp is that the duo have a title for their next album: 10 the Hard Way. Big Boi has been saying in radio interviews that the album is in the process of being recorded and will feature 10 songs that return to a raw rap style. He and Andre 3000 still plan on dropping a soundtrack to their long-awaited — long, long-awaited — HBO movie, "My Life in Idlewild," beforehand. That movie is currently filming in North Carolina. ...

An unabashed love for the Insane Clown Posse has landed two junior juggalos in hot water. On Friday morning, two students at Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, spray-painted the walls of the school with "ICP logos and writing consistent with the gangs following" the group, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. When the students were identified and suspended, other students decided to protest the decision, resulting in six other suspensions for "disruptive behavior." The school also received word of a "pending gun threat from the ICP/Juggalo gang," though the threat never materialized. ... Hilary Duff is one of the many celebrities who have contributed to a new children's book by Marlo Thomas, "Thanks & Giving: All Year Long." The book, which benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, features poems, short stories, illustrations and songs by the likes of Tiger Woods, Maurice Sendak, Donald Trump and Kevin Bacon. ... Trick Daddy and Trina showed some down-bottom love to Jay-Z on Friday in Miami. The two MIA natives performed as part of the Jay-Z and Friends outing at the American Airlines Arena. P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige and Busta Rhymes were a few of the pals who rolled with Jay Saturday night at Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum and Sunday at Jacksonville's Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. ...

Alicia Keys is "the real deal," according to Glamour magazine, which has just named the winners for its 15th annual Women of the Year Awards. The awards ceremony, which will take place Monday (November 8) at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, will air on Saturday as a one-hour syndicated TV special hosted by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Keys will be presented with the Real Deal award by Natalie Cole, Kate Winslet will be handed the Class Act award by Susan Sarandon and MTV Networks Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath will be presented the Mogul award by Jon Stewart. Keys will also perform at the event. ... Jessica Simpson covers a lot of Christmas standards on her upcoming holiday-themed album, Rejoyce, but one song is not a Christmas classic — yet. Simpson co-wrote "It's Christmas Time Again" with her husband, Nick Lachey (with whom she duets on Dean Martin's "Baby, It's Cold Outside"). Other songs include "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," "O Holy Night," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "What Child Is This" and "Little Drummer Boy," a duet with her sister, Ashlee. ...

Wyclef Jean brings his all-star jam session to DVD with "Wyclef Jean's All Star Jam at Carnegie Hall." Due December 7, the DVD features performances from Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Marc Anthony, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton and Macy Gray, among others. The show benefited Clef's Kids, a performing-arts sponsorship program for New York City children. ... Kylie Minogue has branched out from her lingerie collection, Love Kylie, and has launched a hosiery line as well, called LK Legs. Minogue ushered in the line in central London's Cavendish Square on Wednesday, along with a preview of her spring/summer 2005 Love Kylie collection, which has grown to include DD cups. ...

Fatboy Slim, in support of his new album, Palookaville, starts his tour in Chicago on Friday, but before he hits the road, he'll hit the TV. In his first live televised performance in the U.S., Slim will perform with a band Tuesday on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," which airs weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET. His next single will be "Wonderful Night," which is currently being used in an Olympus camera ad. ... Goth-punkers AFI have a bone to pick with their former label, Nitro Records. On their Web site, the band writes, "To any fans who may have bought Nitro Records' AFI Anthology, we would like you to know that the decision to create this compilation was made solely by Nitro ... it was not the band's decision to compile, create or promote a 'retrospective' at this point in our career ... we are much more focused on creating our new record for our fans." The anthology collects tracks from AFI's mid-'90s albums and EPs. Nitro Records had no comment on the matter. ...

Now that the Brian Jonestown Massacre have a new lease on life thanks to the documentary "Dig!," leader Anton Newcombe and his merry band will release their first greatest-hits collection, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective, on November 16. The two-disc set contains 38 tracks culled from the 14 albums released during the group's eight-year career. ... Meshuggah, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Mastodon are among the metal bands set to pay tribute to the Melvins, one of the first bands to merge heavy metal and punk rock. We Reach: The Music of the Melvins is expected to be ready in May. ...

MF Doom (a.k.a. King Gheedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X and Daniel Dumile) has signed an exclusive record deal with indie label Rhymesayers Entertainment. The first offering from the new deal will be Doom's MM ... Food. Due November 16, the album marks Doom's first solo record since 1999's Operation Doomsday. Doom has lined up a string of shows to promote the album. The tour, which will also feature Brother Ali, will kick off on November 15 in Chicago and wrap on November 24 in New York. ...

11.05.2004

Destiny's Child are releasing their new album, Destiny Fulfilled, one day early — on Monday, November 15. The group's record label cites consumer demand, Internet leaks and CD piracy as its reasons for pushing up the release. ...

Thirty-five was live. After attending the New York premiere of Jay-Z's "Fade to Black" film at the Ziegfeld Theater, P. Diddy celebrated his 35th birthday with a party at Cipriani's in lower Manhattan. Usher, Mariah Carey and Clive Davis all helped P.D. party. ... Wedding bells tolled last week for Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler. The couple wed October 30 in Santa Barbara, California, at a ceremony inspired by the animated cult classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas." ...

Not everyone thinks Jessica Simpson's scented body-care line Dessert is so sweet. The singer is being sued for breach of contract to the tune of nearly $190,000 by a Los Angeles company called Cosmojet, for products it manufactured and sold to Dessert but for which it was not paid in full. Simpson's business partner Randi Shinder said that the company had refused payment on a portion of a shipment that didn't meet its "high product standards," while the singer's rep pointed out that Simpson has no involvement in the day-to-day operation of the business, so she would have no knowledge of and no responsibility for billing and payment. ... Meanwhile, Britney Spears' foray into the perfume world has been pretty successful. According to Elizabeth Arden's first-quarter results, released Thursday, Spears' Curious fragrance, which launched in September, "has exceeded both retailer and industry expectations," and is currently the #1 fragrance in U.S. department stores. ...

MTVU has announced the winners of the 2004 Woodie Awards, which are given to artists who have made an impact on the college music scene over the last year. Modest Mouse were the big winners, taking home the Woodie of the Year and the Best Video of the Year awards. Other winners include Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, the Killers and N.E.R.D. ... The supergroup calling itself Band Aid 20 has just added Paul McCartney and Bono to its ranks. The former Beatle will play bass on "Do They Know It's Christmas?," the original version of which benefited Ethiopian famine relief, while the U2 frontman will reprise his line, "Well tonight, thank God it's them instead of you." The new version will also benefit famine relief in Africa, specifically in Sudan. ...

Michael Jackson has a new accuser. A Louisiana man named Joseph Thomas Bartucci Jr. is suing the singer for sexual assault and battery based on an incident he says took place in May 1984, which he claims he didn't recall — having repressed the memory — until watching Court TV in November 2003, when he learned of the current criminal charges against Jackson. Bartucci, who was 18 at the time of the alleged abuse, claims he's suffered a list of ailments as a result, including scarring, aggravation of pre-existing heart problems, eyesight impairment, suicidal tendencies and post-traumatic stress disorder. Jackson's lawyer Thomas Mesereau said in a statement: "These issues will be fully litigated in a court of law. There will be no further comment regarding this matter." ... The Ruff Ryders are up and riding again. The crew consisting of DMX, Drag-On, the LOX, Infa.Red and Cross, among others, are back in the studio recording another compilation. Tentatively titled Ruff Ryders: Ride or Die Vol. 4, the album is slated to drop in early 2005. The release will be the group's first on Artemis Records. ...

What's a hip-hop artist with a successful sneaker line to do when the weather gets cold? Roll out a line of signature boots! Bryan "Baby" Williams is teaming up with Lugz Shoe Company (with whom he launched his "Birdman" collection last spring) to put out a line of boots called the "Birdman Nightwing" on November 5. The leather boots will come in a range of colors and heights, including a high boot with fur. The ad campaign will feature the debut of the "Never Fold" concept, focusing on strength, self-discipline and tenacity. Commercials will start airing this month, featuring Baby in situations where he "never folds." ... The Roots are back in the studio recording their next album. According to drummer ?uestlove, the LP will be titled Game Theory and is due in August. The set will be the hip-hop band's seventh, and will serve as the follow-up to this year's The Tipping Point. ...

The live video for the song "Pantomime," from Incubus' forthcoming DVD "Live at Red Rocks," due November 23, has been posted on the band's Web site (www.enjoyincubus.com). Meanwhile, Brandon Boyd and company have added a drumhead, baseball cap and Incubus "Chuck" mask — all autographed — to the auction block for their Make Yourself Foundation charity. Fans can bid on these and other items at www.makeyourselffoundation.org. ... For his follow-up to 2001's Rockin' the Suburbs, ivory-tickling rocker Ben Folds has recorded a tribute to the late Elliott Smith, with whom Folds toured in 1998 when he fronted the trio Ben Folds Five. Folds' as-yet-untitled second solo album is expected to drop in February. ... First season "American Idol" runner-up Justin Guarini has landed a role in the upcoming Beach Boys-based musical "Good Vibrations," which opens on Broadway on January 27 (preview performances will start December 20). Guarini has also been composing new music and is in final discussions with a new record label about his next album. ...

• OutKast
• Insane Clown Posse
• Hilary Duff
• Alicia Keys
• Fatboy Slim

Former Creed singer Scott Stapp will be in St. Louis Wednesday night (October 27) to sing "God Bless America" at game 4 of the World Series. Should the Boston Red Sox be victorious, break the supposed curse of Babe Ruth and win their first October Classic since 1918, superstitious fans might offer him the seventh-inning gig full time. When not singing patriotic songs, Stapp continues to work on his first solo album, which is now expected to drop next year. ...

Jay-Z is said to be in final negotiations to be named president of Def Jam Records. The deal could be finalized by next week, according to The Associated Press. Representatives for Jay-Z and Def Jam declined to comment. ...

Vibe magazine and UPN have announced the lineup of artists scheduled to perform at the second annual Vibe Awards. Performers will include multiple nominee Alicia Keys, Nelly, Snoop Dogg with Pharrell, Jadakiss with Anthony Hamilton, Elephant Man, Beenie Man, Kevin Lyttle and Ashanti, who will debut her new single, "Only U," during the show. The host, award presenters and additional performers will be announced shortly. Scheduled to be held November 15 at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, the show will be broadcast the following night at 8 p.m. ... Fan favorites Usher, Eminem, Alicia Keys and Outkast are among the nominees for this year's People's Choice Awards (January 9), the awards show in which winners are chosen by the public. While in past years votes were tallied by the Gallup Organization, this year Entertainment Weekly gathered a group of 6,000 readers to nominate their top choices from a group of candidates in the categories of film, music and television, according to Reuters. Their top five selections are listed at www.pcavote.com, where the public can vote for its favorites. ...

Kanye West will headline the New Life Project Inaugural Concert on November 5 at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. Special guests Common, Musiq and the X-ecutioners are also scheduled to appear. The concert will celebrate the launch of the New Life Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness in the United States by raising funds through unique special events and creative projects featuring music, poetry and film. Billy Crystal, Larry David, Al Green, Q-Tip and Kanye are just a few of the prominent honorary board members. ... Beyoncé is an aunt. Solange Knowles, whose Solo Star was released last year, and husband Daniel Smith gave birth to Daniel Julez J. Smith on October 18. ...

Hoobastank and Three Days Grace are heading out on the road together. They kick off their tour November 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, and wind down December 18 in Tampa, Florida. ... A Perfect Circle feel so strongly about unseating President George W. Bush on November 2 that the band is streaming a new song from its Election Day release, the politically charged eMOTIVe, each day on http://krunch.org/apc_sotd. Fans who visit the band's official Web site, www.aperfectcircle.com, are greeted with an anti-Bush poster on the main page. ...

Courtney Love appeared Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, where a judge deemed there was sufficient evidence to send Love to trial for an incident in April, when Love allegedly attacked a woman with a liquor bottle. Love's alleged victim, Kristin King, and a witness testified. Love will be arraigned November 10 on one count of felony assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison. ...

Former "American Idol" contestant Tamyra Gray will guest star on this week's episode of "What I Like About You." Playing a character named Danielle, Gray helps the gang get ready for Halloween by dressing in costume as Tina Turner to Gary's Ike (played by Wesley Jonathan). Also coming up on the sitcom will be a guest appearance by Gavin DeGraw, who will tape his episode the second week of November; he'll be performing a song at Val's wedding. Gray's episode airs Friday, while DeGraw's will air November 19 on the WB at 8 p.m. ... In other guest-star news, Xzibit will appear on the UPN's "All of Us" in an episode airing November 9. ...

Madonna's a doll — literally. Different phases of her career are portrayed on a new set of handmade and handpainted wooden Russian nesting dolls, available for pre-order on her Web site. Only 5,000 of these four-in-one dolls are being made. ... Forgoing the tedium of performing in conventional music venues, Fatboy Slim will perform in a variety of unconventional settings when his tour behind Palookaville kicks off November 10 in Toronto, where he'll recreate the set of the video for "Slash Dot Dash." In New York, he'll play a loft party at Drive-In Studios on November 13, and on December 8, he's set to kick it with the Neanderthals and dinosaur bones at Los Angeles' Natural History Museum. The short trek wraps up December 11 in Dallas. ...

An Ohio musician has filed a petition in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office against Staind, claiming that the band obtained legal use of the name Staind through fraudulent practices. If Jon Stainbrook, who fronted a band called the Stain, wins, Aaron Lewis' band could be forced to change its name. Stainbrook had prevailed previously in a similar dispute, resulting in the Los Angeles band Lit having to change their name from Stain. ... The songs of the Smashing Pumpkins will be reinterpreted by some of emo-punk's biggest acts on a tribute album due out next year. My Chemical Romance, A Static Lullaby and Poison the Well are among the bands that will be featured on the album, to be released on indie label Law of Inertia Records. ... Aaron Carter is set to tour with Fan_3 (whose song "Digits" is on the "Shark Tale" soundtrack) on Radio Disney's second annual Jingle Jam outing, which kicks off November 6 in Pittsburgh and wraps New Year's Day in Hartford, Connecticut. ...

The television special "National Anthem: Inside the 'Vote for Change' Concert Tour" will be rebroadcast on the Sundance Channel Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The show mixes behind-the-scenes footage from the politically minded tour's October 11 stop in Washington, D.C., with performance footage of Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Jurassic 5, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, the Dixie Chicks, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp and Bonnie Raitt. ...

10.26.2004

Will Donald Trump get to fire Lil Jon? Probably not, but the rapper/producer and his East Side Boyz cohorts are in talks to appear on "The Apprentice," according to sources close to the group. There's currently no word on what the Atlanta-based trio would do on the show. ...

Usher, who could easily take home the award for most awards won in a single year, was honored with trophies for Hip-Hop Artist of the Year and Hip-Hop Song of the Year at the Radio Music Awards on Monday night, according to reports. Destiny's Child opened the ceremony at Las Vegas' Aladdin hotel-casino with a performance of "Lose My Breath," while Ashlee Simpson poked fun at her "SNL" lip-synching debacle when she took the stage to sing her latest single, "Autobiography." Linkin Park won for Alternative Rock Song of the Year and Rock Artist of the Year. Nominees for the RMAs are based on radio's most played songs, and winners are chosen based on votes from radio program directors and music directors across the country. ... John Kerry supporters have been hearing a recorded version of Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" played at the Democratic presidential candidate's rallies across the country, but in the coming days, they will be treated to live performances by the Boss himself. Springsteen, who before this election had never gone public with his support of one particular candidate, will join Kerry's rallies in Madison, Wisconsin, and Columbus, Ohio, on October 28 and in Cleveland on November 1. He is expected to speak on behalf of the Kerry/ Edwards campaign and perform one or two songs at each rally. ...

Fresh from "Charmed," Nick Lachey already has his next guest-starring role lined up — on ABC's "Hope & Faith." Lachey tapes his episode in two weeks; he'll play a single dad who is so attractive to Faith (Kelly Ripa) that she tries to make him think she's also a single parent by claiming her nephew is really her son. Meanwhile, Lachey's upcoming variety special with wife Jessica Simpson, "Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas," airs December 1, also on ABC. ... As part of South Africa's 10th anniversary of democracy celebrations, the Black Eyed Peas will perform their first shows in the country November 20 at Johannesburg's Coca-Cola Dome and November 23 at Cape Town's Bellville Velodrome. Before heading to South Africa, the Peas will play three weeks of shows, mostly at colleges, across the U.S., beginning November 3 in Chicago. ...

Cam'ron is shooting the video for "Girls," the first single from his new album, Purple Haze, on Wednesday and Thursday in Miami. The LP hits stores December 7. ... Alicia Keys is jumping into the DVD game with "Alicia Keys: The Diary of Alicia Keys." Due November 16, the home video is said to give viewers a glimpse into the daily life of the singer, through behind-the-scenes footage of her at photo and video shoots as well as at recording sessions and her live shows. ...

Slayer frontman Tom Araya has been diagnosed with vocal fatigue, which has forced the cancellation of the first two dates of the Jägermeister Music Tour: Friday in Springfield, Missouri, and Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. His doctor advised him not to sing or speak for at least a week, and then not to sing for four consecutive days. Therefore, the November 9 show in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, and the November 26 show in Tampa, Florida, have also been scrapped. ... Korn's Jonathan Davis will host Thursday's episode of the button-pushing animated series "South Park," which airs at 9 p.m. ET on Comedy Central. The episode is a repeat of "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery," which aired in 1999 and found Davis and his bandmates spoofing Scooby-Doo as they helped the South Park kids get revenge on mean fifth graders. ...

Bruce Willis has been cast as the father of the main character in "Alpha Dog," Justin Timberlake's latest movie, which starts shooting this week. ... Billboard magazine is adding a new chart that will show weekly sales of cell-phone ringtones. Debuting November 6, the chart will list the top 20 ringtones, including each ringtone's previous-week chart position and number of weeks on the chart. ... A lot of bands nowadays release albums in some sort of "deluxe" format. But leave it to U2 to take that notion to the extreme. Their new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, out November 23, will be released in three deluxe formats. Aside from the standard CD release, there will be a double-album CD/DVD version, which includes the documentary "U2 and 3 Songs"; a deluxe limited edition, which includes not only the CD/DVD combo, but also a color hardback book that features original notes, paintings and photography from the band; and finally, a vinyl LP release. …

Philadelphia radio station Power 99 has announced the lineup for this year's Powerhouse, its annual concert. The roster includes LL Cool J, Jadakiss, G-Unit's Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, Fabolous and Mase, among others. The show will take place Friday at the Wachovia Center. ... Wilco, the Flaming Lips and Sleater-Kinney will ring in the new year with a New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden in New York. Meanwhile, Wilco showed their support for the Kerry/ Edwards ticket by appearing with John Edwards at a rally Tuesday morning (October 26) at the University of Minnesota. ...

• Jay-Z
• Scott Stapp
• Nelly
• Hoobastank
• Kanye West

Good Charlotte (file)
Photo: Jason Campbell

Good Charlotte fans, whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, they've got an album just for you. The band's new The Chronicles of Life and Death is available in two versions — "Life" and "Death." Both feature the same 10 songs, but each carries a different bonus track, so fans who want the best of both worlds will have to shell out the cash for two separate discs.

R.E.M. are releasing two versions of their 13th studio album, Around the Sun — a regular version and a special edition packaged in a box with a variety of posters. "Leaving New York" is the album's first single.

Fatboy Slim gets back in the game this week with Palookaville, his first studio album since 2000's Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars; the Barenaked Ladies get Barenaked for the Holidays, offering covers of holiday classics and an original composition, "Elf's Lament"; R&B crooner Raphael Saadiq drops Ray Ray on his own label, Pookie Entertainment; Cake release the Pressure Chief; De La Soul set The Grind Date; and hard rockers Helmet return from a seven-year absence with Size Matters.

Also out this week are albums by actors Minnie Driver (Everything I've Got in My Pocket) and William Shatner, who bravely titled his album Has Been. Musicians releasing albums include the Moldy Peaches' Kimya Dawson (Hidden Vagenda), the Explosion (Black Tape), Tom Waits (Real Gone), Everclear (Best of Everclear), Korn (Greatest Hits Vol. 1), Gene Simmons (Speaking in Tongues) and Blues Explosion (Damage).

Out Tuesday, October 5:

• C.C. Adcock - Lafayette Marquis (Yep Rock)
• Gabriela Anders - Last Tango in Rio (Narada)
• Anúana - Christmas Songs (Koch)
• DJ Baby Anne - Mixtress (Zone/System Recordings)
• Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked for the Holidays (Desperation/Warner Bros.)
• John Barrowman - Swings Cole Porter (First Night/Red Ink)
• John Bayless - Christmas Rhapsody (Koch)
• Jay Bennett - The Beloved Enemy (Undertow)
• Blues Explosion - Damage (Sanctuary)
• Bonk - Western Soul (Racing Junior)
• Cake - Pressure Chief (Columbia)
• Cantinero - Championship Boxing (Artemis)
• Cast Iron Filter - Falls of Rough (Wicked)
• Amy Correia - Lakeville (Nettwerk)
• Sean Costello - Sean Costello (Artemis)
• Kimya Dawson - Hidden Vagenda (K Records)
• Dennis DeYoung - The Music of Styx - Live With Symphony Orchestra (Rounder)
• DeVotchKa - How It Ends (Cicero)
• DJ Irene - Rockstar (Moist)
• De La Soul - The Grind Date (Sanctuary Urban)
• Deryl Dodd - Stronger Proof (DualTone)
• Dolorean - Violence in the Snowy Fields (Yep Roc)
• Dream Theater - Live at Budokan (Rhino)
• Minnie Driver - Everything I've Got in My Pocket (Rounder)
• Dry Kill Logic - The Dead and Dreaming (Psychodrama/Repossession)
• Katrina Elam - Katrina Elam (Universal South)
• Scotty Emerick - The Coast Is Clear (DreamWorks Nashville)
• Val Emmich - Slow Down Kid (Epic)
• Everclear - Best of Everclear (Capitol)
• The Explosion - Black Tape (Virgin)
• Fatboy Slim - Palookaville (Astralwerks)
  Read: "Infidelity, Smashed Face Force Fatboy Slim To Get Serious"
  Buy Now: Palookaville (Astralwerks)
• Fates Warning - FWX (Metal Blade)
• The Federation - The Federation (Virgin)
• Future Leaders of the World - LVL IV (Epic)
• Good Charlotte - The Chronicles of Life and Death (Epic)
  Read: "Good Charlotte Get Serious With The Chronicles Of Life And Death"
  Buy Now: The Chronicles of Life & Death (Epic)
• Helmet - Size Matters (Interscope)
• Hem - Eveningland (Rounder)
• Andrew Hill - Dance With Death (Blue Note)
• Robyn Hitchcock - Spooked (Yep Rock)
• Hope of the States - The Lost Riots (Epic)
• Hot Snakes - Audit in Progress (Swami)
• Impossebulls - Slave Education (Music Video Distributors)
• Liz Janes - Poison and Snakes (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Kaki King - Legs to Make Us Longer (Epic)
• Korn - Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Sony)
  Read: "Korn Borrow Other People's Hits For Their Greatest-Hits LP"
  Buy Now: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (Sony)
• The Late B.P. Helium - Amok (Orange Twin)
• Julie Lee - Stillhouse Road (Compadre)
• Th' Legendary Shack Shakers - Believe (Yep Roc)
• Lil' Tweety - All Eyes on Me (Thump)
• Samara Lubelski - The Fleeting Skies (The Social Registry)
• mewithoutYou - Catch for Us the Foxes (Tooth & Nail)
• Mono - Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined (Temporary Residence)
• David Morales - 2 Worlds Collide (Definity)
• Mosquitos - Sunshine Barato (Bar/None)
• Vincent & Mr. Green - Vincent & Mr. Green (Ipecac)
• Nightwish - Once (Roadrunner)
• Joe Poovey - The Late Great Me (Koch)
• Michel Portal and Richard Galliano - Concerts (Dreyfus)
• Q and Not U - Power (Dischord)
• R.E.M. - Around the Sun (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: Around the Sun (Warner Bros.)
• Nelson Rangell - All I Hope for Christmas (Koch)
• Paul Reddick - Villanelle (NorthernBlues)
• Suzzy and Maggie Roche - Why the Long Face? (Red House)
• Brenda Russell - Between the Sun and the Moon (Narada)
• Raphael Saadiq - Ray Ray (Pookie)
• William Shatner - Has Been (Shout! Factory)
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd - The Place You're In (Reprise)
• Judi Silvano - Let Yourself Go (Zoho)
• Gene Simmons - Speaking in Tongues (Simmons/Sanctuary)
• Nikki Sudden - Treasure Island (Secretly Canadian)
• Supersuckers - Live at the Magic Bag (MidFi Field)
• Tobymac - Welcome to Diverse City (ForeFront)
• Dan Treanor and Frankie Lee - African Wind (NorthernBlues)
• Tweenies - The Christmas Album (Koch)
• Uncut - Those Who Were Hung Hang Here (Paper Bag)
• Utada - Exodus (Island)
• Tom Waits - Real Gone (Anti/Epitaph)
• Way Out West - Don't Look Now (Distinctive)
• Matt Wertz - Twenty Three Places (Windmill)
• Wiggles - Rockin' Santa (Koch)
• Holly Williams - The Ones We Never Knew (Universal South)
• Various artists - "Around the Bend" soundtrack (Rhino)
• Various artists - Blues Lounge (Putumayo)
• Various artists - Brown Eyed Handsome Man: Saint Louis Salutes the Father of Rock & Roll (Undertow)
• Various artists - Christmas Grass Too (Koch)
• Various artists - Japan for Sale, Vol. 4 (Tofu)
• Various artists - Mary Had a Little Amp: Music's Biggest Stars, Childhood's Greatest Songs (Epic)
• Various artists - Maybe This Christmas Tree (Nettwerk)
• Various artists - "Saw" soundtrack (Koch)
• Various artists - A Songwriter's Tribute to George Strait (Compadre)
• Various artists - Take Action! Volume 04 (Hopeless)
• Various artists - Under the Influence: A Jam Band Tribute to Lynryd Skynyrd (Sanctuary)
• DVD: Alice Donut - "London, There's a Curious Lump in My Sack" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: The Exploited - "Beat 'Em All" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Samantha Fox - "All Around the World" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Master P - "Decisions" (Koch Vision)
• DVD: Meat Loaf - "Live With the Melbourne Symphony" (Sanctuary)

October 12:

• Camper Van Beethoven - New Roman Times (Vanguard)
• Celine Dion - Miracle (Sony)
• Duran Duran - Astronaut (Sony)
• Chris Isaak - Chris Isaak Xmas (Warner Bros.)

October 19:

• Michael Jackson - The Ultimate Collection (Sony)
  Read: "Michael Jackson's Ultimate Box Set Has Demos, Hits, Live DVD"
• Jimmy Eat World - Futures (Interscope)
  Read: "Jimmy Eat World Say If You Don't Like Futures Right Away, Don't Bother"
• Le Tigre - This Island (Universal)
• Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (Anti)
  Read: "Elliott Smith's Final Album Due In October"

October 26:

• Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues/ Lyre of Orpheus (Anti)
• Leonard Cohen - Dear Heather (Sony)
• Donnas - Gold Medal (Atlantic)
  Read: "The Donnas Take Charge With Gold Medal"
• Simple Plan - Still Not Getting Any (Lava)
  Read: "Simple Plan Less Simple On Second Album"

November 2:

• AFI - AFI (Nitro)
• A Perfect Circle - Emotive (Virgin)
• Duran Duran - The Singles 1986-1995 (Capitol)
• Various Artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 17 (Capitol)

• Good Charlotte
• R.E.M.
• Fatboy Slim
• De La Soul
• Helmet

Fatboy Slim (file)
Photo: Timothy Saccenti

Having just about finished his new album, Palookaville, Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) took a breather in April to perform at the Euro 2004 soccer tournament in Lisbon, Portugal. As the official DJ for the competition, he received choice seats for the matches and was looking forward to some quality time lying on the beach after the gig. Instead, he spent much of his time lying in a hospital bed.

"I was sleepwalking, and I think I was getting a drink of water when I slipped on the rug and went face down on the bedpost," he said a few weeks after the accident that ruined his vacation. "I smashed up my nose and moved my teeth around. There was lots of blood and I'm still trying to get my teeth back together so I can eat solids again."

Still, the pain he endured in Lisbon paled in comparison to the agony he experienced before and during the making of Palookaville. There were numerous setbacks: At a seafront rave he organized in his home town in Brighton, England, a 25-year-old Australian woman fell to her death, causing Cook to flee the country to avoid the deluge of reporters; club music took a steep decline in Europe, rendering his work somewhat obsolete; and most significantly, in 2002, Cook temporarily separated from his wife of three-and-a-half years, XFM radio-show host Zoe Ball, because she was allegedly having an affair with underground DJ Dan Peppe. During their time apart, Cook started writing an upbeat electronic dance record, which he scrapped when he realized it wasn't satisfying his creative muse.

"My breakup became very, very public, and I think I was deliberately making a jolly album to prove to everyone I was OK," Cook said. "But while I was doing it, I was watching dance music die on its feet in England, and clubs were closing down all over the place, so I just started thinking, 'Well, hold on, there's no point in making another club record.' So I thought I'd flex some different muscles and try something new."

The fruit of his labor, Palookaville, is Cook's most eclectic, musical and revealing offering. Instead of drawing primarily from house culture, he roots songs like "Don't Let the Man Get You Down," "Push and Shove" and Wonderful Night" in a heady blend of '70s funk, old R&B and even classic rock. And lyrically, he addresses the recent setbacks in his life on tracks like "El Bebe Masoquista" which includes the sample "My masochistic baby went and left me" from Shel Silverstein; and "Put it Back Together," a boozy plea for healing, which features vocals by Blur's Damon Albarn. While there are still plenty of whirring samples and galactic keyboards throughout the record, the musical tone is often as melancholy as the lyrics.

"I used to go to clubs every night and celebrate all the time, and I don't really do that anymore," explains Cook. "So this sounds like me sitting at home being reflective rather than me being out drinking."

Which doesn't mean the big-beat pioneer was bummed out while he worked on Palookaville. Not only did lots of friends swing by his home/studio, a number of guest musicians also dropped in, including Albarn, DJ Justin Robertson, Brighton band Johnny Quarterly, Bootsy Collins (see "Does My Bootsy Look Fatboy In This Jeans Song?"), and Blackalicious MC Lateef. "This one was more fun than my other albums because there was a lot more human involvement," Cook said. "Normally, I'm by myself and I find it hard to make myself laugh when I'm on my own."

Two of the collaborative highlights for Cook are the sultry "Wonderful Night" and the buoyant, reggae-tinged "The Journey." Both tracks were recorded with Lateef, whom Cook now considers "part of the family." The two had been trying to work together since 2000, but scheduling conflicts got in the way.

"I was always in America when he was in England, so I said, 'Rather than waiting for you to come to England, I'm going to fly you over here, otherwise we're never gonna do it,' " Cook said. "So he came and stayed here for four days, and we had a great time. We're kindred spirits, really, kind of like me and Bootsy. Even though we live on [opposite] sides of the world, we've got all the same reference points and the same sense of humor."

It wasn't just the guest vocalists that kept Cook entertained. He also amused himself by rocking out on bass, something he hadn't done since he played in the socialist-leaning indie-pop band the Housemartins in the '80s. He had such a good time refamiliarizing himself with his old instrument that he decided to play bass at the end of Johnny Quarterly's set when the two tour the U.K. next month. "It's such a physical thing to play," he said. "When my wife came downstairs and saw me jumping around, it scared the living daylights out of her. She shouted, 'What the hell are you doing?' And I answered as naturally as can be, 'I'm playing bass, dear.' "

• Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim (file)
Photo: Astralwerks

Electronic-music fans upset that Fatboy Slim has recorded a fairly faithful cover of the Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" can direct their disgruntled comments to Levi Strauss & Co.

The song was originally slated for a Levi's 100th anniversary compilation album of artists re-recording songs featured in classic Levi's ads. When the company contacted Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) last year, he eagerly offered to record the Steve Miller tune, enlisting the help of Parliament/Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins, with whom he'd worked on several tracks in the past, including the groundbreaking "Weapon of Choice."

"It took me about 10 seconds before I thought of Bootsy," Cook said. "I've worked with him so much over the years that I could just hear his voice on it. [The first line in the song is] 'Some people call me the space cowboy.' I mean, that line was practically written about him."

When Fatboy Slim finished the song and got back in touch with Levi's, Cook learned the compilation had been shelved, so he's including "The Joker" on his upcoming Palookaville, due October 5 (see "Fatboy Slim's Long Ride To Palookaville").

A video will be shot, but a director has yet to be chosen. Cook hopes to hire Spike Jonze, who worked on the award-winning "Weapon of Choice" clip, but the director hasn't committed.

"He would be my weapon of choice," Cook said. "Me and Spike seem to see eye-to-eye, and he gets the job done. Plus, I don't have to do anything, which is a plus. I just stay at home and then he sends me this fantastic video."

"The Joker" is one of Cook's favorite tracks on Palookaville, but he's also especially fond of "Slash Dot Dash," the new disc's first European single, which is reminiscent of his 1998 hit "The Rockafeller Skank."

As a bass line throbs along to a rock beat, records scratch, samples whirl and a voice repeats, "Dash, dot, dash, dot, dash, dot-com." After two minutes and 53 seconds, it abruptly ends.

"We looked up old Buzzcocks singles and Ramones stuff to work out how long to make it," Cook said. "And some of the songs were 2:15 and 2:10, which is what we were after. It was deliberately quick, fast and 'Hey, I'm back. I'm back and I'm noisy.' "

Though he's been away from the scene for a few years now, you can be sure he hasn't been spending that time surfing the Web. The hit composer of electronic music insists he doesn't own a personal computer.

"I've not been a fan of the dot-com craze," he said. "I'm not a big fan of computer interaction. I like going into a shop and talking to the assistant, joking around or whatever. I don't like to buy things online. There are these people who never go out and they always converse with people they've never met through the keyboard rather than actually talking to them, and that's really strange to me."

Of course, that's not the only reason Cook doesn't have an Internet connection at home. "If I was online, I would spend untold hours looking up obscure porn from around the world," he said. "I would just become a junkie and spend all evenings on my computer, and I deliberately don't want to do that."

• Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim (file)
Photo: Ministry of Sound

It's probably safe to assume that not many people have called Fatboy Slim (a.k.a. Norman Cook) the "space cowboy" or the "gangster of love." But that may soon change: The electronic-music guru has chosen to cover the Steve Miller Band's 1973 hit "The Joker" for the first single from Palookaville, his long-awaited new 12-song album, which comes out October 5.

The mid-tempo rock number opens with the line, "Some people call me the space cowboy/ Some call me the gangster of love," and features the chorus, "I'm a joker/ I'm a smoker/ I'm a midnight toker/ I sure don't want to hurt no one." The lyrics may have inspired spacey Parliament/ Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins to guest on Fatboy's new version of the song, which goes to radio July 27.

Collins also played on "Weapon of Choice," from Cook's last album, 2000's Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars. The video for the track (which won a Grammy and six MTV Music Video Awards) was directed by Spike Jonze and featured actor Christopher Walken dancing around a hotel lobby, leaping off of the balcony and flying around the room. A director for "The Joker" has not yet been chosen.

Other guests on Palookaville include Blackalicious collaborator Lateef on "Wonderful Night" and "The Journey," English DJ Justin Robertson (ex-Lionrock) on "Push and Shove," Brighton band Johnny Quality on "Long Way From Home" and Blur singer Damon Albarn on "Put it Back Together." Call the latter payback of sorts: Cook produced two songs on Blur's 2003 album, Think Tank.

• Fatboy Slim

Peter Gabriel from his "Sledgehammer" video
Photo: Geffen

It's hard not to smile when you see the White Stripes cast in Lego and jamming away in the video for "Fell in Love With a Girl." Will the whimsical Michel Gondry video, nominated for Breakthrough Video at this year's MTV Video Music Awards, go on to be considered one of the most innovative and influential in music video history?

If you're thinking stop-motion-animated children's toys aren't significant enough to inspire future generations, keep in mind that dancing chickens and singing fruit were among the striking images that made Peter Gabriel's 1986 video for "Sledgehammer" so legendary.

The concept that directors Stephen R. Johnson, the Brothers Quay and Nick Park ("Wallace & Gromit") executed with "Sledgehammer," which went on to win nine VMAs (including Breakthrough Video), paved the way for videos such as Primus' "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" and Tool's "Prison Sex."

"It felt pretty exciting at the time, I must admit," said Gabriel of the video, which also featured the singer's head being circled by a train and bashed with hammers. "I think Stephen and myself were determined to get something that was a bit groundbreaking, and we were extremely lucky to be able to pull in the Brothers Quay. There was a team thing about that which was really fun and exciting, so it was easy to explore lots of different ideas."

As jaw-dropping as it was at the time, music videos have evolved considerably since "Sledgehammer" was a staple of MTV's daily playlist. While time and creativity have turned techniques such as rapid-fire edits, unearthly morphing and explosions worthy of the next "Star Wars" into commonplace elements of video's vernacular, they were all, at one point, considered groundbreaking.

Indeed, had Weezer not been transported to the set of "Happy Days" in the irony-drenched, Spike Jonze-directed clip for "Buddy Holly" (1995's Breakthrough Video), Foo Fighters might not have imitated a Mentos commercial in "Big Me." And if the Smashing Pumpkins hadn't made their own version of the 1902 film "A Trip to the Moon" with "Tonight, Tonight" (1996's Breakthrough Video), 'NSYNC might never have emulated a Charlie Chaplin movie in the beginning of their video for "Gone."

When MTV first hit the air on August 1, 1981, with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," there was little indication that music videos would eventually feature Lego rock bands, a breakdancer with a giant nose for a head (the Crystal Method's "Name of the Game") or a dude stepping into a puddle and falling through the sidewalk (Maxwell's "This Woman's Work"). Those clips are all nominees for the 2002 Breakthrough Video, as are Coldplay's animated "Trouble," DMX's stark, caption-heavy "Who We Be" and Cake's novel "Short Skirt/Long Jacket," in which a seemingly random assemblage of people listens to the song on headphones and offers criticism.

Breakthrough Video winners have mostly been influential in one of two ways. Either they spawned new camera, editing or effect techniques that altered the look and feel of the video landscape, or they offered visual icons and thematic elements that were borrowed by other directors down the line.

Some Breakthrough Videos have directly inspired other media, including film. Richard Linklater's 2001 film "Waking Life" uses rotoscopic animation techniques reminiscent of those in A-Ha's 1985 video for "Take on Me." And in Joel and Ethan Coen's 2000 movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," many of the backgrounds were treated in post-production with a glazey sheen not dissimilar to the silvery desert shots in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1992 Breakthrough Video, "Give It Away." Hollywood isn't the only entity to exploit new mediums — elements from Breakthrough Videos frequently surface in television commercials.

"In the five years following [the "Sledgehammer" video], I saw a lot of advertisements that seemed influenced by what we had done," Gabriel said. "The companies are amazingly cheeky sometimes, because the ad agencies will just ask you to send copies of your work, then they rip off all the ideas and never pay you a penny. But then, that's the business."

The first VMA celebration in 1984 awarded its inaugural Breakthrough Video distinction, then called Experimental Video, to Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," which was directed by Godley & Creme. The video depicted robots carrying out pedestrian tasks, while much of the footage jerks back and forth in tandem with the scratching in the song. Elements of that editing style later surfaced in clips for Orbital's "The Box," Roni Size/ Reprazent's "Brown Paper Bag" and Swizz Beatz' "Guilty," and they're echoed in the dance routine from Daft Punk's "Around the World."

If "Rockit" raised the bar for the art of music videos, MTV's Experimental Video for 1985, Art of Noise's "Close (To the Edit)," set a new standard both conceptually and stylistically. The clip, directed by Polish avant-garde filmmaker Zbigniew Rybczynski, features long, single-edit shots of a little punk girl guiding three men in laying waste to musical instruments, such as demolishing a piano with a buzzsaw, a chainsaw and a power drill. Much of the footage is sped up and jittery, and the visuals are stark and industrial.

This creepy vibe lives on in clips such as Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People." The Prodigy have said that their video for "Firestarter" was influenced by "Close (To the Edit)," and Faith No More might have raised a glass to Rybczynski when they detonated a piano at the end of their video for "Epic."

The success of "Rockit" and "Close (To the Edit)" helped open the door for experimentation in mainstream music videos, but the vid for A-Ha's "Take On Me," the 1986 Moonman winner, was probably as influential as "Sledgehammer." The piece features a girl who steps into a comic book and is swept into another world where she falls in love with the cartoon hero. The Rotoscopic animation created a conduit for filmed characters to enter an animated environment, and vice versa. Incubus' "Drive," Limp Bizkit's "Boiler" and U2's "Elevation" have employed similar devices.

"['Take on Me'] was one of the first super, super creative videos," said director Francis Lawrence, who lensed P.O.D.'s "Alive" as well as videos by Nelly Furtado, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny's Child and loads of others. "It almost created the music video genre by incorporating performance into a little story with a gimmick."

The concept took a quantum leap 14 years later when Chris Cunningham took advantage of tremendous advances in digital technology to create Björk's "All Is Full of Love," one of the most stunning sci-fi videos to date. The video depicts the singer as an assembly line robot who falls in love with another female robot. But what's most remarkable are the digital effects, which convert the singer into a lifelike mechanical being.

"In my opinion, it's the most flawless video ever made," said Nathan "Karma" Cox, who co-directed Linkin Park's "In the End." "I remember watching that video and wanting to hang up my hat and get a job at a gas station. I watched it over and over and tried to figure out what was digital and what wasn't."

A similar style of digital wizardry was employed by Linkin Park DJ Joseph Hahn in the band's video for the "Points of Authority" remix. Its influence can also be seen in Basement Jaxx' "Where's Your Head At?" and even Backstreet Boys' "Larger Than Life."

Any modern music video that incorporates beautiful, reverent imagery owes a nod to R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion," which was named 1991's Breakthrough Video. The provocative clip, which was directed by Tarsem Singh, depicts singer Michael Stipe as a wounded angel and is filled with lingering shots of painterly tableaux. (Singh later used some of the same techniques in his movie "The Cell.") Metallica's "Unforgiven," Stone Temple Pilots' "Sour Girl" and the intro and outro to No Doubt's "Don't Speak" refer back to "Losing My Religion."

"The portrait work in that was just amazing," said director Cox. "It felt like a work of art instead of a video. It had ascended from pop art into high art of some sort."

Also approaching high art is director Stephane Sednaoui's video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away," which won a Breakthrough Video Moonman in 1992. Set in the desert, the video conveys the Peppers' colorful quirkiness in black and white as they gyrate away in gilded body paint and satyric makeup, using cinematic techniques reminiscent of '60s underground movies. Later videos that put artists in alien, arty environments include No Doubt's "Hella Good," Busta Rhymes' "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" and Garbage's "Queer."

When this year's Breakthrough Video envelope is opened and the winner is announced, the victor — whether it includes Lego, a big nose, animated birds, a puddle jumper, spiraling words or amateur music critics — will surely be reflected in clips for years to come (click for the complete list of 2002 VMA Nominees).

• The White Stripes
• Peter Gabriel
• Primus
• Weezer
• The Crystal Method

It's getting hot in herre, so lay down all your dough ... and then you too can bump all these new summer releases.

First up, Nelly's Nellyville. The follow-up to Country Grammar finds the St. Lunatic, with the help of producer Jay E, espousing the power of Pimp Juice and imploring us to take off our clothes.

Someone else who must have gotten into the stash of the Juice is Will Smith, who is releasing Born to Reign just one week before his summer blockbuster "Men in Black 2" hits theaters. The album features the hit "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)," which also gets airtime in the movie.

Veracity abounds as Truth Hurts gives us Truthfully Speaking and Cormega offers True Meaning to the mix. Vida Blue, the new project from Phish's Page McConnell, release their self-titled debut album, while rock and roll vets Sonic Youth release Murray Street, their first record in two years.

Perhaps the most puzzling release this week is comedian Steve Harvey's Sign of Things to Come, a collection of his favorite hip-hop and R&B songs which brings a whole new meaning to "Rub the stump."

Out Tuesday, June 25:

• A1 - A1 (Columbia)
• Alpha Blondy - Merci (Shanachie)
• Arkham - Mahkra (Volcom)
• Ash - Free All Angels (Kinetic)
• Asia - Anthologia: 20th Anniversary: Geffen Years 1982 - 90 (Geffen)
• Astrobotnia - Part 1 (EFA-CAR)
• Atjazz - Labresults (Prime/ Shelter)
• B Rich - 80 Dimes (Atlantic)
• Baby Face Assassins - Ruby Red Eye (Activate)
• Broken Bones - Bonecrusher (Relapse)
• Brooklyn Bounce - Restart (Radikal)
• Ray Brown - Some of My Best Friends Are ... Guitarists (Telarc Jazz)
• Burning Inside - The Eve of the Entities (Crash)
• Butthole Surfers - Humpty Dumpty LSD (Latino Bugger Veil)
• Cirrus - Counterfeit (Moonshine)
• Marc Copley - Limited Lifetime Guarantee (RCA)
• Cormega - True Meaning (Landspeed) Read about it ... Cormega Getting Inventive With His Second Chance At Rap Fame
• Craw - Bodies for Strontium 90 (Hydra Head)
• David J - Guitar Man (Heyday)
• Deadly Venoms - Still Standing (Rocks the World)
• Deep Banana Blackout - Release the Grease Live (DCN)
• Deep Purple - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (Mercury)
• DJ Yousef - Mixer Presents: Next School (DMC)
• The Domino Kings - The Back of Your Mind (Slewfoot)
• Dream Evil - Dragon Slayer (Century Media)
• D.S.P - In the Red (Ninja Tune)
• Entwine - Time of Despair (Century Media)
• Epidemic - Epidemic (Elektra)
• Fatboy Slim - Live on Brighton Beach (Southern Fried/ Ministry of Sound) Read about it ... Fatboy Slim Turns Beach Party Into Album, Possibly Tour
• Freestylers - Pressure Point (Mammoth)
• Eyra Gail - Eyra Gail (Twenty-Four Seven)
• Vincent Gallo - Recordings of Music for Film (Warp)
• Genaside 2 - Return of the Redline Evangelist (Copasetik)
• Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez - Presents ... Disco Heat (Urban Theory)
• Go Go Market - Hotel San Jose (Innerstate)
• Greenwheel - Soma Holiday (Island)
• Halford - Crucible (Sanctuary)
• Steve Harvey - Sign of Things to Come (MCA)
• Juliana Hatfield - Gold Stars 1992 - 2002 (Zoe)
• Helloween - Dark Ride (Nuclear Blast)
• Her Sanity - Xclusive (Motown)
• Home Grown - Kings of Pop (Drive-Thru/ MCA)
• Bruce Hornsby - Big Swing Face (RCA)
• Kosma - Early Works (Infracom)
• Glenn Kotche - Introducing Glenn Kotche (Locust)
• Arto Lindsay - Invoke (Righteous Babe)
• Manifesto Jukebox - Remedy (BYO)
• Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (Octone)
• Mr. Lif - Emergency Rations (Def Jux)
• Heather Myles - Sweet Talk & Good Lies (Rounder)
• Nelly - Nellyville (Universal) Read about it ... Nelly's Guided Tour Of Nellyville, Complete With Pimp Juice
• Neurotica - Neurotica (Koch)
• Nickelback - Curb (Roadrunner)
• Nonpoint - Development (MCA)
• N.O.R.E - God's Favorite (Def Jam) Read about it ... Noreaga Hopes To Leap The Borders Of The 'Hood In A Single Bound
• Orange Goblin - Coup De Grace (The Music Cartel)
• Orbital - Back to Mine (DMC)
• Original Sinners - Original Sinners (Nitro)
• Jeffrey Osborne - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (A&M)
• Ozzy Osbourne - Live at the Budokan (Epic) Read about it ... Osbournes Wreak Havoc On Japan In Budokan DVD Extras
• Ozma - Double Donkey Disc (Kung Fu)
• Play - Play (Columbia)
• Psychic TV - Origin of the Species Vol. 3 (Invisible)
• Randy - Cheater (Hopeless)
• Rayvon - My Bad (MCA)
• Reel Big Fish - Cheer Up! (Jive)
• Rollins Band - The Only Way to Know for Sure (Sanctuary)
• Rosey - Dirty Child (Island) Read about it ... Rosey: From Dealmaker To Songmaker
• Joe Satriani - Strange Beautiful Music (Epic)
• Seven Nations - And Now It's Come to This (Razor & Tie)
• Shedaisy - Knock on the Sky (Lyric Street)
• Skeleton Key - Obtainium (Ipecac)
• Slum Village - Dirty District (Sequence)
• Will Smith - Born to Reign (Columbia) Read about it ... Will Smith Drops Samples For Guitars On Born To Reign
• Sonic Youth - Murray Street (Geffen)
• Soulfly - 3 (Roadrunner) Read about it ... Soulfly Go For Heavy, Come Up With Silence On 3
• Stereo - Rewind + Record (Fueled by Ramen)
• Geoff Tate - Geoff Tate (Sanctuary)
• Terminal Sound System - RH-8SB (Release)
• Terror 2000 - Faster Disaster (Nuclear Blast)
• Tricky - A Ruff Guide to Tricky (Island)
• Truth Hurts - Truthfully Speaking (Geffen) Read about it ... Truth Hurts: Battling Bubble Gum With Dr. Dre
• Union Underground - Live ... One Nation Underground (Columbia)
• Various artists - Café Electronica (Water Music)
• Various artists - Carte Blanche Vol. 3 (Astralwerks)
• Various artists - Global Dance Mix (Thump)
• Various artists - Global Psychedelic Trance Vol. 8 (EFA-CAR)
• Various artists - Hit Dance Party (Logic)
• Various artists - Hopelessly Devoted to You (Hopeless)
• Various artists - Miracle Hits (Medalist Ent.)
• Various artists - Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7 (Epitaph)
• Various artists - "The Road to Perdition" soundtrack (Decca)
• Various artists - Sample This, Too! (BYO)
• Various artists - "Sunshine State" soundtrack (Roadrunner)
• Various artists - This Is Ultimate Dance (J)
• Various artists - Ultra Dance Vol. 2 (Ultra)
• Vida Blue - Vida Blue (Elektra)
• Wayne Warner - Wayne Warner (B-Venterous)
• Kenny Wayne - 88th & Jump Street (Electro-Fi)
• Steve Wynn - Fluorescent (Innerstate)

• Aerosmith - O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (Columbia) Read about it ... Aerosmith Talk 'Girls Of Summer,' Hits Disc, DVD Reissues
• Cypress Hill - Stash (Columbia)
• Nas - From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes (Columbia)
• Jerzee Monét - Love & War (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Jerzee Monét: Workin' For Her Big Break
• Jessica Simpson - This Is the Remix (Columbia)
• Various artists - "Men in Black 2" soundtrack (Sony) Read about it ... Will Smith Preps Next LP, New Tracks For 'MIB2'
• Various artists - So So Def Presents: Definition of a Remix (So So Def/ Columbia)

• Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way (Warner Bros.) Read about it ... Red Hot Chili Peppers Relax, Let The Magik Flow On New LP
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic) Read about it ... Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates

• Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff (RCA) Read about it ... Dave Matthews Band's 'Lillywhite Sessions' To Be Busted In July
• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit) Read about it ... Lil' Romeo Battles His Evil Twin On B-Ball Court
• Swizz Beatz - G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Swizz Beatz Unveils Metallica/Ja Rule Track, Sets 'Guilty' Single
• The Vines - Highly Evolved (Capitol) Read about it ... The Vines Branch Out On Highly Evolved Tour

• Public Enemy - Revolverlution (Slam Jamz) Read about it ... Public Enemy Leading A Revolverlution With Interactive LP
• Trust Company - The Lonely Position of Neutral (Interscope)

• Lamya - Learning From Falling (J) Read about it ... You Hear It First: Lamya
• Beth Orton - Daybreaker (Astralwerks) Read about it ... Beth Orton Tours, Breaks Day With Ryan Adams, Chemical Brothers
• Various artists - "Topdog/Underdog" soundtrack (MCA) Read about it ... Jay-Z, DMX, Wu-Tang, Mos Def Bone Up 'Topdog/Underdog' LP

• Nelly
• Will Smith
• Truth Hurts
• Cormega
• Soulfly

Leggo my egos, says Def Jam head honcho Lyor Cohen — rumors that P. Diddy was wooing Foxy Brown to Bad Boy will remain just that, as Foxy has resigned with Def Jam and negotiated an Ill Na Na Entertainment label deal with the Universal Music Group in the process. The newly formed label is to be run by the rapper's brother-turned-CEO, Gavin "Pretty Boy" Marchand. ... Lil' Romeo's second album, Game Time, has been pushed back from its June 4 due date to July 16. That leaves Romeo with a little bit more time for pre-Game rituals, such as his radio Disney promo tour, and preparing for his post-Game campaign with McDonald's to push their Mighty Kids Meals, which begins September 13. ...

Mainstream country music legend Dolly Parton knows all that glitters is gold, and now she's buying the "Stairway to Heaven." Parton covered the Led Zeppelin classic for her upcoming record, Halos & Horns, receiving both Jimmy Page's and Robert Plant's blessings (though she took some liberties with the lyrics). ... The Neptunes have signed Minneapolis funk band Spymob as the first act on their on Star Trak Entertainment venture with Arista Records. Spymob are opening for N.E.R.D. and performing as their backup band on a three-week tour that kicked off Thursday in Los Angeles and crosses the country before wrapping up back there June 15. ...

While everyone keeps wondering if his film "House of 1,000 Corpses" will ever see the light of day, Rob Zombie's creepy video for Black Label Society's "Demise of Sanity" should soon be coming to a video outlet near you. Zombie is scheduled to shoot the clip on June 24 at a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. ... British pop rock foursome Gene will release their first Stateside album since 1997's Drawn to the Deep End on the new Artist Direct imprint iMusic in late summer. Libertine, which received rave reviews when it was released in the U.K. last fall, will feature four new tracks and will be promoted with a U.S. tour. ...

Fatboy Slim will stage another free beachside concert in his hometown of Brighton, England on July 13. Before Big Beach Boutique # 2, which will also feature John Digweed, Fatboy will be the official DJ at the World Cup soccer tournament in Japan in early June and will spin at a variety of events. ... Detroit rappers Slum Village will release their second album, Trinity, on July 30. The record finds acclaimed producer Jay Dee taking more of a back seat role to lyricists Baatin and T3. ... Tony Bono, the bassist for '80s thrash metal band Whiplash, died early Saturday morning from an apparent heart attack. He was 38. ...

Hulking singer Henry Rollins has enlisted what he deems an "amazing crew of people" to sing various songs by his former band, Black Flag, for a West Memphis Three benefit album. The LP, which will feature the Rollins Band playing backup, should see release in November ... Sense Field guitarist Rodney Sellars was forced to withdraw from his band's North American tour, which continues through June 14, after his four-year-old daughter, Leilani, and her mother were involved in a car accident on May 12 that left the girl in a coma. She's in critical but stable condition and is expected to require long-term medical care, for which a fund as been established to help the family with costs. Further information is available on the band's Web site (www.sensefield.com), and donations can be sent to Leilani Gutierrez c/o Globe Packaging, 179 E. 17th St., Box 400, Costa Mesa, California, 92627. ...

05.24.02

Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilminster had his trademark black cowboy hat swiped during the band's show at San Francisco's Club Townsend on May 17. Lemmy is offering an undisclosed reward for the hat — a concert favorite of the metal kingpin — and those with information are asked to e-mail the group's official Webmaster at acetrump@bigfoot.com. ... KRS-One says he's just getting better with time, as are some his pioneering peers. He recently revealed he's planning a group album with Doug E. Fresh and Big Daddy Kane under the moniker the Treacherous Three. ...

U2 and the songwriting team behind Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" were the big winners at the 47th Ivor Novello Awards held in London. U2's "Walk On" won Best Song Musically and Lyrically, while "Out of My Head" scribes Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis picked up a trio of trophies for Best Dance Single, International Hit of the Year and Most Performed Work. ... Silverchair were forced to cancel two Australian shows in Hobart, Tasmania and Sydney this week because frontman Daniel Johns, who suffers from the chronic condition reactive arthritis, was in too much pain to play. The band's new album Diorama will be released in the U.S. in July. ... Neil Diamond will kick off a 16-date North American tour September 5 in New Orleans. The Jazz Singer (and frequent target of Will Ferrell's scary love) will end the trek October 4 in Vancouver.

• Foxy Brown
• Lil' Romeo
• Rob Zombie
• N.E.R.D.
• Dolly Parton

After arriving an hour late to Monday night's London premiere of "Crossroads," Britney Spears was booed by a crowd of 3,000 fans who didn't expect her to rush straight into the Odeon Theatre and had waited for hours for the chance to get her autograph or picture. A U.K. spokesperson issued a statement Tuesday (March 26) saying that security concerns kept the pop star from lingering or venturing into the crowd. ... Gorillaz' Dan "the Automator" Nakamura, Crazy Town and Sense Field are the first acts announced for the 7th Annual Boarding for Breast Cancer benefit scheduled for April 14 in Tahoe, California. Linkin Park and Static-X performed at last year's event. ...

Fatboy Slim won two awards at the inaugural DanceStar USA Awards in Miami on Sunday: Best International Act and Best Video (for "Weapon of Choice"). Other winners included Jennifer Lopez (Best Chart Artist), the Crystal Method (Best Act), Paul Oakenfold (Best International DJ), Felix Da Housecat (Best Album for Kittenz & Thee Glitz) and Deep Dish (Best Compilation Album for Global Underground: Moscow). ... And speaking of the funk soul brother, the Chemical Brothers' remix of Fatboy's "Song for Shelter" is the lead track on the Astralwerks' compilation, Rarewerks 2, due April 2. Daft Punk's remix of the Chemicals' "Life Is Sweet," a live version of Air's "Dirty Trip" and Felix Da Housecat's remix of Playgroup's "Number One" are among the highlights. ...

Bounty Killer can finally make good on the claim that if you look up raw rhythms (or riddims) in the dictionary, you'll see his face. The reggae Don is putting out a double LP, Ghetto Dictionary, on May 14 comprising two volumes, The Art of War and Mystery. ... On Saturday in Phoenix, electro-punk band Kill Me Tomorrow kick off a tour that runs through May 10 in Merced, California. They will be joined on the road by acts such as Xiu Xiu and Erase Errata. ... The Cranes will hit the road on their first North American tour in five years starting April 24 in Washington, D.C., and running through May 26 in Orlando, Florida. ... The second leg of Naughty By Nature's tour begins April 3 in San Antonio, Texas, and wraps up May 30 in Washington, DC. Their sixth album, Iicons will be released on May 7, while they're out on the road. ...

Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil will host the 6th annual Skylar Neil Memorial Golf Tournament to raise funds to fight children's cancer, leukemia and AIDS. The tournament — named in memory of Neil's daughter, who died of stomach cancer in 1995 — will take place on May 2 at the Malibu Country Club in Malibu, California. ... Our Lady Peace will release their fifth studio album, Gravity, in the U.S. on June 11. ... Fresh from their European tour with Radiohead, hip-hop's Anti-Pop Consortium will head out across North America to promote their album Arrhythmia,, which hits shelves April 2. The tour starts that day in New York City and concludes on May 9 in Montreal. ...

03.25.02

Korn have recruited hitmakers the Neptunes to remix their latest single, "Here to Stay." ... Puddle of Mudd, Kid Rock, Rob Zombie, Sevendust, Adema, Stone Temple Pilots, Jerry Cantrell, Apex Theory, Fu Manchu and others are set to perform at this year's Livestock 12 Festival, which takes place from April 26 to 28 in Zephyrhills, Florida (more information can be found on www.livestock12.com). ... Puddle of Mudd, Kid Rock and Stone Temple Pilots will also play the Beale Street Music Festival between May 3 and 5 in Memphis. Other artists on the bill include Hoobastank, Bush, Pete Yorn, Better Than Ezra, Counting Crows, Ike Turner, the Isley Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Night Ranger, Cheap Trick and Hootie & the Blowfish. ...

Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, India.Arie, the Roots and Gerald Levert are among those who'll grace the stage on the first day of the eighth New Orleans Essence Music Festival, which is set for July 4 through 6 at the Louisiana Superdome. Day two includes Mary J. Blige, the Isley Brothers, Faith Evans and De La Soul, and the final day boasts Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Brian McKnight, Steve Harvey, Al Green, Angie Stone and Etta James. ... Dan the Automator and Mix Master Mike are among the latest additions to next month's Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. Dan, Miguel Miggs and DJ Baba G/Soundz of the Asian Underground will join the April 27 lineup, while Mike, Bad Boy Bill and Herbert have been added for the following day. ...

While Hollywood honored their best and brightest stars at the Oscars, the 22nd annual Razzie Awards honored the lowest and lamest, with Tom Green ("Freddy Got Fingered") and Mariah Carey ("Glitter") celebrated as the worst of the bad. ... Ryan Adams, Bob Dylan, LeAnn Rimes, Jon Bon Jovi and Rufus Wainwright were among those hobnobbing at Moomba in L.A. for Elton John's post-Oscars party Sunday night, according to the Associated Press. ... "The Juniper Tree," the 1990 film starring Björk in her first major role, will be released on DVD April 2. ... A new Jimi Hendrix DVD and VHS, "Jimi Hendrix: The Dick Cavett Show," will be released on May 14. Footage includes the guitar hero's two guest appearances on the show, his handwritten interview notes and a new hour-long Hendrix documentary. ...

On July 16, Slum Village will release their Capitol Records debut, Trinity ... Past, Present & Future, which includes the first single, "Tainted Love." Producers on the album include Hi-Tek (Talib Kweli) and Dr. Dre keyboardist Scott Storch (the Roots). ... Ultrababyfat will head out on the road with comedian David Cross ("Mr. Show") starting May 14 in Charleston, South Carolina, and finishing up June 15 in the band's hometown of Atlanta. The man and the band will also appear in a DVD of the tour due from Sub Pop on June 11. ... Former Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane and his new band, Medication — guitarists Logan Mader (Machine Head) and B. Blunt, bassist Kyle Sanders and drummer Roy Mayorga (Soulfly) — performed at the Viper Room in West Hollywood Saturday at a party for Locomotive Records, the overseas metal label that is launching Stateside with the April 2 release of Medication's self-titled debut EP. A full length from the band, Prince Valium, is due in June.

• Britney Spears
• Jennifer Lopez
• Fatboy Slim
• Bounty Killer
• Crazy Town

• Mary J. Blige
• Usher
• Christina Aguilera
• DMX
• Fatboy Slim

Top Ten 2001 VMA Moments

• Britney Spears
• U2
• Jennifer Lopez
• Michael Jackson
• *NSYNC