The Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up and Sing" DVD
Photo: The Weinstein Company

It's been a very slow-moving first quarter, and while this week doesn't exactly have a litany of marquee artists, there is something fresh in store for everyone. Here is a virtual stroll through the record shop ... and what better place to start than with country music?

File Under: Country

· Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up & Sing" DVD:
While some news outlets blared headlines about a "defiant" Dixie Chicks sweeping the Grammy Awards last week — as if to say they were handcuffed to the podium, screeching about President Bush's foreign policies — the ladies didn't make too big a deal of their political attitudes at the event. That didn't stop them from doing so with this recent documentary, however: Co-directed by two-time Academy Award-winner Barbara Kopple and also featuring producer Rick Rubin, it captures just how much 15 little words can bruise — and ultimately benefit — a band.

· Charlie Louvin's Charlie Louvin:
As acclaimed as the Chicks were this year, they've got nuthin' on Country Music Hall of Fame demigod Louvin, who is taking a musical stroll for the first time in 10 years with a guest-star-heavy opus. The Louvin Brothers sibling didn't manage to snare Jack White — whose Raconteurs have been toying with the group's "The Christian Life" in concert — but he was able to coax Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Will Oldham and Elvis Costello, not to mention members of Bright Eyes and Lambchop to contribute.

· The Silos' Come on Like the Fast Lane:
The alt-country trailblazers have also been around for a spell — more than 20 years, in fact — but their latest effort steers them in different directions, among them proto-punk and R.E.M.-esque roots-rock. Recorded at composer Philip Glass' Looking Glass Studios, the disc is also reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti-Western scores. (Incidentally, a tribute to that Italian legend, We All Love Ennio Morricone, also drops this week. It features tribute tracks by such unlikely fans as Metallica, Bruce Springsteen and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.)

File Under: Children's

· Various artists' Kidz Bop 11:
Expect more big things from this best-selling series, the last installment of which debuted at #3 on the Billboard albums chart. This one finds tots tooting through John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change," the Fray's "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and — this one's just a little bit of a stretch — Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most."

· Bratz - Fashion Pixiez
Trying to wean yourself off these tweens? Well, you probably won't be on the wagon for much longer. This latest set by the group — which counts Paula Abdul among its closest friends — seeps selections from the DVD of the same name; another video, "Livin' It Up!"; and the act's Saturday morning series.

· Various artists' Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt and Smashing Pumpkins
You've seen these compilations popping up on the New Releases schedule in recent months — it's high time to giving 'em some lovin'. Using glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harp and bells to soften up — or, depending on your level of cynicism, wimpify — sounds by the aforementioned bands, the series applies its sleep-inducing sheen to "Don't Speak," "Head Like a Hole" and "Cherub Rock." If you don't know which track belongs to which artist, it's time to go back to cool school.

File Under: Underground Hip-Hop

· K-os' Atlantis: Hymns for Disco
Born in Trinidad, based in Toronto and currently making waves in the States, the innovative crossover MC has even more curiosities to his name: He was raised by Jehovah's Witnesses and is touring with Gym Class Heroes and Rx Bandits. Upping the "WTF?" quotient yet another time are appearances by singer/songwriter Sam Roberts and Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew on "Valhalla."

· Free Murda's RZA Presents Free Murda: Let Freedom Reign
Like K-os' album, this one is equally likely to fall under the radar of most rap fans, but the LP by Brooklyn, New York's Free Murda has just as much legitimacy thanks to one of hip-hop's best savants, the RZA. The Wu-Tang Clan agent spruced up three tracks with his production skills and appears on one of them ("My Black Nina," also featuring Sha-Cronz.)

· Begetz's Ghetto Pass
Another Brooklyn street fave, Begetz is also looking up to a big brother of own — the Firm's AZ — for his maiden release. If you didn't catch him starring alongside 2Pac in "Above the Rim" or in assorted videos by Jay-Z and Nas, you'll have the chance to hear him loud and clear now.

File Under: Indie-Rock

· Calla's Strength in Numbers
Critics have given this New York-by-way-of-Texas band countless hugs and kisses, and the love fest should continue with its fifth volume. This one is being perceived as a retrospective of sorts — no, there are no rehashed or previously released songs, but singer/guitarist Aurelio Valle and his comrades stop to take stock of the wide variety of moods and textures (experimental, raw, smooth) they've churned out over the years.

· Explosions in the Sky's All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
This effort was produced by lo-fi master John Cogleton but actually showcases a band in all its unbridled fury. Well, the loudest fury an indie-rock band can produce, that is — skip to the Metal section if it's tinnitus you're after. The fourth effort by the Texas instrumentalists has six songs but they're hella long, so don't worry about getting your money's worth.

· Field Music's Tones of Town
The Sunderland, England, band's style has been called everything from "mod-pop" to "pop art," drawn them comparisons to Wilco and earned them a spot touring with Belle & Sebastian. Brothers Peter and David Brewis are responsible for the songcraft, and with keyboardist Andrew Moore in tow, they serve up more shifting layers than your ears will be able to keep track of.

File Under: Metal

· The Hidden Hand's The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote
If Lemmy is speed metal's indispensable dude, then Scott "Wino" Weinrich owns that title in the doom-metal underworld. The third effort by his latest combo — his other projects include Spirit Caravan, Saint Vitus and the Obsessed — finds him talking more about history than outright politics, and he dabbles with a slide to boot. The release is appended with the hard-to-find Devoid of Color EP.

· Vader's The Darkest Age: Live, Kingdom and Live in Japan
The first Eastern European death-metal band to sign a record deal outside its native land after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Poland's Vader are hailed with three reissues. Darkest Age enshrines a 1993 concert, Live in Japan one from five years later, and Kingdom is upped with a pair of bonus tracks.

· The Handshake Murders' Usurper
Seven years young, the Arkansas death-metallers finally step up with their first-ever full-length. Dare yourself to keep the earplugs at bay as they push the brutality envelope on songs like "Painted Contortionist," "Of Cult and Atrophy" and "Apostate."

File Under: Punk

· The Queers' "The Queers Are Here" DVD
The Queers are 25 years old, if you can believe it, and more incredulously, this is their first-ever DVD. But while the New Hampshire band has been around since 1982, this video culls live-performance and behind-the-scenes madness they wreaked from 1993-2005 and captures the band with a handful of various lineups.

· Autonym's Shall We Skip to Excessive Celebration?
Lead singer Will Angelos — who resides in Los Angeles, as luck for his name would have it — makes no secret of his iconoclastic views (check out his diatribes at MySpace.com/Autonymla). Expect that banter to seep into his hardcore-punk band's discordant assaults, lovingly put to tape by Pete Lyman of another searing L.A. squad, Year Future.

· Hot Cross' Risk Revival
Featuring Level Plane Records swami Greg Drudy and a former member of Interpol, the Philly hardcore phanatics have toured with Fear Before the March of Flames but sound more akin to Big Black. Catch them chugging through "Finance Fuels the Sickness at Heart," "Scrape Wisdom" and "Cardiac Silence" on this, their third opus.

File Under: Experimental

· The Boredoms' Super Roots 7, 8 and 9
In commemoration of Japan's undisputed noise kings celebrating 20 years of chaos — and on the verge of their 77-drummer live extravaganza to be held in New York on July 7 — Vice imports three installments of the band's overwhelming series. Only one, 6, has been out in the States before — while that one boasts 17 tracks, the other two clock in at just three apiece.

· Big Sir's Und Die Scheibe Ändert Sich Immer
If it's incomprehensible, it's gotta be by the Mars Volta — or affiliated with them, at least. Bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña sets up camp with Lisa Papineau of M83 and Air to revive their atmospheric assemblage — and invite Beastie Boy colleague Monkey Mark and Hella's Jonathan Hischke to contribute intermittently.

· Zu & Nobukazu Takemura's Identification With the Enemy: A Key to the Underworld
Italian Jazz spazz-outs Zu have paired up in the past with another avant-garde master, saxophonist Ken Vandermark, but this time around they chose experimental Japanese DJ Takemura for their third collaboration disc issued by purveying under-the-radar label Atavistic. If your record store carries the disc, chances are you won't miss it in the racks: It's cased in a glorious digipak.

File Under: Un-File-Able

· Call Me Lightning's Soft Skeleton
Pretty much anything Frenchkiss puts out these days is impossible to classify — look no further than Les Savy Fav and Enon. Call Me Lightening certainly further that notion; their LP features a spot by "SNL" comedian Fred Armisen, for crying out loud. The band's second release — and 30th for the label — also features help from Black Heart Procession's Joe Plummer and Enon culprit Matt Schulz.

Barr's Summary
Good luck finding a place in the rack for this one too. As the press release states, "This new body of work further experiments with the art of storytelling using sound waves and vocal tones." Well, OK, that's basically just a complicated way of saying an artist "makes music," but believe us when we tell you that the anti-pop and spoken-word passages Brendan Fowler presents here will leave you scratching your head.

· Bunny Rabbit - Lovers and Crypts
Yet another Brooklyn artist, this one crafting her art on street corners using upturned garbage cans, and has since gone on to craft an album of freestyle nursery rhymes that, in her words, are intended to provoke "deep-seated shame and inexorable ass-shaking." Nice job.

Song Title of the Week:

"Put All Your Eggs in One Basket and Then Watch That Basket!!!" from Marnie Stern's In Advance of the Broken Arm

New Releases:

· 2XL - Neighborhood Rapstar (Tommy Boy)
· Brent Amaker and the Rodeo - Brent Amaker and the Rodeo (J-Shirt)
· Anberlin - Cities (Tooth & Nail) [Buy Now]
· The Ataris - Welcome the Night (Sanctuary) [Buy Now]
· Autonym - Shall We Skip to Excessive Celebration? (Alarmor) [Buy Now]
· Kathie Baillie - Love's Funny That Way (Aspirion)
· Philip Bardowell - In the Cut (Locomotive)
· Barr - Summary (5 Rue Christine) [Buy Now]
· Begetz - Ghetto Pass (X-Ray) [Buy Now]
· Beneath the Massacre - Mechanics of Dysfunction (Prosthetic) [Buy Now]
· The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar) [Buy Now]
· Big Sir - Und Die Scheibe Ändert Sich Immer (GSL) [Buy Now]
· Black Lips - Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo (enhanced; Vice) [Buy Now]
· Bratz - Fashion Pixiez (Hip-O/UMe) [Buy Now]
· Bunny Rabbit - Lovers and Crypts (Voodoo-Eros) [Buy Now]
· Call Me Lightning - Soft Skeleton (French Kiss) [Buy Now]
· Calla - Strength in Numbers (Beggars Banquet) [Buy Now]
· The Coach and Four - The Great Escape (Makeshift) [Buy Now]
· Comeback Kid - Broadcasting ... (Victory) [Buy Now]
· Bobby Conn - King for a Day (Thrill Jockey)
· The Cringe - Tipping Point (Megaforce) [Buy Now]
· Jill Cunniff - City Beach (The Militia Group)
· Dir en Grey - The Marrow of a Bone (enhanced; Warcon)
· Dolorean - You Can't Win (Yep Roc) [Buy Now]
· Erasure - On the Road to Nashville (live; with DVD; Mute) [Buy Now]
· Everlife - Everlife (Buena Vista)
· Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
· Fatal Smile - Neo Natural Freaks (Locomotive) [Buy Now]
· Dennis Ferrer - The World as I See It (MVD Audio)
· Field Music - Tones of Town (Memphis Industries)
· Fifty Caliber Kiss - Armor Class Invincible (MVD Audio) [Buy Now]
· The Frames - The Cost (Anti-) [Buy Now]
· Free Murda - RZA Presents Free Murda: Let Freedom Reign (Cleopatra)
· Fu Manchu - We Must Obey (Century Media)
· The Handshake Murders - Usurper (Goodfellow)
· The Harlem Shakes - Burning Birthdays (EP; Harlem Shakes) [Buy Now]
· The Hidden Hand - The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote (with EP; Southern Lord)
· Peter Himmelman - My Green Kite (Rounder)
· Hot Cross - Risk Revival (Equal Vision) [Buy Now]
· I Am the Thorn - You Are the Lamb (Goodfellow)
· Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)
· Kittie - Funeral for Yesterday (with bonus DVD; X of Infamy)
· K-os - Atlantis: Hymns for Disco (Virgin)
· Victor Krummenacher - The Cock Crows at Sunrise (MVD Audio)
· La Drivers Union - Por Por: Honk Horn Music of Ghana (Smithsonian Folkways)
· Laibach - Volk (with special hard-book packaging; Mute)
· Little Feat - Rocky Mountain Jam (Hot Tomato)
· Charlie Louvin - Charlie Louvin (digipak; Tompkins Square)
· Love Hate Hero - White Lies (Ferret)
· Minsk - The Ritual Fires of Abandonment (Relapse)
· Minus the Bear - Interpretaciones del Oso (Suicide Squeeze)
· Mortal Love - I Have Lost (Locomotive) [Buy Now]
· Nein - Luxury (Sonic Unyon)
· The One AM Radio - This Too Will Pass (Dangerbird)
· Paganize - Evilution Hour (Candlelight)
· Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday (digipak; XL)
· P.G. Six - Slightly Sorry (Drag City)
· Pop Levi - Return to Form Black Majick Party (Counter)
· The Rakes - Remixes (EP; Dim Mak)
· Reel Big Fish and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer - Duet All Night Long (Reignition)
· Morris Robinson - Going Home (Decca)
· Rwake - Voices of Omens (Relapse)
· The Shining - Grindstone (Rune Grammofon)
· The Showdown - Temptation Come My Way (Mono Vs. Stereo)
· The Silos - Come on Like the Fast Lane (Bloodshot)
· Southern Culture on the Skids - Countrypolitan Favorites (digipak; Yep Roc)
· John Starling and Carolina Star - Slidin' Home (Rebel)
· Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars)
· Corey Stevens - Albertville (Ruf)
· Sting & Edin Karamazov - The Journey & the Labyrinth: The Music of John Dowland (live; with DVD; Deutsche Grammophon)
· The Subjects - With the Ease, Grace, Precision and Cleverness of Human Beings (Pretty Activity)
· Richard Swift - Dressed Up for the Letdown (Secretly Canadian)
· Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ever)
· Toby Mac - (Portable Sounds) (Forefront)
· Trans Am - Sex Change (Thrill Jockey) [Buy Now]
· Louie Vega - Mix the Vibe: For the Love of King Street (two CDs; MVD Audio)
· Nick Warren - GU030 Paris (two CDs; Global Underground)
· Amelia White - Black Doves (Funzalo)
· The White Barons - Up All Night With the White Barons (Gearhead)
· Tommy Womack - There, I Said It! (Cedar Creek)
· The Young Knives - Voices of Animals and Men (with bonus DVD; Ryko/Transgressive)
· Zero on In - Oblivion Fair (Locomotive)
· Zu & Nobukazu Takemura - Identification With the Enemy: A Key to the Underworld (digipak; Atavistic)
· Various artists - Kidz Bop 11 (Razor & Tie)
· Various artists - Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt and Smashing Pumpkins (Baby Rock)
· Various artists - Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing and HIV/AIDS in Uganda (Smithsonian Folkways)
· Various artists - We All Love Ennio Morricone (Sony Classical)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Artrosis - Fetish and In Nomine Noctis (MVD Audio)
· Audionom - Retrospectiv (Kemado)
· Behemoth - Chaotica: The Essence of the Underworld (MVD Audio) [Buy Now]
· The Boredoms - Super Roots 7, 8 and 9 (Vice)
· Toni Braxton - The Essential Toni Braxton (two CDs; LaFace/Legacy) [Buy Now]
· Christ Agony - Elysium (MVD Audio)
· Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue (Epic/Legacy)
· Luscious Jackson - Greatest Hits (Capitol) [Buy Now]
· Lux Occulta - The Mother and the Enemy (MVD Audio)
· Sirrah - Acme and Did Tomorrow Come ... (MVD Audio)
· The Triffids - Calenture and In the Pines (Domino)
· Turbo - Awatar (MVD Audio)
· Vader - The Darkest Age: Live, Kingdom (EP) and Live in Japan (MVD Audio)

Music DVDs: · The Dixie Chicks - "Shut Up & Sing" (Genius Products) [Buy Now]
· Evanescence - "Broken: An Unauthorized Biography" (Locomotive) [Buy Now]
· Gomez - "Five Men in a Hut: Singles 1998-2004" (Virgin)
· Hawkwind - "In Concert: Out of the Shadows" (MVD Visual)
· Helloween - "Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006" (Steamhammer)
· Pat McGee Band - "Vintage Stages Live" (with CD; Kirtland)
· The Queers - "The Queers Are Here" (MVD Visual) [Buy Now]
· Martha Reeves - "In Concert" (MVD Visual)
· U2 - "Achtung Baby: A Classic Album Under Review" (Sexy Intellectual) [Buy Now]
· Bobby Vee - "In Concert" (MVD Visual)
· Barry White - "Let the Music Play: The Barry White Story" (Eagle Vision) [Buy Now]
· Neil Young - "Under Review 1966-1975" (MVD Visual) [Buy Now]
· Various artists - "Rock Relief: Live in Concert - Musicians Disaster Relief" (MVD Visual)
· Various artists - "Wim Wenders Presents: Musica Cubana - Live in Amsterdam" and "Live in Tokyo" (MVD Visual)

Coming Attractions:

February 27:
· Beck - The Information (deluxe-edition reissue; Geffen) [Preorder]
· Nine Inch Nails - "Nine Inch Nails Live: Beside You in Time" DVD (Nothing) [Preorder]
· Slim Thug & Tha Boss Hogg Outlawz - Serve & Collect (Koch)

March 6:
· Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (deluxe edition with book due same day; Merge) [Preorder]
· Jonny Greenwood - Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller (Trojan)
· Notorious B.I.G. - Greatest Hits (Bad Boy)
· Korn - MTV Unplugged (Virgin) [Preorder]
Read: "Korn Quiet Down With The Cure, Amy Lee For 'MTV Unplugged' "
· Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago (Capitol)
Read: "Relient K Pump Serious Rock, Sugary Pop In The Tank For Upcoming LP"

March 13:
· Gillie Da Kid - The Best of the GDK Mixtapes (Babygrande)
· Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic) [Preorder]
· Musiq - Luvanmusiq (Atlantic) [Preorder]

• Dixie Chicks
• k-os
• Calla
• Gomez
• The Ataris

Gomez's Ben Ottewell and Tom Gray
Photo: Karl Walter/ Getty Images

AUSTIN, Texas — They have yet to come up with a clever name for them (Gomezheads?), but British rockers Gomez have been noticing an assemblage of American fans following them from show to show.

"That's unbelievable, and it's a culture we don't have in the U.K.," singer/guitarist Tom Gray said recently. "You couldn't drive for 10 hours and stay in the U.K., for one, but it's a different thing. U.K. music seems more fashionable, maybe more zeitgeist. Over here the people care a bit more about seeing a band they think are good live, whereas in the U.K. it tends to be, 'Have you got a song on the radio?' — that kind of thing, which I don't mind either. It's always changing in the U.K., and it's really kind of a live living scene, but we couldn't live without the people in America who just keep coming and seeing us play."

And for that reason, Gomez are celebrating Tuesday's release of their fifth studio album, How We Operate, with a U.S. tour.

The band played South by Southwest in March, and Gray and fellow singers Ben Ottewell and Ian Ball did an acoustic-trio trek for a few weeks afterward (see "Surprise Guests Franz Ferdinand Steal 'Sounds Eclectic' Show"), but this will be the first time Gomez showcase the songs as they are heard on the record. And, knowing Gomez's jam-band-like tendencies, it's probably the last.

"They'll be so completely different a year from now, you won't even recognize them," Gray said. "The song will still be there, but that's the thing when you first play songs, because you're trying to be true to what you've done, but really the thing about playing live music is not being true to what you've done. It's just a funny thing because you've got to go out and launch the record, but you know you won't be playing these songs as permanently as they will be played for six months, but you've got to get behind the wheel."

And Gomez are happy to be driving How We Operate. In fact, Gray said it's the first time in a while the entire band has felt excited to take an album out on the road.

"I just think it's the strongest album we've ever had in terms of every single song being of value," he explained. "Anyone who knows Gomez reasonably well knows that we never do the same thing twice in the same place, so it's a really varied record, but as a whole, it's the one album we've made that really feels like one record. It feels like it has its own nervous system, which is a really big step for us, because usually our records are all over the place."

Gomez credit that "integrity," as Ottewell called it, to working with Gil Norton (the Pixies, Foo Fighters), which marked the first time the band put a producer in charge. Gomez had just signed to a new label and felt ready for a change.

"The pure novelty of it was appealing," Ottewell said. "And we've never been too precious, we do so much collaboration within the band, it was just like having another guy with an opinion."

A strong opinion.

"He laid down the law," Gray added. "He was like, 'We have to make this kind of a Gomez record — are you in or are you out? The songs are gonna be about the vocals and the harmonies.' And he never swayed away from that line. ... He kept stopping us from throwing in all the whistles and bells, as he would always call it."

How We Operate is named after the first single, a song Ottewell said is about an argument and a compromise.

"That sounded cool [as a title], 'cause all the songs are about relationships, the way people work together and fight together, love together and so how we operate together," he added.

"The whole album has a sort of narrative style," added Gray, who just directed the "How We Operate" video as one continuous shot in the band's rehearsal space. "All the songs are very much about a situation or a moment in somebody's life and how we operate. It couldn't be a more poignant name for the record."

After Gomez cross the States in May, the band will return to the U.K. for a few weeks and then return to America in mid-June for a trek that will include the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee.

Gomez tour dates, according to ATO Records:

• 5/3 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
• 5/4 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
• 5/5 - New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina's Uptown
• 5/6 - Memphis, TN @ Beale Street Music Festival
• 5/8 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's Front Room
• 5/10 - Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo
• 5/11 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
• 5/12 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest Club
• 5/13 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
• 5/15 - Kansas City, MO @ Grand Emporium
• 5/16 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
• 5/20 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
• 5/23 - Hollywood, CA @ The Avalon
• 5/24 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 5/26 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
• 5/27 - George, WA @ Sasquatch! Festival
• 6/17 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival

• Gomez

Pearl Jam's <i>Pearl Jam</i>
Photo: J-Records

Jamming the Airwaves: Pearl Jam's "World Wide Suicide" has been holding strong at modern-rock radio, and with J Records ruler Clive Davis backing the band, expect big things from the group's first studio disc in four years. The once-enigmatic Eddie Vedder tears into President Bush on the new single with the lyrics "A handsome face that the president took for granted/ Writing checks that others pay," but he doesn't stop there, chewing out the administration on "Army Reserve," "Unemployable" and "Inside Job." The band's nurtured a political bent over the years, but this time people will probably be listening.

Married to the Mobb: While Pearl Jam are hoping for a rebirth after aligning themselves with a new music mogul, so are Mobb Deep with 50 Cent. In a week bristling with major rock releases, Mobb are carving out some space for beats with Blood Money, their first release for 50's G-Unit Records. Prodigy told MTV he had to shave some blasphemous lyrics off "Pearly Gates" at the label's request, but the duo did sneak a couple of unlisted tracks onto the disc: "Have a Party," featuring 50 Cent and Nate Dogg, and a remix of 50's "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep. In fact, the record may as well be listed as a joint release between Mobb and G-Unit, what with Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck all making featured appearances. And toward the end of the record — which Havoc partially devotes to his fallen brother, Todd "T.J." Muchita — they hook up with Mary J. Blige for "It's Alright."

Tool Time: Never ones to miss the opportunity for biting sarcasm, Tool may have titled their first album in almost five years 10,000 Days because of how long it's taken to crank out the thing — but, if we're splitting hairs here, it's only been a mere 1,448. While rock competitors Pearl Jam are caught up in the so-called "post-9/11 world," Tool don't seem to be, even if this is their first release since the monumental event — in classic Tool style, the record presses the compact disc up against its 80-minute mark and features darkly mystical tracks like "Jambi," "Lipan Conjuring" and "Rosetta Stoned."

Spare a Dime: Fans still mourning "Dimebag" Darrell may find some healing with the release of a CD and DVD featuring the departed Pantera guitarist, which are being released on brother/ Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul's own Big Vin Records a few weeks later than first anticipated. The title of Pantera's 1990 album, Cowboys From Hell, finds new meaning with the project Rebel Meets Rebel, which partnered reuniting Darrell, Paul and Pantera bassist Rex Brown with Willie Nelson/ George Jones songwriter David Allan Coe. It's a record, as Paul says in a press release, that Darrell once joked he hoped to put out "before the old man [Coe] kicks the bucket." The DVD "DimeVision, Vol. 1: That's the Fun I Have" is more straight-up Darrell, a visual tribute that cobbles together unseen archival concert footage with "Jackass"-style home-video antics and more.

Thursday Comes Two Days Early: Sure there are some big releases dropping this week, but what about all that scrumptious enhanced content? Well, look no further than Thursday's A City by the Light Divided, which finds the band drifting away from that emo thang and, with the addition of a permanent keyboard player, moving into broader territory. The limited-edition digipak will have some video goodies, while those who downloaded the record on iTunes got a bonus track, and the ones who shelled out for it at Tower Records were gifted with a free 7-inch.

Jewel of the Pile: Like a diamond in the rough, Jewel's sixth record, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, may very well be drowned out by this week's louder releases. But give her some rock credit where it's due: She did re-record the LP with Green Day producer Rob Cavallo after she wasn't happy with the first go-round, even if, on "Satellite," she says rock and roll can't mend her broken heart.

Aussies Vs. Brits: This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Statute of Westminster, a measure that officially cut off most of the constitutional connections between Australia and the United Kingdom (technically it wasn't adopted until 1942). But that doesn't mean there can't be some good-natured rivalry between the commonwealth and its mother country.

And while we're on the subject of mothers, Wolfmother and their self-titled debut lead this week's pack — hardee har har — of Aussie releases. Fresh off a Coachella performance that got them some front-page notice in Sunday's edition of The Los Angeles Times, the power trio keep it feral on tracks like "Where Eagles Have Been" and "White Unicorn." Also busting out from the Land Down Under are Lostep, a Melbourne two-piece who have been enmeshed in the Global Underground DJ community but are finally stepping out with their debut, Because We Can. Decoder Ring — six musicians and a live projectionist who makes live montages with three concurrent projectors — provide the soundtrack for "Somersault," a coming-of-age movie set in New South Wales, as their first U.S. release. And singer/songwriter Audrey Auld Mezera is chiming in with In the House, a two-disc live set she recorded in Sebastopol, California, late last year with Nina Gerber.

On the other side of the world, Gomez chalk up How to Operate, their first studio effort for Dave Matthews' ATO Records, which they crafted with producer Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies). Charlatans UK head out with the reggae-heavy Simpatico, their first U.S. release in five years. The band has said the disc was heavily influenced by Joe Strummer and Gram Parsons, and it's already cracked the charts in their homeland. Lewes singer/songwriter David Ford's I Sincerely Apologize for All the Trouble I've Caused was also released first overseas, but it's getting a major-label push in the U.S., even though Ford recorded the whole thing on his G4. English duo the Boy Least Likely To, who have been getting heavy play on Los Angeles tastemaking radio station KCRW-FM, are taking the humble route by releasing their word-of-mouth The Best Party Ever at a low price in Coalition of Independent Music Stores. It comes with a bonus disc containing two extra tunes, "Rock Upon a Porch With You" and "Grubby Little Memory." And World Party's Dumbing Up is also notable: Frontman Karl Wallinger opted to issue the LP on Seaview Records after breaking his previous label contract when he discovered the label, his former band and U.K. megastar Robbie Williams created an alternate version of his song "She's the One," which subsequently won Single of the Year at the Brit Awards.

Song Title of the Week:

"You Suck! But Your Peanut Butter Is OK" from None More Black's This Is Satire

Other Notables:

Ministry's Rio Grande Blood: Al Jourgensen's calling the latest blast from his band "an all-out aural assault against the occupying forces of demagoguery and complacency." He dishes the anti-GW dirt on "The Great Satan," "Fear (Is Big Business)" and "Lieslieslies," enlisting comrade Jello Biafra for "Ass Clown" and, more surprisingly, a retired drill sergeant named Sergeant Major for Jourgensen's salute to soldiers, "Gangreen."

Brian Littrell's Welcome Home: The Backstreet Boy's new label isn't making many overt references to his affiliation with the boy band, instead focusing on his rebirth as a Christian artist. In a recent press release, the CEO of Provident Music Group said: "Brian [is] a forthright, sincere person of God. This is what Brian was built to do." Like-minded songs include "Grace of My Life," "Angels and Heroes" and "Jesus Loves You."

The Black Keys' Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough: Akron, Ohio's only pair of white guys playing swamp blues resurface with a six-song set devoted to their muse, the late Mississippi blues great Junior Kimbrough. Guitar/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney rework their 'brough's "Work Me," "Have Mercy on Me" and "Meet Me in the City."

Roy Hargrove's Nothing Serious and the RH Factor's Distractions: Hargrove's double-dipping this week. Nothing Serious is the hard-bopper's first acoustic-jazz set in six years, and he works with a backup quintet on songs like "A Day in Vienna" and "Devil Eyes"; the RH Factor is his neo-soul group, and they run through four chapters of "Distractions," plus "Kansas City Funk" and "Bullsh--."

New Releases:

• Merrie Amsterburg - Clementine & Other Stories (Q Division)
• Apiary - Lost in Focus (Metal Blade)
• Andrey Dergatchev - "The Return" soundtrack (ECM)
• Jon Auer - Songs From the Year of Our Demise (Pattern 25)
• Baby Dayliner - Critics Pass Away (Brassland)
• Nik Bärtsch's Ronin - Stoa (ECM)
• Beethoven's Wig 3 - Many More Sing-Along Symphonies (Rounder)
• The Black Keys - Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough (digipak EP; Fat Possum)
  Buy Now: Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough (Fat Possum)
• Blue Dogs - Live at Workplay (Black River)
• The Boy Least Likely To - The Best Party Ever (Too Young to Die; with bonus disc; available only at Coalition of Independent Music Stores)
• Brandtson - Hello Control (digipak; The Militia Group)
• The Charlatans UK - Simpatico (Sanctuary)
  Buy Now: Simpatico (Sanctuary)
• Clear Static - Clear Static (Maverick)
• Court & Spark - Hearts (Absolutely Kosher)
• Billy Cox & Buddy Miles - The Band of Gypsys Return (Image Entertainment)
• D-Block - Mix Tape (with DVD; Koch)
• Decoder Ring - "Somersault" soundtrack (Bella Union)
• Devotchka - Curse Your Little Heart (EP; Ace Fu)
• Phil Driscoll - Drops of Praise (Koch)
• Dysrhythmia - Barriers & Passages (Relapse)
• The Elms - The Chess Hotel (Universal South)
• Enslaved - Run (Candlelight)
• Alejandro Escovedo - The Boxing Mirror (Back Porch)
• First Blood - Killafornia (enhanced; Trustkill)
• David Ford - I Sincerely Apologise for All the Trouble I've Caused (Red Ink)
• Gadget - Funeral March (Relapse)
• Gomez - How We Operate (ATO)
  Buy Now: How We Operate (ATO)
• Roy Hargrove - Nothing Serious (Verve)
• Homeless J. - Three Seconds to Gaze (Selectric)
• Izzy - In Awe of You (Koch)
• Jewel - Goodbye Alice in Wonderland (Atlantic)
• Greg Joseph - American Diary (digipak; High Wire)
• Brian Littrell - Welcome Home (Reunion)
• Lostep - Because We Can (Global Underground)
• Rockie Lynne - Rockie Lynne (Universal South)
• Robin McKelle - Introducing Robin McKelle (Cheap Lullaby)
• Audrey Auld Mezera & Nina Gerber - In the House (two CDs; Reckless)
• Ministry - Rio Grande Blood (digipak; 13th Planet/ Megaforce)
  Buy Now: Rio Grande Blood (digipak; 13th Planet/ Megaforce)
• Mobb Deep - Blood Money (Interscope/ G-Unit)
  Read: "Throwback: Mobb Deep"
  Buy Now: Blood Money (Interscope/ G-Unit)
• Mon Frere - Blood Sweat & Swords (Cake)
• Gary Moore - Old New Ballads Blues (Eagle)
• Greg Murray - Tymes Ten (Bus Stop)
• Marykate O'Neil - 1-800-Bankrupt (digipak; Nettwerk/ 71 Recordings)
• None More Black - This Is Satire (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Gregory Page - Love Made Me Drunk (digipak; Seedling)
• Glen Phillips - Welcome Home (digipak; High Wire)
• Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam (J)
  Read: "Pearl Jam, Post-'Therapy': 'The Sex Is Better Than Ever!' "
  Buy Now: Pearl Jam (J)
• Glen Phillips - Mr Lemons (digipak; High Wire)
• Rebel Meets Rebel - Rebel Meets Rebel (Big Vin)
  Read: "Vinnie Paul Ready To Release Dimebag's Rebel Music "
• The RH Factor - Distractions (Verve)
• Sadus - Out for Blood (Mascot)
• Scar Symmetry - Pitch Black Progress (Nuclear Blast America)
• Soil - True Self (DRT)
• Starkweather - Croatoan (Candlelight)
• Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming (digipak; Absolutely Kosher)
• Thursday - A City by the Light Divided (digipak due same day; Island)
  Read: "Thursday Frontman Says He Doesn't Want To Exploit My Chemical Romance, But ..."
  Buy Now: A City by the Light Divided (Island)
• Andy Timmons Band - Resolution (Favored Nations)
• Tool - 10,000 Days (Volcano)
  Buy Now: 10,000 Days (Volcano)
• Ralph Towner - Time Line (ECM)
• Up Bustle & Out - City Breakers: 18 Frames Per Second (Collision Cause Chap)
• The Warning - All Systems Dead (Punk Core)
• Carnie Wilson - A Mother's Gift: Lullabies From the Heart (Big 3)
• Wolfmother - Wolfmother (Interscope)
  Read: "Wild Afros, Raging Riffs, Trippy Lyrics: Wolfmother Live Up To Their Name"
  Buy Now: Wolfmother (Interscope)
• World Party - Dumbing Up (with DVD: Seaview)
• Yyrkoon - Unhealthy Opera (Osmose)
• Zombi - Surface to Air (Relapse)
• Various artists - Before the Rise (three CDs; BCD)
• Various artists - The Royal Dan: A Tribute (Tone Center)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

McHouston Baker - Mississippi Delta Dues (Fontana)
• Chi-Lites - The Ultimate Chi-Lites (Brunswick)
• Eric Clapton - Guitar Legend: The Very Best of the Early Years With the Yardbirds/ The Immediate All Stars/ John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (Metro)
• Nat King Cole - The Very Best of Nat King Cole (Capitol)
• Deep Purple - Live at Montreux 1996 (Eagle)
• Manu DiBango - The Very Best of Manu DiBango: African Soul (Fontana)
• Eleven Hundred Springs - Bandwagon (Palo Duro)
• Al Green - The Belle Album: Expanded Edition (Capitol)
• Albert Hammond - Albert Hammond/ 99 Miles From L.A. (BGO)
• Hirax - Not Dead Yet (Black Devil)
• Humble Pie - The Best of the Immediate Years (Metro)
• Furry Lewis - Fourth and Beale (Fontana)
• Wes McDonald - Guest (Skybucket)
• Molly Hatchet - The Deed Is Done (Gott Discs)
• Morrison-Williams - Morrison-Williams (Palo Duro)
• Helen Reddy - The Woman I Am: The Definitive Collection (Capitol)
• Django Reinhardt - Memorial (two CDs; Empire Musicwerks)
• Roswell Rudd/ Toumani Diabate - Malicool (Fontana)
• Darryl Lee Rush - Llano Ave. (Palo Duro)
• John Stewart - An Introduction to John Stewart (Fuel)
• Taste - Taste (Fontana)
• Phil Vassar - Greatest Hits (Arista)
• Jackie Wilson - The Ultimate Jackie Wilson (Brunswick)

Music DVDs:

• Deep Purple - "Live at Montreux" (Eagle Vision)
• Dimebag Darrell - "DimeVision, Vol. 1: That's the Fun I Have" (Big Vin)
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "The Birth of a Band - Isle of Wight Festival, Saturday, August 29 1970" (Eagle Vision)
• The Four Tops - "From the Heart - 50th Anniversary Celebration" (Image Entertainment)
• Howard Jones - "20th Anniversary Greatest Hits" (Koch)
• Transatlantic - "Building the Bridge/ Live in America" (Metal Blade)
• Willowz - "See In Squares" (Sympathy for the Record Industry)

Coming Attractions:

May 9:

• Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (Downtown)
• The Isley Brothers - Baby Makin' Music (Island)
• Korn - Live & Rare (Epic)
• Nick Lachey - What's Left of Me (Jive)
  Buy Now: What's Left of Me (Jive)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium (two CDs; limited edition with DVD also available; Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Chili Peppers Stoked About New Album, Possible Kanye Tour"
  Buy Now: Stadium Arcadium (Warner Bros.)
• Snow Patrol - Eyes Open (A&M)
  Read: "Snow Patrol Turn 'Candy-Assed' Music Into Beastly Arena Rock"
  Buy Now: Eyes Open (A&M)

May 16:

• Ashley Parker Angel - Soundtrack to Your Life (Universal)
  Buy Now: Soundtrack to Your Life (Universal)
• Cam'ron - Killa Season (limited-edition version with DVD and two bonus tracks also available; Rap-a-Lot)
  Read: "Mixtape Monday: LL Cool J Stays Hungry, Cam'ron Delivers A Preview"
  Buy Now: Killa Season (Rap-a-Lot)
• Hoobastank - Every Man for Himself (Island)
  Read: "Hoobastank Find Inspiration For New LP In Scott Weiland's Cold Shoulder"
  Buy Now: Every Man for Himself (Island)
• Christina Milian - So Amazin' (enhanced; Def Jam)
  Buy Now: So Amazin' (Def Jam)
• The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers (V2/ Third Man)
  Read: "Jack White: Don't Call The Raconteurs A Side Project"
• Rock Kills Kid - Are You Nervous? (Reprise)
  Read: "Rock Kills Kid Bring Music From Windowless Room To Radio"

May 23:

• Angels & Airwaves - We Don't Need to Whisper (Geffen)
  Read: "Tom DeLonge Spills More About Angels & Airwaves' Plans For World Domination "
• The Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way (Columbia)
• Pink - "Live in Europe" (La Face)
• The Walkmen - Hundred Miles Off (Record Collection)

• Pearl Jam
• Mobb Deep
• Tool
• Dimebag Darrell
• Thursday

Franz Ferdinand's Nick McCarthy performs during KCRW's A Sounds Eclectic Evening
Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — There's always a few welcome surprises at KCRW-FM's annual A Sounds Eclectic Evening, but this year's concert featured one after another.

There were surprise sets (Franz Ferdinand, Spoon singer Britt Daniel), surprise collaborations (Ben Harper with Gomez, Ziggy Marley with Harper), and for Australian singer Sia, a surprise standing ovation from the Gibson Amphitheatre audience Saturday.

Franz's appearance was predicted by some since the Scottish dance rockers are touring with the benefit's headliners, Death Cab for Cutie. Franz Ferdinand brought a ferocious energy to what had mostly been an acoustic showcase, put on by the taste-making Santa Monica-based public radio station.

Opening with "Do You Want To," Franz instantly brought crowd members to their feet and kept them there with dance-floor favorites from 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better. After "The Fallen" and "Walk Away," both subtly rearranged from their album versions, the band slowed down slightly with singer Alex Kapranos announcing "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" as being "about missing someone across the Atlantic."

For the second half of their set, Franz went back to their self-titled debut, showcasing guitarist Nick McCarthy's mouth-watering hooks on tracks like "Michael" and "This Fire."

"The first radio station to invite us on in the States was KCRW," Kapranos said in introducing "Take Me Out." "And this was the first song we played."

In their closing slot, Death Cab followed Franz by relying mostly on their high-energy tracks, opening with "The New Year" and getting to single "Soul Meets Body" four songs in. Singer Ben Gibbard and cohorts also kept things interesting by switching around instruments, adding keyboards to various tunes, and playfully commenting on the dissipating audience. "I will not be silenced by your indifference," Gibbard deadpanned.

Earlier, former Jamiroquai backup singer Sia, filling in last minute for Lewis Taylor, balanced her smoky, seductive voice with a charming giddiness as she giggled her way through a 30-minute set. When she stopped a new tune because she and her band had screwed up and insisted they start over, the crowd ate up her honesty.

	Check out photos from KCRW's A Sounds Eclectic Evening In Universal City, California, 3.25.2006.

Sia had played A Sounds Eclectic Evening once before, with Zero 7, and paid tribute to her British friends with a rendition of "Somersault." Her clear standout was "Breathe Me," the song featured in the final scene of the "Six Feet Under" finale that has given her 2004 album, Colour the Small One, new legs.

Gomez — made up of principal songwriters Ben Ottewell, Tom Gray and Ian Ball for the show — mainly used the set to introduce their new album, How We Operate, and ear-catching tunes like the title track and "Girlshapedlovedrug."

For one track, though, the British band called on technology, using a laptop to connect with its rhythm section from a studio back home. "I can't believe that actually worked," Gray joked afterward.

To close their set, Gomez welcomed Harper, who played slide guitar on a Hawaiian-style version of the band's 1998 breakthrough single, "Whippin' Piccadilly."

During the set with his Innocent Criminals band, which included a four-piece string section, Harper also used a special guest to amplify a tune. While jamming through "With My Own Two Hands," the group segued into Bob Marley's "War," and Ziggy Marley took the stage to handle vocals.

Harper also showcased his new double record, the just-released Both Sides of the Gun, channeling his Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield influences and focusing on some of the most political tunes, like "Engraved Invitation," "Better Way" and "Black Rain," about the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

Spoon's Daniel, accompanied only by a pianist, was the other unannounced guest. Highlights included the toe-tapper "Way We Get By" and a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation."

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

• Franz Ferdinand
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Ziggy Marley
• Ben Harper
• Spoon

After releasing a pair of acclaimed albums during the past two years, the British jam band Gomez has cleaned out its archives for a new record, titled "Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline," due out on Virgin Records on October 10.

"Shopping Trolley" collects 15 rarities, B-sides, and outtakes from Gomez's 1998 debut, "Bring It On" and the 1999 follow-up, "Liquid Skin." In the U.S., the album will also be available in a limited-edition package that will include a five-song EP, "Machismo," of material recorded at Peter Gabriel's RealWorld studios in the U.K. in January.

Among the tracks slated for "Shopping Trolley" are live versions of "78 Stone Wobble," "Steve McCroski," and "Rosemary" that Gomez cut for the BBC, as well as the band's cover of the Beatles' "Getting Better" for a TV ad (see "Gomez On Going Commercial For Beatles Cover").

The "Shopping Trolley" and "Machismo" albums are designed to tide fans over until Gomez heads into the studio next year after a planned sabbatical following tours of Japan and Australia in the fall.

Around the time of the release of "Liquid Skin," Gomez's Ben Ottewell and Olly Peacock told MTV News that the wealth of the material the band had in its cupboards was just a byproduct of the way in which it records in the studio.

"[For 'Liquid Skin'], it's been sort of a year and a half's worth of sticking as much recording time in between doing gigs and everything," Peacock said. "We built a purse of around 25 or 30 songs and just kind of picked the album from that.

"There wasn't any sort of pressure that was coming down on us or anything," he added. Ottewell continued, "there's nothing really that can touch us, is there?"

"No, no," Peacock answered.

"It's like we're there in our own little world again," [RealAudio] Ottewell said.

Gomez will play the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the U.K. on August 26 and 27, respectively, and the group has just issued a new single in the U.S., "Revolutionary Kind," from the "Liquid Skin" LP.

• Gomez

Even though it's still a few weeks until Y2K, the acclaimed British group Gomez is wasting no time in mapping out tour plans for well into the next year, as the band has just announced a series of North American dates for next February and March.

• 2/18 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
• 2/19 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
• 2/21 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin
• 2/22 - Seattle, WA @ Kink Kat/Showbox
• 2/23 - Vancouver, BC @ Richards
• 2/26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Universal
• 3/9 - New York, NY @ Roseland
• 3/10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
• 3/11 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 3/13 - Atlanta, GA @ Cotton Club
• 3/15 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
• 3/16 - Austin, TX @ South By Southwest
• 3/18 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues

• Gomez

The acclaimed Brit roots rockers of Gomez will wrap up their Stateside promo tour in support of the band's just-released new album, "Liquid Skin," this week before hurrying home for a month-long tour of the U.K., where the LP debuted at number two on the charts.

After winning the coveted Mercury Music Prize in 1998 with its self-produced debut, "Bring It On," Gomez once again manned the boards for the follow-up sessions, which yielded a new studio album sixteen months after "Bring It On" arrived in stores.

MTV News caught up with Gomez on the eve of the U.S. release of "Liquid Skin," and the band talked about how it maintained complete artistic control for its latest, even though none of the band members are more than 23 years old.

"There was a little bit of talk about [using an outside producer]," explained guitarist-vocalist Ben Ottewell, Ottewell continued, "and I don't think that we would last very long with a producer. Someone else in there telling us what to do, or whatever a producer does."

"And with the Mercury award," added drummer Olly Peacock, "when we claimed that, it allowed us to have even more freedom, and they were even more understanding. It was like, 'OK, you've done good so far, so just go away and carry on.'" [RealAudio]

Gomez will play the John Anson Ford Theater in Los Angeles on October 1 and finish its brief U.S. tour the following evening at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

• Gomez

The British newcomers of Gomez are getting ready to issue their second album in two years, as "Liquid Skin" is slated to drop in the States on September 21, a week after it's due to be released in the U.K. and Europe.

-- David Basham

• Gomez
• Talvin Singh

Gomez will join the Happy Mondays, Stereophonics, and Robbie Williams this weekend for a special gig at Slane Castle in Dublin, Ireland, and the group plans on storming American ramparts a month later to support its upcoming album, "Liquid Skin."

• 9/21 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 9/22 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 9/27 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
• 10/1 - Los Angeles, CA @ John Anson Ford Theater
• 10/2 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore

-David Basham

• Gomez

As U.K. artists such as the Manic Street Preachers, Chemical Brothers, and Stereophonics wait to hear who takes home this year's coveted Mercury Prize, last year's winner, Gomez, is getting ready to release its new album, "Liquid Skin," next month.

• Gomez

MTV.com Exclusive: Gomez Photos

• Gomez