Shyne's <I>Godfather Buried Alive</I>
Photo: Gangland Records Corp.

This week's battle of the cash registers involves a couple of heavyweight new releases.

In this corner is jailed rapper Shyne, who signed a record deal with Def Jam from behind bars to house his imprint, Gangland Records. His second album, Godfather Buried Alive, is his first in five years and features the much-talked-about "For the Record," in which he disses 50 Cent, who called him a punk on a New York radio station.

In the opposite corner is the heavy-hitter for the rock set, Alter Bridge, the band formed from the ashes of Creed. The new group releases its debut album this week, One Day Remains, on the heels of first single "Open Your Eyes."

Havoc and Prodigy, a.k.a. Mobb Deep, are back in action this week with their latest release, Amerikaz Nightmare. The album features the Kanye West-produced "Throw Your Hands."

Also out this week is the second volume of the Rock Against Bush compilation. This installment features previously unreleased tracks from bands including Green Day and Bouncing Souls, plus rare tracks from the Foo Fighters and a host of others.

Also out this week are albums from a Stills-less David Crosby and Graham Nash (Crosby-Nash), a cat-glasses-toting Lisa Loeb (The Way It Really Is), a right-here-waiting Richard Marx (My Own Best Enemy), Teedra Moses (Complex Simplicity), Kool Keith & Kutmasta Kurt (Diesel Truckers), Ari Hest (Someone to Tell) and Rise Against (Siren Song of the Counter-Culture).

Out Tuesday, August 10:

• Alter Bridge - One Day Remains (Wind-Up)
  Buy Now: One Day Remains (Wind-Up)
  Read: "Life After Creed: Alter Bridge Look To A Stapp-Free Future"
• Michelle Anthony - Stand Fall Repeat (Burn and Shiver)
• Ataxia - Automatic Writing (Record Collection)
• Athens Boys Choir - Rhapsody in T (Daemon)
• Burrito Deluxe - The Whole Enchilada (Luna Chica)
• Clouseaux - Lagoon (Dionysus)
• Codetalkers - Deluxe Edition (Deep South)
• David Crosby and Graham Nash - Crosby-Nash (Sanctuary)
• Das Ich - Lava (Metropolis)
• Death Threat Now - Now Here Fast (Triple Crown)
• Julia Fordham - That's Life (Vanguard)
• Jeffrey Foucault - Stripping Cane (Signature Sounds)
• Rachel Fuller - Cigarettes & Housework (Universal)
• Richie Furay - In My Father's House (Friday)
• GBH - Cruel & Unusual (Idol)
• A Girl Called Eddy - A Girl Called Eddy (Anti)
• The Good Life - Album of the Year (Saddle Creek)
• Owen Gray - Shook, Shimmy & Shake (Trojan/Sanctuary)
• Grendel - Prescription: Medicide (Metropolis)
• Andy Griggs - This I Gotta See (RCA Nashville)
• Ari Hest - Someone to Tell (Columbia)
• Houston - It's Already Written (Capitol)
  Buy Now: It's Already Written (Capitol)
  Read: "Houston Scores Club Hit With Help From Chingy, Nate Dogg"
• K's Choice - 10: 1993-2003 Ten Years Of (Vanguard)
• Robert Earl Keen - No. 2 Live Dinner (Koch)
• Emer Kenny - Parting Glass (Triloka/Artemis)
• Kidz Bop Kids - Kidz Bop 6 (Razor & Tie)
• Kool Keith & Kutmasta Kurt - Diesel Truckers (Oglio)
• Mark Lanegan Band - Bubblegum (Beggars Banquet)
• Lhasa - The Living Road (Nettwerk)
• Lisa Loeb - The Way It Really Is (Rounder)
• Malibu Storm - Malibu Storm (Rounder)
• Charlotte Martin - On Your Shore (RCA)
• Richard Marx - My Own Best Enemy (EMI/Capitol)
• The Mendoza Line - Fortune (Bar/None)
• Minor Times - Making Enemies (Level Plane)
• Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare (Violator/Jive)
  Buy Now: Amerikaz Nightmare (Violator/Jive)
  Read: "Mobb Deep Blinded With '80s Science For 'Twisted' Beat"
• Mono Chrome - Collapse and Sever (Metropolis)
• Teedra Moses - Complex Simplicity (TVT)
• Mourning September - A Man Can Change His Stars (Floodgate/WEA)
• Muffs - Really Really Happy (Five Foot Two/Oglio)
• Michael Powers - Onyx Root (Baryon)
• Rachel Proctor - Where I Belong (BNA)
• Rise Against - Siren Song of the Counter-Culture (DreamWorks)
• Rolling Blackouts - Black Is Beautiful (Record Collection/True Love)
• Shindig - The Beginning Is Your End (Undecided)
• Shyne - Godfather Buried Alive (Def Jam)
  Buy Now: Godfather Buried Alive (Def Jam)
  Read: "Shyne Album Inspired By Supermodel Shoes, Pacino Films"
• Slim Cessna's Auto Club - The Bloudy Tenent, Truth and Peace (Alternative Tentacles)
• Tracy Spuehler - It's the Sound (Tracymusic)
• Paul Thorn - Are You With Me? (Back Porch)
• Tin Hat Trio - Book of Silk (Ropeadeope/Artemis)
• Unbunny - Snow Tires (Hidden Agenda/Parasol)
• The Upsidedown - Trust Electricity (Reverb)
• Velvet Crush - Stereo Blues (Action Musik)
• Wailin' Jennys - 40 Days (Red House)
• Yellow Swans - Bring the Neon War Home (Narnack)
• James Zabiela - Alive (Renaissance/System)
• Various artists - A Trip in Lounge (Varèse Sarabande)
• Various artists - Crunkin' G Style (Dmaft/Oglio)
• Various artists - Is It Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan (Sanctuary/Ras)
• Various artists - Rock Against Bush Vol. 2 (Fat Wreck Chords/Punkover)
  Read: "No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Yellowcard On Rock Against Bush Vol. 2"
• Various artists - Touch My Heart: A Tribute to Johnny Paycheck (Sugar Hill)
• Various artists: Soundtrack to "Code 46" (Koch)
• Various artists: Soundtrack to "Garden State" (Sony)
• DVD: Hilary Duff - "That Girl Can Rock: The Concert" (Buena Vista/Hollywood)
• DVD: Nana Mouskouri - "Nana Swings: Live at Jazzopen Festival" (Philips)
• DVD: Various artists - "Lords of the Underground" (Thump)

August 17:

• Ryan Cabrera - Take It All Away (Atlantic)
• Saliva - Survival of the Sickest (Island)
  Read: "Saliva: Foaming At The Mouth"
• Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (Rhino)
• Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous (Warner Bros.)

August 24:

• R. Kelly - Happy People/ U Saved Me (Jive)
  Read: "R. Kelly Giving Happy People Some Inspiration"
• Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying (Curb)
• Jason Mraz - Tonight, Not Again — At the Eagles Ballroom (Elektra)

August 31:

• Björk - Medulla (Elektra/Asylum)
• Jill Scott - Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds 2 (Sony)
• Insane Clown Posse - Hell's Pit, Version 1 (Psychopathic)
• Insane Clown Posse - Hell's Pit, Version 2 (Psychopathic)
• Various artists - Passion of the Christ: Songs (Wind-Up)

• Shyne
• Alter Bridge
• Mobb Deep
• Lisa Loeb
• Kool Keith

Liam Howlett (file)
Photo: Steve Gullick

Anyone who associated '90s electronic rockers the Prodigy with the urgent, primal bark of former vocalists Keith Flint and Maxim might not connect the band's new album with the group who wrote "Firestarter" and "Smack My Bitch Up."

But that doesn't mean the vocals on Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned will sound foreign. Twista, Kool Keith and Oasis' Liam Gallagher will guest on the 12-song disc, due September 15.

One collaboration, called "Hotride," was recorded with someone whose voice isn't as well known as her face: Juliette Lewis. The debut album by her band, Juliette & the Licks, Like a Bolt of Lightning, is also due in September.

"Juliette had so much vocal power, she tore the roof off," group mastermind Liam Howlett said Monday. "It was shocking. I was standing at the desk, nodding at her through the glass, going, 'F---, where did that voice come from?' "

Not only are the Prodigy drawing primarily from guest singers on their first disc in seven years, they're shaking up the musical mix as well. Unlike the songs on 1997's The Fat of the Land, which were limited in scope because they were written to be played live, the new material was penned for maximum studio impact.

"The title says it all about the music and band," Howlett said. "I wanted to make a record that was more old-school, like our second album, [1995's Music for the Jilted Generation.] I wanted to make it sexier and go back to the beats."

The first single from Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned will be "Girls," which Howlett describes as "dirty electro-punk with female vocals." The Prodigy will shoot a gritty, lo-fi video for the track soon, but no director has been named.

The group's song with Liam Gallagher, "Shoot Down," will feature his bandmate and brother, Noel Gallagher, on bass. Kool Keith, who rapped on The Fat of the Land's "Diesel Power," will make a return appearance on "Wake Up Call.

And a wakeup call is exactly what the Prodigy got when they released the single "Baby's Got a Temper" in August 2002. Howlett was so unhappy with the direction the track was taking the group, he decided to start over from square one.

"To be honest, that track kicked me up the ass," he said on the band's Web site in January. "It was the only time I kind of thought, 'Nah, this ain't totally right.' We had to change. It felt like it was a tired formula; it was more like 'Here we go again.' "

The epiphany explains why the Prodigy have been absent for the past two years. What about the other five? "It didn't take seven years [to make this record], it took one year. I played golf for the other six," Howlett joked.

The Prodigy are planning a tour for October.

Track list for Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, according to the group's publicist:

• "Spitfire"
• "Girls"
• "Memphis Bells"
• "Get Up Get Off"
• "Hotride"
• "Wake Up Call"
• "Action Radar"
• "Medusa's Path"
• "Phoenix"
• "You'll Be Under My Wheels"
• "The Way It Is"
• "Shootdown"

• The Prodigy
• Twista
• Kool Keith
• Oasis
• Juliette & the Licks

Kool Keith
Photo: Threshold

You'd better get used to Kool Keith, 'cause it looks like he's going to be around for a while. The famously freaked-out rapper has hundreds of songs already recorded — he's been laying down four or five a day — and he's getting ready to unleash them on the world.

He's got about 10 solo albums up his sleeve, but first he's gearing up for the summer release of his first group project since the Ultramagnetic MC's — KHM, which stands for the three members' names: Keith, H and Mark. It's due in July on Keith's own Gamelock Records.

"It has that significant branch off, that futuristic sound," Keith said. "All my records have that distinctiveness. KHM is more into the new stuff. We like to make that brand new sound which nobody is doing, so it makes us creative.

"Everything I've made and still make will sound different from anybody in the music industry. That's guaranteed," he continued. "I'm always going to make groundbreaking stuff."

The material on KHM's still-untitled album doesn't stray far from the funked-out, futuristic sound Keith usually delivers, he said, but it isn't just a reiteration of material he's already produced, either.

"KHM is brand new super space bounce. We're basically an anti-group, very rebel. It's kind of different, hard to explain. That's why we called it KHM — it's the personalities of Keith, H and Mark," he explained. "We are very against the grain. But we do the same thing as I would always do — break new ground."

Generally disenchanted with the current state of musical affairs, Keith claims the only person who moves him these days is Missy Elliott. "I don't see anyone doing anything more innovative than [her], including myself. People will listen to a bunch of records that have no significance. They will go out and buy a CD just because it has somebody weird on the cover or because it looks like it has 18 spaceships on it. It's just marketing. The CDs look so future, and then you put the music in and it sounds like some 1974 sh--."

Keith doesn't want to fall into that trap. In fact, his against-the-grain anti-group KHM may be the most conventional offering of the lot, considering what else he has planned. Soon after KHM's disc drops, Keith's solo album Keith ... Straight Up Keith will come out. And then he'll release a slew of follow-up material from the various personae in his head.

"I've got stuff for soundtracks. I've got Keith ... Straight Up Keith. Then Keith Part 2: The Return of Keith; The Return of Black Elvis 2; The Awakening — Keith; Dr. Octagon, Black Elvis and Dr. Dooom; Jackie Jasper and Keith Part 1; Dr. Dooom Part 2; Matthew Part 2; Sex Style Part 2 and 3, all going down — endless. A compilation of new artists, I've got volumes one, two and three. Ultramagnetic Part 2: The Return and The Resurrection of Dr. Octagon. It's all being worked on right now as we speak."

You may remember that Dr. Octagon, Keith's twisted gynecologist character, was killed by Keith's Dr. Dooom. However, with plans to have Doc Oc release another album, Keith has to figure out a way for him to come back to life. In the meantime, he offered that it will be a "grave album with [illustrations by] Pushead and two skulls. Or how about two skulls and a Kangol?"

"And," Keith added, "if [Dr. Octagon's record label] DreamWorks wants to get in the way, it will be Dr. Octacon with a 'C.' "

Dr. Octagon is arguably Keith's most famous alter ego. He collaborated with the then-virtually unknown Dan "The Automator" Nakamura to produce such hits as "Blue Flowers" and "Girl Let Me Touch You."

"I was behind the production on a lot of the tracks," Keith insisted, addressing what he said is the misconception people have that the album's signature sound belongs to Nakamura. "Automator and [producer Kut Masta] Kurt are probably receiving more credit than I did, but I was a big musical person behind Octagon."

While Nakamura acknowledges that working with Keith was an important step for him and that he'd be willing to collaborate on a follow-up to Dr. Octagonecologyst (1996), he said, "Just look at the track record," in response to Keith's claim.

But Keith maintains his stance. "Why should I lie? I have no reason to lie. If he did a lot of stuff on that album, I would be honored to say it, but he didn't. But I like the Automator. We're good friends."

Keith's relationship with Kut Masta Kurt isn't exactly as amicable. Kurt said the two limit their interaction to business now. The strain on the relationship, Kurt said, "comes with all the extracurricular stuff Keith brings to the table in working with him. You know, taking him to the magazine stand and Popeye's. It's amusing the first time, but after six years it gets kind of redundant."

Nevertheless, Kurt expressed respect and gratitude toward Keith for helping him get "some aspects of [his] career going" and acknowledged Keith's role in Sex Style and Dr. Dooom's First Come, First Served (1999). "But," he said, "I have a lot of other productions under my belt other than these two albums. If you'd like a good example of what my production sounds like versus Keith's, listen to Sex Style and Spankmaster. You will be able to notice the difference after one comparative listen."

But Keith, feeling responsible for the two producers' success and perhaps a bit left behind by it, said, "When I got signed to Capitol I helped Kurt buy so much equipment, and I can't go there and record. I helped Automator walk. ... They're my sons, but they don't even call me to say, 'Hi, dad.' "

• Kool Keith

Los Amigos Invisibles
Photo: Marina Chavez

The Watcha tour, a Latin rock spectacular featuring artists from nine countries and three continents, has announced the dates and venues for its third outing, kicking off August 15 in Denver.

The tour — which includes Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles, Chile's La Ley, Mexico's Molotov and Spain's Dover on its roster — will feature up to 10 acts in each of its 20 stops. Kool Keith is the only non-Latin act on the bill.

Organizers expect to announce more dates and venues soon.

Watcha tour dates, according to the tour's publicist:

• 8/15 - Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
• 8/17 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
• 8/18 - Chicago, IL @ TBA
• 8/19 - Toronto, ON @ Lamport Stadium
• 8/21 - Boston, MA @ The Roxy
• 8/22 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
• 8/23 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
• 8/24 - Bayamón, Puerto Rico @ Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum
• 8/25 - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic @ Quisqueya Stadium
• 8/26 - Miami, FL @ Bayfront Park
• 8/28 - Atlanta, GA @ TBA
• 8/30 - Houston, TX @ Aerial Theatre at Bayou Palace
• 8/31 - McAllen, TX @ Villa Real Convention Center
• 9/1 - Dallas, TX @ Bronco Bowl
• 9/2 - San Antonio, TX @ TBA
• 9/3 - El Paso, TX @ TBA
• 9/5 - Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
• 9/7 - Universal City, CA @ Universal Amphitheatre
• 9/8 - Chula Vista, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
• 9/9 - San Jose, CA @ TBA

• Molotov
• La Ley
• Kool Keith
• Los Amigos Invisibles

Photo: D. Baron Media Relations

The third annual Watcha Tour — a collection of Latin artists including Venezuelan dance collective Los Amigos Invisibles, Chilean rockers La Ley and Mexican rap/metal act Molotov — will kick off in Denver in August and run for nearly a month before wrapping up in San Jose, California.

This year's Watcha (Spanglish for "check it out") tour also features Spain's Dover, Argentinean bands Enanitos Verdes and Bersuit and at least one non-Latin act, eclectic dance producer Kool Keith.

Other than an August 22 date in New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom and a September 7 show at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, no venues have been finalized. The itinerary will likely include stops in Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Puerto Rico and Phoenix among its 20 dates, according to the tour's publicist.

• Kool Keith
• La Ley
• Los Amigos Invisibles
• Molotov

Kool Keith
Photo: MTV News

The Rollins Band, the Misfits and rapper Kool Keith will join Weezer, 311, Rancid and Pennywise on the summer's Vans Warped Tour 2001.

Organizers of the annual trek also known as "Punk Rock Summercamp" have announced dates and cities for the 43 stops on the tour, which kicks off in Phoenix on June 22. Venues will be announced within the next two weeks.

Also on the bill are Alien Ant Farm, the Vandals, Fenix TX, Good Charlotte, Less Than Jake, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes — a cover band featuring Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett and NOFX bassist Fat Mike, among others. Their repertoire, focused on '60s and '70s music, features songs by Billy Joel, Neil Diamond and John Denver.

Though a source close to the tour earlier had said that Black Eyed Peas would be part of this year's outing, the eclectic hip-hop trio will not participate, a tour spokesperson said.

Other artists appearing on the Warped voyage are AFI, the Ataris, Big Wig, Distillers, Dub Pistols, Esham, Fear, Grand Theft Audio, Guttermouth, H20, Jepetto, the Julianna Theory, Kill Your Idols, Madcap, Midtown, Morgan Heritage, New Found Glory, No Motiv, River City Rebels, Saves the Day, Sugarcult and Userfriendly.

More acts are expected to be announced soon.

The tour's athletic component this year features such extreme athletes as skaters Mike Frazier and Steve Caballero and motocross riders Tyler Evans, Jon Comer and Rick Thorne.

A new attraction is "Incredibly Strange Wrestling," which combines punk rock and wrestling.

Van Warped Tour 2001 dates, according to tour organizers:

• 6/22 - Phoenix, AZ
• 6/23 - Las Vegas, NV
• 6/24 - Fresno, CA
• 6/27 - Chula Vista, CA
• 6/28 - Irvine, CA
• 6/29 - Los Angeles, CA
• 6/30 - San Francisco, CA
• 7/1 - Soda Springs, CA
• 7/2 - Nampa, ID
• 7/3 - Quincy, WA
• 7/5 - Calgary, ALB
• 7/6 - Bozeman, MT
• 7/7 - Salt Lake City, UT
• 7/8 - Brighton, CO
• 7/10 - Kansas City, MO
• 7/11 - St. Louis, MO
• 7/12 - Indianapolis, IN
• 7/13 - Milwaukee, WI
• 7/14 - Minneapolis, MN
• 7/15 - Tinley Park, IL
• 7/17 - Cincinnati, OH or Sparta, KY
• 7/18 - Nashville, TN
• 7/19 - Little Rock, AR
• 7/20 - Dallas, TX
• 7/21 - San Antonio, TX
• 7/22 - Houston, TX
• 7/25 - Atlanta, GA
• 7/26 - Panama City Beach, FL
• 7/27 - Orlando, FL
• 7/28 - Miami, FL
• 7/29 - Jacksonville, FL or Tampa, FL
• 7/31 - Virginia Beach, VA or Norfolk, VA
• 8/1 - Bristow, VA
• 8/2 - Pittsburgh, PA
• 8/3 - Camden, NJ
• 8/4 - New York or Long Island, NY
• 8/5 - Asbury Park, NJ
• 8/7 - Cleveland, OH
• 8/8 - Buffalo, NY
• 8/9 - Boston, MA
• 8/10 - Montreal, QB
• 8/11 - Barrie, ON
• 8/12 - Pontiac, MI

• Henry Rollins
• Kool Keith
• The Misfits
• Weezer
• Rancid

Kool Keith as Black Elvis
Photo: MTV News

Old-school rapper Kool Keith has transformed himself again into his alter ego, the intergalactic Black Elvis. The eccentric MC recently began work on the sequel to Black Elvis/Lost in Space (1999) and said the new disc will be even farther out of this world.

"It's 10-times more futuristic and funkier than the last album," Keith said Friday. "I'm not out there trying to be somebody else right now. Everybody else to me is lost; they trying to be somebody else. You got people trying to duplicate the Latin sound, you got people remixing old funk back again — I'm not doing that. I'm making brand new stuff. I'm not trying to be Marilyn Manson II, I'm not trying to copy Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix or George Clinton." Keith (born Keith Thornton) said Black Elvis 8000: The Return should be in stores in May.

The rapper also has two other projects in the pipeline, a rock-oriented project and a funk album he's calling Big Red. "[Big Red] will be a very distinguished, funk-sounding record," he said. "It's urban-sounding, but Southern, not just inner-city." Keith will ring in 2001 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, sharing a bill with BT, Junior Sanchez and Armand van Helden. The rapper said he's having a tough time deciding what to wear for the occasion.

"I don't know if I should be super-fly-out or just come retro, a baseball cap and shiny jeans," he said. "It's gotta be something." Keith, who has been known to throw out chicken wings during his concerts, said the New Year's audience "will be fed properly, as usual. Of course, I never come without my chickens. We may throw apple pies out, an occasional dessert." His set will span his career.

First appearing in the mid-'80s as a member of the Bronx-based Ultramagnetic MC's, Keith recorded his best-known work, 1997's Dr. Octagonecologist, under the name Dr. Octagon. The rapper dropped Matthew on Funky Ass Records in the summer.

Keith is also up for a guest part in a new Warner Bros. Television show called "Dead Last" and may contribute music to the series as well. The show, a comedy about a struggling rock band, has not been scheduled to premiere.

• Kool Keith

The master recordings of Kool Keith's vocals for the upcoming Analog Brothers album, "Pimp To Eat," were stolen during the melee in Los Angeles after the Lakers' NBA championship-clinching game on June 19.

The thievery will force the Analog Brothers, a loose-knit collective of rappers including Keith, Ice-T, and others, to push back the release of "Pimp To Eat" from its original release date of July 4 to August 15.

The label handling the project, Ground Control/Nu Gruv Alliance, released a statement saying that it was unclear whether this was a "deliberate act of piracy," and mused over whether or not "the person(s) involved realize what they now have in their possession."

Despite the delay, Kool Keith (and his varied schizoid rap identities) still plans to issue his next solo album, titled "Matthew" after Keith's middle name, on July 25.

• Dr. Octagon
• Ice-T
• Kool Keith

Ol' Dirty Bastard may have a hard time making it to court, but the troubled rapper managed to score a one-day pass from the California rehab facility he currently resides in to record what promises to be one of the strangest collaborations in recent memory.

-- John Gill, with additional reporting by Robert Mancini

• Dr. Octagon
• Ghostface Killah
• Inspectah Deck
• Killah Priest
• Kool Keith

As Beck looks to finish work on his new LP within the next few weeks, erroneous reports have surfaced indicating that the avant garde musician has settled his pending lawsuits with Geffen and Bong Load Records.

• Beck
• Dr. Octagon
• Kool Keith
• Beth Orton