Jay-Z (file)
Photo: MTV News

Jay-Z is premiering a remake of his song "The Takeover" featuring the Young Gunz at Thursday's Nets vs. Heat NBA playoff game. The rapper, who is part owner of the New Jersey Nets, recorded the remake last week as the Nets' playoffs anthem, and it will be available as a download on www.njnets.com. ... Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are more than a Hollywood power couple — they're also the co-hosts of this year's BET Awards, taking place June 28. The ceremony will be held at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre and air live starting at 8 p.m. on BET. Nominations will be announced May 16. ...

Green Lantern resigned Wednesday from his position at Shady Records as Eminem's official tour DJ and Shade 45 radio host. According to the DJ, he was recorded without his knowledge on a DVD that Jadakiss was filming, where he was talking to Jada about his upcoming verse against 50 Cent. "I was recorded without my knowledge, speaking with Jadakiss about his music, his response record," he explained. "And it looks really crazy. And there's a rumor going around saying that I'm filling Jada in on what 50 was gonna do, and that's absolutely false." ...

Mariah Carey hopes to translate having a hit album into having a hit Broadway musical. The singer is writing a story around the songs on her 1994 album, Merry Christmas, plus two new songs she's planning to write. "I'm such a festive person, and I love Christmas. I'm so over the top with it that this is a bit much, but it's perfect for me," Carey said. "I get a chance to live out my Christmastime fantasies vicariously through the show. I think it's going to be fun and something families can go to see." ... Halle Berry is auctioning the clothes off her back to fund a field trip for her former high school. The Oscar-winning actress has donated two of her designer gowns to Bedford High School in Ohio to be auctioned off at the school's annual prom fashion show, The Associated Press reports. Proceeds will be put toward a student trip to the Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. ...

Despite talking about her album for what seems like ages, Paris Hilton is still trying to get her songs together. She recently approached feminist punk-electronica band Le Tigre to contribute, according to their rep, "but that's as far as it's gotten." And she's definitely out of luck with the Black Eyed Peas. Even though she said last summer that she'd be working with the group, Will.I.Am told MTV News that the session isn't going to happen. ... William Hung and Mikalah Gordon fans out there might want to check out votefortheworst.com. The Web site is encouraging fans of the show to vote for the worst remaining contestants every week to make the talent search more interesting. In case you're wondering, Scott Savol is the site's pick for this season's bottom of the barrel. ...

Wal-Mart is getting into the mix CD business. The mega-retailer announced this week that visitors to its Web site can now choose songs from among its 400,000-song library to burn onto a disc, which will then be mailed out within 3-4 days. Customers can choose the title of the mix CD and pick from a number of cover art options. A three-song custom CD will cost $4.62, plus 88 cents for each additional song and $1.97 for shipping. ... Radio giant Infinity Broadcasting is getting into the podcasting business. On May 16, the company (which, like MTV, is owned by Viacom) will switch its poorly performing KYCY-AM talk-radio station in San Francisco into an all-podcast station. The station will run material submitted by amateur podcasters and listeners but has not promised how long it will stick with the new format. ...

Epitaph will release the 10th volume of its bargain-priced Punk-O-Rama compilation series on June 7. Among the bands offering previously unreleased material are the Offspring, Hot Water Music, Bad Religion, Bouncing Souls and the Special Goodness. The album will also feature songs from Rancid, Pennywise, Motion City Soundtrack, Matchbook Romance, Millencolin, Dropkick Murphys, NOFX and Tiger Army. ... The Meat Puppets' Curt Kirkwood will embark on a solo career this fall with the release of the tentatively titled Snow, according to his label, Little Dog Records. The disc is said to include watered-down rock tracks that'll accentuate his vocals and guitar work. ...

Beck, Marilyn Manson, the Strokes, the Vines, Kings of Leon and the Distillers are among the rockers captured by Amanda de Cadenet's lens for her upcoming photo book, "Rare Birds," due in September. The 10-year-retrospective presents the personalities of musicians, actors, models and more in unconventional poses and moments. "I have always liked the imperfections of a person," de Cadenet said. "This is the reality of being human and it's beautiful to me. What I look for in my own life and with the people I photograph is the truth of who they really are." Also included are shots of a disheveled Keanu Reeves, Tobey Maguire, Benicio Del Toro, Orlando Bloom, Rose McGowan and Amanda Peet. ...

04.27.2005

UPN's May sweeps strategy seems to be "Bring on the music guest stars!" Chingy pops in for some "One on One" on May 2 at 8 p.m., Omarion appears on "Cuts" on May 16 at 8:30 p.m., and Toni Braxton fights city hall to keep her Harlem hair salon on two episodes of "Kevin Hill" airing May 4 and 11 at 9 p.m. For the season finales of "All of Us" and "Eve," Damon Dash and Ludacris appear on the back-to-back episodes, airing May 24 at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ... Nelly is holding a fundraiser for his inner-city youth program 4Sho4Kids on May 5 at Judith Leiber's new flagship store in New York. The rapper will play auctioneer for one-of-a-kind items, such as a diamond-encrusted Hello Kitty evening bag co-designed by Leiber and Kimora Lee Simmons, as well as VIP backstage tickets to Nelly's tour. "What I am trying to do with 4Sho4Kids and children nationwide, is to encourage them to use their minds and provide them with a positive environment," Nelly said in a statement. "Not only is this is an exciting joint venture for both Judith Leiber and myself, but an event for a good cause." ...

System of a Down will be taking experimental prog-noise merchants the Mars Volta out for a two-month road trek that'll cross these United States, bringing with it marathon guitar solos, wildly unpredictable wailing and lots of hair. Though the tour is slated to kick off in early August, there is no confirmed itinerary yet, a System spokesperson said. ... DJ Shadow is reissuing his seminal 1996 album, Endtroducing, in a two-disc deluxe edition. The second disc will include demos, a live track recorded in 1997 and previously unreleased remixes. Also included in the packaging are new liner notes from Shadow himself, and excerpts from an upcoming book about the album's impact. The expanded edition of Endtroducing is due June 7. ...

Le Tigre's most well-known issue is feminism, but the activist punk-electronica band is also taking on animal rights in a PSA the trio just shot for PETA. With the slogan "Don't let your honey wear a bunny," the band poses with its own pet bunny, Karen. During the photo shoot, Kathleen Hanna explained to MTV News that while they prefer this sort of "softer, gentler" anti-fur approach, methods like throwing fake blood on people seems to yield more results. "A lot of models won't wear fur because they don't want to be embarrassed publicly," she said. Le Tigre are up against the Scissor Sisters, Melissa Etheridge, Rufus Wainwright and George Michael for Outstanding Music Artist at the 16th annual GLAAD Awards on Saturday in Los Angeles. ... This year may have seen the re-release of Pavement's seminal Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but ex-Pave singer Stephen Malkmus thinks the releases should end there. "I don't really have a voting power in that [decision]," Malkmus said. "But if the [label and the rest of the band] said they wanted to do it, I'd just go, 'OK.' There's some extra songs, but [the next disc in line, 1995's] Wowee Zowee is already a long enough album. It doesn't need it. There has to be enough songs to warrant it, you know? And I don't know if there are." ...

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are purchasing a condo in Las Vegas at George Maloof's new high rise, Palms Place, which won't open for another two years. "George is going to have a two-story basketball suite which is down the hall from a multimillion-dollar state-of-the-art recording studio there ... so I'm there," Lachey said in a statement. Prices range from $500,000 to $7 million for the fully furnished condos. ... R&B group Xscape will release Unchained, their first album in seven years, in the fall. In the meantime, the group (with Kiesha Miles replacing Kandi Burruss) just released the single "What's Up," which samples Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock." ... Celine Dion will donate the proceeds from her special Mother's Day performance to UNICEF's Tsunami Recovery Fund, The Associated Press reports. The Canadian songstress said she hopes the May 8 show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will bring in at least $1 million for the cause. ...

There was more jamming than award presenting at Tuesday night's fifth annual Jammy Awards. Disbanded jam gods Phish won tour of the year, the Dead got best download, Dead member Phil Lesh took home best live show, Umphrey's McGee's "In the Kitchen" was named song of the year, Gov't Mule won best studio album, Keller Williams snagged best live album, and Buddy Guy was given a lifetime achievement award. Among those taking the stage of the Theater at Madison Square Garden was the unlikely trio of Huey Lewis, gospel great Mavis Staples and the recently unretired Sinead O'Connor. Blues great Guy also jammed alongside John Mayer with the Roots' ?uestlove on drums and Lesh on bass. ...

• Jay-Z
• Mariah Carey
• The Strokes
• Le Tigre

Chingy (file)
Photo: Jason Campbell

UPN's May sweeps strategy seems to be "Bring on the music guest stars!" Chingy pops in for some "One on One" on May 2 at 8 p.m., Omarion appears on "Cuts" on May 16 at 8:30 p.m., and Toni Braxton fights city hall to keep her Harlem hair salon on two episodes of "Kevin Hill" airing May 4 and 11 at 9 p.m. For the season finales of "All of Us" and "Eve," Damon Dash and Ludacris appear on the back-to-back episodes, airing May 24 at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ... Nelly is holding a fundraiser for his inner-city youth program 4Sho4Kids on May 5 at Judith Leiber's new flagship store in New York. The rapper will play auctioneer for one-of-a-kind items, such as a diamond-encrusted Hello Kitty evening bag co-designed by Leiber and Kimora Lee Simmons, as well as VIP backstage tickets to Nelly's tour. "What I am trying to do with 4Sho4Kids and children nationwide, is to encourage them to use their minds and provide them with a positive environment," Nelly said in a statement. "Not only is this is an exciting joint venture for both Judith Leiber and myself, but an event for a good cause." ...

System of a Down will be taking experimental prog-noise merchants the Mars Volta out for a two-month road trek that'll cross these United States, bringing with it marathon guitar solos, wildly unpredictable wailing and lots of hair. Though the tour is slated to kick off in early August, there is no confirmed itinerary yet, a System spokesperson said. ... DJ Shadow is reissuing his seminal 1996 album, Endtroducing, in a two-disc deluxe edition. The second disc will include demos, a live track recorded in 1997 and previously unreleased remixes. Also included in the packaging are new liner notes from Shadow himself, and excerpts from an upcoming book about the album's impact. The expanded edition of Endtroducing is due June 7. ...

Le Tigre's most well-known issue is feminism, but the activist punk-electronica band is also taking on animal rights in a PSA the trio just shot for PETA. With the slogan "Don't let your honey wear a bunny," the band poses with its own pet bunny, Karen. During the photo shoot, Kathleen Hanna explained to MTV News that while they prefer this sort of "softer, gentler" anti-fur approach, methods like throwing fake blood on people seems to yield more results. "A lot of models won't wear fur because they don't want to be embarrassed publicly," she said. Le Tigre are up against the Scissor Sisters, Melissa Etheridge, Rufus Wainwright and George Michael for Outstanding Music Artist at the 16th annual GLAAD Awards on Saturday in Los Angeles. ... This year may have seen the re-release of Pavement's seminal Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but ex-Pave singer Stephen Malkmus thinks the releases should end there. "I don't really have a voting power in that [decision]," Malkmus said. "But if the [label and the rest of the band] said they wanted to do it, I'd just go, 'OK.' There's some extra songs, but [the next disc in line, 1995's] Wowee Zowee is already a long enough album. It doesn't need it. There has to be enough songs to warrant it, you know? And I don't know if there are." ...

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are purchasing a condo in Las Vegas at George Maloof's new high rise, Palms Place, which won't open for another two years. "George is going to have a two-story basketball suite which is down the hall from a multimillion-dollar state-of-the-art recording studio there ... so I'm there," Lachey said in a statement. Prices range from $500,000 to $7 million for the fully furnished condos. ... R&B group Xscape will release Unchained, their first album in seven years, in the fall. In the meantime, the group (with Kiesha Miles replacing Kandi Burruss) just released the single "What's Up," which samples Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock." ... Celine Dion will donate the proceeds from her special Mother's Day performance to UNICEF's Tsunami Recovery Fund, The Associated Press reports. The Canadian songstress said she hopes the May 8 show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will bring in at least $1 million for the cause. ...

There was more jamming than award presenting at Tuesday night's fifth annual Jammy Awards. Disbanded jam gods Phish won tour of the year, the Dead got best download, Dead member Phil Lesh took home best live show, Umphrey's McGee's "In the Kitchen" was named song of the year, Gov't Mule won best studio album, Keller Williams snagged best live album, and Buddy Guy was given a lifetime achievement award. Among those taking the stage of the Theater at Madison Square Garden was the unlikely trio of Huey Lewis, gospel great Mavis Staples and the recently unretired Sinead O'Connor. Blues great Guy also jammed alongside John Mayer with the Roots' ?uestlove on drums and Lesh on bass. ...

04.26.2005

The prosecution is wrapping up its case against Michael Jackson in what's expected to be the last week of testimony against him. The singer's lawyers argued in and out of court on Monday, trying to convince the judge not to allow the testimony of Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe (they lost that one), and fighting with each other outside of court. Neither Thomas Mesereau nor Brian Oxman would comment on their argument, but it was later learned that Oxman would no longer be on the defense team as of Thursday. In the meantime, another one of the "Neverland 5" — former employees who claim they witnessed Jackson molesting various boys and lost their jobs after testifying before a grand jury — took the stand. Kassim Abdool testified that he witnessed Jackson kissing the 1993 accuser. ...

An airborne bottle cut rock band Kasabian's set short Friday night at the Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, after an audience member pitched the projectile at guitarist Sergio Pizzorno's head, leaving him with a sizable gash that required six sutures. In a statement, Pizzorno said it was "a shame the actions of one person put an end to our best gig all year" and recommended that those who see the band live in the future, should they feel the urge to throw anything, "throw bras and knickers from now on." ...

For Shakira's new video for the dancehall-flavored "La Tortura," she worked with director Michael Haussman (Kanye West, Madonna) to create a combative moment in a couple's relationship. Filmed in an art deco building, her significant other, played by Alejandro Sanz, sings about his "transgressions" en Español while Shakira fires back that she won't forgive him. The clip debuts Tuesday at 6 p.m. on MTV, while her album, Fijacion Oral Part 1, is due June 7. ... Ricky Martin, moved by his visit to the tsunami-ravaged villages of Southeast Asia, is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to help build and restore 224 houses in Thailand's Pang Nga province. A donation from the Ricky Martin Foundation will help more than 1,000 people move out of temporary shelters and overcrowded camps. Work is expected to begin this month and be completed in March 2007. The singer's spokesperson said Martin will make another trip to lend a hand in the rebuilding process. ...

You Hear It First band and Fred Durst protégés Ringside will open for Weezer from April 26 in Vancouver to May 14 in Atlanta. The tour marks the first outing for the duo of singer/songwriter Scott Thomas and producer/actor Balthazar Getty. ... Claymates can now show their admiration for Clay Aiken every time they make a purchase. MasterCard affiliate Myplash (short for "my plastic cash") just released an Aiken debit card, as well as a Simple Plan edition, and will continue putting music celebrities on their cards. ...

Two months after 32-year-old Tracey Gardner-Tetso failed to meet up with friends at a Mötley Crüe concert in Washington, D.C., the band is stepping up to match the $10,000 reward put up by the Victims' Rights Foundation. "We hope our involvement helps brings more attention to this case and anyone with information will step forward," bassist Nikki Sixx said in a statement. Tetso is white, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds and has long blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen driving a 1996 black Pontiac Trans Am with tinted windows and Maryland plates LRN 534. The car was found March 17th in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Anyone with information should call police at (410) 407-2020. ... Tupac's mom, Afeni Shakur, is happy that T.I. and Lil' Flip have resolved their beef and said it's a "wonderful lesson" for the rest of the rap community. "It's been nearly 10 years since everything between Tupac and Biggie, and rappers today are paying a lot of lip service to the lessons they learned from that tragedy," she said in a statement, "but how many of them are actually showing it in their actions? I'm proud of the way T.I. and Lil' Flip have settled their differences." ...

Get ready to call Lance Bass' bluff — the 'NSYNC singer is going to put on his game face during a no-limit round of Texas hold 'em on "Poker Royale: Celebrities Vs. Poker Pros." Also playing for a chance at a $50,000 prize are actresses such as Jennifer Tilly and Mimi Rogers and poker champs such as Scott Fischman and Kenna James. The seven-episode series debuts May 6 at 9 p.m. ET on GSN. ... Faith Evans' songs from her album The First Lady are now available as ring tones on Virgin Mobile. The ring tone for her first single, "Again," will be exclusive for one month, while the "Goin' Out" and "Tru Love" will be exclusive for two months. ... Fantasia will be the opening act for soul singer Kem for three weeks beginning June 8 in St. Louis and wrapping up July 1 in Atlanta. The "American Idol" winner's new single, "Free Yourself," was the most added song at urban mainstream radio last week. ...

Patti Smith, Nellie McKay and Huey Lewis are joining the Jammys lineup, which already includes Sinead O'Connor with Burning Spear. Mavis Staples and Phish bassist Mike Gordon have also been added to the bill. The jam-music awards show takes place Tuesday at New York's Madison Square Garden. ... Dark Star Orchestra co-founder Scott Larned, 37, died Sunday from heart failure, the band announced on its Web site. As keyboardist for the world's preeminent Grateful Dead cover band, who specialized in re-creating entire Dead shows onstage down to the smallest musical detail, Larned's demise eerily follows that of three actual Grateful Dead keyboardists: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (1945-73) and Brent Mydland (1952-90), who died while they were still members of the group, and Keith Godchaux, who left the band in 1979 and died in 1980. ...

• Chingy
• Omarion
• Ludacris
• Nelly
• System of a Down

Usher and Lil Jon on TRL (file)
Photo: Mark Mainz/Getty Images

Despite rumors that surfaced last week about Lil Jon's supposed animosity toward Usher because he didn't get enough credit for the success of the collaborative track "Yeah!," Lil Jon assures fans and haters alike that the two are still friends and have plans to "keep it crunk in the new year," according to a statement released by his publicist on Monday (January 3). "Usher and I are good friends," Jon said. "It's just haters trying to stir some negative bullsh-- up because we've had such a big year. We've made history together ... #1 records, nonstop radio play and a bunch of awards. We're looking forward to more hit records." ...

Ashlee Simpson is currently in Miami rehearsing for her halftime performance at the Orange Bowl, where she's planning to do her biggest show ever. "It's my first time using dancers," she said. "My drummer's drum set is lighting on fire. All these things are going on. I've never put on a show with a big production, so it's something new for everybody to see and something new for me to do." USC's Trojans face off against the Oklahoma Sooners at the Orange Bowl, to be broadcast on ABC Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET. ... Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony has announced his engagement to MTV VJ La La Vasquez. Anthony proposed to Vasquez on Christmas Day with a nine-carat engagement ring, and Vasquez reportedly accepted. No wedding date has been announced. ...

Ciara, Yellowcard and Ryan Cabrera are among the acts scheduled to play Disney's Grad Nite 2005, to be held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, on the weekends of April 22 and 29. For more information, check out DisneyGradNite.com. ... Though she had been deciding between doing a children's book and a behind-the-scenes peek at her life, Ashanti has decided to do something for the kids after all. The singer has signed with Hyperion Children's Group for the project, which is in the early stages. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have just about finished writing their follow-up to 2002's By the Way. They are slated to begin recording the as-yet-untitled album shortly, according to a band spokesperson. No release date has been set. ... Nine Inch Nails have completed work on their upcoming album, With Teeth. No release date has been announced yet. According to the band's Web site, NIN are also rehearsing for an upcoming tour. ...

Princess Ai, Courtney Love's comic-book alter ego, will make another appearance this summer. The second volume of Princess Ai's manga comic, to be called "Lumination," hits shelves in June, and focuses on a love triangle that turns into a media scandal. ... Activist femme punks Le Tigre are offering fans hard-to-get autographed vinyl, featuring their song "New Kicks," as well as T-shirts and "TKO" singles via an online contest sponsored by PETA. The contest, which can be found at http://www.peta2.com/ot/o-leTigre.asp, ends on Valentine's Day. ...

Phish drummer Jon Fishman was known among fans for donning creative outfits while onstage, and now one of his more unique getups will be on display at a Brockton, Massachusetts, museum. Fishman's "sonic rhythm dress," created by New York artist Alyce Santoro, will be included in the Fuller Craft Museum's upcoming "Trashformations East" exhibit, which will include works made entirely from recycled material. The dress, which is stitched together from recycled, prerecorded audio cassette tapes from artists including Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Prince and Bob Marley, was worn at a Phish show in Las Vegas last year, according to a spokesperson for the museum. The exhibit will run from January 15-May 1. ... The Dissociatives, a band featuring former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, have been bubbling up from Down Under for a few months, and soon their sound will stretch into the northern hemisphere. The band's self-titled debut is scheduled to street on March 29. In the group's native Australia, its "Somewhere Down the Barrel" is up for Video of the Year honors at the inaugural Australian MTV Awards, which will take place March 3 in Sydney. ...

12.30.2004

It seems Jack White has fallen out of love with a girl. The White Stripes frontman, 29, and his actress girlfriend, Renée Zellweger, 35, have called it quits after more than a year and a half together. Zellweger's publicist told People magazine that the couple broke up in September but "remain good friends. No scandal. No new relationships." ... Meanwhile, the White Stripes, known to have Luddite tendencies, are actually embracing the 21st century. The band has made The Blackpool Deluxe EP, a collection of live tracks from its performance at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England, available for download at the iTunes Music Store. The three-song EP, featuring versions of "Jolene," "Seven Nation Army" and "Hotel Yorba," is available for just $2.97. ...

Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff and Paris Hilton all made the top 10 of the Internet Movie Database's 2004 STARmeter, which lists IMDb.com's top 25 stars of the year, based on the search behavior of the site's more than 20 million users. Johnny Depp took the #1 spot. ... Earlier this month, New Found Glory announced the first batch of dates for their Back to Basics Tour of smaller venues throughout the country. Now, they've added more shows: They'll hit Hartford, Connecticut, on April 1, then head up to Canada for a string of dates. The last date listed for the tour — which also features Reggie and the Full Effect and Eisley — is April 24 in Seattle. ...

Following the passing on Tuesday evening of actor Jerry Orbach, NBC has announced that it will debut the new series Orbach was set to star in, as planned, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A spokesperson for "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that the episodes already taped with Orbach will air in the midseason of 2005. Orbach had recently left the cast of "Law & Order" to star in the spinoff series. ... Dick Clark, who has been as much of a New Year's Eve fixture as the ball that drops at midnight in New York's Times Square, will be forced to watch his "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" show from a hospital bed in California, where he is recovering from a mild stroke he suffered on December 6, according to The Associated Press. "Even though I won't be in New York this year," Clark said in a statement, "I will be watching 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' on TV." Regis Philbin will take over hosting duties for the show. ...

112 will play legendary Motown quartet the Four Tops on NBC's "American Dreams." The Atlanta group will sing the Tops' classic "Reach Out I'll Be There" on the show. Slated to air Sunday, the episode will also feature an appearance by "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, who will play the Four Tops' manager. ... Italian goth-rockers Lacuna Coil are slowly revealing information about their new album. Lead singer Cristina Scabbia told Coil fan site EmptySpiral.net that "we have a couple of songs that are 90 percent done ... and they sound really, really good." Scabbia goes on to explain that the new album will be "an evolution" from 2002's Comalies album, and that the new songs feature "a lot of aggressive parts and a lot of melody at the same time." ...

• Usher
• Lil Jon
• Ashlee Simpson
• Ciara
• Nine Inch Nails

It seems that desperate times really do call for desperate measures. Moby, the one-time critic (and verbal punching bag) of Eminem, has changed his tune, heaping praise on the rapper for his controversial anti-Bush video for the song "Mosh." Writing on his Web site, Moby explains, "You know that Eminem and I have had our differences in the past. But this video ... is the best thing that I've seen all year. It's an amazing song and an even more amazing video." ...

The first photos of Justin Timberlake on the set of "Alpha Dog" are now surfacing, showing the shirtless singer sporting temporary tattoos of the Virgin Mary on his bicep, stars on his arm and Chinese writing on his side to help him look more like the gang member he's playing in the film. Also emblazoned on Timberlake's chest is the writing "Est. 1976." Based on the life of real-life drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood, "Alpha Dog" has fictionalized the thug's tale, renaming him Johnny Truelove. Timberlake plays Truelove's best friend. ... New music from Lil' Flip and members of the Wu-Tang Clan can be found on the forthcoming "Blade: Trinity" soundtrack, due in stores November 23 in two editions. The deluxe edition includes a manga comic piece and a bonus DVD that features anime and a behind-the-scenes documentary. In addition to Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and ODB working on two songs, five tracks are produced by the Rza, who co-composed the film's score. "Working with the Rza was a great experience," director David Goyer said in a statement. "He pulls in so many different, wide-ranging elements for his sounds and constantly surprises you. You'll never know where he'll find inspiration." ...

Voletta Wallace, the mother of Notorious B.I.G., has dropped a wrongful-death lawsuit against Amir Muhammad (a.k.a. Harry Billups), the man she has long accused of killing her son, according to the Los Angeles Times. The decision was made after a pretrial deposition during which Muhammad denied a connection to Biggie's death and offered to take a lie-detector test, unidentified sources told the Times. Wallace's 2002 lawsuit still names the city of Los Angeles and former corrupt LAPD officer David Mack (Muhammad's former college roommate), although her conspiracy theory is weakened without targeting a specific shooter. Muhammad was never questioned by police, but the FBI began investigating his link to Mack (who also denies involvement) last year. ...

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, which is near the hometowns of both Clay Aiken and Fantasia Barrino, is adding a class in January called "Examining 'American Idol' Through Musical Critique." Class members will be required to critique the contestants of the show, and for the final, write a paper about who deserves to win. ... In other "Idol" news, George Huff's My Christmas EP is due November 9. The album, produced by Cedric and Victor Caldwell (Whitney Houston), includes "Silent Night," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Go, Tell It on the Mountain" and a medley of "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." ...

Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys, Macy Gray, Eve and Patti LaBelle are among those currently in discussions to be cast in an upcoming indie film called "Ladies Night," according to the film's producers. The movie — which would be made by the team behind "Monster's Ball" — is about a group of women who spend a sort of "Sex and the City" night on the town in Philadelphia, in which no topics are off limits. ... Meanwhile, LaBelle encouraged people with diabetes to keep managing their condition so they can live life to the fullest by hosting the first-ever Diabetes Freedom Day in Philadelphia on Thursday. LaBelle, who has type 2 diabetes, said in a statement that "diabetes freedom is all about attitude. My positive, take-charge approach has allowed me to successfully manage my diabetes. It's the first step toward leading a healthier life." ...

According to a post by Trent Reznor on his Web site, the long-delayed new album from Nine Inch Nails has a new title. After months of going under the handle Bleedthrough, the LP will now be called With Teeth. Reznor goes on to write that "the mixing of the new record has begun with Alan Moulder. The final track listing is being discussed and determined. The live band is becoming real. Things are in forward motion." ... Ryan Adams, James Iha and members of the Strokes will be the guest DJs this weekend in New York at Misshapes, an event held every Saturday at Luke & Leroy's in the West Village. ...

Damon Dash and Roc-A-Fella Records will celebrate 10 years of hitmaking with Roc-A-Fella Records' 10th Anniversary Kick-Off. To be held Wednesday at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the event will include an interview with Dash as well as a discussion with key members of the Roc team. The celebration will also feature a performance from Roc-A-Fella artist Nicole Wray. ... The recording industry hit a slight stumbling block after a Pennsylvania judge ruled that Internet service providers in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania must notify their customers of their rights before turning over their names to the RIAA. According to Judge Cynthia Rufe's October 12 order, customers who don't live in the district but whose ISPs are based there may challenge the court's jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the RIAA filed another 750 anonymous, John Doe lawsuits based on alleged infringers' computer IP addresses, and an additional 213 against defendants identified by their ISPs who refused to settle their cases with the record companies. ...

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem will be the special guest at Le Tigre's show Friday in Philadelphia. Steinem, who is on her own tour of swing states, will introduce the band and discuss how the personal becomes political. More info on Steinem's tour can be found on ProgressiveVoters.com. ... Despite objections from lawyers for civil-rights pioneer Rosa Parks that their client already has people making decisions on her behalf, a federal judge has refused to reconsider his appointment of former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer as a guardian for the 91-year-old, according to The Associated Press. Archer was appointed by U.S. District Judge George Steeh to protect the ailing Parks' interests in two civil lawsuits she filed against Outkast's record label. The first suit, filed in 1999, claims the group used Parks' name without permission as the title of one of their songs, while the second, filed in August, is seeking more than $5 billion in damages from Outkast's record companies as well as two booksellers. ...

Having just wrapped up a European tour two weeks ago, Sparta aren't going to relax. On Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, they'll kick off another North American jaunt in support of their new album, Porcelain. Florida emo-punks Further Seems Forever will open for the group. ... The Backstreet Boys have chosen their new single — it's a song called "Poster Girl," according to A.J. McLean's mother, Denise, who's been providing updates about the group on her Web site. "The boys are now in Stockholm recording with Max Martin," she wrote on Wednesday, "and will be back to their respective homes at the end of this month. As far as my son tells me, the first single is still due out at the end of the November." ...

10.28.2004

Jessica Simpson's Christmas album — currently available at 7-Eleven stores — is being expanded for its November 23 release into other outlets. Named after her grandmother, ReJoyce - The Christmas Album features four extra songs, with the acoustic version of Simpson's cover of Robbie Williams' "Angels" the only track not to reappear on this re-release. Also out on November 23 will be Simpson's concert DVD, "Reality Tour Live," which was shot at the Los Angeles stop on her summer tour. ... Ashlee Simpson — who sings a duet with big sis Jessica ("Little Drummer Boy") on the Christmas album — is heading out on tour in January, according to a missive she posted Tuesday on her Web site, thanking her fans for supporting her after the "SNL" snafu. "I know my real fans know that music and performing is my true passion," she wrote. "I encourage my fans to do what I do and not read what people are saying on the Internet. ... It's the love that my fans have shown me that makes me want to go back out there and continue to prove all the negative press wrong!" ...

The only way to hear Snoop Dogg's remix of the Doors' "Riders on the Storm" is by putting the pedal to the metal in "Need for Speed Underground 2," due November 15. The in-game soundtrack also features Chingy, Mudvayne, Terror Squad and Queens of the Stone Age. ... The music of Good Charlotte, Chevelle, Lostprophets and Slipknot, as well as a new song by funk legend Bootsy Collins, can be heard in the in-game soundtrack while players get down and dirty in the bog in "ATV Offroad Fury 3." The racing video game will drop November 2. ...

The ride-pimper himself, Xzibit, will host the MTV Europe Music Awards, to be held November 18 in Rome. ... Scott Weiland celebrated his 37th birthday in a much more healthy fashion than last year (when he was arrested in the early morning hours for driving under the influence). The Velvet Revolver singer threw a party Wednesday night at the Little Door in Hollywood, where he was joined by Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, No Doubt's Tony Kanal, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, DJ Paul Oakenfold, producer Daniel Lanois, the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones, and bandmates Duff McKagan and Dave Kushner. ...

Krayzie Bone is shooting a video this week for the Lil Jon-produced "Getchu Twisted," the first single from the rapper's Gemini: Good Vs. Evil, due in February. Krayzie is also making a video for the remix, which features his Bone Thugs-N-Harmony family. ... Afroman will bring his special brand of hip-hop to the holidays on November 30 with the release of Jobe Bells. Produced by Po Boy and Zigg Zaggs, the 12-song set will feature the rapper's takes on holiday classics like "Deck the Halls" ("Deck My Balls"), "Silent Night" ("Violent Night") and "O Christmas Tree" ("O Chronic Tree"), among others. ...

Tom Petty has just signed a deal for his authorized biography, which will be published by Omnibus Press. The book will be called "Conversations With Tom Petty" and will be written by Paul Zollo, who most recently worked on "Songwriters on Songwriting," for which he interviewed Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Frank Zappa and more. He plans to reprint his discussions with Petty with little or no editorial comment. The book is expected in November 2005. ... Meanwhile, Tori Amos' upcoming book, "Tori Amos: Piece by Piece," co-written with music journalist Ann Powers, has just been finished. The tome offers a rare look inside the singer's mind, her personal history, her muses and her artistic process. The book's release in February will coincide with Amos' eighth album, The Beekeeper. ...

Marc Almond, who was injured in a motorcycle crash last month, has been moved out of intensive care at the Royal London Hospital, where he's been recovering. The Soft Cell singer was a passenger on a bike that collided with a car. ... Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter has written and recorded the score for the upcoming offbeat comedy "Thumbsucker" (featuring Vince Vaughn, Keanu Reeves and Benjamin Bratt) and may perform it at the movie's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Meanwhile, the Spree have set a December 18 date for their fifth annual holiday show in Dallas to benefit Toys for Tots. ...

Newly minted copies of Funeral for a Friend's debut LP, Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation, will be released with a limited-edition DVD on November 2, to coincide with the band's tour with Taking Back Sunday and Atreyu. ... Boulder, Colorado, roots-rock veterans the Samples are releasing their first greatest-hits collection on November 16. A bonus DVD featuring rare videos and the 1994 tour documentary "Ten Wheels" will be included. ... German industrial metal band Rammstein are broadening their horizons with their fourth album, Reise, Reise, which translates into "Voyage, Voyage." The album, which follows 2001's Mutter and is due out November 16, will be fronted by the bilingual single "Amerika." Its European counterpart, "Mein Teil," can also be found on the soundtrack to "Resident Evil: Apocalypse." ...

• Moby
• Eminem
• Justin Timberlake
• Lil' Flip
• Fantasia

PJ Harvey (file)
Photo: Jason Campbell

With the addition of PJ Harvey and Le Tigre, the ladies are representing on this summer's Lollapalooza tour.

They join the initial lineup of Morrissey, Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, String Cheese Incident, Modest Mouse and the Polyphonic Spree and last week's additions, Gomez and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (see "Lollapalooza's Farrell Explains His Taste For String Cheese").

PJ Harvey is preparing her seventh album, Uh Huh Her, the follow-up to 2000's Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, for release on June 8. Harvey wrote, performed, mixed and produced most of the 13-track LP, with a little help from longtime collaborator Rob Ellis on drums and percussion. Its first single, "The Letter," is expected to surface in mid-May.

June 8 will also find Sonic Youth's 19th album, Sonic Nurse, hitting stores. After a few shows in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Asbury Park, New Jersey, Sonic Youth will embark on a six-city tour of Australia and New Zealand prior to Lollapalooza's kickoff. Earlier this month, the band shared a stage with Le Tigre at the U.K. All Tomorrow's Parties festival.

Led by former Bikini Kill frontwoman and riotgrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna, the synth-pop trio Le Tigre are putting the finishing touches on their still-untitled major-label debut, which follows 2001's Feminist Sweepstakes.

The new additions further diversify a lineup that has traditionally been a sundry affair. Farrell said the eclectic mix of artists helps create the kind of atmosphere he's always envisioned for his roving extravaganza.

"There are a few ingredients for a great party," Farrell said. "One of them is the location, and we have the outdoors in the summertime. Another thing is the people. You want to be able to have a conversation; you don't want to have a situation where people are punching each other in the face. [You want it] so when you sit down on a couch, even if you don't know the person, there's something interesting to learn. So I applied this same concept to a mass party like Lollapalooza."

The ninth incarnation of Farrell's musical circus, a two-day affair as opposed to previous years' single-show outings, kicks off July 14-15 in Auburn, Washington's White River Amphitheatre.

• PJ Harvey
• Le Tigre
• Perry Farrell

Destiny's Child have been hit with a $200 million lawsuit by a Miami producer who claims his music was stolen for their single "Survivor." In the suit, which was filed on October 14 in U.S. District Court, producer Terrence "T-Robb" Robinson claims that in 2000 he gave a copy of his song "Glorious" to the group's manager, Mathew Knowles, and that portions of the tune were used in the hit track. ...

Two victims' families are suing the makers of "Grand Theft Auto: III," Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., as well as Wal-Mart for selling two teens the video game they say inspired a killing spree. In June, two teens took a rifle and shot at cars telling authorities they were doing so just like they saw in the game. One woman was killed and another was seriously injured in the shooting. The families filed suit on Monday, seeking $46 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages. ... Kim Mathers' legal problems are mounting. Eminem's ex-wife was issued a bench warrant Tuesday in Macomb County, Michigan, after she failed to appear in court two days in a row to be arraigned on charges of cocaine possession. Her attorney reportedly told a judge that Mathers was ill, but her presence was requested anyway. Meanwhile, police in nearby Warren told the Detroit Free Press they planned to arrest Mathers by the end of the week for allegedly hosting a hotel party September 29 where drugs were used. ...

Blu Cantrell is still reeling from the violent attack on her good friend Tony Dinero on October 16 in Paris. The two were coming from a party to celebrate her LP Bittersweet when two assailants repeatedly stabbed Dinero in the eye and head. Cantrell, who says she is shocked by the incident, released a statement on Wednesday (October 22) saying, "I cannot believe that anything like this can happen, especially in a city like this. A place that I love so much and the home to so many warm and peaceful people." ... Casting is under way for a Jennifer Lopez-produced talk show loosely designed as a young woman's version of "The View." Lopez's sister Lynda Lopez, a TV and radio personality in New York, will be one of the four hosts on the as-yet-untitled syndicated show, which will likely premiere next September. J. Lo herself will appear occasionally. ...

Sentenced to life in prison, C-Murder will take his victories where he can get them. On Tuesday the Louisiana State Supreme Court nullified an indictment against C-Murder, whose real name is Corey Miller, for possession of a cellular phone while he was in jail awaiting trial for murder. On September 30, Miller was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting of a 16-year-old boy inside a Louisiana club. The ruling on Tuesday was unrelated to the murder conviction. ... Eagles of Death Metal, one of the side projects of Queens of the Stone Age singer and guitarist Josh Homme, will play 11 North American dates with Placebo this winter before Queens head into the studio to record the follow-up album to Songs for the Deaf. Homme, who plays drums in Eagles of Death Metal, will release the group's debut album early next year on his own label, Rekords Rekords. The band's tour starts November 20 in Vancouver and runs through December 6 in New Orleans. ...

Perhaps in an effort to expand his demographic, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted made an appearance on Tuesday at San Francisco's Spring Valley Elementary school, where he talked to kids about how he expresses himself through music. The session was coordinated by Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization whose Honorary Board of Directors includes Les Paul and Paul Simon. ... A DVD chronicling Van Halen's rise from anonymity to stardom will be released November 25. "The Van Halen Story: The Early Years" follows the band from its formation to its first world tour and includes interviews with original frontman David Lee Roth and original bassist Mark Stone. ...

New York natives Fun Lovin' Criminals will return to the States to support the release of their latest album, Welcome to Poppy's. The hip-hop act, who relocated to Dublin, Ireland, in 1999, will start a 12-date tour on November 25 in Atlanta. ... Punk trio Le Tigre will take a quick break from recording their third, as-yet-untitled record for a brief East Coast trek that starts November 4 at Irving Plaza in New York and wraps up on November 23 at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club. Their upcoming disc, produced in part by Ric Ocasek, is expected in late April. ...

U.K. dance label Wall of Sound will celebrate its 10th anniversary on November 4 with Off the Wall: Ten Years of Wall of Sound. The two-disc retrospective will include more than 30 tracks and remixes, including songs by Propellerheads, Röyksopp, Les Rythmes Digitales, Bees and Medicine. ... Default have wasted no time in following up 2001's The Fallout. Elocation, due November 25, will be preceded by the single "(Taking My) Life Away." ...

Actress Minnie Driver makes her recording debut on Trampoline Records Greatest Hits Vol. II, the second compilation from the label co-owned by Pete Yorn, the Wallflowers' Rami Jaffee and guitarist Marc Dauer. Previously unreleased material from Liz Phair, Yorn, Dan Wilson of Semisonic and Chris Stills, along with a Wallflowers cover of Julian Lennon's "Too Late for Goodbyes," are also featured on the album, available at Barnes & Noble stores and through the label's Web site. Dauer produced and Jaffe played piano on Driver's "Everything in My Pocket," which she wrote. ... The Essential Bruce Springsteen, due November 11, will feature two CDs of greatest hits, including live versions of "American Skin (41 Shots)" and "Land of Hope and Dreams," plus a third disc of rarities. A week later, the Boss will release Live in Barcelona, a double-disc DVD. ...

Elton John has followed in the footsteps of Celine Dion and committed to a long-running Las Vegas show. John's three-year, 75-show run, which will be held at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace when Dion is not performing, begins February 13. ... P.O.D. protégés Blindside are nearly finished with their second major-label release, About a Burning Fire, due early next year. Guitarist Simon Grenehed recently flew from Sweden to Chicago to record Billy Corgan playing guitar on one of the tracks, "Hooray, It's L.A." ...

BT, the electronic music mastermind and part-time pop producer, is in a Los Angeles studio putting the finishing touches on his score for "Monster," a biopic starring Charlize Theron as Aileen Carol Wuornos, a prostitute who was executed for killing seven men in Florida. "I'm recording it, not just mixing it, in 5.1 surround sound, which I believe is the first time it's ever been done," BT said. "The movie is so intense." ... Joanie Laurer, the former professional wrestler known as Chyna, will release her debut album, 2X Centrix, on October 28. Laurer raps, sings and plays drums on the album, a collaboration with Indian artist Reggie Benjamin. Highlights include the single "Ride" and "The Chyna Dolls," a remake of David Bowie's "China Girl." ...

Photographer and video director David LaChapelle (Christina Aguilera, Blink-182) is finishing a longer version of a dancing documentary he did for Channel 4 in London that he plans to debut Stateside at film festivals next year. "It's about these kids in South Central that do a cool new dance that no one's ever seen called krumping," LaChapelle said. "It's like vertical breakdancing. It's insane. It was a labor of love." …

10.21.2003

Jay-Z helped celebrate his friend Angie Martinez's return to New York's Hot 97 in grand fashion Monday when he premiered a song off of his Black Album called "What More Can I Say." A rep from Roc-A-Fella described the track as a "warm-up record" for the streets. The official first single is now called "Change Clothes" and will debut Friday on AOL. ...

Sarah McLachlan and Avril Lavigne fans can choose some of the songs the Canadian songstresses will perform during their November 4 concert, Sarah McLachlan Custom Concert Featuring Avril Lavigne, which will air November 9 on the Oxygen network. During the concert, McLachlan will play tunes from her upcoming album, Afterglow, which comes out the day of the show. But the rest of her set will be determined by fans who vote on the Oxygen Web site between now and November 2. Similarly, users will choose what artist Avril covers that night — Metallica, Green Day, Bob Dylan or the Police. ... Former Stone Temple Pilots frontman/current Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland has completed most of the drug testing and counseling required after he pleaded no contest in August to two felony drug-possession charges. Judge Colette Serio told the singer in a Pasadena, California, court Monday that he may remain free while he tries to kick his habit, but that could change should he not test clean. He's due back in court for another progress report in January. ...

Michael Jackson is getting the remix treatment. His latest single, "One More Chance," is getting worked over by Paul Oakenfold and Metrophonic (Brian Rawling), among others. Jackson's Number Ones greatest-hits collection is due in stores November 18. ... Select U.S. movie theaters will screen the "Coldplay Live 2003 Concert and Tour Documentary" on November 3, the day before the CD and DVD is available in stores. The 40-minute-long DVD was culled from two July concerts in Sydney, Australia. ...

Enrique Iglesias and his producer Steve Morales have been accused of stealing a composition for the title track of 2001's Escape. In a federal lawsuit filed last week, Henry Lorenzo Haynes claims that his song "Remind Me" was commissioned by Morales and used on the album without giving him credit. ... Alanis Morissette, Beastie Boy Mike D and producer Rick Rubin have joined forces with environmental groups in an effort to expel Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles. The coalition accuses Griles of failing to properly oversee parks such as Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. ...

Boy band Svengali Lou Pearlman has been officially labeled as a scam artist by the New York State Consumer Protection Board. The mastermind behind 'NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys has been operating Wilhelmina Scouting Network, a modeling agency not affiliated with the well-known agency of the same name. Pearlman's company is accused of conning hopeful kids and their parents into spending up to $2,000 for a photo and e-mail contact on the agency's Web site. The other Wilhelmina modeling agency has filed a complaint against Pearlman and his company Transcontinental Talent that would require him to stop using the name. ... Tenacious D and Lit will perform at the annual Haunted House of Blues benefit in Hollywood on Sunday. The show, which Linkin Park headlined last year, is hosted by a group of teenagers called Young Angels 310 and will raise funds for Trinity Kids Care, which helps children with life-limiting illnesses come home from hospitals to be with their families. ...

Beck, performing solo acoustic, has been added to KCRW-FM's annual A Sounds Eclectic Evening benefit concert November 22 at the Universal Amphitheatre near Los Angeles. Damien Rice, Jurassic 5, the Polyphonic Spree, Jem, Gary Jules, Cut Chemist and Felix Da Housecat are also on the bill. ... Heavy metal matriarch Sharon Osbourne will host this year's MAP Awards, an annual benefit for the Musicians Assistance Program. The event, taking place November 5 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, will honor Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and industry attorney John Branca. ...

Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff has been honored with Jamaica's Order of Merit, the nation's third most prestigious award. The award was presented to Cliff at a ceremony on Monday in Kingston, Jamaica. The performer has recorded 30 albums over the last 40 years. ... Fozzy, the band fronted by pro wrestler Chris Jericho and notorious for its classic metal covers, has decided to get serious and make a full album of original material. Due next spring, the LP is the follow-up to Happenstance, which was released last year. ...

Maybe David Lee Roth will take a cue from Uma Thurman's "Kill Bill" character and purchase a new samurai sword when he returns to Osaka, Japan, for a show on Wednesday. The performance will be his first since accidentally gashing himself with a sword onstage in Pennsylvania in September. Then he'll play four dates in England and Ireland before returning to the U.S. for end-of-year shows in Las Vegas on December 27 and 28, and a New Year's Eve concert in West Hollywood. ...

• Destiny's Child
• Eminem
• Jennifer Lopez
• C-Murder
• Elton John

Weezer
Photo: Interscope

Weezer, Mudhoney and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the artists contributing music to a compilation album assembled by the folks at rumor mill/ record label Buddyhead.

The 18-song Gimme Skelter: A Buddyhead Compilation, due September 30, consists of previously unreleased songs, according to a Nettwerk Records spokesperson.

Tracks from grunge ancestors Mudhoney, Brooklyn rockers the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Philadelphia's Burning Brides and feminist punks Le Tigre are all exclusive to the album, while Wire's "Spent" has been given a new mix and Primal Scream's "Shot Speed" and "Kill Light" are concert cuts. Weezer's "Superfriend" was meant to be a B-side and was recorded around the same time as 1996's Pinkerton.

Music from the Icarus Line, Radio Vago and Your Enemies Friends — Buddyhead Records recording artists all — will also be included.

In addition to the music, spoken-word interludes from Iggy Pop and MTV News' Gideon Yago, among others, are dispersed among the tracks.

California artist Raymond Pettibon — responsible for classic album covers such as Black Flag's Slip It In (1984), the Minutemen's What Makes a Man Start Fires? (1983) and, most recently, the Foo Fighters' One by One — will create the artwork.

Gimme Skelter track listing, according to Nettwerk Records:

• The Icarus Line - "Losing Touch With My Mind"
• Mudhoney - "Hard on for War"
• Dead Meadow - "Let's Jump In"
• Beehive & the Barracudas - "Up in Flames"
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Shot Down"
• Pleasure Forever - TBA
• Wire - "Spent" (new mix)
• Primal Scream - "Shoot Speed"/"Kill Light" (live)
• Your Enemies Friends - "Business French Kiss"
• The Explosion - TBA
• Cave-In - "Harmless, Armless"
• Burning Brides - "Overhead Metal Erection"
• Starvations - "Last Night I Had a Nightmare We Got Married"
• Soul She Said - "Spanish Eyes"
• Lionfever - "Watch Out for Spiders"
• Radio Vago - "Intro"
• Le Tigre - TBA
• Weezer - "Superfriend"

• Weezer
• Mudhoney
• Iggy Pop
• Wire
• Le Tigre

Le Tigre
Photo: Mr. Lady

While Le Tigre were recording their second full-length album in North Carolina this summer, the feminist sample-punk trio picked up a guy at a local guitar store, brought him to the studio and recorded him rocking out for a while.

His self-gratifying metal noodling is strategically placed at the end of Feminist Sweepstakes' opening number, "LT Tour Theme," surrounded by sounds of female laughter. The longer he plays, the more exuberant the giggles.

"We were trying to prove to the world what we experience when we go to the guitar store," bandmember J.D. Samson said. "We wanted the conflict to really shine."

"We're just commenting on the cult of the guitar hero," added Johanna Fateman. "We don't give a sh-- about playing guitar in terms of hot licks or technical proficiency. We're interested in being conceptual artists, so we like to ridicule the whole mystique of guitar-playing men."

"LT Tour Theme" is as much a self-affirming testimonial as it is a scathing set-up for cultural subversion. "For the ladies and the f--s yeah/ We're the band with the roller-skate jams," Fateman and Samson avow in that song. "You know the guys with the digi cameras/ Push to the front and then they just stand there?/ But then we see the girls walking towards the dance floor/ And we remember why we go on tour."

Sticking with their established mix of punk guitars, new wave, samples and DJ maneuvers, Feminist Sweepstakes (due October 16) strikes more of a balance between rock and dance than did its predecessors, 1999's Le Tigre and last year's EP, From the Desk of Mr. Lady.

"We wrote a lot of this record with playing live in mind," said Kathleen Hanna, who formerly fronted the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill. "When we did the first record, we didn't know if we were ever going to play live. This time, it was important to me that there was a certain amount of guitar, because I like to play guitar live. Jo's kind of the one pushing more in a dance direction, and I like that — I don't really want to go in a rock direction, but I like the way guitar sounds with really repetitive beats."

Le Tigre formed when Hanna recruited Fateman and filmmaker Sadie Benning for her touring band to support her 1998 solo album released under the name Julie Ruin. The collaboration quickly mutated into its own beast, and Le Tigre recorded their self-titled debut for the North Carolina label Mr. Lady Records, co-run by Kaia Wilson of the Butchies. Samson, who took charge of the slide shows that accompany Le Tigre's performances, formally joined the band for From the Desk of Mr. Lady. Though Benning appeared on the EP, she had quit playing live with the band and subsequently left completely to concentrate on her art.

Hanna, Fateman and Samson share vocal duties on Feminist Sweepstakes, which marked much more of a team effort on all fronts, from songwriting to producing, than previous efforts. "A big part of it this time was being much more collaborative than we'd been," Hanna said. "We were interested in learning how to work together, the three of us."

Feminist political perspectives make up most of the album's lyrical content, but the ideas are often presented with drum-roll humor. "I got this thing that's been going around/ Called please pretend that I'm out of town," Fateman quips on "Much Finer."

"F.Y.R.," short for "Fifty Years of Ridicule," makes the declaration: "One step forward, five steps back/ One cool record in the year of rock-rap." Its chorus, meanwhile, makes one of the album's many rallying calls: "Feminists, we're calling you/ Please report to the front desk/ Let's name this phenomenon/ It's too dumb to bring us down."

The instrumental "Cry for Everything Bad That's Ever Happened" was meant to be a theme song for each listener's own agenda, but Le Tigre feel the tune has taken on a more defined resonance since the tragic events of September 11.

"We intended for it to be something you listen to, and different people would think about different things," Fateman said. "We didn't want to dictate what it was about, but we thought it would be understood in the context of our album as a political sadness. Now of course I think a lot of people will think of the way their life has changed or the people they lost."

"When things are so sorrowful and are tied to such a myriad of ideas — about justice and terrorism and fear and racism and imperialism and peace — instrumental music fulfills this place when there are no words," Hanna said.

Le Tigre had planned to hit the road in the fall but postponed the outing to accommodate other plans, including setting up their official Web site, making videos to display on tour and pursuing their individual projects. Hanna is writing music but has not yet determined where it will end up, while Fateman is working on a techno solo project called Swim With the Dolphins. Samson is concentrating on her dance troupe Dykes Can Dance, which stages "dance interventions" by introducing patrons at lesbian bars and clubs to choreographed dances.

The band plans on hitting the road early next year.

• Le Tigre

Le Tigre
Photo: Mr. Lady

Standing onstage Thursday (August 16) in Chicago's Congress Theater, Kathleen Hanna caught her breath between songs and attempted to boil down the impetus behind this month's feminist Ladyfest music gigs to a single sentence.

Society, said the former Bikini Kill frontwoman, tries "to make you feel stupid because you're making work about your friends and neighbors." But your friends — and your bands and festivals — are just as valid as anything else on the mainstream's radar, she implied.

Then Hanna and her new band, Le Tigre, laid waste to the mainstream's dismissals with a new stick-to-your-guns tune called "My Art Is Better Than Your Art."

Le Tigre's lo-fi, disco-punk set was a clear rallying point for Ladyfest Midwest, underscoring that women of all genres could and should create their own art, with their own values, based on their own experiences.

The four-day event, which ended Sunday, saw more than 1,000 women (and dozens of men) trek to the Windy City for sets by minimalist funk pioneers ESG, Indigo Girl Amy Ray backed by queercore punks the Butchies, country singer and Mekons member Sally Timms, art-metal punishers Loraxx and scores of others.

The Chicago festival followed the smaller but equally energized Ladyfest Scotland, held August 12-14 in Glasgow. Like its Midwestern sister, Ladyfest Scotland featured numerous do-it-yourself and feminist workshops on topics such as DJ skills, violence against women and alternative ways to deal with menstruation. Scottish synth-pop outfit Bis, American garage acts Bratmobile and the Gossip, plus Katastrophy Wife — Babes in Toyland leader Kat Bjelland's new band — all took the stage, along with numerous other rock and spoken-word acts.

Both events took their cue from last summer's inaugural Ladyfest, a stridently independent arts and activism conference that took place in Olympia, Washington, a hub of the 1990s riot grrrl feminist-punk movement.

"This time, people haven't allowed it to remain in Olympia," said Glasgow co-organizer Lee Beattie, 22, taking a breather in the basement of the 13th Note Club on LF Scotland's opening day. "With Riot Grrrl, lots of people were happy to just sit back and take what they were doing. The riot grrrl creators were exhausted. You cannot maintain the energy to keep doing that and produce things all the time. This time it hasn't just moved from Olympia to Seattle or Washington, D.C. It actually moved across the world."

An emphasis on empowerment connected events within each festival and linked the independently organized Midwest and Scotland Ladyfests to each other.

In Glasgow, women plotted to commandeer the reins of publishing during a workshop on postering zines throughout one's neighborhood; in Chicago, they got seductive in "Kinky Crafts: Cheap and Fun Ways to Enhance Your Sex Life."

Meanwhile, Amy Ray and the Butchies stomped through a cover of Tom Petty's "Refugee," turning the song's chorus ("You don't have to live like a refugee!") into an anthem of lesbian and gay rights. In the cloistered confines of the 13th Note, the Gossip's hefty singer Beth Ditto spread her "fat positive" message by shimmying and shaking through a raucous set stripped down to her underwear.

Numerous fans at both Ladyfests said they came to the events for the music but were heading home inspired to become producers of zines, shows and festivals of their own. Just as last year's Ladyfest inspired Beattie and Ladyfest Midwest organizer Marf Wright, this year's events have sparked the DIY urge in other attendees. A handful of Glasgow fans began talking about staging a Ladyfest in Nice, France, next summer, while in Chicago flyers circulated for a 2002 Ladyfest South in Atlanta.

Another offshoot, Ladyfest East, will take place in New York in early September.

Standing out in the Glasgow rain, getting ready to catch a set by Brighton, England's electronic-buzz band Electrelane, Bratmobile singer Allison Wolfe observed that a resurgent energy is coursing through women in the indie punk scene.

"It feels like the spirit of riot grrrl all over again, though maybe in a slightly modernized package," said Wolfe, 31. Bratmobile were one of the earliest Riot Grrrl bands, and the only act to play Ladyfests in Olympia, Glasgow and Chicago.

"It's interesting, because it's a little bit looser-knit. People can put on their own festival and make it however they want, whatever suits their communities. And a lot of us will attend. It's great that the pressure's not always on the same people. I don't think it has a chance to get too stale."

• Bratmobile
• Le Tigre
• Amy Ray
• The Butchies
• Bis

Thurston Moore performing at a benefit for Kosovo, 5/99
Photo: Dylan Stableford

Eddie Vedder, Stereolab, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks are among the acts scheduled to play the third incarnation of All Tomorrow's Parties, a U.K. festival that will hit these shores for the first time in October.

The lineup — which also includes '70s art-punks Television, alt-rock hipsters the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and airy-voiced songstress Cat Power — was chosen by festival curators Sonic Youth, who will also perform at the event, according to their publicist. All Tomorrow's Parties will be held October 19 and 20 at UCLA.

Other bands confirmed for the festival include indie-rockers Le Tigre, U.S. Maple and Neil Michael Hagerty; techno duo Autechre; solemn songcrafters Smog and Papa M; free-jazz guitarist Derek Bailey and pianist Cecil Taylor; Japanese noisemakers Merzbow and the Boredoms; and '70s deconstructionists Destroy All Monsters. More artists are expected to be added.

Screenings by such filmmakers as Jim O'Rourke of Gastr del Sol fame will also be part of the eclectic gathering, as will spoken-word performances, the publicist said.

All Tomorrow's Parties, named after a Velvet Underground song, debuted in England last April. Curated by Stereolab, the lineup featured Sonic Youth, Shellac, Mogwai and Plaid, among others.

The event's second coming occurred in April of this year, with a lineup assembled by Tortoise that included Yo La Tengo, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Calexico, Television, Broadcast and the Sea and Cake.

Festival organizers created a live album from April's festival, released only in the U.K., and they're planning on similarly documenting the U.S. version.

• Sonic Youth
• Stephen Malkmus
• Stereolab
• Pearl Jam
• Television

Le Tigre live in San Francisco, CA 7.18.2005

• Le Tigre

• Interpol
• Calla
• Le Tigre
• Longwave
• The Natural History