Like Howard Stern, Eminem is taking his radio show where the censors can't bother him: satellite radio. The rapper, along with Shady Records and Interscope Records, will debut Shade 45, the new uncensored hip-hop radio channel they created, on Sirius Satellite Radio on October 28. The station will kick things off with a live broadcast of the Shady National Convention at New York's Roseland Ballroom, and will regularly feature a lineup of on-air hosts and mixers including Eminem's DJ, Green Lantern. ...

JoJo and Kelly Clarkson are among the singers guest starring on "American Dreams" for the show's third season. Clarkson will reprise her role as Brenda Lee and sing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and in the same episode, JoJo will appear as a young Linda Rondstadt auditioning for "American Bandstand" with "That'll Be the Day." Also set to appear on future episodes of "American Dreams" are Alanis Morissette, who will join the show as a folk singer and perform "Feast of Scraps"; "American Idol" Fantasia Barrino, who will portray Aretha Franklin singing "Respect"; and Phantom Planet, who will take the part of the Zombies. ... Think you can take down Jimmy Eat World? You'll get your chance Wednesday when the band takes on all challengers in the new racing game "Burnout 3: Takedown" on Xbox Live (www.xboxlive.com). ...

The Wired CD: Rip. Sample. Mash. Share, a compilation featuring tracks from the Beastie Boys, Chuck D, David Byrne, Spoon, and My Morning Jacket, among others, will come bundled with the November issue of Wired magazine. The CD serves as an experiment for a new kind of intellectual property license called Creative Commons, which allows artists the freedom to keep only some rights, letting their fans use their music in new and creative ways. ... Franz Ferdinand's newest single, "This Fire," contains a few bonus tracks, including the live staple "40'," "Better in Hoboken" and the German version of "Tell Her Tonight" sung by drummer Paul Thomson. ...

Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell and his wife, Vicky, have announced the birth of their daughter, Toni. Born on September 18, she weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces. ... After a career spanning 12 years, New York indie rockers Luna have called it quits. In a post on the group's Web site, singer/guitarist Dean Wareham said Luna split due to the fact that "rock and roll is killing my life" and "the universe is expanding," among other reasons. The group's final record, Rendezvous, is due October 26. ...

Bruce Palmer, the original bassist for Buffalo Springfield, died of a heart attack on October 1 in Bellville, Ontario. He was 58. Palmer also played with Neil Young in the short-lived '60s band the Mynah Birds, which featured Rick James on lead vocals. He performed with Buffalo Springfield until 1968 and released one solo album in 1971, titled The Cycle Is Complete, on which James sang and played percussion. ... Buffalo, New York, psych-rockers Mercury Rev have released an exclusive iTunes download of their upcoming single, "Secret for a Song." The track is from their forthcoming sixth album, The Secret Migration, slated for a February release. ...

One-of-a-kind items from Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil are on their way to the auction block at Backstage Auctions (www.backstageauctions.com). Beginning Sunday, stuff like the handwritten lyrics for every song from the Crüe's first album and their first concert poster will be sold to the highest bidder. ... Similar to Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster," Chimaira's new DVD, "The Dehumanizing Process," gives a warts-and-all peek at what it took to create their 2003 album, The Impossibility of Reason. The 90-minute documentary, due Tuesday, also features nearly an hour of performance footage taped from shows around the world. ...

10.14.04

JoJo is in talks to make her feature-film debut in the upcoming FOX flick "Aquamarine," opposite Emma Roberts (Nickelodeon's "Unfabulous"), according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Aquamarine" is based on the Alice Hoffman novel of the same name in which two teenage girls spending their last summer together find a mermaid in their beach club's pool and must find a way to safely get her back to sea. Shooting is set to begin in February. ...

DMX was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in a Queens County criminal court in New York on a host of drug and weapons charges, but the hearing has been adjourned until November 17. The charges stem from a June 24 incident at JFK Airport in which the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, and another man were caught allegedly attempting to steal a car. The charges include criminal possession of a weapon; possession of crack cocaine, oxycodone and diazepam; menacing; driving under the influence; and endangering the welfare of a child. ... Eight dates have been added to Good Charlotte and Sum 41's tour, extending the trek to November 15 in Sayreville, New Jersey. Other stops include Milwaukee (November 7), Chicago (November 9) and Pittsburgh (November 11). ...

Now that Lindsay Lohan and Wilmer Valderrama are no longer keeping their relationship a secret, Lohan has agreed to a guest appearance on her boyfriend's sitcom, "That '70s Show." In the episode, airing November 17, Valderrama's Fez and Ashton Kutcher's Kelso vie for the attention of Lohan's character, a client at the beauty salon where Fez works. ... Gwen Stefani has designed a wedding dress for No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont's fiancee, Mieke Binzer, for the couple's nuptials this weekend in Santa Barbara, California. The white satin gown Stefani created has spaghetti straps, toile accents and ornate detailing, and is capped with a '20s-inspired veil. ...

Two bastions of 1980s pop culture are headed to the big screen. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx are poised to take on the roles of Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs in a film version of "Miami Vice." Meanwhile, a movie version of the prime-time drama "Dallas" is being written with the villainous oil baron J.R. Ewing as head of the world's most powerful energy company. ... Guerilla Union, the promoters responsible for reuniting the Wu-Tang Clan for the Rock the Bells festival in August, are launching another event called Holiday Havoc. The two-day festival, which will take place November 13-14 in the parking lot of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, will feature music along with skateboard and snowboard demonstrations. The Saturday show will gather hip-hops acts A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill, Xzibit and Jurassic 5, while Sunday will focus on punk with the Offspring, Pennywise, the Buzzcocks, the Distillers and Finch. ...

The release date for Beanie Sigel's The B. Coming has been switched to December 14. Sigel, who will soon begin serving a year in prison for a gun charge, has shot a multitude of videos for the LP. ... He almost sounds like a presidential candidate. N.O.R.E. has switched the title of his album to One Fan a Day and has also changed his release date. Look for his next set on December 21. The album will feature an unreleased verse from Big Pun, as well as appearances by Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Beanie Sigel, David Banner and Lil Scrappy. ...

Pearl Jam have set a November 16 release date for the two-CD Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003). Disc one, the "Up Side," will feature the band's heavier rock tunes, such as "Alive," " Jeremy" and "Animal," while the second disc, the "Down Side," will include more mellow favorites like "Daughter," "Last Kiss" and "Yellow Ledbetter." ... Courtney Love, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Fran Drescher were among the celebrities on hand at Los Angeles' Greek Theater on Wednesday to watch R.E.M. kick off their headlining tour in support of Around the Sun. The set list was composed primarily of tunes from recent albums, though Michael Stipe (with a painted-on eye mask) led the band through old favorites "The One I Love," "Man on the Moon" and "Losing My Religion," which the singer dedicated to the Daniel Pearl Foundation. ...

The judge in the Michael Jackson case warned lawyers during a hearing Thursday (October 14) that he will not allow complaints from either side to derail plans to go to trial on January 31. "It's not in the interest of anybody to prolong this litigation," Judge Rodney Melville said, in reference to complaints from both parties that the other side was slow in sharing information during the discovery process. Melville also rejected a motion to have the indictment thrown out. Meanwhile, deputies in the courtroom imposed a new rule on Thursday, prohibiting reporters and members of the press to speak to each other, even before the proceedings or during breaks. A hearing date of November 4 was set to discuss a defense motion to have prosecutor Tom Sneddon removed from the case. ... Contradicting the claims made by a few guitarists that they've been invited to join Guns N' Roses, the band says so far no one has been asked to replace Buckethead, who left Axl Rose's company in March. According to a statement issued by the band, "We'll let you know when there is credible news on this subject." ...

A host of graffiti artists and other hip-hoppers were out Wednesday night to celebrate the release of photographer Martha Cooper's "Hip-Hop Files: Photographs, 1979-1984." The book, due later this month, chronicles the early hip-hop culture through Cooper's photographs. Held at the Ecko showroom in New York, the event played host to Run-DMC's DMC, DJ Evil Dee, DJ/producer 9th Wonder, Charlie Ahearn (director of hip-hop classic "Wild Style") and graff artists West, Duro, Mare 139, Blade, Crash, Lee, Ket, Kel and Zephyr, among others. ... Beatlemania will soon hit the Vegas strip. The acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil will play characters from Beatles songs — including "Eleanor Rigby," "Nowhere Man" and "I Am the Walrus" — in a show about the Beatles' life in the 1960s, according to Reuters. The show, which marks the first time the Beatles have allowed their music to be used in a major theatrical performance, will replace Siegfried & Roy's show at the Mirage. ...

The U.S. Supreme Court neglected to hear the recording industry's appeal of a December 2003 decision that prevented the RIAA from ordering Internet Service Providers to surrender the names of their customers who've been suspected of illegal file-sharing. Since that ruling, the RIAA has been forced to employ the more laborious "John Doe" anonymous lawsuits for suing file-sharers. ...

• Eminem
• JoJo
• Kelly Clarkson
• Jimmy Eat World
• Beastie Boys

Luna's Dean Wareham
Photo: WEA/SIRE

College-rock faves Luna have put the finishing touches on their first concert record, titled Live!, and are preparing to launch a series of gigs to promote it. The album, due February 6, pulls performances from three shows — a December 10, 1999, gig at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., and a two-night stand on July 14–15 at the Knitting Factory in New York. The biggest challenge in pulling off the Live! album was maintaining the continuous feel and sound of a single Luna performance, frontman Dean Wareham said.

"There were several ways we could have gone, I suppose," Wareham said. "We tried to make it seem like one seamless show, what with the applause and all. We did that all in mastering, sort of cross-fading the applause [from show to show].

"Also, when we were mixing, we didn't want the two Knitting Factory shows to sound too horribly different from the 9:30 Club, 'cause they're pretty different-sounding clubs." The composite setlist featured on Live! draws from all five of Luna's studio albums, ranging from 1992's Lunapark to 1999's The Days of Our Nights. Six of the CD's 14 songs come from the group's acclaimed 1995 effort, Penthouse, including "Chinatown", "23 Minutes in Brussels" and "Sideshow by the Seashore." "Those tend to be the real crowd pleasers," explained Wareham, who said his favorite Live! track is "Bewitched", from their 1994 album of the same name. "For some reason, a lot of the songs from [Penthouse] seem to work really well live, and now we've added 'Bonnie & Clyde,' which we didn't used to do, because [bassist] Britta [Phillips] can sing the female parts." Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier dueted with Wareham on the studio version of "Bonnie & Clyde," a Penthouse bonus track sung in French.

Luna will also issue Live! as a limited-edition vinyl double album with four songs not featured on the CD version, "Bobby Peru," "California," "Indian Summer" and "Double Feature," a move that has some fans grumbling.

"People always complain, whatever you do," Wareham said. "So, you put out a vinyl with bonus tracks and [they say], 'Hey, what's that about?' Like you're pointing a gun at someone's head and making them go spend the extra money to buy the vinyl. They don't have to buy it." Wareham has just completed starring in an indie flick, "This Little Piggy," directed by "Buffalo '66" co-writer Alison Bagnall. Wareham intends to score the project as well, but made it clear he's not interested in branching out into acting full time. "Some of the time it was enjoyable," said Wareham, who plays an ex-junkie in the film, which is still in post-production. "Some of the time it was hellish. The stuff I had problems with was the things that are beyond my emotional scope, like crying. They kept trying to make me cry. I mean, did you ever see Clint Eastwood cry? I'd rather make music." Wareham says that he and his Luna bandmates have been making music and writing several new songs, including "Love Dust," for the their next album, which they will start recording in March and April.

Luna tour dates:

• 12/30 - Boston, MA @ Middle East
• 12/31 - New York, NY @ CBGB
• 1/12 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
• 1/13 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
• 1/19 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
• 1/20 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
• 1/26 - New York, NY @ Village Underground
• 1/27 - New York, NY @ Village Underground
• 2/2 - New York, NY @ Knitting Factory
• 2/3 - New York, NY @ Knitting Factory
• 2/9 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
• 2/10 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 2/16 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 2/17 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 2/23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 2/24 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore

• Luna

Luna recorded a pair of New York City shows at the Knitting Factory over the weekend for an upcoming live album, the first planned offering since the group's former label, Jericho Records, went under.

Singer-guitarist Dean Wareham told MTV News than the group has already received a few offers from labels about picking up the concert LP, which was recorded during gigs on July 14 and 15, although Luna is also considering issuing the album online.

"We recorded both nights," Wareham said. "See, we're between contracts right now, so we decided that's the moment to do it, because if you're under contract to someone, then whatever recordings you do are owned by the label. We figured we could sneak one in before we get a new record deal." [RealAudio]

Wareham also indicated that the NYC gigs weren't the first time Luna had attempted to capture its recent live shows which have featured the band's newest addition, bassist Britta Phillips.

During the July 14 gig, Luna helped celebrate Bastille Day by performing its cover of decadent French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie And Clyde," an unlisted track from Luna's 1995 "Penthouse" album.

For the song, Phillips assumed the "Bonnie" vocal part that Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier originally sang on "Penthouse."

"I was very happy the way it turned out," he said of the Knitting Factory shows. "We [also] recorded a few months ago. We did a show in D.C. with a mobile truck, and it felt like just because we knew the tape was rolling, all of a sudden we started making mistakes. That's why we did two nights this time, and it was sort of more relaxing. I felt we played really well." [RealAudio]

Luna plans to mix the live recordings later this summer, and in the meantime, Wareham will start work on an independent film he's been cast in, titled "This Little Piggy," in which he'll play an ex-junkie and credit card thief.

"I'm supposed to be making a movie in August," Wareham said. "Someone gave me the lead in a movie. It's an independent film with this woman I know [Alison Bagnall], she co-wrote 'Buffalo '66'. She's making another film, and she gave me a part in that."

"This Little Piggy" is set to begin filming in upstate New York next month. Luna's next scheduled appearance will come on September 16 at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts.

• Luna

After switching labels during the post-production of its newest album, Luna returns this week with the release of the group's fifth record, "The Days Of Our Nights."

• Luna

Critically-revered art rock outfit Luna will finally see its fifth album, "The Days Of Our Nights," hit U.S. stores on October 26, some five months after the record was originally to have been released.

• 11/3 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater
• 11/4 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
• 11/5 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
• 11/6 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
• 11/8 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
• 11/11 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe
• 11/13 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore Theater
• 11/15 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
• 11/16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
• 11/29 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 11/30 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 12/2 - Baltimore, MD @ Fletcher's
• 12/3 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
• 12/4 - Atlanta, GA @ Cotton Club
• 12/7 - Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theater
• 12/8 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's
• 12/9 - Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
• 12/10 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 12/11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero

• Luna

Luna, one of the most critically revered alternative rock groups of the '90s, has been dropped by Elektra Records just as the band was set to release its fifth album, "The Days of Our Nights."

• Luna