Omar Rodríguez-López
Photo: MTV News

When the Mars Volta's latest, The Bedlam in Goliath, debuted at #3 on Billboard's albums chart, no one was more perplexed than the band's guitarist, Omar Rodríguez-López.

"We're surprised by any kind of commercial success or acceptance on a mainstream level," he said during the Coca-Cola Zero Fest in Mexico City on April 12. "We really don't understand it at all."

And who could blame the man? The Mars Volta's four studio releases have focused on a variety of topics, including morphine abuse, failed abortion attempts, possessed nuns and, in the case of Bedlam, a Ouija-like board game, discovered in Jerusalem, that irrevocably altered their lives. But Bedlam's impressive debut doesn't mean much these days, considering sales industrywide have been drooping for years and years. Rodríguez-López said he's confident those 54,000 records were sold to the Volta faithful, not new fans.

"Our crowd has always been diverse," the guitarist said. The band has been touring for more than three months now, mostly playing songs from their last two LPs. "Over the years, it's grown organically, but really, the crowd is the same — people who want to come out and see live music, honest music, and hear mistakes and watch people be human."

Even though The Bedlam in Goliath has been out for just two months, Rodríguez-López — who, after a two-week trip to Mexico, was asked to score Guillermo Arriaga's and Jorge Hernandez Aldana's film "El Búfalo de la Noche" — said the band is already collecting material for the next two albums. Seriously.

"The Bedlam in Goliath is a year old for me at this point, and it was written a year before that, so, essentially, it's two years old for me," he said. "Whatever people know of us [from] the new album, it's actually two years behind where I am now. So you have to put your current world in park and go in reverse just to talk about whatever's 'new.' "

Rodríguez-López didn't provide any additional details on the songs he's been writing but did mention that they'd be more acoustic.

• The Mars Volta

Juvenile
Photo: Jason Campbell

Juvenile was arrested in Mississippi on Tuesday (February 12) for marijuana possession, according to TMZ.com. The New Orleans rapper was reportedly pulled over for having expired tags on his car — it has yet to be determined whether he was the one driving — after which authorities discovered the drugs. He was released Tuesday afternoon after being arrested, and it's not yet known when his court appearance will be. ...

Joel Madden is busy raising his new baby girl with Nicole Richie, but life isn't as sweet these days for his brother Benji. Good Charlotte's lead guitarist has split with his fiancee, actress Sophie Monk, according to Australia's Daily Telegraph. "The decision was mutual and they remain amicable," Monk's agent in Sydney, Yoon Kim, reportedly said in a statement. The two got engaged in January last year. ... Shakira has drummed up $76,000 for her Bare Feet Foundation, a charity group that helps impoverished kids in Colombia, via an Internet auction, The Associated Press reports. A fan paid $14,000 for a meet-and-greet and front-row seats to one of her upcoming shows, while others threw down big bucks for a bra ($3,000), a skirt ($1,000) and other items from her recent Oral Fixation tour. ...

Buckle up, Miley Cyrus — that's what Consumer Reports is telling the pop tart, who is shown not wearing a seat belt in her new movie. In her new 3-D flick, "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," she is seen riding in the back seat of a Range Rover without being strapped in, which spurred the mag to criticize her in a blog post on its Web site, ConsumerReports.org. "It seems to us that Miley, her father and [film studio] Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract — rather than encourage — this trend," read the blog post, which also called out Billy Ray Cyrus for not buckling up either. According to the mag, 65 percent of 13- to 15-year-olds killed in auto accidents two years ago were not wearing seat belts. ...

After her triumphant return to live performing and five Grammy wins on Sunday night, Amy Winehouse is on the road to recovery, according to her mother. Janis Winehouse told Britain's GMTV that the singer's solid performance via satellite during the show is proof that she's overcoming the substance issues that were threatening to derail her promising career. "Well, it's Amy coming back, she's definitely on the way back," Janis Winehouse said. "As you saw, she looks good, and ... she's on the road to recovery." ... Even with the tease of a potential Kanye West diatribe, a possibly controversial performance from Winehouse and the shocking Album of the Year win by Herbie Hancock, Sunday's Grammys were a ratings bust. Early numbers indicated that the show was the third-least-watched Grammys ever, with just 17.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. It barely edged out the 2006 show, which had 17 million viewers. ...

Eric Idle, the comedy legend who authored the theatrical production "Monty Python's Spamalot," has swapped out a reference the script makes to Britney Spears and replaced it with a reference to Posh Spice instead, according to AP. Instead of, "I am sick of my career/ Always stuck in second gear ... I've no Tony Awards/ I'm constantly replaced by Britney Spears," Lady of the Lake will now sing "replaced by Posh Spice." Idle reportedly chimed in on the switch-up, saying, "We don't laugh at sad people. [Show director] Mike Nichols requested it, and he's right. We changed the lyrics in London, on tour, on Broadway and in Las Vegas. We think that it's now too sad. Britney Spears is being tortured to death, and we don't want to be on that side." ...

Radiohead have another album coming out this year, and they're not happy about it. According to a post on fan site AtEase.com, their former label, EMI, is slated to release a greatest-hits package to coincide with the band's upcoming tour. Guitarist Ed O'Brien said, "They're planning to do a greatest-hits for April/May to coincide with our tour. That's an interesting one. We won't be doing any promotion for that, obviously." Meanwhile, the band has confirmed the first half of dates and venues for its upcoming North American tour, and if you live in Bristow, Virginia, well, you're in luck! The trek kicks off May 5 at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida, and will make stops at outdoor venues in Tampa, Florida; Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Bristow (holler!); St. Louis; and Houston. The last confirmed venue/date is May 18 at the awesomely named SuperPages.com Center in Dallas. Pre-sale for the above dates begins Thursday via the band's online W.A.S.T.E. site, with general on-sale following Saturday. The second half of Radiohead's North American jaunt will follow their summer tour of the U.K. and Europe. ...

John Legend will spend an afternoon writing material with Trouble City, a Boston hip-hop duo, as part of OurStage's "Artist Access" program. The digital-music company specializes in artist development, and the program facilitates younger talents like Trouble City to work with veteran artists. ... The reunited Stone Temple Pilots will headline this year's Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio. The fest, which takes place May 17-18, will also feature sets from Kid Rock, 3 Doors Down, Disturbed, Staind, Seether, Papa Roach, Flyleaf, Killswitch Engage, Serj Tankian, Shinedown, Sevendust and Finger Eleven. On Monday, STP announced that they were scrapping their upcoming concerts in Australia in light of frontman Scott Weiland's return to rehab. ...

The Mars Volta have sketched out plans for an upcoming tour in support of The Bedlam in Goliath, which debuted, astonishingly, at #3 on Billboard albums chart last week. The confirmed gigs so far are slated for Orlando, Florida (April 1); Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (April 4); Atlanta (April 5); St. Louis (April 17); Columbus, Ohio (April 18); Chicago (April 20); and St. Paul, Minnesota (April 21). ... Kiss are turning 35, and to celebrate the milestone, the glam-rock gods will tour Europe starting May 11 in Munich, Germany, according to Agence-France Presse. The 14-date tour will be the group's first in Europe in almost 10 years and last until a June 21 show in Bilbao, Spain. ...

To commemorate Tuesday's release of the 25th-anniversary edition of his landmark album, Thriller, Michael Jackson released a thank-you video to fans, in which he says, "It's hard to believe that 25 years ago, Quincy Jones and I embarked on an album named Thriller," adding that "there is still much to come for Michael Jackson. ... My passion for music has never stopped. ... It's my hope that Thriller continues to live on for each new generation to discover." He also thanked fans for helping to make Thriller the best-selling album of all time. ...

Lenny Kravitz was rushed to an emergency room in Miami on Monday, suffering from severe bronchitis. Since mid-January, Kravitz, 43, had been struggling with a series of severe respiratory-tract infections and the flu, which evolved into bronchitis, according to Reuters. "Due to extreme dehydration and fatigue, doctors were unable to control it with outpatient treatment and advised the singer to check into the hospital," his spokesperson said. The hospitalization forced Kravitz to call off a planned European promotional tour for his just-released album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution. ...

An appeals court has upheld the 37-month federal prison sentence for tax evasion for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Ronald Isley. According to AP, the three-judge panel rejected the 66-year-old singer's argument that his sentence was unreasonable due to his age, poor health and lack of proof that the federal prison system can provide him adequate health care. The court ruled that the trial judge was correct in sentencing the "Twist and Shout" singer for his "pathological" tax evasion. Isley was sentenced in 2006 after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return. He suffered a minor stroke in 2004, but continued performing afterwards. He is currently in prison at the Terre Haute Federal Corrections Institution in Indiana, with release scheduled for April 2010.

2.11.08

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards recently offered up some free advice to Grammy-winning songstress Amy Winehouse, according to Reuters. "She should get her act together," the former addict said during an interview at the Berlin International Film Festival on Friday. "Apart from that, I have got nothing to say to the b---h." Winehouse entered a London rehab clinic last month, to deal with her own addictions. Stones frontman Mick Jagger also reflected on this latest generation of drug-addled rockers, saying, "When we were experimenting with drugs, little was known about the effects. In our time, there were no rehab centers like today." ...

Less than a week after frontman Scott Weiland returned to rehab, Velvet Revolver have nixed their upcoming concerts in Australia. "Velvet Revolver deeply apologize to their fans in Australia and thank them for sticking by the group when various members have relapsed during the last year and a half," a statement read. ... Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler have finalized their divorce, according to TMZ.com. "I'm no longer with her," Barker told People. "I have a beautiful daughter at home, a beautiful son at home. That's where my head is at right now. I don't have time for anything else." The couple, who have two children together, have been on and off since they filed for divorce two years ago. ...

Dr. Dre is on the hunt for Death Row documents in an effort to figure out how much it owes him for unpaid royalties that have been accrued after the record company filed for bankruptcy, Billboard.com reports. In paperwork filed in bankruptcy court last week, the producer/rapper (real name: Andre Young) requested permission to acquire information that would help him assess the value of his claim. Dre has asked the court to force Death Row to hand over the documents on February 29 and order the company's reps to be available to be deposed seven days later. Dre had previously tried to sue the label for royalties multiple times, but last month a district-court judge in California agreed to hear his appeal of the court's dismissal of one of the lawsuits. ...

Lupe Fiasco fans have a whole new reason to bundle up this winter: The Chicago MC has created a line of reversible jackets with L.A. street-wear designer Dr. Romanelli. The jackets are black on one side and pink on the other, and have "The Cool" — referring to Fiasco's latest LP — scrawled on the back. ... The score Death Cab for Cutie chief Ben Gibbard co-crafted for the new Kurt Cobain biopic, "About a Son," is getting a standalone release via Barsuk — the same label that recently put out Field Manual, the solo album by fellow Cutie Chris Walla. The "About a Son" score, co-written with Nirvana producer Steve Fisk, will be available digitally February 19, the same day the movie arrives on DVD. ...

All is not well in the Shire. The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien — the late author who penned the "Lord of the Rings" series — filed a lawsuit on Monday (February 11) against New Line Cinema, the studio that released Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on the books. The Tolkien Trust, along with HarperCollins — the series' original publisher — claims New Line failed to pay part of the 7.5 percent of the gross receipts from the films as required. This could mean bad news for the two back-to-back movie adaptations of "The Hobbit" that Jackson was planning to produce. According to The Associated Press, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $150 million in compensatory damages, additional punitive damages and a court order that would give the Tolkien Trust the right to cancel rights the film studio may have to make films based on Tolkien's other works. ...

Filter are planning to drop their comeback LP, Anthems for the Damned, in May. Frontman Richard Patrick spoke with MTV News about the effort late last year, saying, "I knew I'd have to return with the goods, and I'm absolutely convinced that that's what I have with this record." ... Fans of Cold War Kids probably didn't know that Matt Maust has more than just bass-playing skills — he's a writer too. His "What It Is: What It Is," co-written with Paul G. Maziar, is a new urban-centric tome that also includes photo collages. It's due in stores in May. ...

Actor Roy Scheider, who was perhaps best-known for his role as a small-town police chief in Steven Spielberg's 1975 film, "Jaws," died Sunday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock. He was 75. The cause of Scheider's death has not been released, but the actor had been receiving treatment for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years, according to AP. ...

Ten young people were trampled or crushed to death Saturday night, as hundreds of music fans tried to force their way out of a concert by Indonesian melodic death-metallers Beside in Bandung, Indonesia, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. According to witnesses, people were packed into the venue and trying to escape the crush just as hundreds of others were surging their way inside. So far, police have not said what caused the stampede, but an investigation into the matter is ongoing.

• Grammys 60-Second Recap: Celebrating Amy Winehouse And The AARP

• Great Grammy Moments: Beyonce, Kanye, Rihanna, More

• Juvenile
• Amy Winehouse
• Britney Spears
• Radiohead
• John Legend

The Mars Volta
Photo: MTV News

One of the biggest criticisms of the Mars Volta — at least those waged against the band by people who can't even begin to comprehend what the Volta are all about — is that they're too "out there."

They have also been called "overly complicated," and some have even accused the band of trying too hard to be anomalous. After all, the Mars Volta's records aren't commentaries on unrequited love, like half of what's being churned out by the emo pack. They've tackled a variety of topics, like morphine abuse, failed abortion attempts, U.S. immigration and possessed nuns. Likely to stoke claims that the band's themes can be overwrought is the subject of its forthcoming LP, The Bedlam in Goliath (in stores January 29): a Ouija-like board game, discovered in Jerusalem by guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, that irrevocably altered their lives.

The criticism doesn't bother frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who, along with Rodriguez-Lopez, left seminal punk experimentalists At the Drive-In to form the Volta.

"That just goes to show that people didn't understand us in the first place, and they had no business being there," Bixler-Zavala said. "It makes us feel normal when people think we're being too arty or whatever. ... I would feel weird if I wasn't able to be longwinded, or have information-overload on our songs.

"See, that's when I know we're on to something," he continued. "Even when fans don't like certain songs, I know that's good, because they probably want [the band's best-known song] 'The Widow' over and over again. So, I know we're doing something right, even if we can upset hard-core fans. We have the ability to attract and repel at the same time, which I think you should embrace. Otherwise, you're just going to be, like, this Neil Diamond act."

"The most common critique is that we're trying to be difficult," commented Rodriguez-Lopez. "And, it's like, 'Everyone's like that.' Who do you know that just has one mode, all the time? We go through all sorts of mood swings, and within an hour, within a day, you find yourself angry, happy, sad; you find yourself on halftime, you find yourself on full throttle. So, all of that goes into the music — that's our therapy; that's our fantasy land."

But the story behind Bedlam is no fantasy at all. It deals with the Ouija board, which the bandmembers dubbed the "Soothsayer" and say connected them with three different spirits: two women, and one very overbearing male.

"It's a classic story of a man speaking over the females, and the females looking for someone to have the courage to speak about what led them to the solitary confinement of the prison-like state of the talking board," said Bixler-Zavala. "The way I read into the poetry attached to [the board], we think the female spirits [were] telling us this classic story that is a modern story in Muslim society of 'honor killings.' All of the lyrics — actually, about 80 percent — came from these traditional poems we'd peeled off the board, and the lyrics are the best slogans, demands, and one-liners [the spirits] gave us."

It wasn't long before the members of the Mars Volta began to suspect the Soothsayer was something of a black cloud that hovered over them, and they even used elements of Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean religious tradition, to protect themselves from it.

"The male spirit in the board kept trying to sabotage us," said the singer, adding that the band's studio flooded twice, its gear was destroyed, and the engineer who was hired to oversee the studio process suffered a nervous breakdown and hijacked the studio tapes. "We had people go to his house to get them from him," Bixler-Zavala said.

Since the album will be spreading the spirits' messages, does the band worry that the Soothsayer's bad luck will infect the rest of the world? "I'm not afraid," Bixler-Zavala said, "because, to me, [the male spirit is] one of the many people who have said 'no' to me. Great — line up, take a number."

The one thing the Mars Volta are looking forward to this year is getting back on the road. They've just come out of their longest dry spell in 15 years, and all that time at home has got them feeling antsy. While they're not sure about plans for an American tour, the band hopes to hit "everywhere and anywhere" during the coming year, Bixler-Zavala said.

As a point of clarification, the singer and guitarist explained that the guys have no say in picking singles from their records — that's their label's choice. Most often, what happens is the label picks one of the band's epic, 10-minute numbers, and lops off a huge chunk of the song to make it radio-friendly — like with "The Widow," for example.

"We haven't cared in the past when they've butchered one of our songs, because essentially, they're making a trailer," said Rodriguez-Lopez. "We made our movie; you make your stupid trailer. And people will say, 'Oh, maybe that's a nice film,' and then they come, and maybe they walk out [when they realize] it's nothing like the trailer."

• The Mars Volta

<i>Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party</i>
Photo: Disney

Hannah Montana and Beck top this week's releases, but fans of either shouldn't get too psyched just yet — they're not delivering new studio material per se. Also on tap are country superstars young and old, some hard-rockers and more indie-rock acts than you can shake a pair of Converse kicks at. Let's get the party started.

Going the Extra Miley: Miley Cyrus fans are going to be doing some serious damage to their piggy banks this week. Just check out what the pop tart has in store: Her "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" flick, which she recently spoke with MTV News about, hits theaters Friday; while Tuesday (January 29) sees the release of "One in a Million," a DVD with four episodes from her show, and her Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party CD. The last disc is a whole lot like the "High School Musical 2": Non-Stop Dance Party" set Disney put out in December — each reworked LP presents the original release as a continuous remix. Tucked inside the CD is a music video, a slide show and, best of all, printable party invitations!

An Ode to Odelay: Beck is also back this week, with his watershed '90s album Odelay getting the deluxe-edition treatment. The new edition of the nearly 12-year-old LP — the one with the shaggy-haired dog on the cover — has more than twice as many tracks as the original, including unreleased session tunes produced by the Dust Brothers; rare remixes by UNKLE, Aphex Twin and Mickey P.; and B-sides galore, including a Spanish-language version of "Jackass" recorded with a mariachi band. The deluxe reissue is a cause for celebration indeed.

Walla World: Death Cab for Cutie actually formed the year after Odelay came out, and this week guitarist/producer Chris Walla cranks out his much-talked-about second solo album, Field Manual. The project caused a bit of a stir last year, after the Department of Homeland Security seized files containing the album for still-unclear reasons. "It's a crazy, weird, heavy-rock record," Walla told MTV News while putting together the album. Giving fans an extra reason to buy the physical version of the effort, the limited edition comes in a cloth-bound hardcover, but those who went the digital route and pre-ordered the disc on label Barsuk's site got three non-album MP3 bonus tracks.

Good Mojo?: Walla's got a bit of a story behind his new one, but it's nothing compared to the trials and tribulations involving spirits, nervous breakdowns and love triangles that led up to the release of the Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath. With Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante, new drummer Thomas Pridgen and a boatload of returning members in tow, the band's fourth album includes such typically head-scratching Volta titles as "Aberinkula," "Cavalettas" and "Conjugal Burns." Tech-savvy fans might want to hold off for a week until a different edition of the album drops. That version will come with a USB stick featuring the album, a video and artwork, and will be encased in a wooden Ouija board, which ties in with the album's kooky theme. Monthly content updates will also grant fans B-sides, more videos, a video game and beyond.

An Early Valentine: If you think the Mars Volta's USB stick approach is cool, check out what Bullet for My Valentine have in store for their new one, Scream Aim Fire. The deluxe iTunes version of the metalcore band's release comes with a PDF booklet featuring three- to five-page comic books for three of the album's 11 songs. A comic book for each song will eventually be made and located on SafTheComics.com. The band has also made 15-second animated trailers hyping the comics.

Voices of Protest: As far as sophomore metal releases go, Bullet are up against Protest the Hero this week. The Whitby, Ontario, quintet divided their Fortress into two movements, "On Conquest and Capture" and "Isosceles" — try to wrap your head around that while you're headbanging. "It's really a look at past, present and future, through the battles that have been fought and are being fought and supposedly will be fought," singer Rody Walker told Metal File last week.

Vintage Country: Lost Highway Records has a big week, with the release of Shelby Lynne's Just a Little Lovin' and Willie Nelson's Moment of Forever. Curiously, the veteran Nelson is going for younger appeal — Kenny Chesney produced the effort and sings with the Red-Headed Stranger on one track ("Worry B Gone"), and Nelson covers Dave Matthews' "Gravedigger" to boot. On the flipside, Lynne has her eyes set on the past — her effort mostly consists of songs the late Dusty Springfield had in her repertoire.

Song Title of the Week:

"Funishment" from Dub Trio's Another Sound Is Dying

Album Cover of the Week:

Quinn Walker's Laughter's an A--hole/ Lion Land

Other Notables:

Xiu Xiu's Women as Lovers
Fans of the experimental indie-rock band that currently resides in San Fran, keep your heads up for two special versions of the group's new release. The first 2,000 copies of Women as Lovers will have a bonus DVD housing 16 music videos, four tour films and 100 photos. Xiu Xiu have also littered the iTunes version of the album with five unreleased songs, but all editions will contain songs like "In Lust You Can Hear the Axe Fall" and "Master of the Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel the Soil Falling Over My Head)."

Vampire Weekend's Vampire Weekend
Along with MGMT, these unlikely New York indie-rockers have somehow managed to propel themselves onto mainstream-rock radio in the matter of weeks — and Vampire Weekend haven't even needed major-label support to pull it off. The four guys met while going to school at Columbia University and less than two years ago formed the band, which fuses indie-rock and pop with African sounds. Don't miss "Mansard Roof," "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance."

Jeffrey Lewis' 12 Crass Songs
You might not know this other New York up-and-comer, anti-folk troubadour Lewis, but there's probably an even greater chance you're even less familiar with Crass, the anarchic punk band around which his new album revolves. For the project, Lewis updated the band's lyrics to reflect modern times and reimagined the crusty punk music as lush folk.

New Releases:

· Airbourne - Runnin' Wild (Roadrunner)
· Austins Bridge - Austins Bridge (Daywind)
· Ayreon - 01011001 (special edition has bonus DVD; limited edition has two CDs and bonus DVD; Inside Out)
· Beat Circus - Dreamland (Cuneiform)
· Ron Blake - Shayari (Mack Avenue)
· The Blind Boys of Alabama - Down in New Orleans (Time Life)
· Sarah Brightman - Symphony (Manhattan)
· Bullet for My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire (Jive)
· Course of Nature - Damaged (Silent Majority)
· Dailey & Vincent - Dailey & Vincent (Rounder)
· Danger Radio - Punch Your Lights Out (EP; Photo Finish)
· Dispatch - Zimbabwe: Live at Madison Square Garden (two CDs; Republic) [Buy Now]
· Dub Trio - Another Sound Is Dying (Ipecac)
· Emigrate - Emigrate (limited "premium" version also available; Pilgrim/ Motor Music)
· Able Baker Fox - Voices (Second Nature)
· Future of the Left - Curses (Too Pure)
· The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop)
· Human Bell - Human Bell (Thrill Jockey)
· Ida - Lovers Prayers (Polyvinyl)
· Joe Jackson - Rain (with DVD; Rykodisc)
· Jorn - The Gathering (Locomotive)
· Jeffrey Lewis - 12 Crass Songs (Rough Trade)
· The Lion's Share - Emotional Coma (Locomotive)
· Louis XIV - Slick Dogs and Ponies (Atlantic) [Buy Now]
· Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin' (Lost Highway)
· The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath (Universal) [Buy Now]
Read: "Mars Volta To Release 'The Record That Did Not Want To Be Born' "
· Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath - Eclipse at Dawn (Cuneiform)
· Idina Menzel - I Stand (Warner Bros.)
· Pat Metheny with Christian McBride & Antonio Sanchez - Day Trip (Nonesuch)
· Willie Nelson - Moment of Forever (Lost Highway)
· Németh - Film (Thrill Jockey)
· Thao - We Brave Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars)
· Ghislain Poirier - No Ground Under (Ninja Tune)
· Popa Chubby - Deliveries After Dark (Blind Pig)
· Primal Fear - New Religion (Locomotive)
· Protest the Hero - Fortress (Vagrant) [Buy Now]
· Radar Bros. - Auditorium (Merge)
· Robyn - The Rakamonie EP (Cherry Tree/ Interscope)
· Adam Rudolph & Moving Pictures - Dream Garden (Justin Time)
· Saba - Jidka: The Line (Riverboat)
· The Shackeltons - The Shackeltons (Loveless)
· Sons and Daughters - This Gift (Domino)
· Stone Rider - Three Legs of Trouble (Trustkill)
· Bill Strickland - Music to Make the Impossible Possible (Concord)
· Tab the Band - Pulling Out Just Enough to Win (North Street)
· Tiles - Fly Paper (Inside Out)
· Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL Recordings) [Buy Now]
· The Vandermark 5 - Beat Reader (first 1,000 copies come with bonus CD; Atavistic)
· Quinn Walker - Laughter's an A--hole/ Lion Land (Voodoo-Eros)
· Chris Walla - Field Manual (digipak; limited edition comes in cloth-bound hardcover; Barsuk) [Buy Now]
Read: "Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla Plans Band's Next Move After Homeland Security Debacle"
· Kate Walsh - Tim's House (Verve Forecast)
· Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks- Born to Be Wilder (live; Blind Pig)
· The Wrights - The Wrights (Alan's Country)
· Xiu Xiu - Women as Lovers (Kill Rock Stars)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Beck - Odelay - Deluxe Edition (two CDs; Geffen/UMe) [Buy Now]
· Big Daddy Kane - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Big Daddy Kane (Rhino) [Buy Now]
· Jim Carroll - Praying Mantis (Noble Rot)
· Billy Ray Cyrus - Love Songs (Mercury Nashville)
· Das EFX - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Das EFX (Rhino) [Buy Now]
· Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come - Collector's Edition (with DVD; Columbia/Legacy) and A New Day Has Come/ Falling into You/ Let's Talk About Love (three-CD box set; Epic) [Buy Now]
· The Doors - The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors Hits (Rhino) [Buy Now]
· Linda Eder - Greatest Hits (Rhino)
· Fourplay - Greatest Hits: The Best of Fourplay (Rhino) [Buy Now]
· Hannah Montana - Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party (Disney) [Buy Now]
· John Lee Hooker - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of John Lee Hooker (Rhino)
· T.D. Jakes - Praise & Worship (Integrity Music/ Epic/ Legacy)
· Elmore James - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Elmore James (Rhino)
· Al Jarreau - Love Songs (Rhino)
· Lungfish - Rainbows From Atoms (Dischord)
· MC Lyte - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of MC Lyte (Rhino) [Buy Now]
· Charles Mingus - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Charles Mingus (Rhino)
· Van Morrison - A Sense of Wonder; Avalon Sunset; Back on Top; It's Too Late to Stop Now (two-CD live album); Tupelo Honey; and Wavelength (Polydor/Ume)
· Obituary - The Best of Obituary (Roadrunner)
· Lee "Scratch" Perry - Chicken Scratch - Deluxe Edition (Heartbeat)
· Jean-Luc Ponty - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Jean-Luc Ponty (Rhino)
· Spineshank - The Best of Spineshank (Rhino)
· Chris Stills - Chris Stills (KCJ)
· Suffocation - The Best of Suffocation (Roadrunner)
· Sugar Ray - Greatest Hits: The Best of Sugar Ray (Rhino) [Buy Now]
· Sun Ra & His Artkestra - Some Blues but Not the Kind Thats Blue (Atavistic)
· Al B. Sure - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Al B. Sure (Rhino)
· Randy Thompson - Further On (Jackpot)
· Ben Vaughn Combo - Beautiful Thing (Noble Rot)
· Vickie Winans - Praise & Worship (Verity/Legacy)
· Various artists - Classic African American Gospel (Smithsonian Folkways)
· Various artists - Grammy Nominees 2008 (Hip-O)

Music DVDs:

· Louis Armstrong - "The Portrait Collection" (Hip-O)
· Andrea Bocelli - "Vivere: Live in Tuscany" (with CD; Decca)
· Dispatch - "Zimbabwe: Live at Madison Square Garden" (HD; Bomber/ AEG Network Live/ VDI Entertainment)
· The Ex - "The Ex in New York: Building a Broken Mousetrap" (Touch and Go)
· Bill Gottlieb - "Riffs" (Kultur)
· The Mamas & the Papas - "Straight Shooter" (Standing Room Only)
· Barry Manilow - "Songs From the Seventies" (two DVDs; Rhino)
· Nickelback - "The Ultimate Video Collection" (Roadrunner)
· Various artists - "Ken Russell: In Search of the English Folk Song" (Kultur)
· Various artists - "Play Your Own Thing: A Story of Jazz in Europe" (EuroArts)
· Various artists - "The Very Best of Praise & Worship" (Verity/Legacy)

Digital Releases:

· Dean & Britta - Variations (EP; Zoë/Rounder)

Coming Attractions:

February 5:
· Christina Aguilera - "Back to Basics: Live and Down Under" (two DVDs; RCA) [Preorder]
· Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static (Brushfire) [Preorder]
· Lenny Kravitz - It Is Time For A Revolution (Virgin) [Preorder]

February 12:
· Michael Jackson - Thriller 25 (with DVD; Epic/Legacy) [Preorder]
Read: "Michael Jackson, Akon Are 'Startin' Somethin' ' On Thriller 25 Track -- Listen To It Here!"
· Metric - "Live at Metropolis" DVD (Last Gang) [Preorder]
· Simple Plan - Simple Plan (Lava/Atlantic) [Preorder]

February 19:
· Foxy Brown - Brooklyn's Don Diva (Black Rose Entertainment/ Koch) [Preorder]
· Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious (ATO) [Preorder]
· Various artists - Kidz Bop 13 (enhanced; Razor & Tie)

• Vampire Weekend Ready To Prove Online Demo Wasn't A Fluke

• Beck
• Miley Cyrus
• Chris Walla
• The Mars Volta
• Vampire Weekend

Amy Winehouse leaves Blake Fielder-Civil's plea hearing on Friday morning
Photo: Chris Jackson/ Getty Images

Officers from Scotland Yard have confirmed that they will investigate the video footage of Amy Winehouse apparently smoking drugs from a glass pipe, according to BBC News. "We will assess the footage to ascertain whether any action needs to be taken," a police official said of the disturbing footage, which was reportedly shot recently. ...

Ardent animal activist Pink, along with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is setting her sights on New York carriage horses. The singer has launched a new campaign that urges people to boycott the rides and that supports a recently introduced bill to ban the carriages in the city. "New York should follow the lead of London, Paris, Toronto, Beijing and progressive U.S. cities that have decided horse-drawn carriages and big city traffic don't mix," Pink recently told MTV News in exclusive comments about the campaign. "Manhattan's carriage horses suffer a miserable, solitary life shackled to a carriage and pulling load after heavy load of tourists, many of whom look like they could use the exercise themselves." ... Paris Hilton wants you to walk in her shoes — the heiress will debut her new line of footwear at Macy's in Costa Mesa, California, on February 8 from 3-6 p.m. The Paris Hilton Footwear Collection will also be available at Kitson, Lord & Taylor and other boutiques, with suggested retail prices ranging from around $60 to $200 per pair. ...

"American Idol" got its edge back on Tuesday night, but viewers probably weren't aware that one of the contestants has a criminal history, according to TMZ.com. Singer Perrie Cataldo — who shared some details about his gritty past with the judges on Tuesday — was reportedly arrested in 2006 for carrying a concealed weapon into a bar in Arizona. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon and was slapped with a $568 fine, TMZ says. ... Jermaine Dupri's father, Michael Mauldin, announced Wednesday (January 23) his plans to launch a label based on the popular Scream Tour, which was headed up by T.I. and Ciara last year under the banner "Screamfest '07." The Atlantic Records-distributed Scream Star Entertainment will also feature a revamped Web site, ScreamStar.com, which is set to include video highlights from each Scream tour, featuring the likes of Omarion, Ne-Yo and Bow Wow. Last year's monumental New York stop — which saw Jay-Z, Diddy and Kanye West join T.I. onstage — will also be included in the Scream Tour Anthology that's scheduled to go live on the site later this week. ...

Dr. Jan Adams, the plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West's mother, Donda West, returned to CNN's "Larry King Live" on Tuesday to discuss the case more than two months after abruptly walking off the set of the show. According to The Associated Press, Adams said the fallout from West's death has impacted his medical practice "horribly ... it's almost destroyed [it]." West, 58, died at a Los Angeles-area hospital on November 10, a day after Adams performed plastic surgery on her, including a tummy tuck, breast reduction and liposuction. A coroner's autopsy report found that West most likely died of heart disease coupled with complications after plastic surgery, though an exact cause of death couldn't be confirmed. "The autopsy said what I expected," Adams told King, though he would not go into detail, citing patient-doctor privilege. ... The wife of Britney Spears' paparazzo pal Adnan Ghalib has reportedly filed for a legal separation from the photographer. People reports that Azlynn Elizabeth Berry cited irreconcilable differences in the papers filed on Friday and is asking for Ghalib to pay spousal support and her attorney's fees. According to documents, the pair were married on December 18, 2003. The couple have no children. Ghalib's photo agency, Finalpixx, has said Ghalib has been separated from his wife for more than a year. ...

Last.fm has some big news: On Wednesday, the site started offering free streams of full-length tracks and full albums. The site also announced that it will pay artists directly for music it streams. Last.fm claims it got the blessing of the four major labels and now has the biggest collection of music that can be played online for free — legally, of course. ... Murs is gathering the masses for the third installment in his underground hip-hop fest, Paid Dues, which will go down March 22 in San Bernardino, California. This year's roster includes Dilated Peoples, Boot Camp Clik, Living Legends, Sage Francis and Jedi Mind Tricks. ... Here's a blast from the past: Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode and Erasure note has ganged up again with Alison Moyet to perform the first shows by their long-dormant electro-pop group Yaz — or Yazoo, as they are known in the States — in 25 years. In Your Room, a box set with three CDs and one DVD, will drop in May. ...

Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr walked off the set of "Live With Regis and Kelly" on Tuesday after being informed he would have to cut in half a performance of the five-minute title track from his new album, Liverpool 8. AP reports that Starr was going to perform the song with friend and former Eurythmics member Dave Stewart. A spokesperson for the show claimed the booking had been made in November and that Starr's reps agreed at that time to the length of the segment. ... Just a week after the Mars Volta release their new album, The Bedlam in Goliath, on Tuesday, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez will drop a solo album called Calibration. Among the guests on the record are fellow MV members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Juan Alderete and Thomas Pridgen, as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante and keyboardist Money Mark. The album is due out February 5 on N20 Records.

1.22.08

Lily Allen is returning to work after suffering a miscarriage last week, Us Weekly reports. The British songstress will begin shooting her upcoming TV show, "Lily Allen and Friends," on Wednesday. The show will air on the U.K.'s BBC3. "She has insisted on coming back to work," a BBC insider told Us. "Obviously it's tough for her right now, but she is a professional and sees going back to work as a way to focus on something else." Allen was four months along with her first child with boyfriend Ed Simons, one-half of the Chemical Brothers, when she had the miscarriage. ...

Pinhead Gunpowder, a side project for Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, will be playing two very rare shows next month. The band is booked to perform February 3 at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California, and on February 4 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. The last time the band performed live was back in 2001. ...

Four eyewitnesses have reportedly stepped forward to support a claim from real-estate agent Gerard Rechnitzer that he was assaulted by Sean "Diddy" Combs at an Oscar party last year. The Associated Press reports that papers filed by Rechnitzer's attorney contain a witness report from Marianna Ruiz, who said in papers filed last week that Combs struck Rechnitzer unprovoked. "I just kind of remember seeing him go flying, not flying as in like feet off the ground, but he went back significantly," said Ruiz, who was part of a group at the club with the Rechnitzer. "I was just in shock that somebody would ... just kind of strike somebody out of nowhere." A second witness, Michael Sherman, reportedly said that, "all of a sudden, he hit him. And there was a taxi behind Gerard. Gerard got knocked into the taxi." Sherman added that Combs then allegedly tried to spit on Ruiz, who was standing nearby. Rechnitzer is seeking unspecified damages in the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last year over the incident, which took place on February 25, 2007. The suit, which Combs' attorneys have called "completely baseless," also claims that the rap impresario pushed Rechnitzer's girlfriend. ...

Paris Hilton had a rather uncomfortable experience the last time she appeared on David Letterman's talk show — but not uncomfortable enough to keep her from coming back. Hilton will appear on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on February 1, according to TMZ. During Hilton's September 28 visit, Letterman asked questions about the heiress' stint in prison and wouldn't let up. It will be Hilton's sixth appearance on the show. In other Hilton news, Us Weekly caught up with the celeb at Sundance to ask about her on-and-off friend Britney Spears. "She's such a sweet girl when I'm alone with her; she's a completely different person than she's made out to be," Hilton told Us. "And I love her. I think she's very sweet and has a big heart. She's amazing." The "Simple Life" star wished the best for the troubled pop star. "I just want her to be happy," she said. "I think everything's going to be OK." ...

Kiefer Sutherland was released from jail early Monday morning after serving 48 days on a drunken driving charge. According to The Associated Press, the "24" actor was quickly ushered out of a back door of the Glendale, California, jail to avoid the crush of press. Sutherland, who had his own cell and ate alone, reportedly spent most of his jail sentence apart from other inmates, interacting with fellow prisoners only when he was on the way to the laundry room where he worked cleaning sheets, pillowcases and blankets. The actor pleaded no contest in October to driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08 percent and was sentenced to 30 days, as well as 18 days for violating probation stemming from a 2004 drunken-driving arrest. ...

AFI plan on returning to the same studio where they recorded most of their earliest albums, to begin work on what will be their next LP. Guitarist Jade Puget wrote on the band's MySpace blog, "We're currently working on new songs," and noted that being in the old studio has the band feeling "very nostalgic." ... Why was Gwyneth Paltrow hospitalized last week? Her chef pal Mario Batali says the actress' trip to New York's Mount Sinai Hospital was due to "a little gastrointestinal situation," according to UsMagazine.com. "It's now been straightened out," said Batali, who is traveling with Paltrow to Spain in three weeks to shoot a PBS cooking show, set to air in October. Paltrow's rep issued a statement on Tuesday (January 22), saying, "She is at home and OK." ...

The original lineup of New York hardcore legends Biohazard will reunite for a series of performances this summer in commemoration of the band's 20th anniversary. Bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld, guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei, drummer Danny Schuler, and guitarist Bobby Hambel have not performed together publicly since 1995. "Biohazard was the single most important chapter in our lives," Seinfeld said. "Our music brought us together and helped us rise up out of the streets of Brooklyn. Our journey has been an amazing one, and for me, it's all about my brothers Billy, Bobby and Danny, and of course the fans, whose undying support has never given up on the hopes of a reunion of the original band." ...

Christian metalcore outfit Norma Jean have tapped Spitfire's Chris Raines as their new drummer. The announcement ends months of auditions to find a replacement for Daniel Davison, who left in September.

• Amy Winehouse
• P!nk
• Paris Hilton
• Kanye West
• Britney Spears

Cat Power's <i>Jukebox</i>
Photo: Matador Records

The Northeast and many other parts of the country are locked in the dreary winter blues at the moment, with the denizens nipping at their frostbitten fingertips and gnawing on their chapped lips in anticipation of sunnier days and warmer nights. But lucky for the music fans among them, a magical spring awaits inside your local CD store! Grab a light jacket and a pair of binoculars, and take a stroll with us as we check out this week's New Releases ...

It's 9 a.m., and what better way to start the day than with a Pocketful of Sunshine courtesy Natasha Bedingfield. We trot out the back door, and through the yard as the British songstress — who you know from "The Hills"; the theme song, "Unwritten," was all her doing — coaxes Sean Kingston out of the woods for a rendition of her sophomore effort's first single, "Love Like This." Super-producers J.R. Rotem, Rodney Jerkins and Danjahandz materialize, hammering away on the ones and twos as she continues to perform. "I've been dating, searching for a partner, looking for Mr. Right," she says (um, in a statement). "This album reflects those feelings and that journey."

Our journey continues as we head out the door and see some Unfamiliar Faces in the neighborhood. Matt Costa — who, like Bedingfield, is giddy about his own second album — coaxes us away from the strangers and lulls us with the pop, country, folk and rock sounds of his latest effort for Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records. The 25-year-old troubadour tells us tales of working again with mentor Tom Dumont of No Doubt — "One of the first things he told me to do was to stop practicing and just let it come out — it was like the light went on in my head," he imparts.

Speaking of light, now that it's almost noon, it's pretty bright outside — and with the sun beating mercilessly, it's hard to Watch the Sky, as much as Patty Larkin might want us to. The folk-pop vet plays us her new opus — which she wrote, produced, engineered and edited all on her own — fusing modern technology with acoustic instruments like the "slapsteel," a detuned lap-steel guitar that is played with a drumstick and hand.

The sweet sounds coax a household pet out of a nearby home — a feline who refers to herself as "Cat Power." The critter reveals that she was named Chan Marshall before she was reincarnated, and shares with us a new creation of her own, Jukebox, which sparks memories of her 2000 release, The Covers Record. She regales us with homages to Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and even Billie Holiday, before letting us know that the limited edition of her release has a bonus disc with five bonus covers, and that the iTunes version also has a bunch of extra tunes.

With that, we head through the backyard again — and encounter, naturally, the Backyardigans! As the Nickelodeon sensations burst into song — arena rock, hip-hop, zydeco, what have you — a few of their neighbors join in on the fun. Alicia Keys chimes in on "Almost Everything Is Boinga," while Cyndi Lauper jazzes up "Lady in Pink." Before we go, the Backyardigans remind us that their CD comes in eco-friendly recycled packaging but that, if we want to be even more Earth-friendly, we should ditch the physical release and go for the iTunes one instead — after all, it also has four extra songs.

Soon we find ourselves in a meadow, which just so happens to be inhabited by ... Japanese post-rock experimentalists Mono! "The Sky Remains the Same as Ever," they murmur into our ears, letting us know that their first-ever DVD is a packed two-hour set with 12 concert performances, documentary material and various in-the-"field" clips.

Good thing we remembered to bring our binoculars, because there are a ton of feathered creatures flying around in this meadow. Biirdie — who have a nest in Glendale, California — flutter their wings to the country-infused orchestral sounds of their Catherine Avenue album. Giving us a Hitchcockian scare, the Birds of Prey swoop down. The flock — which includes members of Baroness, Municipal Waste and Alabama Thunderpussy — peck away at us with their metal-icious second album, Sulfur & Semen. Philadelphia's Birds of Maya start biting into us too, with their loud new Holy Mountain release, Vol. 1. "Those Birds Are Bats," our friends Mahjongg tell us, before busting out some dance moves and enigmatically adding, "Kontpab."

Where there are birds, there are bees, and both are as one on Birds by Collections of Colonies of Bees. The flock and the swarm commingle, shooing away their previous bluegrass and folk sounds in favor of all-out, boisterous pop. Is that an analog synthesizer we hear in the distance? Indeed, it is.

Chasing the sound, we enter into the woods and come across some Super Furry Animals. We saw these critters recently — they introduced us to their new album, Hey Venus!, in the summer, although you could only get it if you had a computer. This time around, they present us with the physical version of their eighth album, which has a CD of extra material, as well as some colorful, 'toony new artwork by Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami.

More furry creatures hop into our lap — a herd of animals who call themselves "Foxy Shazam" and purr to us with voices inflected by soul and rock. Hailing from Cincinnati, the feel-good Foxies tell us they picked up a musical tip or two from Chiodos producer Casey Bates, who put the shine on their Introducing LP. Some "Cuddling Raccoons" try to get some love to — they say they're from a city called "Sex Death Cassette" that was made by Rafter, a psychedelic-disco junkie.

The Foxies and raccoons climb off our lap, and it's time to get some exercise. Luckily we remembered to bring our kites ... Kites for Charity, that is. We borrowed them from moody Swedish pop-sters Jettie, and as we fly them, we fittingly hear songs like "#3 Nest and the Wind," "The Sky Over Santa Rosa" and "Letter Carrier."

As we're looking up in the sky, we see planes crisscrossing overhead. As they go back and forth, Steve Aoki's Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles begins ringing in our ears — the founder of the Dim Mak label blended together everything from Peaches to Bloc Party on his mix CD. If we look hard enough at the airplane, we can even see a few familiar faces singing and rapping along: Spank Rock, Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat, Santogold, Mickey Avalon, the Faint's Todd Fink and Har Mar Superstar.

Our necks are starting to hurt, so we turn our heads downward and say, "Hello, Blue Roses," to lovely flowers that were grown by Dan Bejar of Destroyer and his girlfriend, Sydney Vermont. Tattooed on the roses is a poetic phrase, The Portrait Is Finished and I Have Failed to Capture Your Beauty ..., and if we listen closely enough, we can hear what sounds like a cross between '60s femme folk and '80s AOR.

We're getting antsy again, so we go deep into the woods, where we trample over small piles of Sticks and Stones. Moe. remind us that if some of the twigs and rocks get lodged in our sneakers, "it's all good" — after all, the jam band can always mellow us out with its endless noodling. The guys tell us that they actually brought the Sticks and Stones from somewhere else: an old church they rented in mountains in New England.

Mountains ... they are indeed within our view. First we trudge up Black Mountain, which looks as scary as it sounds ("Tyrants," "Evil Ways," "Stormy High"). The Mountains are expansive In the Future, filled with folk-pop, and it takes us a whole 17 minutes to traverse one ridge, nicknamed "Bright Lights."

Once we descend that peak, we're faced with another range: Mtn. High. As we scale the cliffs, we're assaulted by a punk-rock onslaught of triple-drumming, quad-guitars and multiple basses — but we, the collective Wicked Wanderer, come out alive. It feels like we've gone Into Abaddon, that sludgy "place of destruction" where you can only be rescued by Saviours.

We're dirty from all the hiking, so we head down to C Unseen Sea — a place our good friend Dillon suggested — for a quick swim. As we splash around, we try to pull off some of our old-school hip-hop dance moves underwater, but soon remember we're just as much into ghetto tech these days.

We swim out a bit into the sea and discover Monster Island. It's inhabited by the Dream Tiger, which uses instruments as varied as the sitar, harmonium and water harp to relay its eclectic ethnic-folk blend. Behind the beast are members of His Name Is Alive, Outrageous Cherry and Destroy All Monsters the latter of which deserve a little attention of their own in light of a reissue of their Live in Tokyo album.

We finish our swim and lay out on the beach, where we draw a Line in the Sand with Zox, a gang of reggae-rockers from Providence, Rhode Island. They whisper sweet nothings into our ears, like "I Miss You," "Goodnight" and "Don't Believe in Love."

As we head home, we spot more Bodies of Water, and our head begins to twitter. Then we remember that a Los Angeles band warned us this would happen — "Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink," the guys told us, and we should have trusted their word, seeing as how they've toured in the past with the Go! Team and Phosphorescent.

While we're distracted, a terrifying Two Ton Sloth suddenly approaches. We've never encountered this beast before, although we do have an instruction manual of the same name that tells us we shouldn't be too afraid — the mash-up behemoth is nothing more than a spoken-word artist (Brad Hamers) and producer (PZ).

But there is more cause for alarm as a storm approaches. Our good pal Liam Finn comes to mind — "I'll Be Lightning," he once told us, adding that the best way to make sure you don't get hit by a bolt is by looping your guitar. Unfortunately, while we have binoculars and swim trunks, we left our axes behind.

As The Evening Descends, we rush home but are stopped midway by a group of Evangelicals, who use glam, synth and pop sounds to try to get us to convert. They talk our ears off about revivalism, insanity, zombies, good and evil and love, and by the time they're done, we want to be in bed.

Finally, after a very long day, we curl up alongside our wife Baby Dee, a worldly singer/songwriter/pianist/harpist, and she tells us all about her day working with Andrew W.K., Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and members of Antony and the Johnsons and Chavez. It's "Safe Inside the Day," she tells us, and after the long, sometimes-perilous outing we've had, it sounds like something we can agree with.

We think about writing a story based on our day called "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters," but as it turns out, a psychedelic-pop duo out of New York, MGMT, have already done that on their new album, Oracular Spectacular. Oh well — guess we'll have to find some other outlet for this story instead.

Song Title of the Week:

"Kiss My Komodo" from Truckee Brothers' Double Happiness

Album Cover of the Week:

The Selmanaires' The Air Salesmen

New Releases:

· Ben Allison & Man Size Safe - Little Things Run the World (Palmetto)
· American Speedway - Ship of Fools (limited-edition; with vinyl; Prophase)
· Steve Aoki - Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles (Thrive)
· ASG - Win Us Over (Volcom)
· The Audition - Champion (Victory)
· Baby Dee - Safe Inside the Day (Drag City)
· The Backyardigans - Born to Play (Nick)
· Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine (Epic) [Buy Now]
· Steven Bernstein - Diaspora Suite (Tzadik)
· Big Noyd - Illustrious (Koch)
· Biirdie - Catherine Avenue (Drive-Thru)
· Billy Talent - 666 Live (with DVD; Warner Music Canada)
· Birds of Maya - Vol. 1 (Holy Mountain)
· Birds of Prey - Sulfur & Semen (Relapse)
· Black Mountain - In the Future (Jagjaguwar)
· Blood on the Wall - Liferz (The Social Registry)
· Blues Company - Hot and Ready to Serve (Inakustic)
· Bodies of Water - Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink (Thousand Tongues/ Secretly Canadian)
· Ray Bonneville - Goin' Be Feel (Red House)
· The Breathing Process - In Walking: Divinity (Ferret)
· Buzzcocks - 30 (live; Cooking Vinyl) [Buy Now]
· Byzantine - Oblivion Beckons (Prosthetic)
· Barton Carroll - The Lost One (Skybucket)
· Cat Power - Jukebox (deluxe edition with bonus CD due same day; Matador) [Buy Now]
· Collections of Colonies of Bees - Birds (Table of Elements)
· Matt Costa - Unfamiliar Faces (Brushfire) [Buy Now]
· Daedelus - Live at Low End Theory (Alpha Pup)
· Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth (M80)
· Disfear - Live the Storm (Relapse)
· Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West)
· Envy - Abyssal (EP) and All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead (Temporary Residence)
· Evangelicals - The Evening Descends (Dead Oceans)
· Ex-Reverie - The Door Into Summer (Drag City)
· Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning (Yep Roc)
· The Fleshtones - Take a Good Look! (Yep Roc)
· Foxy Shazam - Introducing (Ferret)
· Get Set Go - Get Set Go Presents: Sunshine, Joy, & Happiness (TSR)
· Hello, Blue Roses - The Portrait Is Finished and I Have Failed to Capture Your Beauty ... (Locust)
· Hexlove - Knew Abloom (Life's Hood) (Holy Mountain)
· Hey Willpower - PDA (Tomlab)
· Instruments of Science and Technology - Music From the Films of R. Swift (Secretly Canadian)
· Jettie - Kites for Charity (Eyeball)
· The Kennedys - Better Dreams (Appleseed)
· Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause - The Rustic Contemporary Sounds of Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause (International Hits)
· Patty Larkin - Watch the Sky (Vanguard)
· Love in October - Pontus, the Devil, and Me (The Musik Group)
· Love Is All - Love Is All Mixed Up (Phonica)
· Mahjongg - Kontpab (K)
· The Matinee Club - The Modern LP (Ninthwave)
· MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (Columbia) [Buy Now]
· Moe. - Sticks and Stones (Fat Boy)
· Monster Island - Dream Tiger (Book Beat)
· Mtn. High - Wicked Wanderer (Hot Dog City)
· North Mississippi Allstars - Hernando (Sounds of the South)
· Jack Peñate Matinee (XL Recordings)
· Steve Poltz - Traveling (Thirty Tigers)
· Rafter - Sex Death Cassette (Asthmatic Kitty)
· The Red Death - Godmakers (Ferret)
· The Matt Savage Trio - Hot Ticket: Live in Boston (Savage/Palmetto)
· Saviours - Into Abaddon (Kemado)
· The Selmanaires - The Air Salesmen (International Hits)
· Sam Shalabi - Eid (Alien8)
· Team Robespierre - Everything's Perfect (Impose)
· Times New Viking - Rip It Off (Matador)
· Truckee Brothers - Double Happiness (Populuxe)
· Two Ton Sloth - Two Ton Sloth (Token Recluse)
· The Whigs - Mission Control (ATO)
· The Whitsundays - The Whitsundays (Friendly Fire)
· Zox - Line in the Sand (Side One Dummy)
· Various artists - The Opera Gala: Live From Baden-Baden (Deutsche Grammophon)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Eric Anderson - Avalanche and Eric Anderson (DBK Works)
· Brigitte Bardot - Brigitte Bardot Sings (Lilith)
· Canned Heat - Vintage (Lilith)
· Destroy All Monsters - Live in Tokyo (Book Beat)
· Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Works, Volume 1 and 2 (Shout! Factory)
· Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette - Setting Standards (three-CD box set; ECM)
· Sneaky Pete Kleinow - The Shiloh Recordings (Sundazed)
· Lillian Axe - Lillian Axe and Love + War (Metal Mind)
· London After Midnight - Oddities, Psycho Magnet and Selected Scenes From the End of the World (Metropolis)
· Lisa Loeb - The Purple Tape (two CDs; Furious Rose) [Buy Now]
· Mindless Self Indulgence - You'll Rebel to Anything (enhanced; MSI/Metropolis)
· Buck Owens - "Live" in Scandinavia (Sundazed)
· Plastic Crimewave Sound - No Wonder Land (Prophase)
· Jason Ringenberg - Best Tracks and Side Tracks: 1979-2007 (Yep Roc)
· Steel Breeze - Steel Breeze (Renaissance)
· Sugarhill Gang - Sugarhill Gang (DBK Works) [Buy Now]
· Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus! (with bonus CD; Rough Trade)
· Various artists - Putumayo Kids Presents: Hawaiian Playground (Putumayo World Music)
· Various artists - Putumayo Presents: Latin Reggae (Putumayo World Music)

Music DVDs:

· Donovan - "The Donovan Concert: Live in L.A." (Raven)
· James Ian - "Through the Years: A Retrospective" (Rude Girl)
· Mono - "The Sky Remains the Same as Ever" (Temporary Residence)
· Patrick Moraz - "Live in Princeton" (Voiceprint)
· The Osmond Brothers - "Country Rockers" (Quantum Leap)
· Radiohead - "The DVD Box" (two DVDs; Music Video Distributors) [Buy Now]
· The Smiths - "Inside the Smiths" (Mams) [Buy Now]
· Soul Syndicate Band - "Word, Sound and Power" (Focused)
· Various artists - "Cruisin Love Songs, Volume 2" (Quantum Leap)
· Various artists - "Dancing in the Street" (JLT)
· Various artists - "Metal Blade Records: 25th Year in Video" (DVD; Metal Blade)
· Various artists - "Reggae Nashville: Deep Roots Music 2: Bunny Lee Story/ Black Ark" (Screen Edge)

Digital Releases:

· Dillon - C Unseen Sea (available starting Friday; Kitty-Yo)
· AJ Lambert - EP (self-released)
· Yellowcard - Live From Las Vegas at the Palms (iTunes exclusive; Capitol)

Coming Attractions:

January 29:
· Beck - Odelay - Deluxe Edition (two CDs; Geffen/UMe) [Preorder]
· The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath (Universal) [Preorder]
· Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL)

February 5:
· Christina Aguilera - "Back to Basics: Live and Down Under" (two DVDs; RCA) [Preorder]
· Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static (Brushfire) [Preorder]
· Lenny Kravitz - It Is Time For A Revolution (Virgin) [Preorder]

February 12:
· Michael Jackson - Thriller 25 (with DVD; Epic/Legacy) [Preorder]
Read: "Michael Jackson, Akon Are 'Startin' Somethin' ' On Thriller 25 Track -- Listen To It Here!" · Metric - "Live at Metropolis" DVD (Last Gang)
· Simple Plan - Simple Plan (Lava/Atlantic) [Preorder]

• Cat Power
• Natasha Bedingfield
• The Mars Volta

Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Photo: Alfred Jansen

If you thought the concepts behind the Mars Volta's last three records were, well, odd, just wait — you haven't heard anything yet.

The band's 2003 debut, De-Loused in the Comatorium, revolved around the tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who tries to kill himself by overdosing on morphine. The inspiration for 2005's Frances the Mute came from an anonymous man's diary that chronicled the author's search for his biological parents. And 2006's Amputechture tackled topics like U.S. immigration and possessed nuns.

But the band's forthcoming LP, The Bedlam in Goliath, takes concept records to a whole new level. Due in stores January 29, Bedlam deals with a present Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez — who also produced the LP — gave frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala after returning from a trip to Jerusalem.

"He took the trip a little while ago, and he found a sort of curio shop ... [it's] kind of hard to believe that that would exist over there," Bixler-Zavala said. "He brought me back ... what you'd call a Ouija board in the States, and we started playing with it ... we used to get the band to play it a lot after we'd play shows in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do." Making a reference to "The Exorcist," he added, "And we kind of stumbled across our own version of Captain Howdy." While the gift never had an official name, the band referred to it as "The Soothsayer."

"It serves the same function as a Ouija board, but it's just a little more archaic," Bixler-Zavala elaborated, adding that the band discovered a number of poems attached to the board. "This version of it had a sort of love triangle that was attached to it — the poems we found with it sort of described a mother-daughter-and-other-man love triangle, and what I came up with from it was we were being contacted by at least three people on the board that would come up as one person. We wrote down a lot of the messages they gave us, and we used it in the lyrics, and we also tried to fasten the lyrics into sort of like a good-luck charm, by putting positive elements into it. We used a lot of elements of Santeria [an Afro-Caribbean religious tradition] to kind of give us a protective skin when the record does come out."

The more the band played with the strange game, the stranger things started to get. The singer said he started "meeting different people through the game, and I was getting different mixed messages from it. After a while, we started having a lot of bad luck happen to us, and we kind of got rid of the thing, and in the process of using it, we discovered a lot of weird things about it."

When the band's focus for the LP shifted to the strange board game, "the studio we were working in flooded, and then our main engineer had a nervous breakdown, which caused us to almost have to start all over again, because he knew where everything was. I had foot problems, and I ended up having to get surgery." The singer says he's had foot problems for some time because of the shoes he had been wearing. Surgeons had to break some of the bones in his foot, shave them down, and since then, Bixler-Zavala has had to re-learn how to walk.

"We got sunk into a hole financially because of our drummer problems, and having to get a new drummer mid-tour when we were out with the Red Hot Chili Peppers," he continued, referring to the roster upheaval that eventually saw Thomas Pridgen filling the role. "We just started getting a lot of bad luck with it. We were kind of not allowed by Omar to speak its name while we were making the record, for fear of bad mojo."

After a while, when the guys' luck didn't improve, they decided to get rid of it. Rodriguez-Lopez buried the object and was sworn not to tell anyone in the band where he had hidden it.

"Because such a strange impact was left by using the board, we decided to make a record based on ... the stories we were getting from the things or spirits we were contacting," he continued. "The album is basically a sort of ... it's like the 'Ghostbusters,' when they want to catch a ghost, they throw out this little trap on the floor, and they open it. [The] record serves as a bunch of little traps, so when the record comes out, people will have those traps, and they can play the game and try to reverse the bad luck we've had come from it. It's our way of creating a little infernal machine, but we've reversed it, for good luck."

The bad mojo, along with "small details that are a little more private and embarrassing," derailed plans to release the album — which Bixler-Zavala called the "record that did not want to be born" — in September. Despite the bad luck the game wrought, the album's vinyl version will feature the band's own version of the same game, inside the gatefold — so now, everyone can play.

And what does Bedlam — which includes "Aberinkula," "Metatron," "Ilyena," "Tourniquet Man" and more — sound like? The singer said longtime fans can expect typical Volta on this new record — epic songs that run well over 10 minutes, huge guitars (some provided by Chili Pepper John Frusciante), and loads of experimental instrumentation.

"It goes in different directions and has different moods, but for new people who know nothing about us, there are those shorter songs, and I think that might appeal to some people," he said. "It was never done in any sort of, 'Let's get on the radio' intention, but it does help, I guess. The whole album is completely interactive for the listener, and there's something concrete to sink your teeth into. There is a story there, even if it is vague sometimes."

The band plans to hit the road in support of Bedlam early next year and has a New Year's Eve gig planned for San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium — for the bash, the Mars Volta are requiring fans to wear costumes. Bixler-Zavala said fans can also expect the album's first single, "Wax Simulacra," soon. Originally, the label wanted to introduce the LP with the track "Goliath," but the band wouldn't have it.

" 'Goliath' is about nine, 10 minutes long, and the end of it is so interesting, we didn't really want it to be used as a single," he said. "It kept getting butchered and came off really bad. If you edit our songs and you take away all the extra stuff, then that song might've just sounded like Wolfmother — and we never want to compete with that. They're their own thing, and we're our own thing."

• The Mars Volta

Lil Wayne (file)
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Lil Wayne made a brief appearance in an Atlanta courtroom on Wednesday (October 31) for an arraignment in connection with the year-old drug-possession charge that recently landed him in an Idaho jail on a fugitive warrant. According to Wayne's lawyer, William Head, the rapper was only in court for about 20 minutes during the nearly three-hour preliminary hearing and will return on November 20, when a judge could rule on defense motions questioning whether the hotel search that originally resulted in Wayne's arrest on drug charges was legal. The defense also filed a motion requesting to examine the evidence in the case in order to have a fingerprint analysis done on the objects, which Head said were found in a room that the rapper was not staying in. ...

Cynthia Reed, mother of the 14-year-old son of Game manager Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, spoke out Tuesday about Tony Yayo's pending trial, in which he is accused of having roughed up the boy. "I am looking forward to a trial, and it is important that justice be done," she said in a statement. "Trials bring out facts, and I know the facts will expose the cowardly act of G-Unit's member Yayo of assaulting my 14-year-old son." Leemon responded to Reed's statement by saying, "At trial, I am confident the evidence will show that Tony Yayo did not hit anyone. These baseless allegations against Yayo are nothing more than an attempt by a bitter business rival to disparage and embarrass him. Our investigation has uncovered more than one witness to the incident who will testify that Yayo did not hit 'Lil Henchmen.' This is nothing more than an attempt at legal extortion." The trial begins January 10. ...

In yet more legal-oriented rap news, Game went to court Wednesday for a brief pre-trial hearing, according to TMZ. The hearing pertained to allegations that the rapper (real name: Jayceon Taylor) threatened a person with a gun during a pickup basketball game at a park in Los Angeles earlier this year. Game's spirits were high, according to a TMZ video in which he rants about everything from dressing up like 50 Cent for Halloween to helping out Britney Spears — "I'll shampoo your hair, rub your feet, watch your kids and be your bodyguard," he said. He's due back in court November 14. ...

Britney Spears hasn't had much to say to the media lately — save some choice words for the paparazzi, that is — but she broke the brief silence by going on Ryan Seacrest's radio show Wednesday morning. When asked about the recent media coverage of her child-custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Spears replied, "People say what they want and do what they do. It's sad how people ... how cruel our world can be. But at the end of the day, you gotta know in your heart that you are doing the best that you can." When Seacrest asked Spears if she is in fact doing the best she can with her kids, she reassured him: "Oh God, yeah, yeah." Spears also talked about the Tuesday release of her new Blackout LP, saying she spent the day watching movies. Seacrest also asked her about her rumored romance with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Spears, who was on a speakerphone with Alli Sims and Sam Lufti, replied, "Who?" ...

Ashley Tisdale, Good Charlotte, Jordin Sparks, Corbin Bleu, the Jonas Brothers and more will hop aboard the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade when it snakes its way through the streets of New York on November 22. Catch the show from 9 a.m. to noon in all time zones on NBC. ... The American Music Awards are shaping up to be a night for the ladies — Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne and Nicole Scherzinger have joined previously announced performers Fergie, Rihanna, Celine Dion (and Daughtry) for the ceremony, which will air live November 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. ...

The new season of "American Idol" is still a few months away, but that's not stopping the juggernaut's presence on TV. Former contestants Clay Aiken and Kellie Pickler will be celebrity contestants on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" on Thursday and November 15, respectively, while judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul will crop up in animated form in the November 11 "Family Guy" episode, in which Stewie auditions for the judges. And in yet more TV news, the "Simpsons" episode featuring Jack Black — who voices the owner of a new comic book store — will air November 18. ...

The ink has dried on Radiohead's deal to distribute its In Rainbows album — well, outside North America, at least. Billboard.com reports that the band has finalized a deal with XL Recordings — which released Thom Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, last year — that would entail the international distribution of the album but allow the band to cut a different deal in North America. The New York Times previously reported that the band had been planning to sign with Coran Capshaw's Side One Recordings to distribute Rainbows domestically, although Radiohead's U.S. publicist, Steve Martin, later told MTV News he could "neither confirm nor deny" the story. The album doesn't have an international release date yet, but according to Billboard.com, it will likely coincide with the Radiohead.com deluxe Discbox release on December 3. Sales figures for the album — for which the band allowed fans to name their own price — have not been released, but Radiohead manager Bryce Edge recently said reports of 1.2 million being sold were "exaggerated," according to Billboard. ... Lupe Fiasco and industry heavyweight Steve Stoute were on hand at the Bowery Hotel in New York on Tuesday night as Bitter: Sweet performed as part of a T-Mobile Shadow launch party. ...

A Maryland couple have dropped their lawsuit alleging Wal-Mart deceived customers by selling copies of Evanescence's Anywhere but Home LP containing explicit lyrics without parental-advisory labels. Trevin and Melanie Skeens had sued the department-store chain back in 2004 after they purchased the album for their daughter's 13th birthday. The news comes nearly 22 months after a judge refused to certify the complaint as a class action, which would have allowed anyone who bought the record in Maryland to hop onboard and collect compensation. ... Van Halen have booked their first gig of 2008, which could be an indication of a second leg being added to the band's current reunion run. The only show that's confirmed for next year so far will go down March 30 in St. Louis. ...

Coldplay have been teasing fans in recent months with updates on their next studio album, and now, in a new post on their site, they say they're almost done with the effort. The band revealed that two new songs, "Famous Old Painters" and "Glass of Water," have come into play for the album, which was already poised to include "Cemeteries of London," "Poppy Fields," "42," "Yes!," "Lost," "Violet Hill," "Rainy Day" and "Leftrightleftrightleft." "It feels like a very dense record," read the post. "There are so many melodies and colors packed into a relatively short space (42 minutes)." Regarding the album's producer, the post continued: "As you'd expect with Brian Eno, there's experimentation and exploration. But the music still has integrity. It's real and honest. There's no posturing or bombast. When the deadline comes and the work is done, this will be the album I always dreamed we'd make." Coldplay were more specific about the yet-untitled 2008 album in a previous post, saying the effort would have a "Hispanic theme." ...

Want to party with Ozzy Osbourne? Want to get arrested? Approximately 40 of his fans in Fargo, North Dakota, got a very unpleasant surprise on Monday when they received invitations to a supposed pre-gig bash that turned out to be a police sting operation, according to The Associated Press. Fans — who happened to have outstanding warrants — were reportedly told about a party to be held at the Venue at Playmakers before the metal legend's show with Rob Zombie at the Fargodome. The bash was sponsored by PDL Productions, a fake company made by Cass County Sherriff Paul D. Laney as part of an effort to crack down on scofflaws who had ignored court summons and failed to pay fines. "It was more of a warrant party," Laney told AP. "Some actually thought it was pretty funny. I think they were upset with themselves for being had." The security staff, which wore PDL Productions shirts, turned out to be deputy sheriffs, North Dakota probation and parole agents, and members of the local drug-enforcement task force. Laney got even more creative with the sting by adding a subtle clue into the mix — each "security" T-shirt also featured a festive Halloween skull, and the image of a sheriff's-badge star could be seen in its right eye socket. ...

Lordi's manager was shot at following their Friday gig in Louisville, Kentucky, according to EscToday.com, Web site for Eurovision. (The monster-themed Finnish metal outfit created a stir when it won the broadcasting group's famed Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.) Rikk Scholvinck was reportedly with his bodyguard at the time of the incident, and although neither was struck by gunfire, one of the band's fans was robbed at gunpoint. According to Scholvinck, after the gig, a van appeared next to Lordi's bus, and four or five teens jumped out. "One of the men with a gun took a fan, a girl, put the gun to her head and forced her to lie down on the ground," said band frontman Mr. Lordi (real name: Tomi Putaansuu), according to the site. "Also, one of the boys froze on the spot while the others fled away, including Rikk and the bodyguard, while another man started shooting at them. Luckily, he missed and no one was hurt. Rikk ran to the bar and called the police, who arrived soon. In a moment we were surrounded by like five police cars, but the guys managed to escape. They were a group of drug addicts that had stolen the [van] earlier that night, and police were already looking for them but have still not managed to catch them." Lordi handed the assaulted fan a lifetime all-access pass to their shows worldwide. ...

Iron Maiden have announced a pair of shows in the U.S. as part of their Somewhere Back in Time world tour. The metal gods will play at the Forum in Los Angeles on February 19 and at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on March 14. ... Speaking of Iron, Iron and Wine only played four shows in the U.S. after releasing their latest album, The Shepherd's Dog, in late September — but thirsty fans shouldn't worry, as more Stateside gigs are on the way. After finishing a two-week run of shows in the U.K. on Sunday, the band will return to America, rest a little, and then head out for another string starting November 27 in Tucson, Arizona. That tour will end December 11 in Austin, Texas, and will be followed by another European trek starting January 14. ...

According to a statement from Earache Records, two members of Polish death-metal band Decapitated were seriously injured in a car accident involving their tour bus and a truck carrying wood in Gomel — which is on the Russian-Belarus border. Frontman Adrian "Covan" Kowanek and drummer Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka sustained serious head injuries as a result of the accident and were taken to a hospital in Moscow for treatment. No additional information on the accident has been made public. ...

The Mars Volta-affiliated indie punk label Gold Standard Laboratories shut down this month, according to a letter founder Sonny Kay posted on the GSL site. Over its 14-year span, GSL released material by the Rapture, !!!, the Locust, Melt-Banana, the Faint and Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, who co-owned the label. The post reads: "We've experienced the onset of factors that have seriously limited our ability to maintain what we feel is the essence of the label; the experimental attitude and artistic freewheeling of times past are simply no longer sustainable. Rather than compromise our goals and beliefs, or allow our course to be charted by financial constraint and an industry in flux, we've decided the time has come for GSL to cease releasing new music, and to close this chapter of our story."

10.30.07

Vincent "Don Vito" Margera's fate on two counts of sexual assault is in the hands of the jury. Tuesday saw the presentation of closing arguments, during which Pamela Mackey, an attorney for Margera — Bam's uncle — argued that he had been in his "goofy, outrageous and vulgar" persona during his August 2006 Colorado mall autograph signing, during which he is accused of having groped three young girls. ...

Tony Yayo will stand trial beginning January 10 in connection with the case in which he is alleged to have roughed up the 14-year-old son of Game manager Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond in March. According to Yayo's lawyer, Scott Leemon, the judge combined the cases of Yayo (born Marvin Bernard) and a man known as an "honorary" member of the G-Unit, Lowell "Lodi Mack" Fletcher, who was also allegedly involved in the assualt, but whose relationship to Yayo Leemon declined to discuss. ...

Big brother and little brother teamed up Monday night: Jay-Z made a surprise guest appearance at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston during Kanye West's set at the JAMN 94.5 Monster Jam Concert. Kanye also brought T-Pain — who played his own set earlier in the night — for "Good Life." Lil Wayne, Fabolous, J. Holiday, MIMS and Akon also performed at the concert. ...

Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz broke his foot during the band's performance Sunday night at the Voodoo Music Experience festival in New Orleans. Wentz uploaded a gory close-up photo of his severely bruised and swollen foot to his profile page on FriendsorEnemies.com. "For anyone who was at the Voodoo Fest in New Orleans, you got to see me jump around," he wrote. "Ended up breaking the bone that connects my shin to my foot; no shows will be cancelled. I am currently trying to get a 'rocker' boot so I can have a walking cast. Currently, my foot is the size of a small car. If you see me at a show, come sign my cast." ...

Don't expect to see Britney Spears gracing the cover of Maxim anytime soon — the magazine has ranked her #5 on its list of the Five Unsexiest Women Alive. One slot ahead of her is Madonna, who Spears seems to be emulating these days, and they're followed by Sandra Oh, Amy Winehouse and the list-topper, Sarah Jessica Parker. ... Some people might not find Madge too sexy these days, but according to a new tome, "Madonna: Like an Icon," Tupac Shakur was more than just hot for her in the past — they actually dated. The book's author, Lucy O'Brien, claims the Material Man dated 'Pac for one year in her mid-30s before the rapper's untimely death. O'Brien quotes a friend close to the singer, saying ultimately, the rapper's friends quashed the fling. "She was going out with him," one of Madge's friends said. "But homegirls were saying to [2Pac], 'I can't believe you're going out with a white girl.' " Madonna was then subsequently dumped, according to the book. ...

Linkin Park's outreach project, Music for Relief, has set its sights on a new challenge: helping Southern California recover from the devastating wildfires. The band has contributed $50,000 to Direct Relief International — a Santa Barbara nonprofit that has been providing medical supplies to victims — and the donation was matched by SanDisk Corporation, a flash-data-storage-card company. "The wildfires are an unfathomable tragedy," LP bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell said in a statement. "Being able to help victims of a natural disaster like the wildfires is exactly why Music for Relief was founded." The band is also encouraging its fans to make their own contributions through the Music for Relief Web site. ...

Common's still riding strong with his latest album, the recently released Finding Forever, but while he's looking forward, his former label is looking backward with a new compilation of early cuts. ThisIsMe Then: The Best of Common, being issued by Relativity/ Sony Legacy, compiles 15 songs from 1992-'97 — but the enhanced disc has four video extras too: for "Take It EZ," "I Used to Love H.E.R.," "Retrospect for Life" (featuring Lauryn Hill) and "Invocation." It's set to street November 27. ... The Roc is in the building: Freeway hosted a listening session at S.O.B.'s in New York Monday night for his sophomore set, Free at Last, due November 20. The Philadelphia rapper previewed collaborations with 50 Cent, Rick Ross and Jadakiss, before Beanie Sigel hit the stage with him to perform their Just Blaze-produced classic, "Roc the Mic." ...

Reggae singer Beenie Man was released from a Kingston, Jamaica, jail on $21,000 bail on Monday after appearing in court on tax-evasion charges, according to The Associated Press. Authorities say the singer (born Anthony Moses Davis) owes about $661,000 in overdue taxes in Jamaica. He's due back in court December 3. ... The estate of late rapper Notorious B.I.G. filed a federal court motion on Monday claiming that prison inmate Waymond Anderson, who once implicated a former police officer in the killing of the rapper, was lying when he recently recanted his testimony. AP reports that the motion seeks access to phone and prison visitation records for Anderson, who is serving a life sentence for murder in a separate case. In an August 20 deposition Anderson said he lied about the alleged police involvement as part of a scam involving the slain rapper's family members and attorneys to win a monetary settlement from the city. The estate argued in its filing that the records will discredit Anderson's story and reveal who was behind his "wholesale assault on the truth." ...

A 20th-anniversary edition of the A Very Special Christmas album — featuring performances by No Doubt, Wyclef Jean, Sting, Run-D.M.C., Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and U2 — will be released November 20. The package benefiting the Special Olympics will also feature the first-ever DVD collection of videos in the series' history, including performances from the 1998 and 2000 Christmas at the White House specials. ... Two anti-poverty groups co-founded by Bono, the ONE Campaign and Debt AIDS Trade Africa, will merge their operations in the U.S. to create a single organization that will be known as ONE. Reuters reports that the organization will continue to focus on poverty-relief efforts in Africa and the U.S., according to a statement from Bono, in which he said, "ONE and DATA are two organizations with the same outrage: Extreme, stupid poverty in the 21st century makes no sense when the resources and technology exist to do something about it. ... What makes sense is to harness these two forces into a single organization and redouble our efforts. One goal. One team." And in yet more U2 news, National Geographic Cinema Ventures will release a new film, "U2 3D," in late January. The movie will play in 3-D only, in select theaters worldwide. Filmed in South America during a series of U2 concerts on their Vertigo Tour, the film is the first live-action movie ever shot, produced and exhibited in digital 3-D, and strove to capture the intimacy between the band and its audience. ...

Slayer and Halloween are a match made in hell, and this year the metal titans have partnered with MySpace to spook fans into buying their new concert DVD, "The Unholy Alliance - Chapter II: Preaching to the Perverted," which also features performances by Lamb of God, Mastodon and more. One of the clips from the DVD, Slayer's performance of their Grammy-winning song "Eyes of the Insane," will stream all day on MySpace TV on Wednesday. ... SoLow.com, which rewards visitors for making the lowest unique bid for prizes it offers, is giving one lucky fan a chance to spend Thanksgiving with the Osbournes. The winner will also get tickets to Ozzy Osbourne's concert in San Diego, as well as a few hundred bucks in cash and a hotel room in Los Angeles. ... Tom Cruise, meet the Sex Pistols. The actor and the notorious punk-rock legends are both slated to appear — and perform, in the case of the Pistols — on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Tuesday night (October 30). Republican presidential hopeful Representative Ron Paul rounds out the odd lineup. ... Forbes has released its list of the top-earning dead celebrities, and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain no longer sits at #1 — that spot now belongs once again to Elvis Presley — the King's estate generated $49 million in the past year, while Cobain's name doesn't even make the list. At #2 is John Lennon, whose drew $44 million in 2007, while fellow Beatle George Harrison takes #4 with $22 million. Other musicians on the list include Tupac Shakur at #8 with $9 million and James Brown at #11 with $5 million. Bob Marley is at #12, having made $4 million this year. ...

In the end, nobody at the University of Florida got zapped. Andrew Meyer, of "Don't tase me, bro" fame, will not face any criminal charges for disrupting an appearance by Senator John Kerry at the university, according to AP. And the two police officers suspended while state officials investigated the incident — which became an instant viral phenomenon that spawned remixes, T-shirts and a short-lived cultural catchphrase — have been reinstated after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concluded that they acted properly when they tased the 21-year-old. ... If it's good enough for Radiohead, it's good enough for Paste. For the next two weeks, the music magazine will be offering one-year subscriptions to readers for whatever price they decide to pay. There's a minimum payment of $1, but anyone who ponies up more than the $19.95 the magazine typically charges for a year will be thanked in print in a future issue. ...

It's a long way from "Gangsta's Paradise" to "Oh!" but Coolio is willing to make the trip. The rapper has signed on to appear in a reality show called "Coolio & the Gang" for the women's cable network Oxygen that will begin airing in the second quarter of 2008, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The program will follow the Grammy-winning MC as he raises six teens by himself while trying to maintain his rap career and launch a clothing line in what is described as a real-life version of "My Three Sons." ... The Who are about to launch a subscription service for serious fans, who will get access to a huge library of video and audio content for $50 a month. According to a post on the band's Web site, beginning Monday, superfans will get a free, exclusive double-CD (View From a Backstage Pass) of live performances from 1969-'76 that will not be available in stores, a personalized Who e-mail address, discounts in the Who store, exclusive full-length videos, and streaming and paid download access to every Who song ever recorded.

Pierce Brosnan is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for alleged battery stemming from an incident that happened at a mall in Malibu, California, on Friday, TMZ reports. Robert Rosen, a photographer, claims that after he complimented Brosnan on his James Bond films, the actor began cursing and hit Rosen in the ribs. In response, Rosen kicked the actor, he claims.

Entertainment legend Robert Goulet died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital, AP reports. Goulet, who was 73, had been awaiting a lung transplant after discovering last month that he had acquired a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis. The self-deprecating Goulet was a Broadway star, Grammy Award-winning singer, TV show host and actor, appearing toward the end of his career in films like "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear," "Beetlejuice" and "Toy Story 2" (he voiced Wheezy the Penguin).

• Britney Spears' Ongoing Saga: What's Next?

• Lil Wayne
• Tony Yayo
• Game
• 50 Cent
• Britney Spears

Gwen Stefani
Photo: Michael Buckner/AMA/Getty Images

Gwen Stefani won't be showing much skin in Malaysia, thanks to Muslim students opposed to the singer wearing sexy outfits at her August 21 performance in the country, The Associated Press reports. Responding to charges from the National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students, Stefani "will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities," reads a statement issued by show organizer Maxis Communications Bhd. The company hopes to attract 9,000 people to the show. ...

Christina Aguilera has nixed the last two shows on her Back to Basics tour. The gigs were slated for Thursday (August 2) and Friday in Auckland, New Zealand. The singer, who has been under the weather with the flu, issued a statement similar to the one she sent out after canceling a pair of shows in Australia earlier in the week: "This is my first time in your beautiful country, and I have really been looking forward to performing for you all. Unfortunately, I caught a bad flu virus and I have not been able to recover in time. Thank you all for your continued love and support, and I can't wait for the next time." ...

Common was joined by Swizz Beatz, Solange Knowles and De La Soul Wednesday night as the rapper celebrated the release of his new album, Finding Forever, at Marquee in New York. The party made it two nights in a row for Com: Tuesday in Los Angeles, Tracee Ellis Ross, Lauren London and Serena Williams came out to support his Cali album-release party. ...

Nicole Richie is looking more like her "Simple Life" co-star Paris Hilton every day — the pregnant socialite will serve her time at the same jail where Hilton was two months ago, People reports. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told the magazine that Richie's request to spend four days at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, will be honored. Richie had asked the Sheriff's Department to spend her jail time in county lockup rather than city jail via a request submitted by her lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley earlier this week, AP reported. Holley didn't provide any additional details to the news outlet, including when the socialite would surrender to start her sentence, which must be finished by September 28. The Sheriff's Department spokesperson did not reveal her expected surrender date to People either. ...

In related news, Richie told ABC's Diane Sawyer that she's already a changed person. "I would really want to be someone my child would look up to," the pregnant socialite said in the interview, the first part of which aired Thursday on "Good Morning America." Richie added that her four-day sentence has left her "afraid of the unknown," but, "This is my way ... of being an adult." Good Charlotte's Joel Madden, who was at Richie's side and is the father of her child, said seeing images on TV of children who had been killed by drunk drivers "was our first real parent moment." Madden also revealed that Richie's arrest almost ended their relationship. He said he remembered thinking, " 'This is a great time to walk away' ... 'Nicole, it's been great, but you just freaked me out.' " Instead, he said he went with "my gut ... [Nicole is] a great woman." ...

Chingy, who recently quashed his beef with Ludacris and returned to the Disturbing Tha Peace fold, has split Capitol for Island Def Jam, Billboard.com reports. The rapper's Hate It or Love It is due before the end of the year, and his new DTP single "Celebrity Chicks" will crop up on the collective's Strength in Numbers set, due September 18. ...

Andy Samberg says "Di-- in a Box" pal Justin Timberlake is "obnoxious" — because he can be a hilarious comedian, in addition to everything else he does. "He's brilliant at it, actually," the "SNL" castmember told People about JT's comedic abilities. "It's a little obnoxious. He's really good at what we do — as we are — and also really good at everything else." ... Scholastic reports that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has sold a record-breaking 11.5 million copies in the U.S. in its first 10 days on sale. More than 8.3 million copies of the volume were snatched up within the first 24 hours of its release. ...

"A New Day Has Come" indeed for Celine Dion. The singer plans to enlist Timbaland to produce her next album, which will also reportedly feature cuts from R. Kelly and Ne-Yo, RollingStone.com reports. ... Norah Jones graces a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark" on Herbie Hancock's tribute LP River: The Joni Letters, set to street September 25. Corinne Bailey Rae, Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner and Mitchell herself also chime in on the disc. ...

Nirvana's entire 1991 landmark LP, Nevermind, has been licensed for use in the upcoming Electronic Arts video game "Rock Band." Players will be able to download the album and play along to it with the game, which hits stores November 20. ... Snow Patrol keyboardist Tom Simpson was supposed to stand before a judge in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday, but was a no-show for what was the start of his drug-possession case. No reason was offered for Simpson's absence, but his lawyer did manage to postpone the hearing until August 28. Simpson was arrested last month and charged with cocaine possession back in 2006. ... Jimmy Eat World have set an October 16 release date for their forthcoming album, Chase This Light, which was recorded over a period of about a year in the band's Arizona studio. ...

Brace yourself — Simon Cowell is making a movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The "American Idol" judge's "Fame"-inspired "Star Struck" feature will follow 10 contestants in a fictional TV singing competition. Sound familiar? Like "Idol," open auditions for roles in the film will be held across the U.S. Cowell will produce the flick, which is slated for a summer 2008 release. ... While Cowell is switching from music to the big screen, Scarlett Johansson is heading in the opposite direction — she's ganged up with members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio for her debut album, Lafayette, Louisiana's The Daily Advertiser reports. TVOTR's Dave Sitek is reportedly producing the effort — which doesn't have a title or release date yet — and members of the YYYs and Celebration are set to appear. ...

Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Barry — who made for an unforgettable couple in 2001's "Monster's Ball" — are set to star in another racially charged flick, Variety reports. "Tulia," to be directed by John Singleton ("Boyz N the Hood," "Four Brothers"), will revolve around a small Texas town that drew criticisms of racism in 1999 after blacks were arrested for drugs and later pardoned. ...

Would you like to have your mug appear on the cover of an upcoming Hold Steady single? Well, now's your chance. The band has invited fans to send in scans of photo-booth pictures of themselves, to be considered for inclusion in the cover art for the band's next, yet-unannounced single from 2006's Boys and Girls in America. Check out the Steady's Web site for more details. ... Rob Zombie is gearing up for the September 18 release of his first-ever live album, simply titled Live. The 18-track set was recorded over several nights during Zombie's Educated Horses tour and will contain a 36-page book of never-before-released live pictures, as well as a DVD of live footage and animated videos. ...

The Mars Volta are looking at a tentative September/October release date for their new album, The Bedlam in Goliath. Meanwhile, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez will release a collaborative EP with Lydia Lunch, Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia Lunch, this summer on the Dutch label Willie Anderson Recordings. ... Sean Penn appears to be buddying up with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez over their mutual disapproval of President Bush. AP reports that, in a recent televised speech, the socialist leader welcomed Penn to come to Venezuela, saying, "He's one of the greatest opponents of the Iraq invasion." Chavez also said he has talked with the actor over the phone and will soon meet him in person.

08.01.2007

Maybe the biggest surprise about Beyoncé's spill last week is that it didn't happen sooner. "The easiest part is dancing in the heels. I don't even think about it anymore; it's just second nature," she told The Associated Press in an interview published last week. But, she added, "It is difficult to dance [and] sing at the same time. I have to make sure I'm in shape and I'm hydrated ... I don't want to wear myself out and get exhausted." She also revealed to the outlet that — sorry, Jay-Z — she loves hanging with the ladies. "Everyone is so supportive of each other," she said of her all-female touring band. "We do things together, like yesterday we went skating; I rented out a roller-skating rink for all of us and everybody's families to come. Also, I have eight female dancers and four males ... they are the only men on the tour, I feel bad for them being around all us women!" ...

He's no Rob Schneider, but Nick Cannon will help Hilary Duff with hosting honors at this year's Teen Choice Awards, slated to air August 26 on Fox. Duff, who has earned a pair of surfboards and a heap of nominations in the past, co-hosted with Schneider in 2005. For his own part, Cannon — who hasn't won one of the trophies yet — is up this year for Choice TV Personality. Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and the unstoppable Miley Cyrus are set to appear at the show. ...

Things got pretty hairy for members of New Found Glory early Wednesday morning (August 1) when their tour bus was pulled over by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police and a trash bag full of marijuana, mushrooms and paraphernalia was found onboard. The whole incident went down at roughly 6 a.m., as the band was making its way to a Warped Tour appearance in Cincinnati, when an off-duty Metro officer pulled NFG's bus over because the driver failed to turn off the high beams. Upon approaching the vehicle, a spokesperson for the Metro Police told MTV News that the officer on scene noticed marijuana smoke coming from the bus and called a K-9 unit. The dog was alerted at several areas on the bus and an attached trailer, and the band eventually produced the offending trash bag, which contained more than 30 grams of marijuana, mushrooms and bongs, according to the spokesperson. Police then arrested 30-year-old Declan DeWier — who the band's label, Drive-Thru Records, identified as New Found's drum tech — and charged him with possession. The members of NFG were allowed to continue on to Cincinnati, while DeWier — and the band's bus — remained behind in Indianapolis. NFG's publicist said the band will give its scheduled Warped Tour performance Wednesday and stay on the tour as planned. ...

Despite her flop recording debut, Paris Hilton will sing again. AP reports that Hilton — who has been working on tracks for her second CD — has landed a role in "Repo! The Genetic Opera," a horror rock opera based on a stage musical set in a future where people can buy new organs on an installment plan from the Geneco company ... unless they can't pay up, in which case the organs are repossessed. Hilton will play the fame-seeking daughter of the owner of the company, to be played by Paul Sorvino. Shooting will begin in Canada in September. ... Gabrielle Union, LeToya Luckett and others will help Russell Simmons dish out financial advice via his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's second "Get Your Money Right" summit in Toronto on August 18. The event will cover how to deal with home ownership, bad credit, understanding credit scores and more. ...

Kevin Federline shunning the spotlight? It's true: K-Fed wants to raise his kids so that they can "pretend they're like everyone else," his lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan told AP Tuesday after Federline finalized his divorce with Britney Spears. "When they are with him, he is going to shield his children from unwanted media attention," Kaplan said. "You will not find a picture of Kevin parading with the children out in a public place." ... Melanie Brown announced at a press conference Wednesday that she has filed a paternity petition against Eddie Murphy to legally establish that he is the father of her son. She is also seeking sole custody of the child and asking the court "to decide what is reasonable" in regards to child support. A spokesperson for the actor declined to comment to AP. ...

Phil Spector's daughter testified in her father's defense on Wednesday but was only allowed to confirm that he is right-handed — an assertion that supports previous defense claims that the music producer couldn't have shot actress Lana Clarkson. At a Tuesday conference, the defense decided it would rest early, as it will likely only call a few more witnesses to the stand — Spector not included. Testimony may conclude by August 9, the same day the jury is slated to tour his house. In the meantime, the prosecution will soon begin its rebuttal case. ...

Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has announced an October 30 release date for the upcoming debut album from his Puscifer project. In a statement on the LP, Keenan explained that its title, V Is for Vagina, was his second choice: "C Is for Chinese Democracy was taken." ... Highway to ... cell? Verizon Wireless has snagged the exclusive rights to deliver AC/DC's back catalog in digital form through its V Cast service — well, until March, that is. Listeners will be able to download the band's 18 albums through the V Cast store — but only on PCs — for $12 each, and then sync them to their phones through the V Cast Music Manager.

• Gwen Stefani
• Christina Aguilera
• Common
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Los Abandoned
Photo: Lissa Hahn

Van Nuys es very nice, but it's not paradise/ Dejaste los Andes por el cemento y los swimming pools ...

When Chilean-born Lady P. (Pilar Diaz) of post-punk quartet Los Abandoned sings those lyrics from the band's 2004 single "Van Nuys (Es Very Nice)," she is echoing the sentiments of countless U.S. residents who straddle two cultures.

"It's sort of my childhood lament on being the daughter of an immigrant, and seeing the differences between both countries and asking, 'Why did you leave something as beautiful as the Andes Mountains, as beautiful as the Amazon forest and Machu Picchu, for Van Nuys [California], which is just, like, cement and smog?' "

(See Los Abandoned, Kinky and other bilingual bands speak up in this clip.)

The fact that this playful dig at her second hometown was written in English and Spanish certainly adds to its effect. But Los Abandoned don't limit their bilingual lyrics to any subject matter; like many bands, they also sing about relationships, current events and daily observations, expressing themselves in their music the way they converse every day — bilingually. So do bands like the Mars Volta (see "Mars Volta's Amputechture Inspired By Immigrant Marches, Possessed Nuns"), Los Lonely Boys, Go Betty Go and many others.

This isn't a trend: It's the voice of the United States' growing bilingual population.

"When we first started, [being bilingual] was more like a need for expression," Lady P. said. "But as soon as we started playing live, we started to see an audience that was just like us, who grew up with both languages and goes back and forth between them."

There have been successful bilingual bands in the past — Ozomatli have been bringing audiences their unique combination of hip-hop/funk/Latin beats since the mid-'90s; roots rockers Los Lobos started performing in East L.A. in the late '70s; and there have been several Spanish-language or bilingual hits on the U.S. charts since the '50s (notably the late Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," which became a hit again when Los Lobos covered it in '87). But there's no question that the number of musicians doing it has exploded in recent years.

Dominican-born DJ/producer Nova of the multi-genre outfit Pacha Massive, said, "The Latin community has been growing at such a rate that it's really easy to speak your language."

Pacha Massive bassist Maya, who was born in Colombia, agreed. "It's more socially acceptable to speak slang and Spanglish, and I think that's reflected in music. I mean, music is a reflection of how society is evolving and changing, and that's been something you can see quite clearly — that Latin culture has been socially more accepted in the United States and around the world, and more valued, I think."

As language and cultural barriers have broken down, so has the rigid structure of the music business: The growth of independent labels and the Internet has been a boon to niche artists.

Members of the Monterrey, Mexico, band Kinky said their bilingual fusion of rock and electronica encountered resistance from both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking quarters. "[With] purists of rock en español, if you don't fit with all the rules, you're just out of the picture," said singer Gilberto Cerezo. So a do-it-yourself attitude is key: "You need to use every window that is available for you."

These days, arguably the biggest such window is MySpace. Pacha Massive's Nova has made logging on a part of his morning ritual. "You have your cup of coffee and go to MySpace," he said. "You basically try to respond to as many people as possible and keep trying to make new friends." It's how the Bronx, New York-based group was able to attract fans from as far away as Argentina and Japan.

"[Being bilingual] is a way of living, it's a way of thinking, and it's a way of being," Maya said. "And you can see that at the shows, because people are open and like, 'Wow, this is pretty cool.' "

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