Photo: MTV News

If you hate non-biodegradable Styrofoam packaging as much as I do, well, then today is like spring break, Christmas and your 21st birthday all rolled into one. It's Earth Day, the annual celebration of environmentalism, ecological awareness and, uh, recycling (or something). But, of course, you probably knew that already.

Anyway, if you're like me, you're celebrating Earth Day by churning the compost heap, grilling up seitan patties and — most importantly — recycling some old albums.

And when I say "recycling," I don't mean "using them as coasters" or "trading them in to SecondSpin.com for a copy of 'MLB '09: The Show.' " No, I'm talking about rediscovering some gems that warrant a second chance — albums that, whether it was due to the fickle nature of the scene or your evil college girlfriend stealing them from you, never really got the shine they deserved.

And since this is the final Earth Day of the decade, I've decided to focus on albums from the 2000s. So here are 10 overlooked albums that should be recycled ... and not just because music really is a renewable resource. Consider it as yet another way to think globally (and act locally), only, you know, you don't really have to do anything at all. Every one you listen to will save roughly 10,000 trees and offset your entire family's carbon footprint. Or something like that.

The Glands, S/T (2000): A swoony, spindle-legged indie album from Athens, Georgia, that plays like a tour through the town's musical history (R.E.M.'s jangle, the B-52s' bizarre party-pop, the entire Elephant 6 collective's sun-dappled retro-ism). The brainchild of singer/guitarist/songwriter Ross Shapiro, the Glands' self-titled second album laid the blueprint for the success of acts like the Shins with songs like "Mayflower" and "Livin' Was Easy," and the fact that the band has yet to release a follow-up only adds to its mystique.

Green Day, Warning (2000): After the prom anthem ("Good Riddance") and before the rebirth (American Idiot), which is to say "at the exact time when no one cared about them." Warning is the band's worst-selling album, though it's rather unjustly overlooked. Billie Joe Armstrong's writing is super strong — he really begins his blue-collar period here — and tracks like "Minority" and "Warning" proved that GD could still be plenty snotty when they wanted to.

Modest Mouse, The Moon And Antarctica (2000): The album where Modest Mouse got arty. Not as urgent as The Lonesome Crowded West or as uniting as Good News for People Who Love Bad News, the wandering Antarctica is a conceptual work of sorts, about loneliness and isolation (it's reportedly about the soul-crushing time frontman Isaac Brock spent in seemingly disparate locales like Seattle and Gainesville, Florida). Not exactly listener-friendly — the middle section of the album consists of three songs spanning 17 downward-spiraling minutes — it's where Brock began to mature as a lyricist (and a musician). Uneasy listening at its finest.

Q and Not U, No Kill No Beep Beep (2000): Jagged, art-damaged post-punk from impossibly skinny D.C. kids, this is probably the finest record Dischord released this decade. It's also probably the most overlooked, for reasons I'm not exactly clear on. Songs like "Little Sparkee" and "Y Plus White Girl" bristle with spastic energy, the kind the band would forgo on following albums (2002's Different Damage and '04's Power, both of which are plenty good too). They called it quits a few years back, which is a shame. They'll be missed.

Mewithoutyou, Catch for Us the Foxes (2002): Ignore, if possible, the rather bizarre rantings of frontman Aaron Weiss (who is sort of like a Freegan preacher, if that makes any sense) and focus on the searing guitar work on tracks like "January 1979" and "Paper Hanger," or the slow burn of "The Soviet." Actually, Weiss is really good here too, sounding very much like he's on the verge of mental collapse ... which he actually could be. Sorta Christian-core, kinda post-hardcore, Mewithoutyou have always been indefinable. And this is their most indefinable album. It's also their finest.

Brand New, Deja Entendu (2003): Sure, kids in the scene (whatever that is) can claim this one, but can you? Probably not ... though you probably should. Originally intended as a sort of commentary on the state of modern rock, Deja has become a landmark album of so-called "emo-punk" (even though it's nothing of the sort), thanks to songs like "Sic Transit Gloria ... Glory Fades" and "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light," both of which sound like they could be part of a Fall Out Boy set list today. If you want to trace the evolution of punk from Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come to FOB's From Under the Cork Tree, this is your middle stop.

The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat (2004): A highly conceptual, overlapping work of art-rock (and art-wonk), Boat confounded pretty much everyone who had buzzed about the Furnaces' debut, Gallowsbird's Bark, though it remains one of the decade's greatest accomplishments. Featuring more than 20 instruments, songs that stretch to 10 minutes and lyrical mentions of Damascus and the 1917 World Series, it's an album that deserves to be heard. And debated. And probably misunderstood.

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail Of Dead, Worlds Apart (2005): A total and complete disaster of an album, one that effectively destroyed all the good will Trail of Dead had built with 2002's monumental Source Tags & Codes. The epic World's Apart is a testament to ego and excess, full of chanting choirs, screaming eagles and violin workouts. It also happens to feature thunderous guitars and drums, not to mention one of the greatest album intros of the decade. TOD deserved better than the backlash they got for this.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Some Loud Thunder (2007): Hey, speaking of backlash, this is maybe the most backlashiest album released this decade. From the self-release to the production to the shrillness of "Satan Said Dance," CYHSY went for broke on Thunder, and, well, it broke them. Given a few years, I've grown to appreciate this one, if not for the sheer amount of risks the band took, but for the really great second half, highlighted by songs like "Yankee Go Home" and "Underwater (You and Me)."

Panic at the Disco, Pretty. Odd. (2008): I have a love/hate relationship with this band and this album (and I've written plenty about them/it that falls under either category), but I will just say two things: 1) A year after its release, I still listen to P.O. regularly; and 2) Give this one a decade ... we could have another Pinkerton on our hands.

Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Green Day
• Modest Mouse
• Panic at the Disco
• Brand New
• Mewithoutyou

Fat Joe
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images

Fat Joe is wanted for questioning by police in Miami Beach, Florida, as a witness to a double murder that occurred outside a restaurant in South Beach over the Memorial Day weekend. The police report states that the Terror Squad leader allegedly was in the company of Lessli Paz of New York and Joey Navarro of Florida in a Cadillac Escalade truck when Jermaine "Wufgang" Chamberline approached the vehicle and fired a weapon on the two men, killing them both. However, Jeffrey Lichtman, Fat Joe's attorney, told MTV News: "The cops never contacted Joe directly. I called the cops, I told them he is out of the country on music business, but if they want to speak to him, we will. The police then told me they already apprehended the [alleged perpetrator,] but they may take us up on the offer. And we have not heard back from them since." ...

Harry Potter fans have two fewer days to scratch off on their calendars. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" will be hitting theaters Wednesday, July 11, instead of on July 13, Warner Bros. confirmed to MTV News on Wednesday (May 30). ...

Busta Rhymes, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Eve, Rick Ross and Rich Boy are on the lineup for Boost Mobile's RockCorps concert in Atlanta, scheduled for June 9. Volunteers have until the day of the show to fulfill the commitment required to get into the event, which serves as a thank you to young people making a difference in their communities. Taking Back Sunday will be headlining upcoming events in Portland, Oregon; Houston; Philadelphia; and Chicago. Check out the RockCorps site for volunteer opportunities. ...

Would you share your dreams with Jeezy? What if he could make them come true? The rapper is inviting fans to e-mail their wish (100 words or less) to dreams@corportatethugzent.com. Young Jeezy will review each dream and choose one to fulfill. "If it wasn't for certain people supporting me, I don't think I'd be able to accomplish what I have," Jeezy said in a statement announcing the contest. "That's why I'm doing this for my fans. ... I wanted to show them how thankful I am that they're helping me realize my dreams. For me, this whole contest, and even my career, will make me feel like I've accomplished a lot if I can help someone else realize their dreams too." Submissions will be accepted until June 21, and the winner will be announced July 23. ...

Paula Abdul found her purpose in life on "American Idol," she said in an interview featured in the new issue of OK! magazine. "Being a judge on 'American Idol' overshadows being a Grammy Award winner and selling millions of records," she said. "My purpose is bringing out everybody's best and being that cheerleader to other people's success." Abdul also responded to claims about her sometimes strange behavior on TV, saying, "I'm sick of it. I've never been drunk. I don't do recreational drugs. It's defamation of character." ...

Harry Potter isn't getting expelled from school — school libraries in Gwinnett County, Georgia, that is. The Associated Press reports that a judge on Tuesday upheld a previous decision against Laura Mallory, who had argued that the fiction series is trying to indoctrinate kids into witchcraft. The mother of four, who was not represented by an attorney at the hearing, said she still wants the volumes removed and might take the case to federal court. ...

Rihanna has been added to the Live Earth concert lineup in Tokyo, which will also feature Linkin Park, as previously reported. ... The fallout from Brandy's deadly December 30 car crash continues. In papers filed last Wednesday, the 28-year-old singer sued Mallory Ham — who was cited in a previous suit for alleged reckless and careless driving — contending that Ham caused the accident that resulted in the death of a woman. According to AP, Brandy's suit denies allegations made against her in a previous lawsuit, requests a jury trial and asserts her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Ham filed a countersuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday claiming that Brandy "recklessly, wantonly, unlawfully and maliciously" operated her car. Ham seeks compensation for unspecified medical bills, pain and suffering, legal costs and punitive damages.

Ozzy Osbourne will own #3 on the next Billboard albums chart with his Black Rain — and tells Details that he knows he's fortunate to be around to enjoy the success. "I've been terribly lucky," Osbourne said in the June/July issue. "When I had my ATV accident, I was going not more than three or four miles an hour, and I ended up in a coma for eight days. My heart stopped twice. I don't remember any of it. I went back to the hospital after the accident and the doctors were telling me, 'Your left lung was completely full of blood. You broke your rib, your collarbone, your neck — you're lucky to be alive' " — and for more than just the most obvious reason, the singer explained. "If I had been going 120 miles an hour it would have been a cool way to go — but four miles an hour? Ozzy Osbourne?!' " ...

Pixies frontman Frank Black — or, should we say, Black Francis — will return September 11 with a new album, Bluefinger. The record, which Black will release under his decades-old Francis moniker, features 11 tracks and was recorded when the singer was, as he puts it, "gripped" by the spirit of late Dutch musician and painter Herman Brood. "Thank you Herman. You were at the distant edge of my vision for years when suddenly I was under your influence like a cloud of opium, like the scent of the house of the rising son," Black said in a statement. "Herman Brood did turn me back into Black Francis. Funny how things work out. You just never know." You totally don't, dude. ... iTunes started selling thousands of songs without copyright protection on Wednesday, including tracks by EMI artists Coldplay, Pink Floyd and Norah Jones, AP reports. The iTunes Plus songs do not feature digital-rights management, have a higher sound quality and are priced 30 cents more than typical 99-cent songs. The unrestricted content will allow some iTunes tracks to work on Microsoft's Zune and other portable players. ...

Sorta crunchy/ sorta Christian Philly rockers Mewithoutyou would like to have dinner with you — and 200-300 of your closest friends. On their current headlining tour, which runs until June 29, Mewithoutyou are inviting fans to join them in pre-show potluck dinners — where "two hours before doors [open] fans are invited to the venue to eat and drink and talk and sing and get to know each other." In addition to the food, MWY are encouraging fans to bring "a board game, horseshoes, piñata, song, dance, prayer, juggling pins, unicycle, etc." to the festivities, and want you to know that "they are open to presentation and lesson ideas as well." But the good vibes don't end with the pre-show potlucks: any and all fans "skilled at non-guitar instruments" are invited to join the band onstage during their live set. For more information, check out the band's MySpace page.

5.29.2007

Fantasia will try to show the rest of America what the theater critics have been raving about when she performs June 10 at the Tony Awards. The "American Idol" champ has been lighting up Broadway lately with her starring role in "The Color Purple." ...

Marilyn Manson said he could have collaborated with Eminem — if only the rapper weren't so "over-the-top." "The song he asked me to sing was — and this may sound strange — too misogynistic," Manson told Spin in the magazine's June issue. "It was the one about killing his girlfriend and putting her in a trunk. ... It was too over-the-top for me to associate with. First of all, I don't drive. And I wouldn't put a girl in a trunk; that's where I keep other stuff. That's my dry, deadpan humor kicking in." ...

Justin Timberlake is launching his own record label, a joint venture with Interscope Records, Chairman Jimmy Iovine announced Monday. Timberlake will be chairman and CEO of Tennman Records, distributed by Interscope Geffen A&M. "We are all excited about the talent we have to offer already on our roster, and I cannot wait to introduce the world to my new discoveries," Timberlake said in a statement. Tennman's first signings will be announced in the coming weeks. ...

Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas pleaded not guilty late last week to two counts of misdemeanor pot possession stemming from a DUI arrest in March, according to E! Online. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for June 28. ... Actress Lana Clarkson's death was a homicide, a coroner testified in the trial of Phil Spector on Tuesday (May 29), according to The Associated Press. Dr. Louis Pena said in Los Angeles Superior Court that a gun may have been forced into Clarkson's mouth, causing a bruise, before she was fatally shot. "Something struck the tongue," he testified, adding that she also had bruises on her right arm and wrist. Pena also said Clarkson had no history of depression or suicide attempts. "I found her to be a hopeful person from the notes I read," he said. ...

The Police kicked off their reunion tour in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Monday night, starting the set with "Message in a Bottle" and playing hits including "Roxanne," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and "Walking on the Moon" for the 20,000-strong audience, which included Eddie Vedder and Penélope Cruz, according to a Reuters report. "Since we haven't been together in 25 years, I'd like to introduce the band," Sting joked. "Andy, this is Stewart." The trio ended the show with a performance of "Next to You." ... Think Prince's tour schedule couldn't look — or smell — any weirder? The artist, who has lined up unconventional residencies in London and Los Angeles for later this year, will hype his new 3121 perfume line with a July 7 gig at 4 p.m. on the eighth floor of Macy's in downtown Minneapolis, according to the city's Star Tribune newspaper. Seats to the show will be sold in "Ultimate Prince Xperience" packages, which will run $250 apiece but also feature a ticket to his show at Target Center later that night, as well as two special-edition bottles of his "Eau de Parfum." Prince's new scent for women goes on sale the same day. ...

DMX fans, don't get too excited about that upcoming collection you may have heard about. The Definition of X: Pick of the Litter, due June 12, will be a greatest-hits comp culling 20 tracks from his five Def Jam LPs. ... Tom Morello's Nightwatchman project is hitting the road next month with Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue. The tour kicks off in Dallas on June 17, with gigs booked in Houston (June 18); New Orleans (June 19); Atlanta (June 21); Charlotte, North Carolina (June 22); Vienna, Virginia (June 23); Philadelphia (June 25); New York (June 26); and Cambridge, Massaschusetts (June 27). ... Ryan Adams, Amos Lee, the Meat Puppets and Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood will bulk up the eighth annual Moe.Down, organized by jam band Moe. The gala, which will be held August 31-September 2 at Turin, New York's Snow Ridge Ski Area, will feature Moe performing six sets. ...

Minus the Bear's upcoming LP, Planet of Ice, featuring the lead single "Knights," is due August 21. The band wrapped up a one-month tour with a performance at the Sasquatch! Music Festival on Sunday and is currently planning an extensive tour to support the disc. ... Grab the glow sticks: Klaxons will light up the U.S. by performing in six additional cities in a couple of months: Los Angeles (July 10); San Francisco (July 11); Seattle (July 12); Portland, Oregon (July 13); Chicago (at the Pitchfork Music Festival on July 15); and Minneapolis (July 16). ... The Cult are still conjuring up their first new studio album since 2001's Beyond Good and Evil, but now they've got a new label to issue it through: Roadrunner. The yet-untitled CD, due September 25, is being produced by Primal Scream collaborator Youth and will be released in conjunction with the band's new New Wilderness imprint. ...

Senator Hillary Clinton has narrowed her would-be campaign songs to five choices — including U2's "Beautiful Day" and KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" — and added five write-in contenders to the running, including Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" and the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." Votes are now being accepted at Clinton's campaign Web site. ... Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass was attacked by counter-protesters while taking part in a gay-rights march in Moscow on Sunday, BBC News reports. Fairbrass was detained by Moscow police after he was injured, and told BBC that he felt sorry for the man who hit him. "How threatened can he be, how insecure is he to be threatened by a bisexual pop singer who's most famous for singing 'I'm Too Sexy'?" ... Bo Diddley was released from Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday — where he had been since suffering a stroke May 13 — and is now being treated at Shands Rehab Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, near his home. Diddley is expected to stay at the facility for two weeks and will continue speech and occupational therapy as an outpatient.

• Fantasia Hits Broadway In 'The Color Purple'

• Busta Rhymes
• Young Jeezy
• Rick Ross (Hip-Hop)
• Lil Wayne
• Rihanna

Ludacris' <I>Release Therapy</I>
Photo: Def Jam

Everybody Loves 'Cris: After years pushing the limits of the afro and mimicking Austin Powers, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges is taking a turn toward the serious with his Release Therapy. The rapper takes a seat on the couch, mulling topics like child abuse and politics as Mary J. Blige ("Runaway Love"), Young Jeezy ("Grew Up a Screw Up"), Field Mob ("Ultimate Satisfaction") and Beanie Sigel ("Do Your Time") lift up Luda throughout. He does lighten up a little, though, on the Pharrell-produced "Girls Gone Wild."

Jackson Action: She's up against country hero Alan Jackson and his Like Red on a Rose and R&B crooner Freddie Jackson and his Transitions, but Janet hopes to edge them out with her own new album, 20 Y.O. With a five-part saga that includes the intro, three interludes and the outro, Janet manages to squeeze in 11 additional cuts, like "Get It Out Me," "Show Me" and "Do It 2 Me." The special edition boasts a bonus DVD with dance auditions, in-the-studio material and the making of the "Call on Me" clip.

Christmas in September: Aly & AJ get a jumpstart on the holiday-album thing with this week's Acoustic Hearts of Winter, which may or may not wind up being as successful as Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, being reissued today. The sparkly CD has "Greatest Time of Year," which will also be on "The Santa Clause 3" soundtrack, plus "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Little Drummer Boy" and "Joy to the World."

Oh Brother: Horns, accordions and organ make their way onto Brother, Sister, the second offering from hippie Christians Mewithoutyou. Fans who preordered at Interpunk.com got an exclusive T-shirt, but everybody can get their ears on "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains," "Brownish Spider" and "In a Sweater Poorly Knit." Ex-Sunny Day Real Estate singer Jeremy Enigk joins them for two tracks, and Seattle's favorite producer, Brad Wood, twiddles the knobs.

Oh Sister: Scissor Sisters are loading up ardent fans with even more gifts with the deluxe edition of their Ta-Dah — it's got a bonus six-song CD with a demo, remix and four more tunes. Both versions find the burlesquers hailing "Paul McCartney" and declaring "She's My Man" and "Everybody Wants the Same Thing."

Weird Science: Leave it to "Weird Al" Yankovic to brew up good-natured send-ups of familiar Green Day, Chamillionaire and R. Kelly cuts. Straight Outta Lynwood, his first LP in three years, is a DualDisc frothing over with two stereo mixes, instrumental-only versions of all 12 tracks, an onscreen lyrics option, nine behind-the-scenes clips and six new videos. Now that's straight-up.

Breaking Their Silence: In case you missed them at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, the Warped Tour or MTV's very own "You Hear It First" series, this week will be your chance to hear electro wizards Mute Math.The New Orleanians' record is actually a joint effort between their own label Teleprompt and Warner Bros., an unlikely deal that should probably benefit both sides, seeing as how the band has sold more than 45,000 CDs on their own so far. The first 25,000 copies are slapped with a bonus live EP that has six songs — do the math.

Curse of the Bandino: Have enough Dave Matthews Band live albums but not enough sports memorabilia? Make an excuse for yourself with Fenway Park, Boston MA, July 7-8, 2006, a quadro-CD set that brims with a whopping 38 tracks over four discs. Copies ordered through the Live Trax 6 store will have a sticker commemorating the event, plus the chance to win a Red Sox jersey signed by Matthews.

Morning Glory: Cameron Crowe faves and former Boston Pops collaborators My Morning Jacket remind us what makes their live shows so memorable with Okonokos: Double Live Album, mixed by Bob Dylan buddy Michael Brauer and mastered by the legendary Bob Ludwig. The set actually precedes a more comprehensive document of MMJ's explosive concert. Let the press-release description do the talking: "Inspired by a fairytale-like performance in Tokyo, the band decided to adorn their mysterious set with qualities akin to an old growth forest, capturing the essence of a timeless, nameless, anonymous place. The theme of straddling the line between the surreal and the actual is introduced at the film's prologue when a cast of characters draped in Victorian-era costume, along with one alpaca, are introduced." Right on.

Song Title of the Week:

"Polyester Meth Zeus" from Velvet Acid Christ's Lust for Blood

Other Notables:

Botch's Unifying Themes Redux: Botch gave birth to These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear and Roy, but the Seattle hardcore heathens are being judged by their own merits on this LP, the first in a series of discs culling the band's archives. Unreleased tunes, comp-only tracks and other rarities flesh out the set.

Ladyfinger (ne)'s Heavy Hands: The Omaha, Nebraska, group — who use that (ne) at the end of its name, just so you don't forget — drop a new disc on (where else?) Saddle Creek Records of Bright Eyes and Faint note. Speaking of which, Ladyfinger share members with the Faint, Mayday and the lesser-known Race for Titles and Bleeders for Treats. So if you dig that stuff, look no further.

Lucero's Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers: David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven fame stepped behind the boards to document this, the fifth opus by the soothing Memphis, Tennessee, band. Organs and pianos seep onto songs like "What Else Would You Have Me Be?," "I Can Get Us Out of Here" and "She's Just That Kinda Girl."

New Releases:

• Adem - Love and Other Planets (Domino)

Buy Now: Love and Other Planets (Domino)

• Airpushers - Themes for the Ordinarily Strange ... (Sarathan)

Buy Now: Acoustic Hearts of Winter (Sarathan)

• Aly & AJ - Acoustic Hearts of Winter (Hollywood)

Buy Now: Acoustic Hearts of Winter (Hollywood)

• Arma Secreta - A Century's Remains (Rithmetic)
• As Tall as Lions - As Tall as Lions (Triple Crown)

Buy Now: As Tall as Lions (Triple Crown)

• Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals Starvation League - Longest Meow (Bloodshot)

Buy Now: Longest Meow (Bloodshot)

• Jay Bennett - The Magnificent Defeat (Rykodisc)

Buy Now: The Magnificent Defeat (Rykodisc)

• Tony Bennett - Duets: An American Classic (Columbia)

Buy Now: Duets: An American Classic (Columbia)

• Bridges and Powerlines - Bridges and Powerlines (self-released EP)
• Brothermandude - Brothermandude (Adrenaline)
• Solomon Burke - Nashville (Shout! Factory)
• By the Tree - World on Fire (Fervent)

Buy Now: World on Fire (Fervent)

• Richard Cheese - Silent Nightclub (Surfdog)
• Mark Chesnutt - Heard It in a Love Song (CBUJ)
• Natalie Cole - Leavin' (Verve)
• Al Di Meola - Consequence of Chaos (Telarc)

Buy Now: Consequence of Chaos (Telarc)

• Dirty Projectors - New Attitude (Marriage)
• Enigma - A Posteriori (Virgin)

Buy Now: A Posteriori (Virgin)

• Escape the Fate - Dying Is Your Last Fashion (Epitaph)
• Dizzy Gillespie's All-Star Big Band - Dizzy's Business (MCG Jazz)
• Amy Grant - Time Again ... Live (Word)
• Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton - Knives Don't Have Your Back (digipak; Last Gang)
• Hedley - Hedley (enhanced; Capitol)
• Honeycut - The Day I Turned To Glass (Quannum)

Buy Now: The Day I Turned To Glass (Quannum)

• Vanessa Hudgens - V (Hollywood)
• Alan Jackson - Like Red on a Rose (Arista)

Buy Now: Like Red on a Rose (Arista)

• Freddie Jackson - Transitions (Orpheus)

Buy Now: Transitions (Orpheus)

• Janet Jackson - 20 Y.O. (Virgin)
  Read: "Jermaine Dupri Promises Mariah, Janet Duet On New Album"

Buy Now: 20 Y.O. (Virgin)

• Boney James - Shine (Concord)
• Keith Jarrett - The Carnegie Hall Concert (two CDs; ECM)

Buy Now: The Carnegie Hall Concert (ECM)

• Jupiter Rising - Jupiter Rising (Chime)
• Kaskade - Love Mysterious (Ultra)
• Eric Klinger - The Book of Mourning (Da' Core)
• Ladyfinger (ne) - Heavy Hands (Saddle Creek)
• The Lemonheads - The Lemonheads (Vagrant)

Buy Now: The Lemonheads (Vagrant)

• Jeffrey Lewis - City & Eastern Songs (Rough Trade)
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing (Artist First)
• Michael Lington - A Song for You (Rendezvous)
• Lucero - Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers (Liberty & Lament)

Buy Now: Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers (Liberty & Lament)

• Ludacris - Release Therapy (Def Jam)
  Read: "Therapy Session: Ludacris Previews New LP, Shows Off Home Studio"

Buy Now: Release Therapy (Def Jam)

• Dave Matthews Band - Fenway Park, Boston MA, July 7-8, 2006 (four CDs; RCA)
• Paul McCartney - Ecce Cor Meum (EMI Classics)
• Audra McDonald - Build a Bridge (Nonesuch)
• Stephanie McKay - Stephanie McKay (EP; Astralwerks)
• Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood - Out Louder (Indirecto)
• Mewithoutyou - Brother, Sister (Tooth & Nail)
  Read: "Mewithoutyou Confront Rock's Limitations: 'You Can't Give People Hugs In A CD' "
• Travis Mitchell Band - Forget What's Wrong (Rock Ridge)
• Stanton Moore - III (Telarc)
• Mute Math - Mute Math (Teleprompt/ Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Electro-Poppers Mute Math Work Hard To Bring Back The Keytar"
• My Morning Jacket - Okonokos: Double Live Album (ATO/RCA)
• Nina Nastasia - On Leaving (Fatcat)
• NewFound Road - Life in a Song (Rounder)
• Only Son - The Drop to the Top (Cassette)
• Oohlas - Best Stop Pop (Stolen Transmission)
  Read: "Oohlas Have Spastic Frontwoman, Ex-Everclear Drummer — Is Fame On The Way?"
• Cale Parks - Illuminated Manuscript (Polyvinyl)
• Rhapsody of Fire - Triumph of Agony (special edition; Steamhammer)
• Samiam - Whatever's Got You Down (Hopeless)
• Saosin - Saosin (Capitol)
• Mark Schultz - Broken & Beautiful (Word)
• Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah (deluxe edition due same day; Motown Universal)
• Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - Living Like a Refugee (digipak; Anti)
• Sol.iLLaquists of Sound - As If We Existed (Anti)
• Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Years in the Belly of a Mountain (Astralwerks)
• Mario Vazquez - Mario Vazquez (Arista)
  Read: " 'Idol' Dropout Mario Vazquez Shows 'Grittier' Side On Debut, Hopes For Spot On Christina Tour"
• Velvet Acid Christ - Lust for Blood (Metropolis)
• Paul Westerberg - "Open Season" soundtrack (Lost Highway)
• Westbound Train - Transitions (digipak; Hellcat)
• Wolf Eyes - Human Animal (digipak; Sub Pop)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood (DualDisc; Jive)
• Richie Zito Project - Avalon (Frontiers)
• Various artists - Think Global: West Arica Unwired (World Music Network)
• Various artists - Why the Hell Not ... The Songs of Kinky Friedman (Sustain)
• Various artists - "Dora's World Adventure!" soundtrack (Nick)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Tori Amos - A Piano: The Collection (five CDs; Rhino)
• The Black Crowes - The Lost Crowes (two CDs; Rhino)
• Tommy Bolan - Whips & Roses II (Steamhammer)
• Botch - Unifying Themes Revisited (Hydra Head)
• The Byrds - There Is a Season (box set with four CDs and one DVD; Columbia/Legacy)
• Farmer Jason - A Day at the Farm With Farmer Jason and Rockin' in the Forest With Farmer Jason (Rhino)
• Fear Factory - The Best of Fear Factory (Roadrunner)
• Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas (Capitol)
• Jerry Garcia - The Very Best of Jerry Garcia (two CDs; Rhino/ J. Garcia)
• David Gray - Sell Sell Sell (Nettwork)
• George Harrison - Living in the Material World (limited-edition version with DVD due same day; Capitol)
• Holy Moses - Finished With the Dogs (Locomotive)
• Ill Niño - The Best of Ill Niño (Roadrunner)
• Waylon Jennings - Nashville Rebel (four-CD box set; RCA Nashville/ Legacy)
• John Lennon - "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon" soundtrack (Capitol)
• Little Feat - The Best of Little Feat (Rhino)
• Ziggy Marley - Love Is My Religion (Cooking Vinyl)
• Sarah McLachlan - Mirrorball: The Complete Concert (two CDs; Arista/Legacy)
• Steve Reich - Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective (five-CD box set; Nonesuch)
• Sepultura - The Best of Sepultura (Roadrunner)
• Type O Negative - The Best of Type O Negative (Roadrunner)
• Fats Waller - If You Have to Ask, You Ain't Got It (three CDs; Bluebird/Legacy)

Music DVDs:

• Depeche Mode - "Touring the Angel: Live in Milan" (with bonus CD; Reprise)
• Dwarves - "Fefu: The DVD - Special Edition Director's Cut" (Music Video Distributors)
• Hot Tuna - "25 Years and Runnin': Live at Sweetwater" (Vestapol)
• Isis - "Clearing the Eye" (Ipecac)
• Buddy Rich - "Jazz Icons: Live in '78" (TDK)
• Seven Witches - "Years of the Witch" (Screaming Ferret)

Coming Attractions:

October 3:

• Beck - The Information (Geffen)
  Read: "Beck Giving Fans Sticky Fingers With Quasi-Hip-Hop Album"
• Evanescence - The Open Door (Wind-Up)
  Read: "Amy Lee Says New Evanescence LP Has More Sensuality"
• Killers - Sam's Town (Island)
  Read: "Killers Album Preview: Massive Sound, Epic Ballads, Big Ideas Fill Sam's Town"

• The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes (V2)
• Rod Stewart - Still the Same ... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (J)
• Various artists - "American Hardcore - The History of American Punk Rock (1980-1986)" soundtrack (Rhino)

• C-Murder - The Tru Story ... Continued (limited-edition version with DVD and bonus tracks; Koch)
• Glenn Danzig - Black Aria II (Megaforce)
  Read: "Glenn Danzig Preps 'Final' Tour, Film, Box Set And, Uh, Dolls"
• Xzibit - Full Circle (Koch)
  Read: "Xzibit's An Indie Rapper Again, With Game And Quik In Tow"

• Ludacris
• Janet Jackson
• Aly & AJ
• Mewithoutyou
• Scissor Sisters

NOFX's Fat Mike at Warped Tour in Uniondale, New York, on Saturday
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

For most bands, landing a coveted slot on the Warped Tour is like finding a golden ticket. But this year, bands have been dropping off the annual summer tour's 11th installment like flies.

From First to Last bolted just three weeks into the festival so frontman Sonny Moore could undergo surgery to remove a nodule on his vocal cords (see "From First To Last Singer Dispels More Rumors, Reveals Why Band Left Warped").

Then, Gatsby's American Dream dropped out. "There's no juicy gossip to report, we just need a break to be with our families at this time," the band said in a statement.

Next, it was Christian-leaning rockers Underoath, who bailed late in July, saying they needed to resolve some internal issues. "We're deeply frustrated and sorry for any inconvenience this has caused," the band said in a statement. "We felt it necessary to take some immediate time to focus on our friendship, as that's more important than risking it for the sake of touring at this time."

However, many have noted that the band was on the receiving end of a persistent string of gibes from NOFX frontman Fat Mike. Underoath did not grant MTV News' requests for an interview.

Earlier this week, Mewithoutyou announced that they, too, were leaving Warped, citing much-needed tour-bus repairs — the bandmembers, who bring their families on tour, travel in a special vegetable-oil-fueled bus (see "Mewithoutyou: Not Your Average Christian, Vegetable-Oil-Fueled, Flower-Flinging Rockers") — as well as frontman Aaron Weiss' lingering throat malaise.

"No bus, no touring — pretty simple math," they reasoned in a statement. The band's manager told MTV News that the band was playing on the SmartPunk stage (for which acts are not paid) and, after the bus issues, simply couldn't afford to continue the tour.

And then there were Spitalfield, who on Wednesday — with just five dates remaining before Warped '06's Sunday finale in Montreal — dropped out as well. Frontman Mark Rose told MTV News that guitarist Dan Lowder will be leaving the band in the fall.

"With our new record slated for an October 3 release, we were forced to face [replacing Lowder] right when the record came out or canceling a string of shows to get home and begin rehearsing with a fill-in guitar player," he said. The band chose the latter option.

"Spitalfield have been trying to get on the Warped Tour for four years," he added. "It's really disappointing to not be able to finish the dates on such a high-profile tour."

Later that day, gypsy-punk act Gogol Bordello dropped off, citing drummer Eliot Ferguson's need to seek medical treatment for cellulitis in his arm.

Those are all valid reasons for why Warped has had more bands drop out this year than in any other during its 11-year history.

Yet members of some bands say there is definitely a higher level of tension on this year's trek. While some blame the summer's sweltering temperatures and the pressures of spending two long, grueling months on the road, others say there's an old-punks-vs.-new-punks battle that has resulted in tension between bands.

Fat Mike, who has spent eight of the last 11 summers on Warped with both NOFX and cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, says the tension is due to all of the above.

"The thing is, a lot of bands sign up for this, and they have no idea what it's about, and how difficult it is if you're a smaller band," he said. "If you have to do this tour in a van, it's really, really difficult. Our whole goal on this tour is to have as much fun as we possibly can — that's what it's all about, so if you can [accomplish] that, it's a really great tour.

"A lot of bands are here to further their careers," he continued, "and that's not going to happen. You think a band goes on the Warped Tour and suddenly they get big? It's going to happen to somebody, but it doesn't make your career. There are 100 bands on the tour — with so many choices, the only people who are going to watch you are the people who [already] like you."

He went on to say that attitudes definitely have played a role. "From First to Last came on the tour like total rock stars, and everyone alienated them," he said. "And they were gone in a week or two."

Mike also admits that his constant mocking of Underoath got to them, but he doesn't think it was a reason for them to pull out of Warped. He attended one of the band's Bible-study sessions as a joke but claims he was nothing if not respectful.

"I didn't help their cause at all, but I wasn't the main reason either," he said. "They're a weird band. I was going to go after them as soon as I found out they were on the tour."

The no-longer-so-fat Mike also says he witnessed several of the younger bands on the tour copping what he called "rock star" attitudes because "they have a hit record that sells a few hundred thousand copies and they think everyone's there to see them. The older bands, we really don't care. We're just happy to still be around."

Thursday's Geoff Rickly, who is about to finish his third Warped, says the friction largely amounts to a battle between the old school and new school.

"The number of younger bands is much higher, and they seem to think they're the sh-- and all the older bands are has-beens or whatever," he explained. "I think there's an attitude of entitlement. Like, 'All these old bands don't even sell the amount of records we sell' and 'We should maybe be getting better slots' and 'We're the new sh--.' I kind of get that attitude from some of the younger bands, and that's too bad, I think. They don't even realize that when a band works hard for 10 years, there's a reason why they get respect. Just because you write a few pop songs and maybe get on the radio, you're not necessarily given the world."

While he says he's noticed tension between bands on every tour Thursday have ever done, the strain between some of this year's Warped bands is much more intense.

"I think there's, like, two sides to the tour, and those sides are tense with each other," he said. "There are the young, scream-y bands and the old punk-rock bands, and there are only a few bands that can float through both worlds, like us and Rise Against and Anti-Flag. I think, in general, the old guys are like, 'Dude, all these young punks think they know everything,' and all the young bands are like, 'Dude, all these old guys, all they care about is themselves, and they don't want to support anything new.' Each of them has a little bit of truth, and it's also a little bit overblown in their own heads. It just makes it a little tenser than it needs to be, I guess.

"There's been a lot of drama on the tour this year," he added. "The Warped Tour is just a pressure cooker because it's hot and long and seems like it never ends — it's 50 shows in 60 days. I think it pushes bands to a point that they're not quite ready to be at."

Some of that drama took place between Less Than Jake and Every Time I Die, after the long-running ska band mocked the screaming singing style of ETID's Keith Buckley — in ETID's hometown of Buffalo, New York, no less. Buckley responded by calling the band "washed-up."

"It's not going to stress me out," Buckley said. "I know they said something about us and we said something about them. When they found out we retaliated, they said, 'We didn't mean to upset anybody, we're just joking around.' And that's fine, but it's not like we know each other — I don't know them well enough to be joking around like that. All I know is they're making fun of us, and I had to say something back. But I guess once I said something back, they realized it was getting a little too out of control."

The beef has become so widespread that some bands on the tour are even parodying it. Fans hit various punk message boards to discuss comments Silverstein and Motion City Soundtrack were trading onstage — but according to drummer Paul Koehler of three-time Warped act Silverstein, it was all a joke intended to get people to lighten up.

"We did it because, here's all this other drama that's real on the tour, which people seem to be obsessed with, and we wanted to blow this thing up," Koehler said. "We'd make fun of each other's bands onstage, and we even wore T-shirts that said 'Motion Sh---y Soundtrack.' We came clean about it and told the kids not to believe everything they read on the Internet. That was the point we were trying to make, that all the drama on Warped is nonsense. It should just be about seeing good bands and having a good time."

Motion City frontman Justin Pierre said most of the bands on Warped need to loosen up, and should let barbs from the likes of Fat Mike roll off their backs.

"Fat Mike likes to f--- with people, and I don't really have a problem with that," he said. "Underoath and NOFX had a pretty big thing going on back and forth. He would rip on them for saying that everything they do, they do for Christ. But you need to have a sense of humor about things."

For his part, Kevin Lyman, Warped's founder, says that on average he loses three bands each summer, but he hasn't noticed any tension between any of the bands beyond the situation that unfolded between Fat Mike and Underoath.

"The thing with Mike and Underoath really got kind of blown up," he said. "It was more like they both have very strong opinions, and most of it was done in good fun. But Fat Mike tortures everyone — he tortures me all day long. There are a lot of bands out here who are having trouble. I don't like it, but it's been a bizarre year. We've never had a year like this, but there have been reasons why these bands pulled out."

A few years ago, Lyman noted, several bands got into an all-out brawl. "But there's been nothing like that," he said. "Where's this tension? Come into the parking lot. Everyone's having a great time. You have 900 people on the road, so obviously not everyone's going to like each other. There are seven parties every night, and card games.

"Maybe there is tension," he added, laughing. "I think it's the sexual type."

• Pink Spiders, Gym Class Heroes And More At Warped Tour 2006

• From First To Last
• Less Than Jake
• Mewithoutyou
• NOFX
• Thursday

Mewithoutyou
Photo: Tooth and Nail

"You have permission to take everything I say and twist it," Mewithoutyou frontman Aaron Weiss laughed. "Feel free to make me sound like a right-winger nut-job, or some bigot or a rock star with a huge ego. Go ahead — I don't care."

He's not kidding. Weiss really couldn't care less about the ins-and-outs of the music industry — interviews, press photos, videos, tours — and not in an aloof, above-it-all artiste kind of way, either. He doesn't bother with what he describes as "really trivial stuff" because his day-to-day existence is devoted to a higher purpose.

"I want to encourage and give hope, whether it's to people who were born Christian or people who never considered God," he said. "I'm not trying to convert anyone, but I want to tell people how great I feel. That's why my songs aren't just, 'Oh, my girlfriend broke up with me and I'm jealous of her new boyfriend.' I want to tell people God is love. That's my eternal, unchanging reality."

How many lead singers would break out a quote like that? Or casually mention that they won't be making music in a few years because they'd like to sell off all their possessions and give the money to the poor? Not many. In fact, as far as rock frontmen go, Aaron Weiss is pretty much an island unto himself.

"There's only one true motivation behind what I do, and that's love for everybody," he said. "And it's difficult to communicate love through songs — you can't give people hugs in a CD — so there's a tension there. And I feel like that's part of why I do what I do. I want to express things that transcend the music."

Still, he's taking time out of his mission to speak with MTV News on his manager's cell phone (Weiss doesn't own one of his own, or a computer), about his band's new album, Brother, Sister, the follow-up to the group's 2004 breakthrough, Catch for Us the Foxes (see "Mewithoutyou: Not Your Average Christian, Vegetable-Oil-Fueled, Flower-Flinging Rockers").

The new LP, due September 26, is a complex, loud/soft banger that finds MWY partially burying Foxes' discordant racket beneath pianos, accordions, horns and songs about spiders. Produced by Foxes' Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins) and featuring former Sunny Day Real Estate wailer Jeremy Enigk on a pair of tracks, it's a mature disc that pushes the boundaries of what both "progressive hardcore" and "Christian rock" are supposed to be. Which may or may not be a good thing, according to Weiss.

"We're not getting any younger, and I don't want to be 40, jumping around onstage," he said. "We're kind of all into softer music now, and this new album reflects that. There's a tendency to stick with what worked in the past, but honestly, we wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"Of course, if I don't sing about God in a way that Christian bookstores want to hear, then I don't expect to be embraced by that side of the market. And if we don't 'rock' enough, we may not be embraced by kids who liked the last record," he continued. "Either way, I'm just trying to find the things that will bring me contentment in my life."

Still, regardless of subject matter or sonic weirdness, chances are Brother, Sister will continue to build on the momentum Mewithoutyou created with Foxes — especially given the great success of labelmates and fellow Christian rockers Underoath, who scored a #2 debut on the Billboard albums chart last month with Define the Great Line (see "Nelly Furtado's Loose Claims #1; Busta Rhymes' Bang Takes A Big Hit").

"I'm a complete hypocrite. Because of course I want [Brother, Sister] to do well. We all do. We're always trying to feel justified in our parents' eyes, because we're in our late 20s playing in a rock band," Weiss laughed.

"There's talk that we might be on [Conan O'Brien's] radar, and it would be nice to meet Conan. I have these silly ambitions of being on television. But the funny thing is, even if you've just appeared on a show or won an award, the next day you've still got the same problems. All of this is pretty empty. What I'm searching for is some peace."

Track list for Mewithoutyou's Brother, Sister, according to Tooth & Nail Records:

• "Messes of Men"
• "The Dryness and the Rain"
• "Wolf Am I! (and Shadow)"
• "Yellow Spider"
• "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains"
• "Nice and Blue (Part Two)"
• "The Sun and the Moon"
• "Orange Spider"
• "C-Minor"
• "In a Market Dimly Lit"
• "O, Porcupine"
• "Brownish Spider"
• "In a Sweater Poorly Knit"

• Mewithoutyou

Mewithoutyou
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images

For the better part of a year, the guys in Mewithoutyou have been the odd band out. Whether on tour with Coheed and Cambria (on a bill that also included experimental dude-core act Dredg and spazzy noise-rockers the Blood Brothers), or earlier this month at the mtvU Woodie Awards, rubbing elbows with Death Cab for Cutie and Matisyahu, they never seem to fit in.

And it's mostly their fault. After all, they're overtly Christian, they drive a van that runs on vegetable oil and they often shower the stage in flowers during their spastic live sets. They hold pot-luck dinners before each show, sport scraggly, unkempt beards and exude a vaguely culty, hippie-dippie vibe that's waay more off-putting than they probably realize.

Yet despite all that (or maybe because of it), Mewithoutyou have managed to carve out their own little niche on the indie scene, and have achieved a level of success that most bands in their position would kill for. They wowed fans on the Coheed tour and surprised just about everyone by winning the Left Field award at the Woodies (beating out acts like the Arcade Fire and Saul Williams). And they earned heavy rotation on mtvU with their mesmerizing video for the song "January 1979."

But none of it has been easy. In fact, Mewithoutyou have pretty much fought with everyone every step of the way, trying (and usually succeeding) to do things their way, on their terms.

"Some bands are content just to be like, 'Sure, do whatever you want, we'll just show up and play our instruments.' But we've been a pain-in-the-neck kind of band every step of the way," frontman Aaron Weiss laughed. "Whether it was recording, album artwork or T-shirts — whatever's going to be representing our band — we always stick our nose in it and say, 'Well, this isn't the way we want it to be.' And that bothers the people we work with, but in the end, it's not like somebody did a video for us, it's like we all did a video. And maybe we'd be better off if we let someone do everything for us, but then what would we be?"

Nowhere was this struggle for control more evident than on the video shoot for "January 1979," where the band engaged in a battle of wills with director Shane C. Drake. It seems Drake was going for grandiose, arty and obscure, while Mewithoutyou wanted something that captured the kinetic energy of their live show. One look at the finished clip and you'll see who won out.

"There were a lot of weird, artsy, undefined images — kind of like pseudo-modern art that even we didn't understand," guitarist Chris Kleinberg said. "They kind of wanted it to be his 'Losing My Religion,' and we weren't having that."

"He had a really strong vision of what he wanted, and so did we. In the end, we sat down and talked with him about the edit and how it would turn out, he was like, 'OK, you guys are in complete control,' " guitarist Michael Weiss added. "So he ended up being very gracious, and it kind of worked out despite itself."

And the band — which also includes bassist Greg Jehanian and drummer Rickie Mazzotta — has applied that sort of dogged determination to supporting its second album, Catch for Us the Foxes, which hit stores in October of last year. Even before the album was finished, Mewithoutyou were putting the finishing touches on a bus they bought off eBay (and subsequently rebuilt, from the bunks on up to the special vegetable-oil-powered fuel system) and were hitting the road for increasingly long and grueling tours. And when you drive a bus that runs on vegetable oil, you're going to have some maintenance issues, which often means lots of 5 a.m. repair sessions.

"We've basically become mechanics first and musicians second," Kleinberg said. "There have been many, many nights were we've been under the bus trying to fix something, and a lot of times, it's been like, 'OK, time to play.' So you just wipe the grease off your hands and pick up your guitar."

And now all that hard work has begun to pay off. But it's not like the guys in Mewithoutyou are slowing down to enjoy it. They just shot a video for the second single from Foxes, "Paper Hanger," they've got a slew of benefit shows lined up for December and they've begun writing material for a new album, which they'll start recording when they return home to Philadelphia in January. And as for their Woodie Award, well, they've got a special place reserved for that.

"We're going to put it in the window of my dad's barber shop in Philly," Mazzotta laughed. "Business has been kind of slow lately, so we'll just put the award in the window and hopefully it'll bring in the customers."

• Mewithoutyou

Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard performs during the mtvU Woodie Awards on Wednesday
Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images

College life is full of difficult choices: Frisbee on the quad or nickel beer night down at Shooters? Sandals or Aquasocks in the dormitory shower? My Chemical Romance or the Arcade Fire for Woodie of the Year?

While the first two dilemmas remain eternally unsolvable, the third was thankfully answered Wednesday night at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, where MCR took home the top prize at the second-annual mtvU Woodie Awards, voted on by college students across America.

Other big-name artists taking home Woodies included Death Cab for Cutie (for the year's best live-action video), the Gorillaz (best animated clip), Fall Out Boy (best tour) and Motion City Soundtrack (best emerging artist). A host of more obscure acts, including grandiose Brit-rockers Muse, pretty indie angst-poppers the Afters and Christian post-punks mewithoutYou also got some Wood.

But the awards took a backseat on a night filled with surprise guests and killer live sets. Legendary rocker Lou Reed kicked off the show, and then passed the mic to the king of character actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who introduced the evening's first performers: spazzy British noisemakers the Go! Team (see "England's Go! Team To Bring Their Sample-Crazy Sound Stateside In October"). Much-buzzed Hasidic reggae performer Matisyahu premiered "Youth," the first single from his upcoming major-label debut (see "My Chemical Matisyahu? Reggae Rapper Hooks Up With Rock Director Webb") and performed a duet with rapper/actor Saul Williams. Roots-approved hip-hop trio Little Brother busted through a tongue-twisting set, and Death Cab closed the evening with a medley of hits both old ("Title and Registration") and new ("Soul Meets Body.")

	Watch this sneak peak of the mtvU 2005 Woodie Awards before it premieres on mtvU Uber on Nov. 9, only on Overdrive.

Other artists making appearances at the Woodie Awards included Aesop Rock, mewithoutYou, the Like, Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and members of the Arcade Fire, Fall Out Boy and Green Day. Voting took place on mtvU.com.

Voting for the 2005 mtvU Woodie Awards took place on mtvU.com. The Woodies will make their debut November 9 on mtvU Über at mtvU.com, and the show will be broadcast the following night to college campuses across the U.S. on mtvU.

The complete list of winners at the 2005 mtvU Woodie Awards:

• Woodie of the Year (Artist of the Year): My Chemical Romance
• The Breaking Woodie (Best Emerging Artist): Motion City Soundtrack
• Left Field Woodie (Most Original Artist): mewithoutYou
• Best Video Woodie -- Live Action (Best Live Action Video): Death Cab for Cutie - "Title & Registration"
• Best Video Woodie -- Animated (Best Animated Video): Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
• The Good Woodie (Greatest Social Impact): U2's DATA: Debt AIDS Trade Africa
• Road Woodie (Best Tour): Fall Out Boy
• International Woodie (Favorite International Artist Award): Muse
• Alumni Woodie (a.k.a. The You're Still OK in Our Book Award): Green Day
• Streaming Woodie (Most Downloaded): The Afters - "Beautiful Love"

• My Chemical Romance
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Fall Out Boy
• Motion City Soundtrack
• Muse

Woodie Awards 2005 Winners and Presenters

• Lou Reed
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Muse
• Coheed and Cambria
• Mewithoutyou

MTV.com LIVE: mewithoutYou Photos 08.17.2005

• Mewithoutyou