The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne
Photo: Jim Dyson/Getty Images

The annual Austin City Limits Festival unveiled its lineup for this year's edition, and it might just be the only place you'll find Irish soul legend Van Morrison sharing a stage with modern R&B astronauts Gnarls Barkley, or classic rocker Tom Petty on the same bill as rock revivalists the Raconteurs.

With more than 100 acts on the bill for the three day blow-out (September 15-17) at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, the festival has its usual allotment of something for everyone, including sets from the Flaming Lips, Matisyahu, Massive Attack, John Mayer, Ben Harper, the Shins, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, the New Pornographers, Nada Surf, String Cheese Incident, Feist, Phoenix, Goldfrapp, Ween, the Stills, Kings of Leon, Matt Costa and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

"Talent, breadth, and depth. That's what ACL is about — seeing someone that you'll never hear on the radio, or discovering someone new," said one of the event's co-producers Charlie Jones, in a statement. This year's edition will feature 130 bands playing on eight stages.

Also on the roster, according to event organizers: Iron & Wine, Aimee Mann, the Tragically Hip, Gomez, Wolf Parade, Stars, Guster, Sparklehorse, KT Tunstall, Cat Power and the Memphis River Band, Los Lonely Boys, Thievery Corporation, Kasey Chambers, Matt Nathanson, Galactic, Okkervil River, the New Orleans Social Club, Calexico, Son Volt, Explosions in the Sky, Deadboy & the Elephantmen, the Secret Machines, Brazilian Girls, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Los Amigos Invisibles, Murder by Death, Ben Kweller, G. Love & Special Sauce, Damien Rice and the Long Winters.

• Raconteurs
• The Flaming Lips
• Gnarls Barkley
• Tom Petty
• John Mayer

Juvenile's <I>Reality Check</I>
Photo: Atlantic / Wea

Tone Def: Juvenile has no shortage of friends on his latest effort, Reality Check — Ludacris, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, 8Ball, Fat Joe, Bun B, Trey Songz and, more surprisingly, Brian McKnight all make appearances. But the real story behind the New Orleans rapper's release might not be the tracks themselves but what you can do with them: A special feature lets you create ring tones from any part of any song on the record. Which means, in theory, you can have a little piece of "Loose Booty" with you at all times.

Welcome Back, Carter: While Juve is letting his listeners cut up his songs, Lil Wayne has let some producers chop and screw his. Don't get these remixes confused with the chopped-and-screwed ones that came with the deluxe edition of Tha Carter, Vol. 2; those were alternate takes of songs released before that album, while these all pertain to Carter 2 and run in the same order as the LP.

New Matis? Yahoo!: Youth, the latest effort by Hasidic rapper Matthew Miller (a.k.a. Matisyahu), comes in three shapes and sizes: the standard release, produced by NYC avant-garde guru Bill Laswell and containing 13 tracks; Youth Dub, a limited disc that came with preorders of the album and features eight dub mixes plus two new songs; and the DualDisc version, with videos and behind-the-scenes treats, due at a later date.

Not-So-Public Enemy: Public Enemy have been doing the indie thing for a little while, but with their new one, they're delving even deeper into obscurity. Rebirth of a Nation is coming out on Guerrilla Funk Recordings, a label that "counters the corporate stranglehold of censorship currently plaguing the entertainment industry." Its owner, Paris — the politically conscious rapper behind "Bush Killa" — essentially co-authors the new PE record, producing it and appearing on songs like "Make It Hardcore," "Hannibal Lecture" and "Hard Truth Soldiers." MC Ren, Sister Souljah and Dead Prez also help with the Rebirth.

Making The Rounds: Do you smell a hippie? You must be near a record store, then, because they're hitting them in droves this week. Five Grateful Dead albums are getting deluxe-reissue treatment, gifting fans with bonus tracks, splendid packaging and more. Also on the bohemian front, Dead amigo David Grisman has produced Mike Compton and David Long's Stomp, while jam master John Medeski has written the liner notes for 70-year-old pianist Ran Blake's All That Is Tied.

His troupe Medeski, Martin & Wood, in the meantime, take part on the Herb Alpert mash-up record Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped, also featuring Ozomatli and Thievery Corporation. There's only one stranger mash-up due this week, and that's "Rapture Riders," a collision of Blondie's "Rapture:" and the Doors' "Riders on the Storm," which surfaces on Blondie's Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision collection.

Another MMW agent, bassist Chris Wood, has his hands full with the Wood Brothers, a project pairing him with brother Oliver Wood. Oh, and speaking of brothers, they're a topic of conversation this week too: Ted Leo's brother Chris is trotting out the second effort by his Vague Angels, Let's Duke It Out at Kilkenny Katz; and Ray Davies, the Kinks leader who put out a new album a couple of weeks ago, is seeing his long-running feud with brother Dave Davies reignited this week when Dave releases his Kinked collection.

Song Titles of the Week:

"Too-Rai-Skippery-Dappery Day" and "Just Blow, Don Quixote! Blow!" from Vague Angels' Let's Duke It Out at Kilkenny Katz

Other Notables:

Bad Religion's "Live at the Palladium" and the Casualties' "Can't Stop Us" DVDs: Cobbling together live footage from Hollywood's historic punk venue as well as rare performances, TV appearances, interviews and the like, Bad Religion had every reason to promote their new visual item with a special screening and autograph session at Virgin Records in Tinsel Town. Unlike BR, the Casualties haven't been around for 20 years, but they've got plenty of punk spirit, as shown in their gritty disc, which proudly advertises footage of "riots, riots and more riots." The footage is derived from gigs in Mexico and Japan and has 20 leather-clad clips.

Mogwai's Mr. Beast and Goldfrapp's Supernature: Glasgow's Mogwai are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, and maybe not coincidentally they're breathing some new life into their younger, louder selves with Mr. Beast. Limited copies are bundled in hard-book deluxe package and come with a bonus DVD. Another Brit, singer/composer Allison Goldfrapp, has a similar game plan: The deluxe version of her latest has a DVD bristling with videos, documentary footage, a performance film and more. As the first track on her album says, "Ooh La La."

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness' Fear Is on Our Side and Revolting Cocks' Cocked and Loaded: You've heard the name, now finally you can hear the album. Instead of Spoon's Britt Daniel, who produced the band's initial EP, ILYBICD went instead with Paul Barker, who's worked with Ministry and the Revolting Cocks. Speaking of which (see where this is going?), the latest by the Cocks (led by Ministry's Al Jourgensen) attracted two Gibbies — ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons and Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers — plus Jello Biafra and members of Cheap Trick. Leave it to Al to do it up right.

New Releases:

• Agency - Agency (digipak; Aeria)
• Big Al Anderson - After Hours (Sony Legacy)
• Architects - Revenge (SideCho)
• Balli - New Blood - The D.N.A. (Black Five)
• The Bamboos - Step It Up (Ubiquity)
• Warren Barfield - Reach (Reunion)
• Bitter:Sweet - The Mating Game (Quango)
• The Black Dove - The Black Dove (Tompkins Square)
• Ran Blake - All That Is Tied (digipak; Tompkins Square)
• Blush - From the Falls to the Path (Rust)
• Boom Boom Satellites - Full of Elevating Pleasures (Tofu)
• Buzzcocks - Flat-Pack Philosophy (Cooking Vinyl)
• Caedmon's Call - In the Company of Angels II - The World Will Sing (Brentwood)
• Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas (V2)
  Buy Now: Ballad of the Broken Seas (V2)
• Larry Carlton - Fire Wire (RCA)
• Caroline - Murmurs (Temporary Residence)
• Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti)
• Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery (Misra)
• Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners - Sev7en (Nitro)
• Mattie Moss Clark - I'm Not Alone: Hands of God Reached Out (Sounds of Gospel)
• Mike Compton and David Long - Stomp (Acoustic Disc)
• Controller.Controller - X-Amounts (Paper Bag)
• Eric Darius - Just Getting Started (Narada)
• David & the Citizens - David & the Citizens (digipak; Friendly Fire)
• Kimya Dawson and Matty Pop Chart - Kimya Dawson and Matty Pop Chart (EP; K)
• Daylight Dies - Dismantling Devotion (Candlelight)
• Jesse Dayton - South Austin Sessions (Stag)
• Desole - Story to Tell (Abacus)
• Deus - Pocket Revolution (V2)
• Dévics - Push the Heart (Reincarnate)
• Dian Diaz - Dian Diaz (Strip City)
• Dir En Grey - Withering to Death (Warcon Enterprises)
• Dismember - The God That Never Was (Candlelight)
• Dogme 95 - The Reagle Beagle (Empyrean)
• Downtown Singapore - Don't Let Your Guard Down (Dcide)
• Dryline - Reach for the Surface (Zero Sum)
• The Duke Spirit - Cuts Across the Land (Star Time)
• Eastern Conference Champions - Southampton Collection (EP; Retone)
• Edubb - Don't Flex (I.M.)
• The Elysian Fields - Suffering G.O.D. Almighty (Black Lotus)
• Mark Erelli - Hope & Other Casualties (Signature)
• Anthony Evans - Letting Go (Sony)
• Jace Everett - Jace Everett (Epic)
• Cesaria Evora - Rogamar (RCA)
• Field Music - Field Music (Memphis Industries)
• Figurines - Skeleton (Control Group)
• Fresh Digress - Fresh Digress (Beatmart)
• Charles Gayle - Time Zones (digipak; Tompkins Square)
• Ghostdigital - In Cod We Trust (Ipecac)
• David Gilmour - On an Island (Columbia)
• Gnarkill - Gnarkill Vs. Unkle Matt & the Sh--birdz (10/90)
• Goldfrapp - Supernature (with DVD; Mute)
• Half-Handed Crowd - Halos & Lassos (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Jeff Hamilton - From Studio 4 (Azica)
• Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid - Exchange Session 1 (Domino)
• Hotel Lights - Hotel Lights (Bar None)
• James Hunter - People Gonna Talk (Rounder)
• I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - Fear Is on Our Side (Secretly Canadian)
• If Hope Dies - Life in Ruin (Metal Blade)
• The Impossible Shapes - Tum (Secretly Canadian)
• Javier - Left of Center (Capitol)
• Chachi Jones - Dymaxion Daydream (Reincarnate)
• Juvenile - Reality Check (DualDisc; Atlantic)
  Read: "Juvenile Gets Busy At The Holiday Inn — Making An Album "
  Buy Now: Reality Check (Atlantic)
• The Killing Moon - Message Through Your Teeth (Fearless)
• Glenn Kotche - Mobile (Nonesuch)
• Kris Kristofferson - This Old Road (New West)
• Jon Langford - Gold Brick (Roir)
• Ana Laura - Ana Laura (Reunion)
• The Lawrence Arms - Oh Calcutta (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Rolf Lislevand - Nuove Musiche (ECM)
• Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II: Chopped & Screwed (Cash Money)
  Buy Now: Tha Carter II: Chopped & Screwed (Cash Money)
• The Little Willies - The Little Willies (Milking Bull)
• The Lonely Hearts - Paper Tapes (Tooth & Nail)
• Lucky Luciano - Pimps Up Hoez Down (Vista Media)
• Janiva Magness - Do I Move You? (Northern Blues)
• Matisyahu - Youth (Epic)
  Buy Now: Youth (Epic)
• Mellowdrone - Box (3 Records/ Red Ink)
• Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Matador)
  Buy Now: Mr. Beast (Matador)
• Van Morrison - Pay the Devil (Lost Highway)
• Most Hi-Fi - Everything's Gonna Be Alright (Slam Jamz)
• Mudhoney - Under a Billion Suns (Sub Pop)
• Munk - Gommagang 3 (Gomma)
• Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas - Hang It High, Hang It Low (Rounder)
• Nicolette - I Am Where the Party's At (Early)
• Nightmares on Wax - In a Space Outta Sound (Warp)
• The Ocean - Aeolian (Metal Blade)
• Outlawz - Against All Oddz (Real Talk Entertainment)
• Lee Roy Parnell - Back to the Well (Universal South)
• Patrizio - The Italian (Universal)
• Pinetop Seven - Beneath Confederate Lake (Empyrean)
• Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol (Jagjaguwar)
• Pinmonkey - Big Shiny Cars (Back Porch)
• Planeside - Milk (Exotic)
• Lucas Prata - Let's Get It On (Ultra)
• Presence - Presence (Curb)
• Public Enemy - Rebirth of a Nation (Guerrilla Funk)
• Raising The Fawn - The Maginot Line (Sonic Unyon)
• Revolting Cocks - Cocked and Loaded (Megaforce)
• The Rogers Sisters - The Invisible Deck (Too Pure/ Beggars)
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Solo (Blue Note)
• Scarface - My Homies, Vol. 2 (Asylum/Rap-a-Lot)
• Terry Smith - Fall Out (Sunbeam)
• Soldier Ink - The Newest and the Strongest (enhanced; Thump)
• Sparks - Hello Young Lovers (In the Red)
• Stereolab - Fab Four Suture (with DVD; Too Pure/ Beggars)
  Buy Now: Fab Four Suture (Too Pure)
• The Story - Tale Spin (Sunbeam)
• Streetlight Manifesto - Keasbey Nights, Vol. 2 (Victory)
• Television Personalities - My Dark Places (Domino)
• Ten Falls Forth - Excuse Me I Believe That's My Ride (Rise)
• The Tennessee Boltsmokers - Hydro Radio (Madjack)
• Terrestrial Tones - Dead Drunk (Paw Tracks)
• Trent Tomlinson - Country Is My Rock (Lyric Street)
• Tres Chicas - Bloom Red & the Ordinary Girl (Yep Roc)
• Ralph Tresvant - Rizz Wa Faire (Xzault Media Group)
• Turbulence - Born for This (Charm)
• Gecko Turner - Guapapasea! (Quango)
• The Vacation - The Vacation (American)
• Vague Angels - Let's Duke It out at Kilkenny Katz (Pretty Activity)
• Voodoo Blue - Smile N Nod (Dcide)
• The Weepies - Say I Am You (Nettwerk)
• Witch - Witch (Tee Pee)
• The Wood Brothers - Ways Not To Lose (Blue Note)
• Mike Younger - Every Stone You Throw (Bare Bones)
• Nadine Zahr - Underneath the Every Day (Chirality)
• Various artists - Paris Presents: Hard Truth Soldiers (Guerilla Funk)
• Various artists - Tunnel Trance Force America 2 (Water)
• Various artists - "Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King" soundtrack (Dancing Ferret)
• Various artists - "Date Movie" soundtrack (Lakeshore)
• Various artists - "That's So Raven Too" soundtrack (Disney)
• Various artists - "Zoey 101 Music Mix" soundtrack (Nick)

Notable Reissues And Archival Material:

• Agnostic Front - Live at CBGB (with DVD; Nuclear Blast)
• Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped (Shout! Factory)
• Blondie - Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision (with DVD; Capitol)
• Peabo Bryson - The Very Best of Peabo Bryson (Time Life)
• Cheap Trick - Dream Police and All Shook Up (with bonus tracks; Epic/Legacy)
• Joe Cocker - Gold (two CDs; Hip-O)
• The Czars - Goodbye (Bella Union)
• Darkest Hour - So Sedated So Secure (Victory)
• Dave Davies - Kinked (Koch)
• Martin Denny - The Best of Martin Denny's Exotica (Capitol)
• Grateful Dead - Blues for Allah, From the Mars Hotel (two CDs), Shakedown Street, Terrapin Station and Wake of the Flood (digipaks with bonus tracks; Rhino)
• Jethro Tull - Aqualung Live (Fuel 2000)
• Little Feat - Barnstormin' Live Box (Hot Tomato)
• Loretta Lynn - Gold (two CDs; MCA Nashville)
• Simon Joyner - Beautiful Losers: Singles & Compilation Tracks 1994-1999 (Jagjaguwar)
• Willy Mason - Where the Humans Eat (enhanced; with bonus tracks; Astralwerks)
• Gwen McCrae - Rockin' Chair/Let's Straighten It Out (Koch)
• Liza Minnelli - Liza With a "Z" (Columbia/Legacy)
• Moondog - Moondog (Astralwerks)
• Fred Neil - Fred Neil (Water)
• Pentagram - First Daze Here Too (two CDs; Relapse)
• Martha Reeves & the Vandellas - Gold (two CDs; Motown)
• Snoop Dogg - Death Row's Snoop Doggy Dogg Greatest Hits (digipak; Death Row)
• Sun Dial - Return Journey (Relapse)
• Glenn Tipton - Baptizm of Fire (Rhino)
• Glenn Tipton, John Entwistle and Cozy Powell - Edge of the World (Rhino)
• Conway Twitty - Gold (two CDs; MCA Nashville)
• Various artists - Hip Hop Essentials, Vol. 9, Vol. 10, Vol. 11 and Vol. 12

DVDs:

• Bad Religion - Live at the Palladium (Epitaph)
• The Casualties - Can't Stop Us (Side One Dummy)
• Bing Crosby - A Little Bit of Irish: Bing Crosby in Dublin (Varèse)
• Deicide - When London Burns (Earache)
• Luke Kelly - The Performer (Dark Peak)
• Various artists - Assemblage, Vol. 1 (Grey Two-Eleven)

Coming Attractions:

March 14:

• E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros.)
• Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree: Limited Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour Edition (Island)
  Read: "Fall Out Boy Promise An 'Event' Video For 'Sixteen Candles' "
  Buy Now: From Under the Cork Tree: Limited Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour Edition (Island)
• Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV (Atlantic)
  Read: "You Hear It First: Hard-Fi"

March 21:

• Teddy Geiger - Underage Thinking (Columbia)
• My Chemical Romance - Life on the Murder Scene (with DVD; Reprise)
  Read: "My Chemical Romance's 'Murder' DVD Just Got Bigger"
• Prince - 3121 (Universal)

March 28:

• Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (Def Jam)
  Read: "Ghostface Killah Spins Tales From The 'Hood On Fishscale"
  Buy Now: Fishscale (Def Jam)
• T.I. - King (limited-edition re-release with bonus DVD; Atlantic)
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (Interscope)

Read: "Are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Anxious About Bones? No No No"

• Juvenile
• Matisyahu
• Lil Wayne
• Bad Religion
• Stereolab

Ja Rule and Charli Baltimore are setting out to be the hip-hop version of Mickey and Mallory — the clip for Ja's "Down Ass Chick," featuring Charli B-more, will be a takeoff of Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," according to a source close to Ja. Over the course of the three-day shoot, which begins February 22 in L.A., he'll also film the remix video with Baltimore, Ashanti and Ashanti, according to Def Jam; Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti will direct both. ... If you're dreaming of becoming a professional DJ, it's time to take your skills out of the bedroom and into the classroom. For the next two months in New York City, celebrity DJs including Jam Master Jay, Kuttin' Kandi, Mista Sinista and Evil Dee will lead courses in disciplines such as battle, mixtape and performance (visit www.scratch.com for more information). ...

Indie music festival Noise Pop 2002 takes place next week (February 26-March 3) in San Francisco with performances by the Dismemberment Plan, New Pornographers and Big Star, among others, and to commemorate its decade-long tenure, a double-disc Ten Years of Noise Pop will be available locally and through the festival's Web site (www.noisepop.com). A portion of the proceeds from the album, which features cuts from past performers including Guided by Voices, the Flaming Lips and Creeper Lagoon, benefits the Popular Noise Foundation (www.popularnoise.org), a nonprofit charity that provides aid to the Bay Area music scene. ... Dixie Chick Natalie Maines will appear in the first celebrity edition of the TLC series "Trading Spaces," according to The Associated Press. Maines will race to redecorate a room in her mother's home (and vice versa) in 48 hours for $1,000 or less in an episode airing April 20. ...

P. Diddy, Rah Digga and female R&B quartet LovHer were among the guests who came out to support Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella family at a Roc-A-Wear fashion show in New York Thursday night. Jay and company partied up at the Metropolitan Pavilion while the men's and women's fall 2002 lines were introduced. ... "Rush Hour" star Chris Tucker will host the 33rd annual NAACP Image Awards on February 23 at the Universal Amphitheater. The ceremony, scheduled to air March 1 on Fox, will feature music-world appearances by Alicia Keys, India.Arie and the Isley Brothers as well as Steve Harvey, the Rock, Jamie Foxx and Angela Bassett. ...

There's nothing funny about the popular appeal of crossover heavyweight Jennifer Lopez — she'll be crowned Female Star of the Year by the film industry's power elite at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. She and previously announced Male Star of the Year Will Smith will be honored at a banquet next month in recognition of their drawing power at the box office. ... The soundtrack for Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz" — a filmed concert by the Band which featured a cavalcade of special guests including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Muddy Waters — will be remixed and released with bonus tracks on April 16. The movie will be released on DVD May 7. ...

Liverpool's arty synth-poppers Clinic will support their second album, Walking With Thee (due February 26), with a three-week Stateside jaunt that begins March 13 in Atlanta. The tour includes a showcase at music-biz conference South by Southwest on March 15. ... El Meswy, Spain's best-selling hip-hop artist, was in the studio recently recording Se Habla Español, his follow-up to 2000's Nadie. M-1 and Stic.man of Dead Prez were on hand to lend lyrical support to the as-yet-untitled project. ...

My Bloody Valentine founder Kevin Shields has recorded "Outro," an instrumental, for the compilation album You Don't Need Darkness to Do What You Think Is Right, which comes out April 1. Other artists who will appear on the LP include the Pastels, Future Pilot AKA and Jesus and Mary Chain partners Jim and William Reid recording as Sister Vanilla. ... Sting, Elton John, James Taylor and Ravi Shankar comprise the first wave of artists announced to perform at the Police-man's annual Rainforest Foundation Benefit Concert, which will take place at New York's Carnegie Hall on April 13. ...

02.15.02

Post-adolescent punks Sum41 are expected to begin working on the follow-up to last year's All Killer No Filler in late April, after their Tour of the Rising Sum sets in Texas on April 21, according to their publicist. The album is expected to surface late this year or early 2003. ... Eve, who's currently in Chicago filming "Barbershop" with Ice Cube, is ready to devote some time to her day job. Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti and his beatmaking cohort, 7, said they're gearing to go in the studio with Ruff Ryders' first lady at the end of the month. ... Nickelback, Default and Injected will head out on the spring 2002 incarnation of MTV's Campus Invasion Tour. An itinerary has yet to be announced. ...

Megaproducer Megahertz (P. Diddy, R. Kelly & Jay-Z, Nas) just completed a remix with P.O.D. of the band's "Youth of the Nation," the producer's rep said. ... FenixTX have dropped off the SnoCore Rock Tour due to scheduling conflicts, according to MCA Records. They have been replaced by Apex Theory. ... Face to Face will launch a national tour in April to support their new album How to Ruin Everything, which hits stores April 9 through Vagrant Records. The jaunt starts in Salt Lake City on April 4 and runs through May 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona. ... Industrial icons Ministry will release Sphinctour, a live album recorded during their 1996 tour, on March 19. The 11-track LP, which had been a widely circulated bootleg, includes harrowing cuts such as "Psalm 69," "Filth Pig" and "Thieves" and can be previewed at ministry.advancelisten.com. ...

Innovative prog-rocker Peter Gabriel is apparently "down wit' OPP" — he hooked up with Jersey hip-hoppers Naughty by Nature on a track called "Fight Back" for the group's guest-filled April 23 release, Iicons. ... Speaking of Naughty, the group's Treach was among the celebrities who hit New York hotspot Spa on Tuesday night to support Joi (Lucy Pearl), who performed songs off her next LP, Star Kitty's Revenge. The Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo (bandmate of Joi's husband, Big Gipp) and Kelis were also in attendance (click for photos from the performance). ...

Fuel have issued a cease and desist order to Toyota, corporate sponsors of the Fuel the Music Tour, demanding Toyota stop using that title for the rock outing. The band, who says it has fought to make a name for itself and wants it protected, was alerted after confused fans began emailing its Web site inquiring about the outing because a magazine ran an ad for the event on the same page as a picture of the group, who are not involved. ... A London High Court judge has ruled that Robbie Williams will have to pay 25 percent of the royalties from his "Jesus in a Camper Van" — around $75,000 — to Woody Guthrie's publisher, Ludlow Music. Williams, who admitted to parodying Guthrie's "I Am the Way" on the track, will also have to pick up Ludlow's legal fees, which amount to another $75,000.

• Ja Rule
• Charli Baltimore
• Ashanti
• Jam Master Jay
• The New Pornographers

Eve and DJ Jazzy Jeff are heroes — they'll be honored by the Philadelphia chapter of the Recording Academy at their 2002 Heroes Awards ceremony on April 22 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The event will benefit the academy's MusiCares Foundation as well as other programs to advance music education and musicians' welfare. ... Kiss bassist and irrepressible self-promoter Gene Simmons will be giving his famed tongue an onscreen workout in the film Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, which stars Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" fame (oh, of course). ... It's Aaron's Valentine Party (Come Get It) — yep, teenage ball o' fire Aaron Carter has his own 90-minute pay-per-view special lined up for February 16 on INDemand and DirecTV. "Aaron Carter's Valentine Party," shot at Baton Rouge, Louisiana's Riverside Centroplex, will also feature several performances by Carter's big Backstreet Boy brother, Nick. ...

Sign up these switch-hitters, stat — Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez are Hollywood's two most bankable musician/actors, notching up #1 and #2, respectively, on a survey of industry execs by The Hollywood Reporter. "Marky"-Mark Wahlberg feels the vibrations at #3, while Madonna, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, Cher and Courtney Love bubble under him, according to the Associated Press. ... Photogenic twin-brother act Evan and Jaron are through with being "Crazy for That Girl." They're writing songs for their next album, which could include a new track penned by Evan called "It's So Funny I Could Cry," according to VH1 Radio. ... Rollins Band will record their March 1 and 2 shows at Chicago's famed Metro Cabaret for their first live CD, due in the summer. Henry Rollins and cohorts will warm up for the gigs with dates in Towson, Maryland (February 25), Boston (26) and Buffalo (27). ...

Run-DMC will help kick off the NBA All-Star Weekend on Friday by appearing and performing at a charity auction party held at Philadelphia's Zanzibar Blue. Two nights after the event, which benefits the Inner-City Games Foundation's efforts to enrich young people's lives through sports and educational programs, the rap innovators will join Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Doug E. Fresh, EPMD, DJ Jazzy Jeff, MC Lyte, Public Enemy and Rakim at the Electric Factory's Old School All-Stars party. ... Fatboy Slim and Paul Oakenfold have released albums of their favorite beats, breaks and scratches on the UK label Music of Life. Fatboy's All Star Breakbeats and Oakenfold's Bust a Groove are fodder for DJs, rappers and producers who want a sneak peak into the superstar DJs' record collections and sound files. ...

Reggae/dancehall veteran Capleton — a former Def Jam artist whose past albums have featured collaborations with Q-Tip and Method Man — will release Still Blazing on February 26 through VP Records. The foul-mouthed "slackness" king-turned-Rastafarian is planning to tour behind the LP, which combines hardcore dancehall and old-school reggae flavor. ... Classic rockers Bad Company recorded their recent tour, which featured original singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke along with new members, for a live CD and DVD due in May. The releases will include two new songs and guest appearances by Slash and Journey guitarist Neal Schon on "Wishing Well" and "Crossroads." ...

Good golly, Little Richard will be inducted into the NAACP Hall of Fame at the civil rights organization's 33rd annual Image Awards ceremony, which takes place February 23 and will be broadcast March 1 on Fox. "Little Richard has distinguished himself as not only an unparalleled musical genius, but also as a unique and innovative performing artist — fusing pure vocal talent with exhilarating showmanship," NAACP President/CEO Kweisi Mfume said in a statement. ... Van Morrison wrote two songs and sings on one ("Sometimes We Cry") for the second album by his daughter, Shana Morrison. Due April 2, 7 Wishes blends elements of pop, rock and blues, her spokesperson said. ...Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin and Deep Blue Something will headline WorldSong 2002 - The Next Country Over, a concert to promote world peace and harmony during the Olympic Winter Games, on February 21 at the McKay Event Center in Orem, Utah. ...

02.05.02

Portly hellcats Tenacious D threaten to blow Kid Rock off the stage when they open four dates on the Bullgod's spring tour: March 22 in Indianapolis, Indiana; March 23 in Louisville, Kentucky; March 28 in Kansas City, Missouri and March 29 in St. Louis. The dynamic duo have a headlining tour in the works, according to their label. ... Outspoken Hole frontwoman and artists' rights advocate Courtney Love — currently embroiled in a legal battle with her former label, Geffen Records — will participate in a public interview with the L.A. Times on March 16 at the South by Southwest music conference. Singer/songwriter and former Band guitarist Robbie Robertson is the keynote speaker for this year's gathering, which will take place March 13-17 in Austin, Texas. ...

Jo Jo Brim, senior director of A&R at Def Jam/ Def Soul, had no comment whether or not Def Soul has hollered at the newly free-agented Mariah Carey, though he credit her "unprecedented" track record, "amazing voice" and "tremendous following" in saying that she would be a welcome commodity. "If something of that caliber were to happen, it could only mean great things for everybody involved," Brim said. ... Staind, Aerosmith and American Hi-Fi are tied at the top of the annual Boston Music Awards nominations list with seven each, while Godsmack and Cracktorch are loudly nipping at their heels with six. The awards will be doled out on April 11 at Boston's Orpheum Theatre, where those acts will vie for trophies alongside other multi-nommed local heroes such as Dropkick Murphys, the Sheila Divine, Scissorfight and LFO (go to boston.com for a complete list of nominees). ...

Flame-haired, stone-washed '80s mall-pop princess Tiffany ("I Think We're Alone Now") will appear in the altogether in the April issue of Playboy, which arrives on March 4. Yes, she still sings — her most recent album was 2000's The Color of Silence. ...Linkin Park's debut, Hybrid Theory, has been certified seven times platinum after moving 3 million copies in the last three months, according to the RIAA. Other acts earning shiny new plaques are Creed for Weathered (five times platinum) and Usher for 8701 (triple platinum), while Nelly Furtado's Whoa, Nelly!, Enrique Iglesias' Escape, Pink's Missundaztood, Shakira's Laundry Service and Michael Jackson's Invincible have been certified double platinum. ...

Following rapper TiLo's departure from his Methods of Mayhem last year, Tommy Lee has dispensed with the band, — name and all — and is flying solo for Never a Dull Moment, his second post-Mötley Crüe LP, which is set for release on May 21. "Hold Me Down" is the first single off the LP, which features guest appearances by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and Deftones singer Chino Moreno. ... Cypress Hill rhyme-roller B-Real recorded a cover of David Bowie's "Fame" with Lee for Never a Dull Moment, but the rapper's part had to be removed due to clearance issues. "Fame-02," sans B-Real, will still appear on Lee's LP. ...

Philly's own Boyz II Men and Daryl Hall & John Oates will provide entertainment at the NBA's All-Star Saturday Night February 9 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. City High, also from the Philadelphia area, will perform the national anthem before the All-Star Hoop-It-Up tournament, which will see Justin Timberlake and Brian McKnight take the court. ... Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, rocker Patti Smith and Brazilian pop singer Bebel Gilberto have joined David Bowie, Nawang Khechog and the Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery on the list of performers scheduled for the 12th annual Tibet House Benefit Concert on February 22 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Bowie and his model wife, Iman, are the Honorary Chairs of the event.

Cake, Nikka Costa and the Roots are among the artists lined up to perform at the Ice House in the Mountain Dew Ice Village in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Olympic Games this month. Cheap Trick, Coolio, Pennywise, Lit, Perry Farrell, BT, George Clinton, Black Eyed Peas, Common, Talib Kweli, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, LFO, Fishbone, Save Ferris, Digable Planets, Dishwalla, Dance Hall Crashers and Mystic also perform on various nights from February 8 to 24. ...

Singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, supporting September's Grammy-nominated Gold, will launch a 10-date tour on February 25 in Los Angeles. The outing, which hits the likes of San Francisco, Chicago and Detroit, wraps March 18 in Boston. ... Robert Moog and Apple Computer, Inc. will each receive a Technical Grammy later this month. Moog invented the Moog synthesizer in 1965 and has been an innovator in analog electronic instruments since, while Apple is known for bringing computer technology into recording studios. ... John Forte, a contributing rapper on the Fugee's The Score and the founder of Wyclef Jean's Refugee Camp All-Stars, will release his second solo album, the hip-hop- and folk-oriented I, John, on April 23.

• Eve
• DJ Jazzy Jeff
• Aaron Carter
• Madonna
• Marky Mark

Bob Dylan
Photo: Sony

Bob Dylan, the Police, Frank Sinatra and the Kinks are about to be made members of the family — the Soprano family, that is, as part of a soundtrack you won't soon fuhgeddabout.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs, slated for a May 8 release, collects two CDs worth of the music that plays such a crucial rule in the acclaimed mob series. A seamless (and otherwise unreleased) mix of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" with Henry Mancini's "Theme From Peter Gunn," for example, underlined the tension in the current season's premiere episode, in which authorities were trying to bug mob boss Tony Soprano's basement. A few weeks later, the Kinks' "Living on a Thin Line" — a relatively obscure '80s album cut — served as both the opening and closing music for an episode centering on volatile mobster Ralphie Cifaretto and his troubled stripper girlfriend.

The soundtrack, which follows up another "Sopranos" disc released in 1999, also features a previously unreleased Bob Dylan cover of Dean Martin's 1958 hit "Return to Me," according to a Columbia Records spokesperson. Actor Dominic Chianese, who plays Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano on the show, performs the classic Italian love song "Core 'Ngrato," which means ungrateful heart. A reprise of A3's "Woke Up This Morning," which serves as the series' opening theme, is also included.

Dylan, R.L. Burnside, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison return from the first "Sopranos" soundtrack, which featured tracks by Bruce Springsteen ("State Trooper"), Cream ("I Feel Free"), Wyclef Jean ("Blood Is Thicker Than Water") and Little Steven Van Zandt, who plays made man Silvio Dante on the show.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs track listing, according to the album's publicist: Disc 1:

• The Police/Henry Mancini - "Every Breath You Take/Theme From Peter Gunn (Mr. Ruggerio's Remix)"
• Pigeonhed - "Battle Flag"
• The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson - "I've Got A Feeling"
• Kasey Chambers - "The Captain"
• R.L. Burnside - "Shuck Dub"
• The Lost Boys - "Affection"
• Otis Redding - "My Lover's Prayer"
• Madreblu - "Certamente"
• Nils Lofgren - "Black Books"
• Cake - "Frank Sinatra"
• Frank Sinatra - "Baubles, Bangles and Beads"
• The Rolling Stones - "Thru and Thru"

• Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "High Fidelity"
• The Kinks - "Living on a Thin Line"
• Vue - "Girl"
• Cecilia Bartoli - Vivaldi's "Sposa son disprezzata"
• Ben E. King - "I (Who Have Nothing)"
• Bob Dylan - "Return to Me"
• Keith Richards - "Make No Mistake"
• Jovanotti - "Piove"
• The Pretenders - "Space Invader"
• Tindersticks - "Tiny Tears"
• Van Morrison - "Gloria"
• Dominic Chianese - "Core 'Ngrato"
• Dialogue From "The Sopranos"
• A3 - "Woke Up This Morning"

• Bob Dylan
• The Rolling Stones
• Frank Sinatra
• A3
• Elvis Costello

Everclear will issue the first half of its double-album set, "Songs From An American Movie, Volume I - Learning How To Smile," on July 11, and the band has just headed back into the studio to record the follow-up, subtitled "Volume II - Good Time For A Bad Attitude."

The group has already released an Art Alexakis-directed video for "Wonderful," the first single from the "Learning How To Smile" LP, which also features a rousing update of Van Morrison's 1967 classic, "Brown Eyed Girl."

MTV News sat down with Everclear prior to the group's performance at last weekend's KROQ Weenie Roast in Anaheim, California, and Alexakis talked about the decision to include the cover song on the new album.

"It fit the record," Alexakis said. he added. "Hated 'em, 'cause they'd tell me to write more linear songs, and I had no idea what the hell that meant."

"So it wasn't written in the cosmos, then?" prodded bassist Craig Montoya. "God didn't tell you to do it? It wasn't written in the stars? We just did it?"

"Because it felt good," [RealVideo] Alexakis affirmed.

Everclear's "Wonderful" is currently the number five song on Alternative radio, according to the newest "R&R" charts.

• Everclear
• Van Morrison

Van Morrison, arguably the most important Irish lyricist since William Butler Yeats and James Joyce, will be honored for his four-decade long music career tomorrow in Dublin, as Morrison is slated to become the inaugural inductee into the Irish Music Hall of Fame.

-- David Basham

• Bob Geldof
• Van Morrison

According to sales figures released by SoundScan on Wednesday, the R&B trio sold another 202,000 copies of their "Fanmail" album to retain the top slot.

TLC will hold off a rush from No Limit Records rapper C-Murder, who debuts at number two with his "Bossalinie," which sold 175,600 copies in its first week in stores. The rapper barely edged out Britney Spears, who came in just one copy shy of the 175,000 mark with her "Baby One More Time."

The SoundScan figures also brought good news for Mase's pals in Harlem World, who debut at number 11 with their "Movement," which sold more than 73,000 copies in its first week in stores.

In a well-timed bit of news, the St. Patrick's Day numbers also brought good cheer for Irish troubadour Van Morrison, whose "Back On Top" album debuts at number 28 after selling more than 43,000 copies in its first week in stores.

The week also sees notable debuts from Shanice (at number 56), Selena (at 59), Wilco's "Summer Teeth" (at 78), C-Bo's "Final Chapter" (at 81), and Beth Orton (at 110 with "Central Reservation").

• Mase
• Van Morrison
• TLC