Nada Surf
Photo: Barsuk

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — When Nada Surf hit the airwaves with "Popular" in 1996, they were a one-hit-wonder waiting to happen: the kitschy name, the silly single, the even sillier video.

So where are they now? Serving cheeseburgers? Fixing cars? Selling real estate with the dude from Bell Biv DeVoe? Actually, someplace far more shocking: back on the pop-culture radar.

Ten years after their ubiquitous, Weezer-esque single came and went, Nada Surf have returned to the radio and are, well, popular — again.

"Someone sent me an e-mail with a scan of a page from Elle magazine officially [declaring the band] former one-hit-wonders," Nada Surf bassist Daniel Lorca joked of the backhanded compliment backstage at KROQ-FM's recent Almost Acoustic Christmas festival (see "Coldplay Salute System, Stripes, SoCal Torsos At Radio Fest"). "They had to put the one-hit-wonder in there, they couldn't let it escape."

"If anyone writes a story about us now, that's what they say," added singer Matthew Caws.

How did Nada Surf pull off a comeback that no one saw coming? Slowly, for one thing. Since 1996's High/Low, the band has released three albums, touring behind each for years at a time.

"I know there's not usually second acts in American life, so it's nice to have a second plot," Caws said. "The first plot was alright, but this current plot, the kind of slow climb, is what we always wanted to do. We just kind of got swept up in another thing for a couple years."

Like other one-hit-wonders, Nada Surf tanked with their second album, 1998's The Proximity Effect. Unlike some other bands, though, Caws and company shook it off.

"It felt silly, like, 'God, did that just happen to us? That's weird,' " Caws said of their rise and fall. "But we're really good friends, and we were living in the same neighborhood, and there was no reason to break up. And all the shows have been going great all along. Even if from the outside we do have what looks like a roller coaster — 'Oh they were this, and then they fell off the map and then climbed back' — our own real-life reality is that every show's been fun and great."

"It's all just the media thing," Lorca added. "Just because Iraq and Saddam Hussein were in the news during the first Gulf War and then disappeared for 10 years and now all of the sudden it's all over the news again doesn't mean that Iraq didn't exist and people weren't living their lives there. It's just a question of what you're focused on and the way the media is. They want the saga."

After The Proximity Effect, Nada Surf were dropped from Elektra Records, which worked in their favor. The band's third album, 2002's Let Go, earned rave reviews and made fans out of likeminded low-fi groups including Death Cab for Cutie, whose Chris Walla mixed a few of the tracks.

Walla was fully onboard for the follow-up, producing all of 2005's The Weight Is a Gift.

"He's equal parts mad scientist and just total [music] geek," Lorca said of Walla. "Like he's got entire volumes of 'The Acoustics of Air' or whatever, 'The Science of Air Pressure,' and he's also super musical. He's also, for us, very interesting because he's a second guitar player, so he's always playing complementary parts to what Ben [Gibbard of Death Cab] does. Something that I found really amazing is that he would immediately veer off, he would take a total left turn and Matthew would be playing some guitar part and he would immediately come up with a totally skewed other guitar part."

To Walla, Nada Surf's comeback isn't a bit surprising.

"They're solid songwriters," he said. "And I feel like they work together in a way that no other band I've ever known has worked together, like each of them is a third of that pie. I mean they're a band of brothers like no other like in the very realist sense of the phrase."

Walla's Death Cab bandmate, singer Ben Gibbard, agreed, and likened Nada Surf to Harvey Danger, another former one-hit-wonder who have redefined themselves as critical darlings (see "Remember 'Flagpole Sitta'? Harvey Danger Return").

"Nada Surf and Harvey Danger are good bands," Gibbard said. "I think they've just stayed true to why they play music in the first place, it's just because they love doing it and they love each other and that's the impetus for doing it, not trying to keep singles on the radio and on MTV."

Whether or not it was intended, Nada Surf are back on the radio with "Always Love," currently one of the most popular tracks on KROQ and Los Angeles' competing Indie 103.

"I wrote 'Always Love' in 10 minutes," Caws said. "It's a very positive song, more positive than I am in reality, but I was feeling good for three and a half minutes. And every time we play a show I think, 'Well I should probably be that positive,' but I'm not."

Perhaps the band's new bright future will change that. Or maybe the group will just return to where it started.

"Maybe next time we'll be former former one-hit-wonders Nada Surf," Lorca joked.

• Nada Surf
• Death Cab For Cutie

Carrie Underwood (file)
Photo: FOX

Carrie Underwood has inked a deal with the Hershey Company, according to The Associated Press. The "American Idol" champ will belt out some of the candy company's classic jingles in a new TV ad campaign, including the famed "sometimes you feel like a nut ... sometimes you don't" for Mounds and Almond Joy; "give me a break" for Kit Kat, and of course, "Hershey's is the great American chocolate bar."...

A federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday denied 50 Cent's motion for an injunction against further distribution of "The Infamous Times - Volume I: The Original 50 Cent" DVD. The court also refused the rapper's request for the DVD's sales data. 50 is alleging that the use of his name in the title infringes on his trademark. ... Mixtape DJ Sickamore held a party Tuesday night at club T-NY in New York to celebrate the launch of his marketing and consulting company, I Can Make You Famous. Sick's firm is designed to help up-and-coming artists break big in the music industry. Just Blaze DJed, and street MCs such as Bad Boy's Ness, Tru Life, Saigon, Stack Bundles and the legendary Melle Mel were among the guests who came out. ...

Fresh on the heels of their Mercury Music Prize nomination for their debut album, Silent Alarm, Bloc Party are releasing the dance-rock-friendly version, Silent Alarm Remixed, on September 13. Remixers include Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ladytron, Pretty Girls Make Graves, M83, Mogwai, Four Tet and Death From Above 1979. "It's really tough," Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong said of DFA79's version of "Luno." "It's a really aggressive take on our music. It makes me want to punch people." Initial pressings of Remixed will also include a limited-edition bonus disc with three B-sides previously unavailable in the U.S. and acoustic versions of "Plans" and "Storm and Stress." ... Pennywise, Death by Stereo, the Dead Kennedys, Bif Naked, the Wylde Bunch and DJ Z-Trip will perform at the X Games, taking place August 4-7 at the Staples Center and Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. ...

Long thought dead, New York's Nada Surf enjoyed a revival with 2003's Let Go, which made its way onto a whole lot of music fans' year-end lists. Now, with a new album, The Weight Is a Gift, due September 20, they're looking to build on that momentum. They're also launching a North American tour; the 16-date trek starts October 4 in Washington, D.C., and runs until October 23 in San Diego. Brooklyn, New York, art punks Say Hi to Your Mom will serve as the opening act on most of the dates. ... Southern California rockers Smile Empty Soul will release their sophomore album, Anxiety, on September 27. The group worked, once again, with producer John Lewis Parker on the disc, which will feature 15 cuts, including "Holes," "California's Lonely" and the album's first single, "Don't Need You." ... David Gray's next album, Life in Slow Motion, is due September 13. Gray will preview the new material, including first single "The One I Love," with a 10-date tour beginning August 1 in Toronto. ...

07.20.2005

R. Kelly is one step closer to going to trial on child-pornography charges. His lawyers succeeded Wednesday (July 20) in getting prosecutors to narrow the time frame of when they say the alleged sex tape was made (though not as much as the defense wanted), so the singer can provide an alibi. Unlike many of Kelly's previous court appearances during the pretrial process, which have usually amounted to the singer asking for continuances or permission to travel outside the jurisdiction, evidence was actually examined and witnesses were heard. The issue will be considered further next week, since Judge Vincent Gaughan has yet to make his ruling on just how much this time frame should be reduced — currently, it covers a span of two years, but the defense wants it to be narrowed to within a period of two days. Kelly is due back in court on July 27. ...

Rapper Gucci Mane was arrested in Miami on Friday on an outstanding police warrant, The Associated Press reports. The aggravated-assault warrant was issued in Atlanta for an altercation earlier this month involving a promoter and folks at Mane's record label, Big Cat Records. The promoter suffered injuries and later filed charges, but the rapper's lawyer asserts his client was not involved in the fight. The attorney also told the AP on Wednesday that Mane was expected to be sent back to Atlanta, where he's also facing a murder charge in a separate case, later this week. ... There's been some recent movement on the long-in-the-works Notorious B.I.G. biopic, now that the forthcoming film's got a studio home (Fox Searchlight), and journalist Cheo Hodari Coker has been hired to pen the script; Coker was the last person to interview the slain rapper before his murder eight years ago. According to Reuters, Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day," "The Replacement Killers") is in negotiations to direct the as-yet-untitled project, which Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, and former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts will produce. ...

Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough will host a live and silent auction at the Brulee: The Dessert Experience at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 28. The auction will serve as a fund-raiser for the Dorough Lupus Foundation, which the singer founded several years ago to memorialize his sister, who succumbed to Lupus. Howie will also meet with several of his fans who're suffering from the disease, and escort them to a screening of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." ... Performances by Franz Ferdinand, the Pixies and Dashboard Confessional highlight Austin City Limits, a collection of songs recorded during last year's Austin City Limits music festival in Texas. The 16-track album is due August 30 on Rhino Records and also features performances from acts like the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Neville Brothers. This years' Austin City Limits fest runs from September 23-25. ...

It's been 12 years since Primus made their Lollapalooza debut, and this weekend, the Les Claypool-led lot is set to perform during Chicago's two-day Lolla revival. The classic Primus lineup — bassist Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander — will be taking the stage, and even have plans to record a new album together, the band's first since 1999. Primus will hit the studio later this year to start writing the new material. ... Claypool and Michael Franti & Spearhead are among the artists added to Jam Cruise 4. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Digable Planets, Galactic, Umphrey's McGee and four String Cheese Incident side projects will also perform on the Italian cruise ship MSC Lirica, which will leave port from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on January 7 and hit Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and Cozumel, Mexico, before returning six days later. ...

Marking the 10th anniversary of the overdose death of singer Shannon Hoon, Blind Melon are releasing their first hits collection, Tones of Home: The Best of Blind Melon, on September 27. The CD/DVD will feature songs like "No Rain," "Galaxie" and "Three Is the Magic Number" (from "Schoolhouse Rock") along with videos and live performances. Also due September 27 is the concert DVD "Live at the Metro 9.27.95," which features three bonus songs from an acoustic performance for Canada's MuchMusic, as well as "Live at the Palace 10.11.95," which will be available exclusively as a digital music release. ...

• 50 Cent
• Bloc Party
• Nada Surf

The Killers (file)
Photo: Island

It's fitting that the first two letters in "October" are "OC," because the month — particularly October 26 — is shaping up to be a big one for fans of the teen drama. That Tuesday not only sees the DVD release of "The O.C.: The Complete First Season," but also of two new soundtrack albums from the show.

The O.C.: Mix 2 and The O.C. Chrismukkah Album feature an indie-heavy list of bands, including the Killers, Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Eat World, reflecting executive producers Josh Schwartz and McG's less-than-mainstream musical tastes.

"Josh and I are huge music fans, and music is definitely a character on the show. It's fun putting singer/songwriters and alternative bands out there that aren't necessarily on mainstream radio," McG said. "[Like] Death Cab for Cutie. Breaking this, that or the other [act], it's a privilege and it works well for the mood of the show."

The second season of "The O.C." figures to be even more music-heavy than the first, what with the characters opening a club called the Bait Shop (see "Modest Mouse, Killers, Walkmen To Guest Star On 'The O.C.' "), and plans to release a third O.C. Mix in the spring of 2005. Another "Chrismukkah" (a holiday created by character Seth Cohen that melds Christmas with Hanukkah) episode has also been taped that, according to "O.C." music supervisor Alex Patsavas, should feature all the songs from the Chrismukkah Album.

"We're going to try and work all the songs into the episode," she said. "Josh has a really forward musical taste, and to me, music feels like it should be there. It never feels forced. The music on the show just always feels real appropriate for the scene or the characters."

Track lists for The O.C.: Mix 2 and The O.C. Chrismukkah Album, according to Warner Bros. Records:

The O.C.: Mix 2

• The Eels - "Saturday Morning"
• Super Furry Animals - "Hello Sunshine" (radio edit)
• The Killers - "Smile Like You Mean It"
• Death Cab for Cutie - "A Lack of Color"
• Interpol - "The Specialist"
• Patrick Park - "Something Pretty"
• Dios Malos - "You Got Me All Wrong"
• Nada Surf - "If You Leave"
• The Thrills - "Big Sur"
• The Walkmen - "Little House of Savages" (live)
• The Perishers - "Trouble Sleeping"
• Jonathan Rice - "So Sweet"
• Beulah - "Popular Mechanics for Lovers"
• Keane - "Walnut Tree"
• Jem - "Maybe I'm Amazed"
• The Album Leaf - "Eastern Glow"

The O.C. Chrismukkah Album

• The Raveonettes - "The Christmas Song"
• Jimmy Eat World - "Last Christmas"
• Low - "Just Like Christmas"
• Rooney - "Merry Christmas Everybody"
• Ben Kweller - "Rock of Ages"
• The Long Winters - "Christmas With You Is Best"
• The Eels - "Christmas Is Going to the Dogs"
• Leona Naess - "Christmas"
• Ron Sexsmith - "Maybe This Christmas"

• The Killers
• Jimmy Eat World
• Nada Surf
• Death Cab For Cutie

Nada Surf (file)
Photo: Barsuk

If someone's going to plunk down $110 for noodle pudding, the money had better be going to a good cause.

On May 12, a new political organization called CitizenChange held its first fund-raiser, benefiting the John Kerry campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and Swing State Summer Break, an organization that sends college students to register voters in the states expected to be the most hotly contested in the upcoming election.

The live auction and concert, held at a club in Brooklyn, New York, featured performances from Nada Surf, Northern State and the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, and the auction's donated items ranged from private yoga lessons to tattoo work to that pricey noodle pudding, which was baked by the mom of one of CitizenChange's founders.

The organization even overcame the last-minute realization that Kerry, in an effort to symbolize his support of campaign-finance reform, refuses to accept PAC donations by giving auction bidders the option of writing their checks directly to his campaign. (The Bush campaign, however, does accept PAC donations.)

A lot of work went into the event, but by divvying up all the tasks, the 12 members found the planning went pretty smoothly. At the end of the night, CitizenChange was thrilled to find that it had packed the house with more than 400 people and netted around $12,000.

It's a long way from a group of friends getting together to chat about politics in a living room — which is how CitizenChange got their start.

Back in 2000, writer Suzanne Snider and some of her left-leaning friends — teachers, fashion designers, small-business owners — formed a political-brunch club, gathering occasionally in her apartment to debate the Nader vs. Gore issue over bagels and coffee. But four years later, talk seemed insufficient and Snider's club craved action. They decided that despite their differences, the objective they shared was "regime change" — getting President Bush out of office.

"We realized that every issue we were interested in was affected by the presidential election, and we wanted to be involved," Snider recalled. "We didn't know what we were looking for in terms of officially incorporating, but we wanted to be recognized as a political entity." Some of the members researched their options and found the answer: The group would become a political action committee. CitizenChange was born.

While much of the recent media attention on grass-roots activism has focused on new forms involving the Internet, old-school methods of organizing — like political action committees — are thriving, too. PACs are groups of people with common concerns who pool their resources to help elect candidates or engage in other types of political activity. PACs are often associated with powerful special interests: For instance, drug manufacturers, unions, trial lawyers, and advocacy groups like the National Rifle Association and the National Education Association all have PACs that rake in millions. But smaller PACs formed by people like Snider and her friends aren't uncommon, according to Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "There are a lot of them this year," Sabato said. "People are energized, whether they're pro- or anti-Bush. It's the war, the economy, gay marriage — you name it. The plate is full in this election."

There are currently around 4,000 PACs registered with the Federal Election Commission, the agency that governs election financing. The main reason to form a PAC is that under campaign finance law, PACs can make larger political donations than individuals can. "You have to form a PAC in order to give contributions that are sizable," Sabato said. "With a PAC you can also pool your individual contributions to make them more noticeable to the candidates." And being noticed — having an impact that went beyond their individual interests — was exactly what Snider and her friends had in mind.

CitizenChange are now planning an art auction and other actions. "We were all pretty amazed by the success of this event," one of the members said, "and that gives us incentive. As a PAC, we have the legitimacy and the infrastructure to do more things like this in the future. We feel a little like an institution — we have a bank account, and we have checks in our name."

If you're interested in forming a PAC of your own, you have to hook up with two government agencies, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission. The IRS will give you an employee identification number for the bank account your PAC will use, ensuring that you won't be taxed for the money your PAC brings in. Call (800) TAX-FORM for more information. The necessary FEC forms are available at www.fec.gov. Click on "reporting forms and filing information," and you'll find the information you need to get started. Some of the forms are tedious — this is the government, after all. But form your PAC, come up with your idea — bake sales for Bush? karaoke for Kerry? — and in no time you'll be making your voice heard the American way: with money.

• Nada Surf
• Northern State
• Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Singers

With so much hype surrounding 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', it's no surprise that bootlegged copies of the album began circulating last week. As a result, its release date was pushed up from February 11 to this Thursday.

The album features the popular tracks "Wanksta" and "In Da Club," plus "Patiently Waiting" with one of the album's Eminem guest spots and "Many Men," a song that addresses 50's "wanted" status.

Detroit blues-rockers Soledad Brothers roll out their third album, Live, produced by the White Stripes' Jack White and featuring a guest drum spot by the other Stripe, Meg. The Pet Shop Boys offer up some remixes on their Disco 3 EP, and DJ Spinna gathers the likes of Jean Grae, Vinia Mojica and Soulive for Here to There.

Saliva, Nickelback, Chevelle and Hoobastank all come together on the "Daredevil" soundtrack, while on the "Shanghai Knights" soundtrack it's the way-back sounds of the Kinks, the Who and the Dave Clark 5.

Out Tuesday, February 4:

• Alabama - In the Mood: Love Songs (RCA)
• All-American Rejects - The All-American Rejects (DreamWorks)
• Antiseen - Noise for the Sake of Noise (TKO)
• Jay Aston - Alive and Well (Angel Air)
• Dave Attell - Skanks for the Memories (Comedy Central)
• Baptist Generals - No Silver/No Gold (Sub Pop)
• Jason Bivins & Ian Davis - Benthic (Family Vineyard)
• Broken Home - Broken Home (Angel Air)
• Burd Early - Leveler (Western Vinyl)
• Bobi Céspedes - Rezos (Six Degrees)
• Ray Charles - Georgia on My Mind (Prism)
• Nick Curran - Doctor Velvet (Blind Pig)
• Daycare Swindlers - This Is No Way to Make a Living (Vile Beat)
• Didjworks - Tranceformation (Nature Beat)
• Dirt Bike Annie - It Ain't Easy Bein' Single (Dirtnap)
• Diva Destruction - Exposing the Sickness (Metropolis)
• DJ Spinna - Here to There (Rapster)
• Drummonds - Pas de Trois (True Life)
• Baxter Dury - Len Parrot's Memorial Lift (Sanctuary)
• Electric Company - It's Hard to Be a Baby (Tigerbeat6)
• Electric Six - Danger! High Voltage (EP, XL/Beggars Banquet)
• Elefant - Gallery Girl (EP, Kemado/Palm Pictures)
• Bill Evans - Big Fun (ESC)
• Farse - Boxing Clever (Moon Ska UK)
• Frukwan - Life (Empire Musicwerks)
• Funky Lowlives - Cartouche (Stereo Deluxe)
• Gentle Giant - Endless Life (United States)
• Glass Candy & the Shattered Theatre - Love Love Love (Troubleman Unlimited)
• The Good Ship - The Good Ship (Orange Twin)
• Grand Ulena - Gateway to Dignity (Family Vineyard)
• Peter Himmelman - My Best Friend Is a Salamander (Liquid 8)
• The Iditarod - The River Nektar (BlueSanct)
• If Thousands - Yellowstone (Chairkickers')
• Jars of Clay - Furthermore — From the Studio, From the Stage (Essential)
• Joan of Arc - So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness (Jade Tree)
• The Juliana Theory - Love (Epic)
• Quincy Jones - Exodus (Prism)
• Jon Langford and His Sadies - Mayors of the Moon (Bloodshot)
• Keen-O - Nobody Knows How and Why (Materiali Sonori)
• Kenny Lee Lewis - Music of the Steve Miller Band (Liquid 8)
• Loveless & Goodnight Trail - Loveless & Goodnight Trail (Sonic Boom)
• Lupine Howl - The Bar at the End of the World (Beggars Banquet)
• Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - Jubilee (Northern Blues)
• Johnny Marr + the Healers - Bloomslang (iMusic)
  Read: "Ex-Smiths Guitarist Follows Dream Snake, Finds His Voice"
• The Marsalis Family - A Jazz Celebration (Marsalis Music)
• Mixtwitch - Smile for the Money Shot (Moon Ska UK)
• moe. - Wormwood (iMusic)
• Polly Moller - Diogenes (Silver Wheel)
• Mortification - Blood World (Acts 26)
• Moving Units - Moving Units (EP, Palm Pictures)
• Nada Surf - Let Go (Barsuk)
• New Wet Kojak - This Is the Glamorous (Beggars Banquet)
• Faris Nourallah - I Love Faris (Western Vinyl)
• Billy Ocean - On the Run (Planet Media)
• The Orb - Back to Mine (Razor & Tie)
• Oswald - "Pop Goes the Octopus" soundtrack (Nick/Jive)
• Pet Shop Boys - Disco 3 (EP, Sanctuary)
• Ian Pooley - Excursions (Obsessive)
• Suzi Quatro - Wake Up Little Suzi (Go)
• Trevor Rabin - Live in L.A. (United States)
• Radioactive Man - Fabric 08 (Fabric)
• Reunion - Re (Sonar Kollektiv)
• Savoy Brown - Strange Dreams (Blind Pig)
• Blake Shelton - The Dreamer (Warner Bros.)
• Since by Man - We Sing the Body Electric (Revelation)
• Sister Hazel - Chasing Daylight (Universal)
• Snog - Beyond the Valley of the Proles (Metropolis)
• Soledad Brothers - Live (Dim Mak)
• Stiffed - Sex Sells (Cool Hunter)
• Storm - The Unpredictable Amalgamation (Orpheus)
• Subb - Daylight Saving (Stomp)
• The Sun - Love & Death (EP, Warner Bros.)
• Surgin' - Tokyo Rose (Zoom Club)
• Keith Sweat - Live (Elektra)
• Tank - Still at War (Zoom Club)
• Tiga - DJ Kicks (K7)
• Tigersmilk - Tigersmilk (Family Vineyard)
• Uncurbed - Chords for Freedom (Sound Pollution)
• Undead - First Worst & Cursed (Bacchus)
• Ral Partha Vogelbacher - Kite vs. Obelisk (Megalon)
• Walkabouts - Drunken Soundtracks: Lost Songs (Glitterhouse)
• Rick Wakeman - Live (United States)
• Dionne Warwick - Dionne Sings Dionne (Empire)
• Whitmore - Smoke the Roach (Moon Ska UK)
• Wiggles - Magical Adventure: A Wiggly Adventure (Lyons Group)
• Tony Williams - Wilderness (reissue, Ark 21)
• Frank Zappa - For Collectors Only (Go)
• Various artists - 60 Classic Punk Tracks (Simply the Best)
• Various artists - Acoustic Coffee House: A Tribute to Elvis (Reverberations)
• Various artists - Being Black (Spun)
• Various artists - Breathe: The Bluegrass Tribute to the Dave Matthews Band Vol. 2 (CMH)
• Various artists - Chillout: Adventures in Leisure (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Cuba Cha Cha Cha (Orfeon)
• Various artists - Cuba Live: Recorded Live in Cuba (Rounder)
• Various artists - Daredevil: The Album (Wind-Up)
• Various artists - Disney's Princess Sing-Along Album (Disney)
• Various artists - "Gods and Generals" soundtrack (Sony Classical)
• Various artists - Gypsy Swing: The Nashville Tribute to Django Reinhardt (CMH)
• Various artists - Jungle Book 2 (Disney)
• Various artists - Keep on the Sunny Side: Bluegrass Salutes the Carter Family (CMH)
• Various artists - Pure Trance (Varese)
• Various artists - Real Americana (Lakeshore)
• Various artists - "Shanghai Knights" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Jane's Addiction (Vitamin)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Nirvana (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Tribute to Staind (Big Eye)
• DVD: The Blood Brothers - Jungle Rules Live (ARTISTdirect)
• DVD: Judy Collins - Live at Wolf Trap (Pioneer Entertainment)
• DVD: Widespread Panic - Live From the Backyard in Austin, TX (Sanctuary/Widespread)

February 6:

• 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Interscope)
  Read: "50 Cent's Album Hitting Stores Sooner Than Planned"
  Buy Now: Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Interscope)

March 4:

• Cursive - Ugly Organ (Saddle Creek)
• Fabolous - Street Dreams (Elektra)
• Hootie & the Blowfish - Hootie & the Blowfish (Atlantic)
• Lil' Kim - La Bella Mafia (Atlantic)
• Special Goodness - Land Air Sea (Control Group)
• Voivod - Voivod (Navarre)
  Read: "Jason Newsted Says His New Band Can Kick Metallica's Ass"

March 11:

• Various artists - Punk Goes Acoustic (Fearless)

March 18:

• Buzzcocks - Buzzcocks (Merge)

March 25:

• Celine Dion - One Heart (Sony)
• Linkin Park - Meteora (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Linkin Park Discuss Meteora, Plan Surreal Video"

• 50 Cent
• Johnny Marr
• Pet Shop Boys
• Jars of Clay
• Nada Surf

A Pixies tribute album featuring the likes of Weezer, Superdrag, Nada Surf and Letters To Cleo has a firm track listing and a release date. A spokesperson for Glue Factory Records tells MTV News that the CD, titled "Where Is My Mind: A Tribute To The Pixies," will be available March 6.

Letters To Cleo's version of "Debaser" is currently in the mixing phase, and contributions from Nada Surf ("Where Is My Mind?"), Jimmy Eat World ("U-Mass"), The Get Up Kids ("Alec Eiffel"), Samiam ("Here Comes Your Man") and Braid ("Hey") are underway or close to it. Still up in the air is a track from the Jesus And Mary Chain, who initially declined Knight's offer to get involved, but recently told MTV News that their participation was still possible.

This is the second tribute project for the year-old L.A.-based Glue Factory. They previously issued an Operation Ivy CD that featured Reel Big Fish, Cherry Poppin' Daddies and The Long Beach Dub *All-Stars* (the former members of Sublime) among others.

• Frank Black
• Nada Surf
• The Pixies
• Superdrag
• Weezer