Lindsay Lohan in police custody in July
Photo: SMPD/Finalpixx

Lindsay Lohan pulled a Nicole Richie on Thursday (November 15), checking in and out of jail in less than an hour and a half, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Web site. She checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California — the same jail Richie and Paris Hilton were at — at 10:30 a.m., and she checked out shortly afterward, at 11:54 a.m. Lohan was fingerprinted, searched — without having to give up her street clothes — and then put into a holding cell in the inmate reception area, according to The Associated Press. "She was cooperative," Los Angeles Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore told AP. He added that she did not receive preferential treatment and said 30-50 women are granted early releases from the facility on a daily basis. Her brief, 84-minute stay in jail was related to her July DUI arrest following a bizarre car chase, and she had been ordered to serve her time before January. Lohan subsequently entered rehab and was released from the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah early last month. According to a People report, she began serving her community service at an American Red Cross blood-services facility in a Los Angeles suburb on Monday. ...

Alicia Keys' new album is all about self-empowerment, and it's no wonder why: The singer recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly that she has battled depression. When a family member fell ill in summer 2006, "It made me finally stop," Keys said. "Nothing else was more important — no work, no costumes, no anything. I was forced to slow down, look at my life and decide who I wanted to be. It all got very low at first because I was very depressed and I didn't understand why." After taking a monthlong trek across Egypt — during which she was only accompanied by a tour guide — and returning to the States, she promised herself that she "was going to be courageous enough to tell whoever is in my life what was going on. I became brutally honest. I would go straight up to people and say, 'Guess what? This is over. So what's gonna happen from now on is this: If you're feeling that, great. If not, bye.' Some people didn't like it, and they didn't like me being so clear and set on what I wanted. But I found that I took their power away." The issue hits newsstands Monday. ...

With her husband in jail, accused of trying to obstruct an investigation, the last thing Amy Winehouse needed was to have fans turn their backs on her. But according to BBC News, that's exactly what happened on Wednesday night, when the troubled singer played her first gig since husband Blake Fielder-Civil's arrest last week. Throughout Winehouse's show in Birmingham, England, the singer was reportedly crying, and "streams" of people walked out before the end. At one point during the show, she warned the boo birds, "To them people booing, wait till my husband gets out of incarceration. And I mean that." She later dedicated the song "Wake Up Alone" to Fielder-Civil, and while performing an encore cover of the Zutons' "Valerie," she reportedly stopped singing, dropped the mic and walked offstage. ...

Kanye West, who reportedly canceled his planned Thursday appearance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Monday, has also scrapped the kickoff to his U.K. tour, which was set for Monday in Amsterdam, Netherlands, according to CNN. Further evidence is found on his Web site, which does not feature the previously scheduled date in its tour section, although a string of other European tour dates (through December 4) are still listed. That includes his planned performance at the O2 arena in London on November 22, and CNN reports that the show will go on. Meanwhile, Will.I.Am has stepped in to fill West's shoes for the Victoria's Secret show, according to AP. West's mother, Donda, passed away Saturday. ...

Regina Spektor's sold-out Wednesday night show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium was canceled shortly before it started after the singer collapsed. She "was taken to a local hospital after collapsing due to a severe inner ear infection which caused a sudden case of vertigo," according to a statement issued by her publicist. "Regina was released late last night and is resting comfortably. Regina is extremely disappointed that she had to cancel on her fans but will return to the Ryman on December 6th, where all tickets will be honored or refunded." Spektor has also postponed her planned Thursday show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta to December 5. All tickets will be honored or refunded at the show. The rest of her North American tour will continue as planned beginning Friday in Norfolk, Virginia. ...

What's the deal with Britney Spears running over people's feet? The singer did it for the fourth time on Wednesday night, according to a video on TMZ.com, as she headed into the parking lot at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. In the video, a man is heard warning the paparazzi as Spears begins driving her Mercedes, after which a photographer is heard screaming and the man responds, "Back off the drive, gentlemen, this won't happen if you back off the drive." The men are subsequently heard shouting at each other. UsMagazine.com reports that the incident took place at 9:30 p.m. Spears previously ran over a cop's feet and those of other photographers as well. ...

The deal is done: Jadakiss has signed with Roc-A-Fella, it was announced Thursday. His yet-untitled first album in four years, a collaboration between Roc-A-Fella and Ruff Ryders, is due next year. Jay-Z told Mixtape Monday late last month that the deal was almost done and that he had been in negotiations with Ruff Ryders to get the black Babe Ruth on his label through Def Jam. "Well, I've been actually trying to get Jadakiss to come to Roc-A-Fella/ Ruff Ryders for a minute," he said. Jada's last album, 2004's Kiss of Death, debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart. ...

M by Mariah Carey, the singer's new fragrance, is launching a Virtual Ford Model Search to find the new face of MTV's Virtual Hills. The campaign is being put on by MTV Networks, Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models. Starting Monday, viewers can go here to make their own customized avatar, and while in the virtual world, they'll be able to get beauty tips from Ford Models experts and given a virtual bottle of the perfume and Ford Models portfolio book. "With Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models, we're tapping into their twin drivers of fashion and beauty and creating a social campaign where they can seek status and project a confident sense of self with others," Courtney Holt, executive vice president of Digital Music and Media for MTV Networks' Music & Logo Group, said in a statement. In early January, models will be requested to flaunt their virtual acting abilities by posing with the M by Mariah Carey bottle, acting out a commercial for it, walking a virtual runway and competing in a virtual dance competition. The winning avatar, to be determined by reps for MTV, Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models, will be used as the face of a marketing campaign for MTV's virtual worlds, Ford Models' inaugural virtual-world model and will appear in a spot co-branded by MTV and Elizabeth Arden. Finalists will be chosen by an expert panel on January 14, and the winner will be announced on air January 31. ...

Game won a motion to retrieve $40,000 that was seized from his home in Glendale, California, in May, according to TMZ. The rapper (real name: Jayceon Taylor) got the legal win in court on Wednesday. Game is charged with three counts of making a criminal threat, possession of a firearm in a school zone and exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer stemming from an incident in February. The rapper, who is free on $50,000 bail, faces more than five years in state prison if convicted. ... According to England's NME, My Chemical Romance are down another man. Guitarist Frank Iero has reportedly dropped out of the band's world tour following Sunday's show in Newcastle, England, due to an undisclosed family member's illness. He will be temporarily replaced by guitar tech Matt Cortez, who previously stood in for bassist Mikey Way when he went on a six-month hiatus from the group earlier this year. The news comes less than a week after drummer Bob Bryar explained his absence from the band's recent shows due to a persistent wrist injury. The sidelining of Iero leaves the band with just three permanent members taking the stage each night. A spokesperson for the band could not be reached at press time. ...

Hurting to see the Foo Fighters? The wait is almost over. The band, which is still hammering away at its U.K. tour stretch, has firmed up six Stateside dates in support of its recent Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace album: January 23 (Dallas); January 25 (Memphis, Tennessee); January 26 (Nashville); February 18 (Worcester, Massachusetts); February 21 (Philadelphia); and February 24 (Detroit). Aficionados will be pleased to know that former guitarist Pat Smear will be back with the Foos while they're on the road — keyboardist Rami Jaffee (ex-Wallflowers) and violinist Jesse Greene are also along for the ride. A limited number of premium tix being made available through Ticketmaster auctions will benefit TreeBank, which plans to distribute the proceeds to local branches for tree-planting in communities the tour will hit. ... Velvet Revolver canceled their four scheduled concerts in Japan after immigration officials there denied the band's request for visas. According to concert promoter Creativeman Productions, the band was "looking forward to their tour of Japan [because] the upcoming trek was an opportunity to reconnect with their fans in Japan, where the band has toured before — without incident — back in 2005. But now it's a different story as [the band's] request for visas has just been denied. The increasingly tough Japanese immigration officials are taking exception with the backgrounds of various bandmembers, which have included arrests." ...

Kelly Rowland, Nick Lachey, Patti LaBelle and others have been tapped to create America's "greatest" choir for an upcoming competition show that will air live from New York over the course of four nights, from December 17-20. For "Clash of the Choirs," Rowland, Lachey and the three other celebrities involved in the competition will go back to their hometowns and recruit 20 singers, and the choirs will be eliminated one by one until the final evening. The winning choir and respective hometown celeb will get to choose a prize to be donated to their community. ... Carrie Underwood will sidle up alongside Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and other country heavyweights for the 2008 Stagecoach country-music festival, which will be held May 3-4 at the same venue that hosts Coachella: Indio, California's Empire Polo Field. Another "American Idol" vet, Kellie Pickler, will also be performing at the event. ... Queens of the Stone Age have lined up a benefit gig that will take place in their native Palm Desert in California on December 9. Proceeds from the show, which will also feature their homies the Eagles of Death Metal, will go to Palm Desert High School, youth-outreach nonprofit Operation SafeHouse and other various Coachella Valley charities. ...

Ne-Yo, Vanessa Hudgens, Colbie Caillat and Katharine McPhee will headline the annual Christmas in Washington benefit show slated to air on TNT on December 12. ... Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire can't seem to get enough of each other. First McEntire welcomed the "American Idol" onto her recent Reba Duets album for a rendition of Clarkson's "Because of You." Then the two promoted it with an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that also featured Justin Timberlake. Now the ladies are hitting the road together for the 2 Worlds 2 Voices tour, which will launch January 17 in Dayton, Ohio, and wind down February 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Billboard. ...

A judge in Michigan tossed a civil suit Kid Rock filed earlier this year after the rocker failed to appear for a court-ordered deposition. The rocker (real name: Robert James Ritchie) had filed suit against Kelly Ann Kozlowski, claiming she embarrassed and defamed him, but on Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar nixed the suit and expressed her annoyance at Rock's absence, according to AP. "What's special about him? Why does he get to violate a court's order?" she reportedly asked of Rock's attorney, William Horton, after learning the musician ignored a deposition she had ordered to take place by the end of October. The lawyer blamed scheduling conflicts for the no-show. Kozlowski had sued Rock, claiming he roughed her up outside his Clarkston recording studio back in March. Her claims were investigated by authorities, but no charges were ever brought against Rock. Meanwhile, the judge entered a default against Rock in Kozlowski's complaint, which seeks more than $25,000 in damages. The ruling prevents Rock from contesting Kozlowski's lawsuit at trail in February. ...

Some rare Kurt Cobain memorabilia is up for sale on Craigslist. A seller claims to have gotten hold of four original, signed drawings the late Nirvana frontman made in high school, and he's selling them for $10,000 each, according to Harp magazine. The classified ad reads, "I have four original and signed drawings by Kurt Cobain. Various sizes, mostly Fender guitar-related subject matter. These were done when Kurt was in high school in the 1980s. Quite rare and unusual." ... My Bloody Valentine have rolled out a batch of concert dates after frontman Kevin Shields made the official reunion announcement in an interview broadcast Monday on VBS.tv. According to Billboard, the group will play three dates in the U.K. — June 20 (London), June 28 (Manchester) and July 2 (Glasgow) — and are mulling an offer to participate at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California, in late April. ...

Of Montreal and Battles have snatched up seven PLUG Independent Music Award nominations, including Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year. The Arcade Fire and Justice landed six nominations each while Band of Horses and the National nabbed five, and Spoon earned four. Radiohead, Animal Collective, Okkervil River, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Panda Bear, El-P, Om, Boris, Dan Deacon, Andrew Bird and others were also noticed. The awards ceremony will be held March 6 at Terminal 5 in New York. ...

Multimedia company Guerilla Union — which produces the Rock the Bells and Paid Dues tours — has donated $100,000 to Linkin Park's Music for Relief project on the part of the band and SanDisk Corporation, a flash-data-storage-card company, after staging an event over the weekend. The SanDisk Sunset Strip Block Party served as a launch for the company's new marketing campaign and other products, but also drew attention to the recent wildfires in the area. A handful of bands performing in various venues on West Hollywood, California's Sunset Strip were involved, including LP, Common, the Crystal Method, Z-Trip and others. ... Current and former members of Cave In, Jawbox, Isis, Sunn0))), Dälek and other underground acts have lent their talents to Decimal, the new album by Ringfinger. At the center of the project is Tracy Wilson, who previously sung for now-disbanded group Dahlia Seed. ...

A former Paris Hilton business partner has been arrested on rape charges, according to Florida's Orlando Sentinel. Fereidoun "Fred" Khalilian, the heiress' former partner in Orlando's Club Paris, turned himself in to police on Wednesday after his home was raided by a police SWAT team earlier in the day. He faces charges of false imprisonment and sexual battery stemming from an incident on Friday. ... Lindsay Lohan's father, Michael, is planning to open a restaurant that his daughter "can be around people she can trust — where she can hang her hat and call her own," according to People. He is reportedly looking for a location in Los Angeles for the restaurant, for which he said Lindsay will be part-owner, although the opening date and menu are not yet known. Michael Lohan has another item on his agenda: He's participating in the ninth annual Great Thanksgiving Banquet for homeless people at the New York City Rescue Mission on Monday. Meals will be served from noon until 7 p.m., and 1,000 shelter-based homeless people are expected to attend. ...

According to an interview with HHNLive.com, Flipmode Squad member Rampage said the group founded and relentlessly hyped on wax by Busta Rhymes has abandoned its name and is no longer working with Busta. He said the group is now just "Rah Digga, Baby Sham, Spliff Starr and myself. We just changed the name of the group, and it's now called FMS. ... We just decided to do our own thing. ... It's not under Flipmode anymore. It's under FMS, [which] stands for Famous Millionaire Squad."

11.14.2007

Jack White went all out for the new White Stripes video, for their third Icky Thump single, "Conquest." In preparation for the clip — which is in keeping with the song's Spanish theme — he actually trained with Dennis Borba, a noted bullfighter. The video will debut November 26 on MTV and was shot over two days in Artesia, California, by director Diane Martel (Ciara, the Killers). The group's cover of the song made popular by Patti Page — the tune also appears in a recent eBay TV ad — is also coming out in the form of four singles, which is giving the duo the chance to bust out some new music they recorded with Beck. There are three different-colored vinyl versions of the single, and the B-sides for each are as follows: "It's My Fault for Being Famous," for which Beck contributed vocals and piano (black); "Honey, We Can't Afford to Look This Cheap," for which Beck played slide guitar (white); and "Cash Grab Complications on the Matter" (red). Beck co-produced all three songs during a recording session in his living room. The digital maxi-single has all three tracks plus an acoustic mariachi version of "Conquest." The vinyl singles, due December 18, also come with a matador trading card and a poster. ...

To be expected, Kanye West has canceled his planned performance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, according to "Entertainment Tonight." The event is scheduled to tape Thursday and air December 4 on CBS. West's mother, Donda, passed away on Saturday. ...

Amy Winehouse's U.K. tour will start Wednesday (November 14) as planned despite the recent troubles surrounding her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, BBC News reports. The singer, who canceled shows over the summer due to "health issues," will begin the trek at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena. Singer/songwriter Remi Nicole, who is supporting Winehouse at the show, told the news outlet, "All I know is it's going ahead. She's professional and she knows what she's got to do. I'll be there to support her. If it was my husband, I'd be a bit upset." The tour will end with a two-night stand at the Carling Brixton Academy in London on December 16-17. As for the other matter, The Daily Mirror reports that Winehouse visited Fielder-Civil on Tuesday for the first time since he was refused bail on Saturday. His trial on allegations of "perverting the court of justice," or the U.S. equivalent of obstruction of justice, begins November 23, and he could face life in prison. ...

First Ghostface Killah got his very own action figure — and now he's telling fans how they can live just like him with a new book, "The World According to Pretty Toney." The MTV Press volume, which revolves around Ghost's alter ego, "offers nuggets of street wisdom [on] livin', hustlin', lovin', eatin', and the all-encompassing Toneology," according to a press release. The January 8 book, co-written with J. Brightly, also comes with a bonus CD with 20 minutes of Pretty Toney tunes related to the themes in the book. Keep an eye out for new Pretty Toney airing in December on MTV2 as well. ... Los Angeles rock radio station KROQ has unveiled the list of performers for the second day of its annual Almost Acoustic Christmas shows. Muse, Feist, Jimmy Eat World, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, Spoon and the Shins are all on the bill for the December 9 shindig, which will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and others will light up the December 8 show. ...

Matt Damon is the Sexiest Man Alive, People declares with its 2007 issue of the same name. "You gave an aging suburban dad the ego boost of a lifetime," he said in a statement issued to the mag. Justin Timberlake, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Javier Bardem, Ben Affleck and others make the cut on the Hot List; while Milo Ventimiglia, Josh Duhamel, Taye Diggs and others were named "Simply Sexy." The Rock, Rainn Wilson ("Year of the Nerd"), George Clooney and others also appear in the issue, which streets Friday. ... Affleck, Eva Mendes and Reese Witherspoon want to make sure you have health insurance. The actors — along with Jeremy Piven, Joaquin Phoenix and others — have joined forces for a new public-service announcement calling for "affordable, quality health care for all Americans," according to a press release. The ad, a joint effort between the AARP, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Motion Picture & Television Fund, rolled out on Tuesday. ...

Don Imus isn't just coming back to radio on December 3 — the controverial shock jock will also be resurfacing that same day on RFD-TV, a cable and satellite channel that caters to rural viewers. He has signed a five-year deal with the channel. ... KT Tunstall, whose scheduled Tuesday appearances on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Last Call with Carson Daly" have been stymied by the writers' strike, has decided to join the protesters instead. She's planning to busk for the strikers at the NBC headquarters in Burbank, California, on Wednesday. ... And on the subject of the strike, TV Guide announced Wednesday that it is canceling its Online Video Awards ceremony and TV broadcast in light of the strike. The winners will be announced November 26. Tunstall is also due to play at the upcoming Nobel Peace Prize Concert honoring winner Al Gore. The event, which will also feature performances by Alicia Keys, Earth, Wind & Fire and others, will take place December 11 in Oslo, Norway. Uma Thurman and Tommy Lee Jones will co-host. ...

The Beatles will be going digital next year, if Paul McCartney gets his way. "It's all happening soon," he told Billboard.com of the plans to get the group's catalog into the digital sphere. "Most of us are all sort of ready. The whole thing is primed, ready to go — there's just maybe one little sticking point left, and I think it's being cleared up as we speak, so it shouldn't be too long. It's down to fine-tuning, but I'm pretty sure it'll be happening next year, 2008." McCartney cited contractual issues as the reason for the delay. ... Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark are reconvening for the annual "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," which will take place on ... wait for it ... December 31! The ABC specials start at 10 p.m. ET and will include musical performances from New York's Times Square and Hollywood. ...

If you like E-40 and chicken wings, you're in for a treat: The Bay Area rapper — who also owns a Fatburger joint with former NFL player Chester McGlockton — is planning to open a Wingstop Restaurant in Benicia, California. "I was introduced to Wingstop in Dallas, and as soon as I tasted the wings I was hooked," he said in a statement. "People here [in the Bay Area] are going to love these wings." ... Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate will co-headline the annual Take Action! Tour, which raises money for various nonprofit groups. The trek, put on by Hopeless/ Sub City Records, will launch in February. ... Hayden Panettiere, "hero" to dolphins, was recently honored with a Compassion in Action Award by Peta2, the youth branch of the animal-rights organization. The actress was recognized for attempting to disrupt Japan's annual dolphin hunting by paddling out to sea with five surfers and "taking on an angry mob of boathook-wielding Japanese anglers," according to a press release. ...

Dispatch are immortalizing their record-breaking three-night, sold-out run at New York's Madison Square Garden in July with a new concert film due January 29. A limited-edition collector's version of "Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden" — which was directed by noted rock photographer Danny Clinch — will also have a Zimbabwe documentary, Clinch pics and other extras. Dispatch became the first indie band to ever sell out MSG thanks to the July shows. ... Try this one on for size: San Francisco singer/songwriter and former Cake collaborator Chuck Prophet accidentally got locked in a recording studio — and while he was waiting to get out, decided to re-record an album, Waylon Jennings' 1975 LP, Dreaming My Dreams. Prophet's version is available for download and as a limited edition of 1,000 copies. ...

Who needs Ticketmaster? Going.com users will be able to buy tickets through the social-networking site starting Wednesday (November 14), The Associated Press reports. The site, which accommodates user-organized events and allows users to see who else is planning to hit a given show, will not be selling tickets through traditional outlets. The first show for which tickets are being offered is Moby's Thursday concert in New York. "Ticketing was the last-mile solution for the 300,000 local monthly RSVPs that occur on our site," CEO and founder Evan Schumacher reportedly said in a statement. "Our goal was to connect the long tail of promoters with event-seeking audiences."

• Lindsay Lohan
• Amy Winehouse
• Regina Spektor
• Britney Spears
• Jadakiss

Mariah Carey in <i>Glamour</i>'s November 2007 issue
Photo: Glamour

Mariah Carey has a suggestion for troubled young female celebs: Find your center. When asked by Glamour what words of advice she would give Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, she replied, "I wouldn't want to speak to those people specifically, but I would say you need to be very centered, and spiritually know where you're at, all the time. Don't read the tabloids. Don't be obsessed with what people are writing or saying. Live your life for you. My lifestyle has changed since making it. It's not a financial struggle, but I'm still struggling in a lot of ways." Carey graces the cover of the magazine's November issue. ...

Diddy has had a tumultuous few days — first he was sued by a former associate who claimed the hip-hop mogul owes him $19 million for work by the Notorious B.I.G., and then he accepted legal responsibility for his sixth child, The Associated Press reports. In the suit, James Sabatino claims he flew the late rapper to Miami in 1994 to play a gig and hit the studio — he recorded a 17-minute freestyle session, and 90 minutes of Biggie video was allegedly captured on video as well. Since Sabatino paid for the travel expenses and studio time, he says it was understood that the music and video belonged to him, even though a contract was never signed. Diddy claims the delay was due to Los Angeles police naming Sabatino as a person of interest in Biggie's death and that it might be misconstrued if people discovered Bad Boy had paid Sabatino. The ex-associate was later imprisoned on unrelated charges but continued trying to get the money from Diddy and was told it would be coming soon, the suit alleges. Sabatino is seeking $19 million for actual and punitive damages. While that dilemma recently emerged, Diddy put another one to rest when he took legal responsibility for his 15-month-old daughter, Chance — who is said to have factored into his split with ex-girlfriend Kim Porter. Diddy previously denied he had fathered the child of an Atlanta woman, Sarah Chapman, but has acknowledged that DNA tests have confirmed that he is the father. Diddy has arranged support terms and visitation over his daughter with Chapman. ...

Trent Reznor is a free man. According to a post on Nine Inch Nails' Web site, he and his band have fulfilled their contractual obligations to Interscope. "I've waited a long time to be able to make the following announcement: As of right now, Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label," he said in the post. "I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate. Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008. Exciting times, indeed." NIN were signed to TVT prior to joining Interscope in 1994. ...

Beanie Sigel's attorney says the rapper will surrender to authorities next week after an arrest warrant was issued for his failure to return a rented car, AP reports. Sigel (real name: Dwight Grant) is planning to face the charges on October 15, Fortunado Perri told the news service, elaborating that the Payless rental car — which was due back in August and reported stolen September 6 — is being covered. "Whatever money is owed to the company has been paid or will be paid shortly," Perri added. The car was returned to Payless on Friday as detectives were on their way to arrest Sigel at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdale. It is not yet known who returned the vehicle, which had accumulated $5,000 in late fees. ...

Paris Hilton's alleged bean spillage during VMA weekend aside, Christina Aguilera isn't doing too good a job keeping her supposed pregnancy under wraps. "Access Hollywood" reports that Aguilera picked out a baby registry at a trendy boutique in West Hollywood, California, on Saturday night. With husband Jordan Bratman and his mother and sister in tow, the singer shopped for blankets, bottles, bags and other items for what "AH" called an "upcoming baby shower." ...

Want to live just like Ozzy and Sharon? Your chance is about to arrive. The Osbournes are planning to auction art, furniture and collectibles from their homes in Southern California and England, with a portion of proceeds going to the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Foundation. Items up for sale include Jack Osbourne's black leather bedroom furniture, a cast-iron crucifix that was hung in Ozzy's den and other memorable objects that appeared on "The Osbournes." The auction will be held November 30-December at the Gibson Guitar Showroom in Beverly Hills — although bids can also be placed by phone or online — and Ozzy will also perform a related benefit show at Los Angeles' Staples Center the first night. Expect to hear plenty more from Ozzy in the near future, by the way: In addition to his upcoming tour with Rob Zombie, he'll likely be headlining Ozzfest next year, according to Billboard. When asked if he would be at the top of the bill, he said, "As far as I know." He did not say whether the fest would be free again, stipulating that it was Sharon's decision. He did, however, say he's still up for recording a new Black Sabbath album, though the band's plans are up in the air. ...

Amy Winehouse, the Arctic Monkeys, Paul McCartney and Kylie Minogue were honored at the annual Q awards on Monday (October 8). Winehouse's Back to Black earned Best Album, the Monkeys were named Best Act in the World Today, Macca was awarded as a Q Icon and Minogue landed Q Idol honors. ... Speaking of Winehouse, producer Mark Ronson tells RollingStone.com, "As soon as I finish up the Daniel Merriweather record, I am going back into the studio with Amy Winehouse to work on her new record. ... She is actually dying to go back into the studio already. ... She can't go in November because she is on tour, so we are figuring it out." Winehouse's second album, Back to Black, hit U.S. stores in March. ...

A new book claims that Bono's daughter, Jordan Hewson, was nearly kidnapped by Irish criminals as part of an abduction plot 10 years ago, according to The Irish Examiner. Author Frances Cahill, daughter of murdered crime boss Martin Cahill, says in her recently released book, "Martin Cahill, My Father," that her dad stopped the alleged plot, through which five other Irish criminals were hoping to get a multimillion-dollar ransom from the singer (the U.S. equivalent of roughly $8 million). "He told them it was a bad idea," Cahill reportedly writes in the book. "Martin had nothing against Bono's family. They had never done him any harm and he wasn't going to get involved." ...

Deftones have begun work on the follow-up to last year's Saturday Night Wrist, which took the band more than three years to record and release. According to a MySpace post from the guys, they've been working on the effort since late July and will maintain a blog to document the recording process. ... In addition to the standard CD version of their new self-titled album, Avenged Sevenfold will also be releasing a MVI version of the effort on October 30. The interactive DVD will feature a making-of featurette, a studio tour, pre-encoded MP3s of all the tracks, an animated short and more. ...

Cribs bassist Gary Jarman was hospitalized over the weekend and has been treated for blood poisoning, his publicist confirmed to MTV News. It's believed the rocker contracted the condition after accidentally cutting himself with the strings of his bass during a recent gig. He had complained of pains in his arms on Saturday but managed to make a gig in Sheffield, England, that same night. He was admitted early Sunday morning and is doing fine, according to his publicist. ... Want to get down and dirty with Moby? Stop by New York's Hiro Ballroom on Thursday night when he, Juan McClean, Stretch Armstrong and DFA artist Alex Frankel christen his new DJ series, called "Degenerates." Moby will tinker around with new material as part of the residency, which is expected to be ongoing and will encompass additional DJs. ...

Jena, Louisiana, Mayor Murphy R. McMillin is lashing out over John Mellencamp's new track "Jena," which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-nominated rocker recently wrote and posted online (with an accompanying video) in support of the Jena Six. "The town of Jena has for months been mischaracterized in the media and portrayed as the epicenter of hatred, racism and a place where justice is denied," McMillin reportedly told AP. "However, the Mellencamp video is so inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough. ... I do not want to diminish the impression that the hanging of the nooses has had on good people. I do recognize that what happened is insulting and hurtful. ... [But] to put the incident in Jena in the same league as those who were murdered in the 1960s cheapens their sacrifice and insults their memory." Prior to the mayor's reaction, Mellencamp discussed his intention behind the track via a post on his site. "The song is not written as an indictment of the people of Jena but, rather, as a condemnation of racism," he wrote. ...

Bruce Springsteen defended his anti-war stance in an interview with "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, telling correspondent Scott Pelley that it would be "unpatriotic" not to speak out on his new album, Magic, and accompanying tour. "It's unpatriotic at any given moment to sit back and let things pass that are damaging to someplace that you love so dearly and that has given me so much," Springsteen said. "I still feel and see it as a beacon of hope and possibility. That part of America is live and well." He also sounded off on other political issues of the day, saying, "When people think of the American identity, they don't think of torture. They don't think of illegal wiretapping. They don't think of voter suppression. They don't think of no habeas corpus. No right to a lawyer ... you know. Those are things that are anti-American." ...

Not too long ago, the thought of a Police reunion tour was inconceivable. Now comes news that the rock legends, who are currently on tour in Europe, might throw together a new studio effort while they're at it. "I would see it as a challenge, to make an absolutely brilliant pop album at this stage of our career, and that would be something quite remarkable," guitarist Andy Summers told reporters in Dublin, Ireland, over the weekend, according to AP. But he added that the trio have not discussed the project in detail and that the reunion tour is "all-devouring." ...

Maybe the third time will indeed be the charm for Pamela Anderson, who married Rick Salomon — perhaps best known for making that sex tape with Paris Hilton — on Saturday in Las Vegas. Anderson wore a white denim Valentino dress, People reports, and the vows were squeezed in between the 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows of Hans Klok's "The Beauty of Magic," which Anderson is a part of, at the Planet Hollywood resort. It's Anderson's third marriage and Salomon's second.

10.05.07

Lil Wayne was arrested in Boise, Idaho, Friday night on a felony fugitive charge issued in Georgia for allegedly possessing a controlled substance, The Associated Press reports. Wayne, who was booked into the Ada County Jail, was expected to miss a scheduled concert Saturday night because his charges made him ineligible for bond. As a result, an Ada County sheriff's deputy told AP, the jail has been flooded with angry calls from fans. The 25-year-old rapper, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., is set to be formally charged Tuesday. ...

"This about to get ugly, this about to go crazy." First T.I. had his way with Britney Spears, and now it's Lil Mama. The diminutive rapper is about to drop a remix of Spears' single "Gimme More," in which she gives the singer some props but spends most of the song boasting about her own skills: "I'm what's hot. Ever see 'G-Slide'? I can bring it back." (Listen here for a preview of the track.) Lil Mama then calls out the "followers," saying she has no competition because she's "so far ahead of my time." And, in what could be an analysis of why Spears has had so many troubles as of late, Lil Mama says, "People always going to tell you what you want to hear," that there's been "too many yeses, not enough noes, not enough real," which means even "the best get torn." Who knew the dance track could be a cautionary tale as well? As Lil Mama raps, "You've been warned by the voice of the young." ...

K-Fed may have physical custody of his children with Spears, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging him to take the custody battle to the doghouse. In a letter faxed to Federline on Thursday, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk requested that he ask the judge for custody of the couple's pets. "It's no secret that Ms. Spears' impetuous 'pet' purchases and lack of caretaking skills have been a serious concern of ours," she wrote, noting that in 2006 the singer was "the overwhelming choice" for worst celebrity dog owner in polls conducted by New York Dog and Hollywood Dog magazines. Newkirk was also concerned that Britney's latest dog, London, was more of an "accessory" and noted that the Los Angeles chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had already investigated the dog's lack of veterinary care after breaking his leg when he was stepped on. "As a father, your main concern is the comfort and stability of your children," Newkirk wrote. "London and the other animals whom the boys consider to be part of the family have provided that comfort and stability ... being separated from the animal friends whom they share a bond with is undoubtedly traumatic for them." ...

Jennifer Lopez has a lot more on her hands than just a new album and joint tour with husband Marc Anthony: The couple are expecting twins, TMZ.com reports. The children would be the first for the pair; Anthony has a daughter and two sons from two previous relationships, one of which resulted in marriage. Lopez and Anthony launched their En Concierto trek in late September and will continue on it through a November 2 date in Miami. Her new album, Brave, drops Tuesday. ... The Spice Girls have cooked up their first single in seven years, called "Headlines," according to BBC News. "It's a Spice Girl classic," Geri Halliwell told the news outlet. We are so proud of it. We started putting words down before we even had the finalised 'yes' from everyone." The Girls' reunion world tour launches December 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and will be preceded by their Greatest Hits set, due in stores November 20. ...

Owen Wilson briefly attended the Los Angeles premiere of "The Darjeeling Limited," his new movie with director Wes Anderson, on Thursday night, according to People. He reportedly avoided the red carpet and instead entered the theater through a private entrance, after which he joined co-stars Jason Schwartzman and Anjelica Huston, and Natalie Portman (who starred in an Anderson-directed short film tied to "Limited"), onstage. Anderson introduced Wilson as "my best friend," and the audience reacted with strong applause. "I've never made a movie without him. And I hope I never have to," Anderson added. It was Wilson's first major public appearance since he was hospitalized following what police deemed a suicide attempt. ...

Kanye West and designer Takashi Murakami, who have collaborated together on 'Ye's album covers, are putting their heads together again for a collection of gold, manga-style pendants, according to Women's Wear Daily. The rapper wore a diamond-studded one out to Givenchy's in New York earlier this week, according to WWD. "They'll be more accessible, they won't be all diamonds," he reportedly said. "The eyes are not perfectly done. Murakami cringes when he sees the eyes." ... Kid Rock tested out a handful of new songs at a surprise show at Emerald Theatre in Mount Clemens, Michigan, on Thursday night, according to The Detroit News. The show, which ran more than two hours long, had reportedly been announced less than 24 hours earlier, and tickets sold out in five minutes. ...

Beyoncé must be breathing a little easier — the singer hasn't encountered opposition from Muslim groups in Indonesia over her planned November 1 concert there, according to Reuters. She won't have to follow a strict dress code, which she would have had she performed in Malaysia, the country previously scheduled to host the show. ... Ginuwine has filed a lawsuit in New York against King Music Group Inc., according to AP. In the suit, the R&B star claims he was tricked into signing a contract with a record label that didn't even exist. He said he was persuaded to ink the deal back in May, and according to the contract, he was to receive $1.75 million, including a $500,000 advance, to record his first album for the label. But five months later, he hasn't put out any material and hasn't been paid a dime. The lawsuit claims there's no corporate record for King Music Group Inc. anywhere in New York, California, Florida or Tennessee. The filing charges breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, and seeks $4 million in damages. ...

Brad isn't the only previously defunct project Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is reuniting — he's also bringing back Green River, an early Seattle grunge act that featured PJ's Jeff Ament, and Mudhoney's Mark Arm and Steve Turner. The band has scheduled one reunion gig, for Sub Pop's 20th anniversary concert next summer. ... The reunions continue with news that Eve 6 have also been resurrected, three years after splitting up. The group plans to write and record its next full-length effort early next year, with a full North American headlining tour expected to follow. ... And it's been nearly 10 years since we've heard new music from Portishead, but it seems the act is finishing up its third studio album — although it might not sound like you'd expect. According to band principal Geoff Barrow, the still-untitled effort will feature new elements. "It sounds pretty different from what we have done before," he wrote on the band's Web site. "I don't think the fondue society will be happy." ...

Of Montreal, Ween, Sebadoh, Caribou and Man Man are among the initial list of bands for the spring All Tomorrow's Parties shindig, set to take place in England over the course of two weekends in May. Dates, as well as 24 more artists, will be announced for the event, which is being co-curated by ATP and Pitchfork. ... Carbon/Silicon — the band featuring the ex-Clash singer/guitarist Mick Jones and former Generation X bassist Tony James — will release their debut album, The Last Post, October 23. The band formed in 2004. ...

Just like Magic, Bruce Springsteen might have another LP on the way. The Boss, who just issued his new album this week, has a pile of leftovers "that I think are great songs and should end up somewhere, but they just didn't quite fit with this group," producer Brendan O'Brien told Billboard.com. Springsteen has already put out four albums in the last five years, with 2002's The Rising ending a seven-year studio dry spell. On a more bizarre note, an Olympic equestrian is suing Springsteen for breach of contract after the rocker allegedly reneged on a deal to a horse worth $850,000. Todd Minikus filed a suit Thursday in a Florida court, claiming Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa had put a $25,000 deposit on the horse but later reconsidered buying the animal for their daughter. ...

Isaac Hanson left a Dallas hospital on Friday after recovering from surgery for a pulmonary embolism, caused by a blood clot in the extremities breaking away and traveling to the lungs. The eldest member of Hanson expects to make a full recovery and is due to be released from the hospital Friday (October 5). The band's agents and promoters are trying to reschedule makeup days for the shows it missed. ... Shaggy lives! The dancehall star will perform "Church Heathen" at the Samuel Peters/ Jameel McCline World Boxing Council heavyweight fight at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The song is featured on his new CD, Intoxication, out November 13.

• Mariah Carey
• Diddy
• Nine Inch Nails
• Beanie Sigel
• Christina Aguilera

Lil Wayne after his arrest in Boise, Idaho, on October 5
Photo: Ada County Sheriff's Office

Lil Wayne was arrested in Boise, Idaho, Friday night on a felony fugitive charge issued in Georgia for allegedly possessing a controlled substance, The Associated Press reports. Wayne, who was booked into the Ada County Jail, was expected to miss a scheduled concert Saturday night because his charges made him ineligible for bond. As a result, an Ada County sheriff's deputy told AP, the jail has been flooded with angry calls from fans. The 25-year-old rapper, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., is set to be formally charged Tuesday. ...

"This about to get ugly, this about to go crazy." First T.I. had his way with Britney Spears, and now it's Lil Mama. The diminutive rapper is about to drop a remix of Spears' single "Gimme More," in which she gives the singer some props but spends most of the song boasting about her own skills: "I'm what's hot. Ever see 'G-Slide'? I can bring it back." (Listen here for a preview of the track.) Lil Mama then calls out the "followers," saying she has no competition because she's "so far ahead of my time." And, in what could be an analysis of why Spears has had so many troubles as of late, Lil Mama says, "People always going to tell you what you want to hear," that there's been "too many yeses, not enough noes, not enough real," which means even "the best get torn." Who knew the dance track could be a cautionary tale as well? As Lil Mama raps, "You've been warned by the voice of the young." ...

K-Fed may have physical custody of his children with Spears, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging him to take the custody battle to the doghouse. In a letter faxed to Federline on Thursday, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk requested that he ask the judge for custody of the couple's pets. "It's no secret that Ms. Spears' impetuous 'pet' purchases and lack of caretaking skills have been a serious concern of ours," she wrote, noting that in 2006 the singer was "the overwhelming choice" for worst celebrity dog owner in polls conducted by New York Dog and Hollywood Dog magazines. Newkirk was also concerned that Britney's latest dog, London, was more of an "accessory" and noted that the Los Angeles chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had already investigated the dog's lack of veterinary care after breaking his leg when he was stepped on. "As a father, your main concern is the comfort and stability of your children," Newkirk wrote. "London and the other animals whom the boys consider to be part of the family have provided that comfort and stability ... being separated from the animal friends whom they share a bond with is undoubtedly traumatic for them." ...

Jennifer Lopez has a lot more on her hands than just a new album and joint tour with husband Marc Anthony: The couple are expecting twins, TMZ.com reports. The children would be the first for the pair; Anthony has a daughter and two sons from two previous relationships, one of which resulted in marriage. Lopez and Anthony launched their En Concierto trek in late September and will continue on it through a November 2 date in Miami. Her new album, Brave, drops Tuesday. ... The Spice Girls have cooked up their first single in seven years, called "Headlines," according to BBC News. "It's a Spice Girl classic," Geri Halliwell told the news outlet. We are so proud of it. We started putting words down before we even had the finalised 'yes' from everyone." The Girls' reunion world tour launches December 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and will be preceded by their Greatest Hits set, due in stores November 20. ...

Owen Wilson briefly attended the Los Angeles premiere of "The Darjeeling Limited," his new movie with director Wes Anderson, on Thursday night, according to People. He reportedly avoided the red carpet and instead entered the theater through a private entrance, after which he joined co-stars Jason Schwartzman and Anjelica Huston, and Natalie Portman (who starred in an Anderson-directed short film tied to "Limited"), onstage. Anderson introduced Wilson as "my best friend," and the audience reacted with strong applause. "I've never made a movie without him. And I hope I never have to," Anderson added. It was Wilson's first major public appearance since he was hospitalized following what police deemed a suicide attempt. ...

Kanye West and designer Takashi Murakami, who have collaborated together on 'Ye's album covers, are putting their heads together again for a collection of gold, manga-style pendants, according to Women's Wear Daily. The rapper wore a diamond-studded one out to Givenchy's in New York earlier this week, according to WWD. "They'll be more accessible, they won't be all diamonds," he reportedly said. "The eyes are not perfectly done. Murakami cringes when he sees the eyes." ... Kid Rock tested out a handful of new songs at a surprise show at Emerald Theatre in Mount Clemens, Michigan, on Thursday night, according to The Detroit News. The show, which ran more than two hours long, had reportedly been announced less than 24 hours earlier, and tickets sold out in five minutes. ...

Beyoncé must be breathing a little easier — the singer hasn't encountered opposition from Muslim groups in Indonesia over her planned November 1 concert there, according to Reuters. She won't have to follow a strict dress code, which she would have had she performed in Malaysia, the country previously scheduled to host the show. ... Ginuwine has filed a lawsuit in New York against King Music Group Inc., according to AP. In the suit, the R&B star claims he was tricked into signing a contract with a record label that didn't even exist. He said he was persuaded to ink the deal back in May, and according to the contract, he was to receive $1.75 million, including a $500,000 advance, to record his first album for the label. But five months later, he hasn't put out any material and hasn't been paid a dime. The lawsuit claims there's no corporate record for King Music Group Inc. anywhere in New York, California, Florida or Tennessee. The filing charges breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, and seeks $4 million in damages. ...

Brad isn't the only previously defunct project Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is reuniting — he's also bringing back Green River, an early Seattle grunge act that featured PJ's Jeff Ament, and Mudhoney's Mark Arm and Steve Turner. The band has scheduled one reunion gig, for Sub Pop's 20th anniversary concert next summer. ... The reunions continue with news that Eve 6 have also been resurrected, three years after splitting up. The group plans to write and record its next full-length effort early next year, with a full North American headlining tour expected to follow. ... And it's been nearly 10 years since we've heard new music from Portishead, but it seems the act is finishing up its third studio album — although it might not sound like you'd expect. According to band principal Geoff Barrow, the still-untitled effort will feature new elements. "It sounds pretty different from what we have done before," he wrote on the band's Web site. "I don't think the fondue society will be happy." ...

Of Montreal, Ween, Sebadoh, Caribou and Man Man are among the initial list of bands for the spring All Tomorrow's Parties shindig, set to take place in England over the course of two weekends in May. Dates, as well as 24 more artists, will be announced for the event, which is being co-curated by ATP and Pitchfork. ... Carbon/Silicon — the band featuring the ex-Clash singer/guitarist Mick Jones and former Generation X bassist Tony James — will release their debut album, The Last Post, October 23. The band formed in 2004. ...

Just like Magic, Bruce Springsteen might have another LP on the way. The Boss, who just issued his new album this week, has a pile of leftovers "that I think are great songs and should end up somewhere, but they just didn't quite fit with this group," producer Brendan O'Brien told Billboard.com. Springsteen has already put out four albums in the last five years, with 2002's The Rising ending a seven-year studio dry spell. On a more bizarre note, an Olympic equestrian is suing Springsteen for breach of contract after the rocker allegedly reneged on a deal to a horse worth $850,000. Todd Minikus filed a suit Thursday in a Florida court, claiming Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa had put a $25,000 deposit on the horse but later reconsidered buying the animal for their daughter. ...

Isaac Hanson left a Dallas hospital on Friday after recovering from surgery for a pulmonary embolism, caused by a blood clot in the extremities breaking away and traveling to the lungs. The eldest member of Hanson expects to make a full recovery and is due to be released from the hospital Friday (October 5). The band's agents and promoters are trying to reschedule makeup days for the shows it missed. ... Shaggy lives! The dancehall star will perform "Church Heathen" at the Samuel Peters/ Jameel McCline World Boxing Council heavyweight fight at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The song is featured on his new CD, Intoxication, out November 13.

10.04.07

Nick Cannon has split up with his fiancee, Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks, according to People. "Selita and Nick are taking a break to focus on their careers but still very much love each other and remain the best of friends," Ebanks' representative Melissa Raubvogel told the magazine. In early May, Cannon and Ebanks became engaged after the actor took her on a ride in a chauffeured Rolls-Royce Phantom to New York's Times Square — right across the street from the MTV offices — where "Selita, will you marry me?" appeared on the giant Jumbotron. ...

A year after Jadakiss was arrested in Yonkers, New York, and hit with drug and gun charges, prosecutors have dropped the case against the rapper (born Jason T. Phillips) and his co-defendant, Kristian Smith. The Associated Press reports that the Westchester Country district attorney's office asked a judge to dismiss the charges against 'Kiss last week, less than a month after a jury acquitted a third man who was arrested in the case. Darnell Frazier was cleared when DNA tests didn't link any of the three men to the guns found in the car. The rapper's lawyer said it was a "travesty" that the case went as far as it did and that the charges have affected his career. ...

After stunning the music world with their pay-what-you-want download scheme for their upcoming album, In Rainbows, Radiohead are putting the finishing touches on a major-label deal to get the album in stores as well. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, the band's managers said they expect to sign a deal within the week. "We've got about seven days to sort it out. We tend to fly by the seat of our pants," co-manager Chris Hutton said. "The band are incredibly proud of this record and feel that it deserves to be brought into the mass marketplace. That's why we need a record company who have that infrastructure to deliver the CD." ...

Did "Hannah Montana" fans get cheated? Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is seeking documents from five ticket-sale sites as he investigates whether a fast sellout of a Miley Cyrus concert violated scalping laws, AP reports. Frustrated parents have complained about scalpers selling tickets at four to five times the face value. McDaniel has given the companies 20 days to respond and, on September 21, issued a consumer alert warning parents to research who was selling the tickets before purchasing them. The city council in Kansas City, Missouri, is also looking into the sales. ...

Billy Corgan is stepping up to help the family of Dr. Robert Moog preserve the late electronic-synthesizer pioneer's legacy. The Bob Moog Foundation, which was created after his death in 2005, is planning a Bob Moog Museum and trying to preserve decaying Moog artifacts — schematics, Moog prototypes, reel-to-reel tapes and beyond. "I directly appeal to any musician who has been touched by the work of this great man and spirit to help contribute to the foundation, to please help preserve the work and legacy of Dr. Moog before time has taken an irreversible toll on his archives," Corgan said in a statement. "I humbly also ask any fan of electronic music to consider a donation to the foundation, in recognition of his influence on many of your favorite musical artists." ...

Modest Mouse are still hungry — even though the group has toured extensively in support of March's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, it has pieced together another road itinerary. Issac Brock and his crew will start with a two-night stand in Spokane, Washington, on Halloween and end with a show in New Orleans on December 15. Man Man and Love as Laughter will open all dates. Also, the band's AOL Spinner Session debuts Friday, while its MySpace video campaign — a 10-day event that will include the premieres of four MM clips — begins Wednesday. ... Ben Lee is also plotting a trek, to hype his recently released CD, Ripe. He'll hit the road November 1 in Santa Barbara, California, and bring his tour to a close December 13 in San Diego. ...

M.I.A. recently spent a couple of days making beats and rhymes with girls at a juvenile-detention center in Australia via Heaps Decent, an initiative that gives a boost to indigenous and underprivileged youth hoping to break into the music biz. According to a post on the Heaps Descent MySpace page, the yet-untitled song they created will soon be released, with all proceeds going to the initiative. M.I.A. screams "popo mind control!" on the hook of the song, according to the post, but its title is not yet known. ...

Can't wait until November 13 for the Killers B-sides album, Sawdust? Well, you can get a taste of what the band has in store with its just-released cover of the Joy Division song "Shadowplay." The Killers' label has posted a stream of the track right here. ... Nirvana's historic "MTV Unplugged in New York" performance is finally coming to DVD. Due November 20, the disc will contain the 66-minute unedited show — including "Something in the Way" and "Oh, Me," which were featured on the accompanying CD but not in the show when it originally aired. Previously unreleased rehearsal and documentary footage will flesh out the set. ...

It seems like just about everybody has something to say about Britney Spears these days. On the Thursday (October 4) broadcast of "Oprah," Sinéad O'Connor sympathized with Spears, reportedly saying, "She had two babies within the space of two years, [there] doesn't seem like a terrible amount of support from the people around her," according to AP. She later added: "I think to attack someone as a mother is very dangerous. I would say that's what puts a young girl on a precipice which is very, very dangerous, in my opinion. Some people may end up really regretting the way they're treating her." ...

And Deborah Gibson — who, like Britney, was a one-time teen queen — has given her two cents on the matter to "Entertainment Tonight." "I think this is probably Britney's lowest point now ... and maybe it'll be what she needs to get herself back together. And then maybe she will regain custody. That's what I hope. I think that has to affect you on such a primal level, to have your kids taken away, so maybe this is the wake-up call that she needs. ... I really think people see Britney as little girl lost. A girl who did not have a childhood, which I can relate to in a way, and she started even younger publicly. ... She's rebelling. She's living her life in reverse in a way." ...

Isaac Hanson, 26, the eldest member of Hanson, remained hospitalized Wednesday night after complaining of chest and shoulder pain following a performance Tuesday night at the House of Blues in Dallas. AP reports that Hanson was taken to Baylor University Medical Center on Tuesday night after the show and was reported to be in stable condition. A Dallas TV station, KDFW, reported that Hanson was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, caused by a blood clot in the extremities breaking away and traveling to the lungs. ... Los Angelenos have an extra incentive to keep their cars parked and instead take public transportation to the LA Weekly Detour festival on Saturday. Those who bring their Saturday Metro tickets to the Goldenvoice booth at the fest will be able to enter a contest for free Coachella 2008 tickets. Bloc Party, Justice, Turbonegro and more are heading up this year's Detour fest. ...

Don Imus is close to finishing a deal that would get him back on the air, according to Variety. The controversial shock jock has an impending deal with Citadel Broadcasting that would deny any move to satellite radio — earlier this year, Sirius Satellite Radio expressed interest in Imus. Citadel is owned by ABC Radio, which syndicates conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity and others. ... A man has been arrested in Los Angeles in conjunction with the theft of confidential photos and computers being used for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The man, whose identity has not been released, was taken into custody after a sting operation in which the man intended to sell some of the photos, police told AP. ...

The Recording Industry Association of America scored a victory on Thursday when a jury decided that a Minnesota woman had in fact shared copyrighted music online and ordered her to pay $222,000 in damages, AP reports. The six record companies had alleged that Jammie Thomas had shared 1,702 songs online, and the jury ordered her to pay the companies $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that had been focused on in the case. Thomas, her attorney and the jury declined to comment afterward, according to AP, but the RIAA's lead attorney, Richard Gabriel, said, "This does send a message, I hope, that downloading and distributing our recordings is not OK." It was the first-ever file-sharing case to go to trial in the RIAA's four-year campaign to stop illegal downloading.

• Lil Wayne
• Lil Mama
• Britney Spears
• Kevin Federline
• Kanye West

The Shins' <i>Wincing the Night Away</i>
Photo: Sub Pop

The All Tomorrow's Parties festival gives the crem de la crem of the indie-rock netherworld a chance to periodically strut their self-deprecating stuff. But in case you haven't been able to make one of the 18 installments, there will be a re-enactment of sorts in record stores this week. The lack of heavy-hitters on the roster — with Madonna's live set bumping to next week, we're looking at you, Pretty Ricky — leaves a vacuum that's being filled by a drove of indie luminaries including the Shins, Clinic and Of Montreal.

A few stragglers might be giving those contestants a bit of a challenge, though. Pretty Ricky — who have been seducing the ladies on the Scream tour alongside Bow Wow and Omarion — dish up their second effort, Late Night Special, led by the single "On the Hotline." Also, the Miami quartet consisting of Spectacular, Baby Blue, Pleasure and Slick 'Em "Push It," "Stay" and "Make It Like It Was."

Elsewhere, Victory Records kisses its former metalcore mavens Atreyu goodbye with The Best of Atreyu. Adorned with an illustration of a rainbow arching over the disembodied head of a pink sheep with a bowtie in her hair, the package culls the Orange County, California, band's three LPs and includes a DVD with seven videos for good measure.

Fellow OC native Dustin Kensrue will give his neighbors a run for their money. Splitting away from his principal project, Thrice, the frontman spills singer/songwriter goodness onto his first solo outing. Look for eight songs on the digipak, including "Consider the Ravens," "Blanket of Ghosts" and "Weary Saints."

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Presents: 10 Days Out - Blues From the Backroads and John Mellencamp's Freedom's Road are also expected to do some chart damage this week, but let's not dilly-dally with them. Here are your 10 most anticipated college-friendly releases this week:

The Shins' Wincing the Night Away: After becoming just the second Sub Pop band to perform on "Saturday Night Live," the "Garden State" juniors are hoping their broadened success means big things the third time around. And yes, those are elements of hip-hop and electronic music you're hearing on "Sea Legs" and "Sleeping Horses," respectively.

Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?: The Athens, Georgia, act has outlasted many of its brethren in the Elephant 6 collective, and mtvU recently gave lots of love to their last video, "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games." This album also has plenty of bleeps and bloops but features much bleaker lyrics.

Clinic's Visitations: The Liverpool, England, critic darlings lost their grip a little with 2004's tepidly received Winchester Cathedral, but they're also verified vets at this point, having been around for a decade. For their fourth release, though, Clinic are freer than ever after having toyed around with a steam calliope, gong, melodica and more in their new home studio.

Deerhoof's Friend Opportunity: The Radiohead tourmates just witnessed a grammar school in Maine perform an entire show based on their Milk Man — will they get lucky again? There's a decent chance: While the San Francisco gang is now scaled down to a threesome, its latest material is being called its most accessible yet.

Six Parts Seven's Casually Smashed to Pieces: Jazz, Americana, mariachi and rock come together on this LP, and fans of Tristeza and Mogwai's more ambient material need look no further. The Kent, Ohio, quartet continues to be all-instrumental, but they've got enough melody and texture for bands twice as big.

Rob Crow's Living Well: You know him from Pinback, the Ladies and every other collaborative side project Travis Barker isn't in — now the artist is taking a break to reflect on his own life. The autobiographical lyrics describe Crow's wedding and the birth of his first child, and the CD is stocked with images of the artist with his family.

Ghost's In Stormy Nights: You know it's a Ghost album if one of the six songs runs 28 minutes long and is actually a combination of multiple live recordings carefully sewn together. The Tokyo band has been around for 23 years, and this experimental acid-doom-jazz disc is proof of that fact.

The Broken West's I Can't Go on, I'll Go On: It's never easy for a band to change its name after promo CDs reach rock critics. But that's exactly what these Los Angelinos — formerly named the Brokedown — are hoping to do with their debut. Power-pop fans, prepare to be hooked.

Vietnam's Vietnam: The quiet Brooklyn, New Yorkers dropped a live album almost three years ago — well before stepping up with this, their first studio LP. Jenny Lewis, Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle, Zwan) and others climb onboard the effort — but not the Living Things, who allegedly got into a public brawl with the duo last year.

Exploding Star Orchestra's We're All From Somewhere Else: The Chicago post-rock scene is notoriously incestuous — just look at the résumé of any member of Tortoise to prove it. This album underscores the trend: Jeff Parker, Rob Mazurek, John McEntire, Matt Lux and others unite — thanks to a commission from the Chicago Cultural Center — to form a three-part narrative "involving the death and ascension of a stingray into an exploding star, intelligent conversations with electric eels and the destructive power of humans," according to a press release. We're there.

Song Title of the Week: "Getting Mugged and Loving It" from Piebald's Accidental Gentleman

Other Notables: The Good, the Bad & the Queen's The Good, the Bad & the Queen: Move over, Helen Mirren — Damon Albarn's bastard version of the Queen has arrived. The artist — who also has Gorillaz, Blur and Mali Music under his belt — gangs up with Paul Simonon of the Clash, Fela Kuti collaborator Tony Allen and the Verve's Simon Tong for an album's worth of dub-informed world-music fun.

Julie Doiron's Woke Myself Up: Eleven years after Eric's Trip disbanded, its former co-pilots are getting back together on this half-hour release. Don't expect to hear much reminiscing about the band, though: Here, Rick White — who produces and contributes bass, among other instruments — is helping Doiron reflect on her own family life on songs like "Don't Wanna Be/ Liked by You," "Me and My Friend" and "I Left Town."

Lee Hazelwood's Cake or Death: It's rare that an artist's new album is advertised as his "final" one — unless the musician is dead, of course — but that's exactly what's happening with this LP of reworked classics and originals. The guest list alone is enough to attract attention: Hazelwood teams with his granddaughter, one of Scandinavia's top jazz singers, the woman who composed the "March of Penguins" soundtrack and more. The disc closes with the tear-jerker "T.O.M. (The Old Man)."

New Releases:

· Abigail Williams - Legend (limited-edition LP; Candlelight) · The Affair - Yes Yes to You (Absolutely Kosher) · Sunshine Anderson - Sunshine at Midnight (Music World) · Arbouretum - Rites of Uncovering (Thrill Jockey) · Walter Beasley - Ready for Love (Heads Up) · Eric Bibb - Diamond Days (Telarc) · The Bird and the Bee - The Bird and the Bee (Blue Note) · Black Diamond Heavies - Every Damn Time (Alive) · The Broken West - I Can't Go on, I'll Go On (Merge) · Tom Brosseau - Grand Forks (Loveless) · Cadillac Sky - Blind Man Walking (Skaggs Family) · Clinic - Visitations (Domino) · Rob Crow - Living Well (Temporary Residence) · Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars) · Tony DeSare - Last First Kiss (Telarc) · Destruction - Thrash Anthems (Candlelight) · Devilz Rejects - Necronomicon (Dynasty Muzik/ Raptivism/ Imperial) · Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up (Jagjaguwar) · Earlies - Enemy Chorus (Secretly Canadian) · Exploding Star Orchestra - We're All From Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey) · José Feliciano - The Soundtrack of My Life (Hip-O) · Tony Furtado - Thirteen (Funzalo) · Future of Forestry - Twilight (Credential) · Chris Garneau - Music for Tourists (Absolutely Kosher) · Get Set Go - Selling Out & Going Home (TSR) · Ghost - In Stormy Nights (Drag City) · Gipsy Kings - Pasajero (Nonesuch) · The Good, the Bad & the Queen - The Good, the Bad & the Queen (Virgin) · John Hammond - Push Comes to Shove (Back Porch) · Lee Hazlewood - Cake or Death (Ever) · Kristin Hersh - Learn to Sing Like a Star (Yep Roc) [Buy Now] · Hit the Lights - This Is a Stick Up ... Don't Make It a Murder (Triple Crown) · I Walk the Line - Desolation Street (Gearhead) · Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home (digipak; Equal Vision) Read: "With Thrice Halfway Through Four-Disc Set, Singer Takes Solo Turn" · David Kilgour - The Far Now (Merge) · Chuck Loeb - Presence (Heads Up) · Macromantics - Moments in Movement (Kill Rock Stars) · Maher Shalal Hash Baz - L'Autre Cap (K) · John Mellencamp - Freedom's Road (Universal Republic) [Buy Now] · Menomena - Friend & Foe (Barsuk) · Moe - The Conch (digipak; Fatboy) · Múm - The Peel Session (Fatcat) · MV & EE With the Bummer Road - MV & EE With the Bummer Road (Ecstatic Peace) · Ken Navarro - The Meeting Place (Positive) · The New Trust - Dark Is the Path Which Lies Before Us (Slowdance) · Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl) [Buy Now] · Only Crime - Virulence (Fat Wreck Chords) · Carey Ott - Lucid Dream (Dualtone) · Permanent Me - After the Room Clears (Stolen Transmission) · Ed Pettersen - The Punk Blues of Ed Pettersen (digipak; Split Rock) · Piebald - Accidental Gentlemen (Side One Dummy) [Buy Now] · Pretty Ricky - Late Night Special (Atlantic) [Buy Now] · Alasdair Roberts - The Amber Gatherers (Drag City) · Sonny Rollins - Sonny, Please (Emarcy) · Peter Rowan and Tony Rice - Quartet (Rounder) · Saliva - Blood Stained Love Story (Island) [Buy Now] · Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Kenny Wayne Shepherd Presents: 10 Days Out - Blues From the Backroads (with DVD; Reprise) [Buy Now] · The Shins - Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) [Buy Now] · Six Parts Seven - Casually Smashed to Pieces (digipak; Suicide Squeeze) · DJ Spinna - Compositions 2 (Sickbay) · Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars) · Billy Strayhorn - Lush Life (Blue Note) · The Tiny - Starring Someone Like You (Eyeball) · Tony Trischka - Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular (Rounder) · Twilight Singers - A Stitch in Time (EP; One Little Indian) · David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House Band (Secretly Canadian) · Caetano Veloso - Cê (Nonesuch) · Vietnam - Vietnam (Kemado) · Year of Desolation - Year of Desolation (Prosthetic) · You Am I - Convicts (Yep Roc) [Buy Now] · Various artists - Grammy Nominees 2007 (BMG Strategic Marketing) · Various artists - Casey Kasem Presents: The Long Distance Dedications (Top Sail) · Various artists - Fabric 31: Marco Carola (Fabric) · Various artists - "Catch and Release" soundtrack (Legacy/Sony Music Soundtrax) · Various artists - "Dane Cook's Tourgasm" soundtrack (Rhino)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Atreyu - The Best of Atreyu (with DVD; Victory) · Bee Gees - 1st, Horizontal and Idea (each comes with a bonus CD; Rhino) · Glenn Branca - Indeterminate Activity of Resultant Masses (Atavistic) · The Chrome Cranks - Diabolical Boogie: Singles, Demos & Rarities (1992 B.C. - 1998 A.D.) (two CDs; Atavistic) · D.O.A. - Bloodied but Unbowed: The Damage to Date 1973-83 (Sudden Death) · Echo & the Bunnymen - The Very Best of Echo & the Bunnymen: More Songs to Learn and Sing (with DVD; Rhino) · Faces - The Definitive Rock Collection (two CDs; Rhino) · Grateful Dead - Live at the Cow Palace: New Year's Eve 1976 (three CDs; Rhino) · The Jam/ The Style Council/ Paul Weller - Hit Parade (Yep Roc) · Al Martino - An Introduction to Al Martino (Fuel) · Medford Drive - All of Your Wonder (Blood & Ink) · Mew - Frengers (Epic) · Placebo - Meds (Virgin) · Pete Townshend - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O) · Pete Townshend/ Ronnie Lane - Rough Mix (Hip-O) · White Lion - The Definitive Rock Collection (two CDs; Rhino) · Yes - The Definitive Rock Collection (two CDs; Rhino) · Various artists - Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra 1963-1973 (five CDs plus CD-ROM; deluxe limited edition due same day; Rhino) · Various artists - Ultra Dance 8 (Ultra)

Music DVDs:

· Hate Eternal - "Perilous Fight" (Earache) · Various artists - "Chicago Blues Reunion: Buried Alive in the Blues" (with CD; Eagle Vision) · Various artists - "Pure '80s: Headbangers Rule," "Totally New Wave" and "Video Idols" (Hip-O) · Various artists - "We Are the Future" (Image Entertainment)

Coming Attractions:

January 30: · Alkaline Trio - Remains (Vagrant) [Preorder] · Norah Jones - Not Too Late (Blue Note) [Preorder] · Madonna - The Confessions Tour (with DVD; Warner Bros.) [Preorder] · Katharine McPhee - Katharine McPhee (RCA) [Preorder] Read: "Katharine McPhee's LP: A Little Bit Pussycat Dolls, A Little Bit Mariah"

February 6: · Bloc Party - Weekend in the City (Vice) [Preorder] Read: "After Failed Panic! At The Disco Tour, Bloc Party Look Ahead To New LP" · Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High (Island) [Preorder] Read: "Jigga What? Fall Out Boy Get A Hand From Jay-Z On Infinity" · The Used - Berth (live CD with DVD; Reprise) [Preorder] Read: "The Used Hate Los Angeles But Love To Write About It"

February 13: · Gerald LeVert - In My Songs (Atlantic) [Preorder] · Bobby Valentino - Special Occasion (Def Jam) [Preorder] Read: "Bobby Valentino Asks Sean Garrett, Rodney Jerkins To Attend Special Occasion" · Lucinda Williams - West (Lost Highway) [Preorder]

• The Shins
• Pretty Ricky
• Of Montreal
• Atreyu
• Clinic

Beastie Boys' Mike D performs at SXSW March 16
Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

AUSTIN, Texas — If you're on a plane sitting next to a suited-and-booted A&R guy blabbing about the new band he's signed, a sort of "Spanish System of a Down, but with an edge," and British singer/songwriter Beth Orton is seated in an exit row in front of you, it's a pretty safe bet that you're on a flight bound for the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas.

Every March, SXSW turns the college town/state capital of Austin into the epicenter of the music world with a pulsating, weeklong party where bands come to get noticed, get famous, get drunk and get ... some other things too.

But it's not just musicians flooding the city — label bosses, industry yes-men, publicists, writers, party planners and fashion designers flock to Austin as well. And this year, they seemed to outnumber the bands — no small feat considering there were more than 1,400 acts booked throughout the city.

The headline of Friday's Austin American-Statesman asked "Is it too big?" and many who attended the 20th annual incarnation of the festival would probably say yes. SXSW has grown each year — particularly over the last five — and some of the things that had previously made it so appealing (a laid-back disposition, the ability to casually hop between several gigs a night) are no longer present as crowds and pressures have grown. Many of the biggest shows had long lines to get in, and attendees became a lot more selective about which gigs they wanted to see. Indeed, so many people didn't even bother trying to get in to the conference's most buzzed-about show — a set by the Arctic Monkeys — that up to 45 minutes before the band hit the stage, people were still breezing in with a minimal wait.

But make no mistake: SXSW is still the greatest rock combo platter on earth, it just takes a lot more work to get what you want out of it.

On Wednesday night, anyone lucky enough to wander over to the parking lot of local watering hole the Fox & Hound were treated to a surprise gig from the Flaming Lips, who ripped through a surreal, smoke-and-balloon-filled set highlighted by a thundering version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and a fuzzy take on "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," the first single from their upcoming At War With the Mystics.

Other highlights included a bubbly set from Athens, Georgia's Of Montreal at Emo's (followed by a screeching onstage workout from Austin's own ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead), and Norway's Serena Maneesh, a wild-looking band whose feedback-laden fusion of My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized and Sonic Youth was slightly overshadowed by their striking bassist: a 6-foot tall, rail-thin pale woman with bleached-blond hair and a ferocious stage presence.

SXSW afternoons are rife with parties (inevitably featuring multiple bands), and the Fader's was unquestionably the highlight, held in the backyard of a house on Sixth Street and featuring a mixture of rock and hip-hop artists playing 30-45 minute sets. The odd man out in both of those realms was Argentine/ Swedish singer José González, who performed gentle songs redolent of bossa nova, accompanied only by his classical guitar; the fans up front loved him but sadly the majority spent his set talking. Far removed from Gonzalez were the Eagles of Death Metal — with Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme on drums — who must have shouted out the ladies in the house 15 times during their 45-minute set of bone-basic riff rock.

A bit farther up Sixth, at the French Kiss Records showcase, much-buzzed Minneapolis noiseniks the Plastic Constellations played a raw and rollicking 45-minute set full of detuned, ringing guitars and shouted, youthful vocals (plus a guest appearance by the Hold Steady's Craig Finn.)

The Flaming Lips served up another surprise (acoustic) gig on Thursday, but the week's biggest secret show was the Beastie Boys early in the evening at Stubb's — although it was far from secret by Thursday afternoon, when a long line started to wrap around the block. The Beasties — in town to promote their new live film, "Awesome: I F---in' Shot That!" — served up a set peppered with classics like "Brass Monkey," "Paul Revere" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D made inside jokes that they called "banter," which MCA explained to the industry crowd was an "industry term."

Morrissey also trotted out the hits during his not-so-secret show across town at the Austin Music Hall, where — even though he said he'd turned down an offer to reform the Smiths for a $5 million gig — songs from his former band punctuated his set, from "How Soon Is Now?" to "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me." But rather than live in yesterday, Morrissey made a point out of showcasing several new songs from his libido-loaded Ringleader of the Tormentors album, which includes such promising titles as "Life Is a Pigsty."

Thursday wrapped with a stunning set from the husband-and-wife duo Mates of State, whose soaring harmonies and startling dynamic range (their sound consists entirely of keyboards/drums/vocals) are in their best form yet on their brand-new LP, Bring It Back. A quick dash up the street to the Blender bar yielded a raucous set from the very loud and very British Rakes.

Friday got under way with a hushed, mumbled performance from Baltimore teenagers Metal Hearts but quickly shifted into high gear thanks to a fiery (and free) afternoon set from My Chemical Romance, who took the stage to a cacophony of camera flashes and screaming female fans. Frontman Gerard Way — looking a bit like a gothic Elvis Presley — flailed and strutted through it all, acknowledging MCR's apparent rust (they hadn't played live in almost three months) and talking up the band's upcoming new album.

The night ended with the aforementioned Arctic Monkeys, who took the stage at La Zona Rosa riding a wave of SXSW buzz. Despite some snottiness at the beginning of the set due to the overabundance of photographers, they managed to live up to the hype, tearing through songs from their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, with a professionalism and poise that belied their young years.

Saturday started off early with a rousing set from L.A.'s the Color, who dress like the Black Crowes circa 1990 (all scarves, pointy boots and black jeans) and hew a similarly simple but effective rootsy riff rock. Most impressively, they were playing a small bar at 12:30 on a very rainy afternoon to about 20 people, yet they preened and strutted as if they were headlining Madison Square Garden.

A stop at another Fader party featured this month's cover artists, Sweden's Love Is All (who play a kind of angular indie pop heavy on saxophone, percussion and enthusiastically shouted vocals). After an approximately 90-minute wait, Ghostface Killah finished off the party with an hour-long set loaded with material from his forthcoming LP, Fishscale, as well as a couple of Wu-Tang chestnuts and a touching moment of silence for ODB (during which Ghostface had the lights dimmed and asked the crowd to hold their cell phones aloft), followed by a quick version of Dirty's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya."

The festivities closed with a completely unhinged party held by Vice magazine at a warehouse-sized art gallery outside of downtown that had a giant blue genie on its roof. At the show — which stretched well into Sunday morning — Toronto's Stills played their second set of the evening (the first of which had ended less than two hours earlier) loaded with songs from their mature and impressively far-reaching forthcoming LP, Without Feathers. They were followed by Wolfmother, who played a blistering, abbreviated set that left ears ringing, amps feeding back and the bandmembers staggering off the stage. The show came to a close with a hefty performance by Tres Hombres, a portly ZZ Top tribute band that provided some Texas-sized entertainment for those who hadn't already had enough.

• Highlights From South By Southwest 2006

• Beastie Boys
• Morrissey
• The Flaming Lips
• My Chemical Romance
• Arctic Monkeys