Phish's Trey Anastasio
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic

It's official: Jam-band godheads Phish are really, truly back. On Friday (July 24), after weeks of teases on their official Web site, the Vermont-bred band announced that Festival 8, their first major festival outing in five years, will take place October 30-November 1 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, the same site as the annual Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.

For the first time ever, Phish are combining two of their fans' most beloved events: a massive festival and one of their patented "musical costume" shows, during which they cover an entire classic album for the night's second set. Festival 8 will provide a host of firsts, including their first musical costume since 1998, their first three-day fest, their first one to be held on the West Coast and the first time a band has played consecutive dates at the Polo Club, according to a press release announcing the event. The band will play eight sets over the course of the festival, which, as usual, will also feature a number of other musical and non-musical attractions and art installations.

Tickets for the event will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. and will be priced at $199, plus surcharges; no single-day tickets will be available. Over the years, Phish have covered a wide variety of albums during Halloween shows, including the Beatles' self-titled LP (better known as The White Album), the Velvet Underground's Loaded, Talking Heads' Remain in Light and the Who's Quadrophenia. (Check out our suggestions as to what the band should tackle on the Newsroom blog). As tradition holds, they have not announced the album and probably won't until they hit the stage.

Phish's last big festival was called Coventry, and it took place in Vermont in 2004, before the band went on a nearly five-year hiatus. It was preceded by events like 1996's Clifford Ball on a decommissioned Air Force base in Plattsburgh, New York; 1997's Great Went at the Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine; 1999's Big Cypress at the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida; and 2003's It, also at the Limestone location.

Phish are currently prepping for the release of their 12th studio album, Joy, which is slated to drop in September.

• Phish

Phish's Trey Anastasio
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic

Phish are back on the road and have a new studio album, Joy, coming out at the end of July. According to their official Web site, they're also bringing back a classic Phish tradition: They'll be hosting their own three-day festival October 30 through November 1.

Back in March, when the band was first hitting the road, there was a rumor that they would be hosting their own festival somewhere in Texas, though the current rumor is that the event will be taking place at the same site that hosts the Coachella Festival in Indio, California. However, no official venue has been confirmed as of yet. The announcement page also has a map that features animated fire ants eating states out of a map of the U.S., suggesting that the last state standing will be hosting the big show (so far, Idaho, West Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin and New Hampshire are all off the board).

Phish have a long history of planning these types of events. Their first was the two-day Clifford Ball in 1996, which drew over 70,000 people to a decommissioned Air Force base in Plattsburgh, New York. Subsequent festivals moved around to various parts of the Northeast, always had different names (Lemonwheel, the Great Went) and expanded to feature large-scale art projects. They were always well-attended — in fact, when the Great Went drew 65,000 people to Limestone, Maine, it became the most populated city in the state. The last multi-day festival was 2004's Coventry, a rain-soaked two-day affair in Vermont in August of that year.

The band — which broke up in 2004 but have been back together since late last year — are in the middle of a wildly successful return tour, which began in Hampton, Virginia in March and has made landmark stops at Boston's Fenway Park and the Bonnaroo Festival, where they jammed with Bruce Springsteen. Their new album Joy will be released July 28.

• Phish

Phish's Trey Anastasio performs on Saturday
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic

HAMPTON, Virginia — If, in 20 year's time, you're ever asked, the answer is "Fluffhead." That's the name of the first song Phish played on Friday at the Hampton Coliseum, officially bringing their near five-year hiatus to a close. You might want to remember that, for posterity's sake.

It was just the beginning of a 29-song set, the opening salvo in a triumphant, 90-something-tune weekend, played before squirming masses of Phanatics at Hampton, the band's so-called "mothership" (where they recorded the six-disc live album, Hampton Comes Alive). But it was certainly significant, because it meant that Phish are back. And it didn't sound like they had ever really gone away.

Working their way through a de facto "greatest hits" list, Phish showed little rust (except during a trance-y take on "You Enjoy Myself," when guitarist/frontman Trey Anastasio restarted the tune because it sounded a little wonky), cutting down on the extended jams to focus instead on the sheer volume of their catalog, and working through a set that acknowledged their past, present — and perhaps also their future.

Highlights from Friday's first set (of course, there were two, plus an encore) included new spins on older tunes, including a raucous "Chalkdust Torture" and a revelatory version of "The Squirming Coil." Anastasio wrung solos out of his guitar, and the rhythm section of Jon Fishman and Mike Gordon was air-tight, but keyboardist Page McConnell shone brightest, his playing given extra volume in the mix. Then, in the second half, during "Harry Hood," lighting director (and unofficial fifth member Chris Kuroda), shut off the stage lights and illuminated a series of disco balls hanging from the roof of the coliseum, showering the crowd with light and giving a knowing wink to a 1997 show at Washington's Gorge Amphitheatre, where they played beneath the starlight.

"Tweezer," "Possum" and "First Tube" were all ridiculously tight, and Phish wound down the second set with the stop-started "You Enjoy Myself." They left to thunderous applause and returned for a triumphant encore, highlighted by an a cappella take on "Grind" and a version of "Bounding Round the Room," in which they dropped massive balloons onto the audience, who batted them about with glee (one ended up on stage, where Anastasio mercifully put it out of its misery with his guitar). Then they departed once again, and the masses filed out of the Hampton, wide-eyed and speechless.

Of course, some would be back the following night (and probably Sunday night, too), but there was no denying that Friday's set was historic. It was Phish, back and as good as ever. They've already committed to tour throughout the summer, but come on, guys, let's make a new record too.

• Phish

Bruce Springsteen
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Phish and the Beastie Boys have been tapped to headline the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, scheduled for June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee.

It's the only North American festival date for Springsteen and Phish — who, according to organizers, will be playing " a full two-set performance as well as an additional late-evening set" — and a bit of a homecoming for the latter, since each member of the group has performed at the festival over its seven years (including frontman Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon sharing the stage in 2006).

Joining Bruce, Phish and the Beasties on the bill are more than 70 acts, including vets like Nine Inch Nails, Snoop Dogg, TV on the Radio, Wilco, David Byrne, Elvis Costello and Al Green; established rock acts such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Decemberists and the Mars Volta; plus much-buzzed up-and-comers like MGMT, Animal Collective, Bon Iver, the Crystal Castles and Chairlift. Oh, and don't worry, longtime 'Roo heads: Béla Fleck is playing too.

A Bonnaroo spokesperson said the final lineup will include more than 120 bands and over 20 comedians. Tickets for the 2009 fest go on sale February 7 at noon ET on the festival's Web site. General-admission tickets for the four-day festival start at $224.50, though, like other summer fests, Bonnaroo is offering a special installment plan, with sets of tickets available for five payments of $50. There's also the option to buy a Bonnaroo "Green Ticket," which helps build and maintain sustainable improvements to the festival grounds in Manchester.

The list of confirmed artists for the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov't Mule
Andrew Bird
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
Of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

• Bruce Springsteen To Headline Bonnaroo

• Bruce Springsteen
• Phish
• Beastie Boys

Phish's Trey Anastasio
Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage

Phish have already announced that they'll be playing their first shows since 2004 next year, and now RollingStone.com is reporting that "reliable sources close to" the band say the much-missed foursome will be headlining two nights at the Bonnaroo festival, which takes place in Manchester, Tennessee, from June 11 to 14.

While the festival is not expected to officially announce its lineup until early next year, the rumors have been making their way around Internet message boards since the reunion was announced. Each member of the band has performed at the festival in the past (frontman/guitarist Trey Anastasio has attended the last four years), but they have never played as a quartet. Rumors of a reunion swirled last summer when three of the four bandmembers attended the Rothbury Festival in Michigan, but nothing came to fruition.

What would be unusual about the Bonnaroo performances, if the rumor is true, is it will be the first time the enterprising band has played a festival that wasn't self-organized since 1996.

A rep for the festival had not responded to MTV News' request for comment at press time.

Bonnaroo already draws 100,000 fans to the fest without the addition of a Phish headlining slot, so you can expect fans to swarm Manchester, Tennessee, if these rumors are confirmed. Presale and VIP tickets are available through the festival's Web site.

• Phish

Phish's Page McConnell
Photo: Getty Images/ Scott Gries

On The Record: I Am A Phish Fan. I Am Relatively Unashamed

I don't really want to admit this, but there was a little piece of me that stirred when the news of Phish's reunion broke last week. It's a bit of me that I don't really use all that much anymore, a vestigial organ from a previous lifetime that really serves no purpose any more — call it my musical appendix.

Anyway, when I learned that Phish were getting back together, my musical appendix practically burst. Not in the appendicitis kind of way, mind you, but rather in this warm, really sort of joyous manner. And that sort of terrified me. After all, I thought that part of me was dead and dormant ... or at least, I had hoped it was. I am, by all accounts, an unapologetic music snob, and if there is one rule of Music Snobbery, it is that you must never — under any circumstances whatsoever — express admiration for so-called "jam bands," especially Phish (though, surprisingly, it is OK to admit to liking the Grateful Dead's Workingman's Dead and American Beauty albums). This is just not done, and it can result in expulsion from our very exclusive glass house.

And yet, knowing all that, here I was, still somewhat ... excited by the possibilities of seeing Phish one last time. It was as if my inner 15-year-old — the skinny, never-sexed kid with the terrible long hair and the baggy corduroy pants — had suddenly taken control of my brain. I found myself on Phish's Web site, repeatedly watching the video piece that announced their three-night stint at the Hampton Coliseum, huge goose bumps coursing up and down my arms. My brain on autopilot, my fingers then guided me to the official ticket-request form for the shows, and — somewhere between a blackout and an embolism — I dutifully submitted mine.

What would my friends and colleagues think?!? What about my wife?!? Would I ever be allowed inside Sound Fix Records again?!? My mind boggled. My palms poured sweat. And then, in a proactive bit of damage control, I decided to write this column. Head 'em off at the pass, you know?

So here it is: My name is James Montgomery, and I am a Phish fan. I am not (totally) ashamed to admit it, either. This might get my membership revoked from certain establishments and might cause me to be ridiculed ad infinitum by those closest to me — but so be it. Phish's reunion stirred within me a great awakening. From here, there is no looking back. And I think I am OK with this.

See, back before I was cool, or before I knew any better, I positively, absolutely loved Phish. I have seen them no less than five times (possibly six, the memories are a bit hazy), and those were some of the best shows I've ever attended, if not so much for the music as for the extracurriculars that went along with them. During a February 1993 show at the (long gone) Edge Concert Field in Orlando, Florida, I smoked too many funny cigarettes and spent most of the evening wandering around looking for the dudes who drove me to the show. (I do remember Phish's Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon trading solos while bouncing on trampolines, though.) Later that night I threw up and then passed out underneath a dry-docked boat at a lake by my friend's house.

In 1995, I saw them at the UCF Arena with my friend Hot Rod. We drove my banged-up Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera there, the bumper tied on with a length of rope. They opened with "Chalkdust Torture" and during intermission, they moved a chess piece on a giant board hanging behind them. (That was the theme of that fall tour: an ongoing chess match between the audience and the band. Seriously.) We shimmied like idiots and drank underage and then — I think — drove home. This was bad. But good.

There were other shows, and I have other amazing stories — their Y2K shows on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, where my then-girlfriend and I spent 14 hours stuck in traffic on Florida's Alligator Alley, waiting to get in and worried because the dudes 10 cars up were telling everyone that the cops were searching everyone's cars — but the point is, none of mine are particularly unique, which is what's beautiful and amazing about Phish shows in the first place. Every single gig is special to someone somewhere, and if you ask anyone who's seen them live, I can assure you they'll tell you the same thing. Phish shows were where you went to take too many, um, illicit substances or make some bad decisions and to feel like you were part of some sort of community. Phish shows are where kids grew up. They are universal in that regard.

And while I'll freely admit to having lost all connection to the band soon after those Y2K shows, I'll always have my memories, and as such, I continue to hold a bizarrely warm place in my heart for Phish. I will defend their musical output from 1990 to 1994 (everything from Lawn Boy to Hoist) to anyone. I still have my old issues of their "Doniac Schvice" newsletter at my parents' house. I even own that album they did with the Dude of Life, even though it's terrible (cue the angry letters). I have been told by my so-called "cool" friends that all of this makes me some sort of hippie — I'm more likely to call myself nostalgic.

And that's probably why I'm so excited about the Phish reunion. I realize that on many levels, Phish are uncool, slightly goofy and rather embarrassing, but in my mind, none of that matters. To me, their Hampton shows are events on par with the recent Pixies and My Bloody Valentine tours, if not even more important. This probably says a lot about me — hippie, idiot, embarrassment — but I'm willing to say the hell with all that. I am a Phish fan, and coolness be damned, I'll be there in March at the Hampton Coliseum, running like an antelope, laughing as 15-year-old versions of me wander around looking for the dudes who drove them there. That seems strangely perfect.

Questions? Comments? Hit me at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Phish

Phish's Trey Anastasio
Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage

Good news for fans of "extended improvisations" (don't call it "jamming"): Nearly five years after calling it quits, Phish — our nation's finest exporters of lengthy, genre-hopping musical numbers with indecipherable titles like "Golgi Apparatus" — will reunite for a three-night stand at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

The band made the announcement on its official Web site early Wednesday morning (October 1), via a time-lapse video that showed an artist's rendering of the iconic (to Phish-heads, at least) diamond-like exterior of the Coliseum, along with the words "Phish: Hampton. March 6-7-8, 2009." 

The venue holds special significance to both Phish fans and the band itself: It was where Phish's famed six-CD live album, Hampton Comes Alive, was recorded back in 1998, and the band often referred to the Coliseum as its "mothership."

Tickets for the three Hampton shows are currently up for grabs via a "request system" on Phish's site. The on-sale date for the general public is October 18.

Reaction to the news has been rather, um, positive on Phish message boards. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWAAAAAAAAAAAA
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" wrote one fan at OhKeePa.com, a community named after a song on Phish's 1990 album, Lawn Boy. "I'M NOT SLEEPING UNTIL SUNDAY 10:01 WHEN I HAVE THREE TICKETS TO THE SPACESHIP IN ME HANDS."

"I can't breathe," wrote another. "I'm serious, someone call the paramedics."

Phish last played together in August 2004, at their very own Coventry Festival in northern Vermont. The event was marred by bad weather, traffic, and the death of at least one fan. Since then, the four members of Phish have kept busy with solo careers, but rumors of a reunion persisted, hitting a fever pitch in early September when they played an impromptu set at the wedding of their former tour manager.

Phish released their last studio album, Undermind, in 2004, just one month after announcing their plans to break up. It is not known whether they plan to record new music following the Hampton shows, but a message on their official site says that "the band intends to announce additional touring in 2009 early next year."

• Phish

Sean "Diddy" Combs
Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Despite widespread reports that Sean "Diddy" Combs had changed his name to Sean John, his rep clarified the situation to MTV News on Thursday (January 24). "Recent reports of a name change are totally false, he is still Diddy," the rep wrote. "He is currently in 'Sean John' mode as the upcoming Sean John fashion show is scheduled for February 8 in New York." ...

One of Britney Spears' friends was deposed Thursday by Kevin Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan as he prepares for an April trial involving a request by Spears' ex for primary physical custody of their children. Sam Lufti had previously avoided a notice to appear by Federline's team of lawyers but was eventually served in November. ... Lionsgate said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with striking writers to work on its projects, according to Reuters. "Lionsgate signed an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America today," the entertainment company reportedly said in a statement. "The writers' issue seems on its way to being solved, and Lionsgate felt it was an important time, particularly in view of our TV series, to have our writer partners get back to work. We look forward to a broad industry agreement soon." ...

John McCain is getting support from another Vietnam veteran, albeit a fictional one: Rambo. Sylvester Stallone recently voiced his support for the Arizona senator, who is in a tight race for the Republican presidential nomination, on TV's "Fox and Friends," according to a press release from his campaign. "I like McCain a lot," Stallone said. "A lot. And you know, things may change along the way, but there's something about matching the character with the script. And right now, the script that's being written — and reality — is pretty brutal and pretty hard-edged, like a rough action film. ... You need somebody who's been in that to deal with it." When host Brian Kilmeade informed McCain of the "Rocky Balboa" star's endorsement on Thursday morning (January 24), he reportedly replied, "I'm going to Philadelphia and running up the steps." ...

Bono swung by the Pentagon to talk about Africa and global poverty with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The two reportedly met for 20 minutes and discussed plans to construct a new U.S. military command for Africa. The U2 singer was reportedly in Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional budget committees, and his meeting with Gates was not publicized ahead of time. ... Trey Anastasio spent the weekend in the pokey for violating the conditions of his drug-treatment program last year, The Associated Press reports. The former Phish frontman was punished for an unspecified violation of a court contract that resulted after he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in April. Anastasio, who lives in Richmond, Vermont, was in a jail in upstate New York for two days. ...

Scarlett Johansson has finally firmed up details surrounding her first music album, a collection of mostly Tom Waits covers. Anywhere I Lay My Head will drop May 20 and feature 10 Waits tribute tracks plus an original cut. The "Nanny Diaries" actress hammered out the effort in Maurice, Louisiana, during a five-week visit at Dockside Studio in spring 2007. She got some assists from Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, Sean Antanaitis from Celebration and TV on the Radio's David Sitek, who produced the LP. ... The 35th annual Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll has named Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem as its top album of 2007. The rest of the top 10 albums in the poll, voted on by hundreds of rock critics, included In Rainbows (Radiohead), Kala (M.I.A.), Back to Black (Amy Winehouse), Neon Bible (Arcade Fire), Graduation (Kanye West), Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Spoon), Raising Sand (Robert Plant and Alison Krauss) and Magic (Bruce Springsteen). Winehouse topped the singles list with her hit "Rehab," followed by "Umbrella" (Rihanna), "All My Friends" (LCD Soundsystem), "1234" (Feist), "D.A.N.C.E." (Justice), "Paper Planes" (M.I.A.), "Stronger" (Kanye West), "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)" (UGK) and "Young Folks" (Peter Bjorn and John). ...

This year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest will take place April 25-27 and May 1-4 and feature sets from the Roots, Raconteurs, Keyshia Cole, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Santana, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Galactic, Ozomatli with Chali 2na, Jimmy Buffett and dozens of other roots, blues, soul, Cajun and jazz artists. ... Motion City Soundtrack, Phantom Planet and the Hush Sound have slipped onto the bill for the Honda Civic Tour, which will be anchored by Panic at the Disco. The cities the trek will hit have also been announced: San Francisco (April 10); San Diego (April 12); Phoenix (April 13); Tulsa, Oklahoma (April 15); Ruston, Louisiana (April 17); Dallas (April 18); Austin, Texas (April 19); Houston (April 20); Clearwater, Florida (April 22); Miami Beach, Florida (April 23); Lake Buena Vista, Florida (April 24); Atlanta (April 26); North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (April 29); Washington, D.C. (April 30); Orono, Maine (May 2); Troy, New York (May 3); Rochester, New York (May 6); New York (May 7); Philadelphia (May 9); Wallingford, Connecticut (May 10); Boston (May 11); Montreal (May 13); Toronto (May 14); Cleveland (May 16); Columbus, Ohio (May 17); Indianapolis (May 18); Detroit (May 20); Chicago (May 23); Milwaukee (May 25); Minneapolis (May 27); St. Louis (May 30); Council Bluffs, Iowa (May 31); Kansas City, Missouri (June 1); Denver (June 3); Salt Lake City (June 4); Vancouver, British Columbia (June 6); Seattle (June 7); Portland, Oregon (June 8); Las Vegas (June 13); and Anaheim, California (June 14). ...

Uncle Murda was shot in the head late Tuesday night but the injury was not serious, according to New York's Daily News. The popular upstart rapper, who was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records by Jay-Z and backed by DJ Green Lantern, suffered a minor head wound after he was grazed by a bullet while sitting in a parked car in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. There is no word on whether the rapper has been released from the hospital. Calls made by MTV News to reps for Uncle Murda were not returned as of press time. ... Danny Glover was convicted for trespassing on Thursday (January 24) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, according to AP. Canadian Niagara Hotels had charged the actor and two other men after they protested at a Sheraton in September 2006. The protest was part of a larger effort to boost salaries and improve working conditions for hotel workers in North America. They will be sentenced February 8. ...

Los Angeles city officials have asked a judge to ban members of the Mob Piru street gang from congregating in a neighborhood of Compton, California, and included on their list of 200 gang members was former Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight. The Los Angeles Times reports that Knight's name was on the request, which would ban members of the gang from congregating, carrying guns, drinking alcohol in public or staying out past 10 p.m. Knight, who has struggled to get his label back online after a number of legal tangles and prison time, told the paper he thought the injunction was a "publicity stunt" and that it should not have included him. "This is crazy," he said. "I'm a 42-year-old businessman, not a gang member. I don't even live in Compton anymore." A hearing on the matter is slated for Thursday (January 24). ...

Perez Hilton won an $85,000 judgment on Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit brought by celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson. According to AP, a judge ordered Ronson to pay the blogger $85K, plus an additional $2,000 if Hilton (born Mario Lavandeira) requests it, in the suit over a report on Hilton's blog last year. The post repeated a claim from CelebrityBabylon.com that said Ronson planted cocaine found in friend Lindsay Lohan's car during a May car crash involving the actress. "Perez Hilton will take steps to make sure every dime is collected," his lawyer Bryan J. Freedman said. "This should make one careful before filing a lawsuit against him." The judge removed Hilton from the suit in November after the blogger's attorneys argued he was protected by free-speech rights. Ronson's attorney unsuccessfully argued that Hilton's lawyers' fees were excessive and that he should get no more than $13,400 to recover his legal costs. ...

And the hits just keep coming ... just not the ones the music industry is looking for. According to numbers released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, global music sales fell by around 10 percent in 2007, falling at a faster rate than they did in 2006, despite a growth in digital-music sales of around 40 percent. The IFPI said illegal downloading continues to be a major problem, with the ratio of illegally downloaded tracks to legal tracks sold at around 20 to 1. Also included in the report was news that the first-ever global music-download sales chart was topped by Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend," which sold 7.3 million downloads across the world. ...

Gallows, a punk band from England, are the latest act to be banned from playing the House of Blues at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, according to The Onion's A.V. Club. The group was reportedly barred from playing its scheduled show there Tuesday night because Disney objects to the group's lyrical content. Machine Head and Cannibal Corpse suffered similar fates at venues located on Disney property last year.

1.23.08

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Diddy
• Britney Spears
• Motion City Soundtrack
• Panic at the Disco
• Phantom Planet

Thom Yorke's <I>The Eraser</I>
Photo: Xl Recordings

Call It What You Will: The debate rages on regarding Thom Yorke's The Eraser. Solo album? Not-so-solo album? When it comes to Radiohead, haven't people learned better than to bother with labels? After all, they dipped into The Eraser throughout their recent North American tour, introducing those tracks seamlessly with new ones of their own. For this week, just let the music do the talking. The Nigel Godrich-produced record includes "Analyse," "Atoms for Peace" and "Harrowdown Hill."

Light the Muse: The U.K. assault continues with Muse's Black Holes & Revelations and its equally grandiose-sounding "Starlight," "Invincible" and "Supermassive Black Hole." While Muse are still fresh in the States, they've been puttering around England for nearly 10 years now — which explains why you'll see them headlining the Glastonbury Festival on the bonus DVD. That extra disc comes with the first pressing only, although both editions were designed by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson.

Suffer Me Sufjan: If Sufjan Stevens keeps at the rate he's going, he'll have finished making an album for each state sometime in the early 22nd century. And it's not helping his cause that he's stopping to cobble together leftovers along the way: In addition to Illinois, the seemingly exhaustive 22-track disc he put out last year, now he's piling on 21 additional tracks from the sessions, including the typically long-winded "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dararius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies." Catch your breath and enjoy.

Seething in Concert: Keeping it much more simple are Seether, who strip down "Diseased," "Truth," "Broken" and "Remedy" for the acoustic-concert set One Cold Night. The CD has two versions of "The Gift," including an alternate mix, while the DVD compiles the February concert in Philadelphia with still images, an interview, the video for "The Gift" and behind-the-scenes clips.

Random Sightings (Emphasis on "Random"): Paul Wall, Ice-T and E-40 crop up in the same place this week, making guest appearances on the new ... Jamie Kennedy CD? Yup, you read it right — Kennedy's Blowin' Up with collaborator Stu Stone, which also has drop-ins by other, uh, big-name hip-hop talent like Kardinal Offishall, Gill T. Pleasure and Iceberg.

And yes, that's Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and hard-rock vet Joan Jett clashing alongside the quieter-than-thou Feist on Peaches' new record, which she endowed with the all-too-dead-on title Impeach My Bush. Don't forget to "Stick It to the Pimp" and "Rock the Shocker."

Also going from loud to soft is Greg Graffin, the Bad Religion frontman who goes the way of Neil Young and the Band on his solo album Cold as the Clay. He welcomes singer/songwriter Jolie Holland — another Anti artist — on two tracks and touches on some traditional fare like "Omie Wise" and "Talk About Suffering."

On the same token, Jimmy Tamborello stepped away from the Postal Service to craft Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake, which he's releasing under the moniker James Figurine. Tamborello recorded the techno-pop tracks in Germany but got some additional help from Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis and members of Kings of Convenience, Whispertown 2000 and other lesser-knowns.

And members of a litany of groups — Broken Social Scene, Sadies, Weakerthans and more — come together to form Hylozoists, a Toronto collective who say their debut is an "ideal accompaniment for a macabre carnival carousel." The instrumental La Fin du Monde includes "Warning Against Judging a Christian Brother," "If Only Your Heart Was a Major Sixth" and "Hearts and Harps."

Maximum Psych: Bands might not be name-dropping the Jesus and Mary Chain quite yet — seems like it's all the Cure and Joy Division these days — but with their early records in your collection, you'll be one step ahead of the retro hipsters. These remastered versions of the band's first five studio albums — Automatic, Darklands, Honey's Dead, Psychocandy and Stoned & Dethroned — have three videos apiece on the video flipside.

One band that had no trouble finding an audience for psychedelia were Phish, whose 2004 shindig at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, is immortalized in both three-CD and two-DVD form as Live in Brooklyn. The concert was simultaneously broadcast to movie theaters while it was performed and was the first the band played after announcing its impending breakup. Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

Speaking of which, fans have been waiting for nearly an eternity for the "Pulse" double-disc by Phish's progenitors, Pink Floyd, to drop from the sky, and lo and behold, here 'tis. The footage was captured during the band's Division Bell tour in 1994 and was filmed at London's Earls Court during the band's 14-night residency there (try that one, Radiohead). The second disc features the band performing The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, and was designed by the aforementioned Storm Thorgerson.

Song Title of the Week:

"Motor Driven Puppy Stabbers" from Indorphine's Glowsticks for Clubbing Baby Seals

Other Notables:

Cut Chemist's The Audience's Listening: With just two weeks to go before Jurassic 5 deliver their first studio album in almost four years, their former turntable master has just enough time to steal the spotlight with The Audience's Listening, his solo debut. The DJ hit the studio, cobbled together old samples and fused them with Brazilian and old-school beats for his new disc, which boasts "(My 1st) Big Break," "2266 Cambridge" and "Spat."

Kaada's Music for Moviebikers: Yet another record to be filed in the "Soundtracks to Films That Haven't Been Made Yet" category, the Norwegian experimentalist kept it fresh by hiring random folk musicians throughout Europe and recording the bulk of his record live instead of through programming. That resulted in more than 22 musicians participating on his instrumental disc, which includes "Julia Pastrana," "Mainstreaming" and "Retirement Community."

Various artists' Graciously: Label comps often slip through the cracks, but Wavelab Studio and Funzalo Records' new collection deserves some extra lovin'. All 12 songs — by Calexico, Robyn Hitchcock and Scout Niblett — are new and unreleased, and one-third of proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity's Musician's Village project in New Orleans.

New Releases:

• The Adored - A New Language (V2)
• Alcian Blue - Alcian Blue (Elephant Stone)
• All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals (Razor & Tie)
  Buy Now: The Fall of Ideals (Razor & Tie)
  
• Jessica Bailiff - Feels Like Home (Kranky)
• Betrayed - Substance (Equal Vision)
• Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys - Turntable Matinee (Yep Roc)
• Boy Hits Car - The Passage (Rock Ridge)
  Buy Now: The Passage (Rock Ridge)
  
• Bury Your Dead - Beauty and the Breakdown (Victory)
  Buy Now: Beauty and the Breakdown (Victory)
  
• Cairo Gang - Cairo Gang (Narnack)
• Cattle Decapitation - Karma Bloody Karma (Metal Blade)
• Jen Chapin - Ready (Hybrid)
• CSS - Cansei de Ser Sexy (Sub Pop)
• Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway (Earache)
• Cut Chemist - The Audience's Listening (Warner Bros.)
• D Block - The CD/ DVD Mixtape (Koch)
• Dead to Me - Cuban Ballerina (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Disaster Strikes - Liberty Toast (Alternative Tentacles)
• Johnny Dowd - Cruel World (Bongo Beat)
• Steve Earle - Live at Montreux 2005 (Eagle)
• The Early November - The Mother, the Mechanic and the Path (three-CD box set; Drive-Thru)
  Buy Now: The Mother, the Mechanic and the Path (Drive-Thru)
  
• Ramblin' Jack Elliott - I Stand Alone (Anti)
• William Lee Ellis - God's Tattoos (Yellow Dog)
• Evaline - Postpartum Modesty. A Portrait of Skin (EP; Maverick)
• Every Move a Picture - Heart = Weapon (V2)
• James Figurine - Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake (Plug Research)
  Buy Now: Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake (Plug Research)
  
• Fish Karma - The Theory of Intelligent Design (Alternative Tentacles)
• The Format - Dog Problems (Nettwerk)
  Buy Now: Dog Problems (Nettwerk)
  
• From a Second Story Window - Delenda (Metal Blade)
• Full Blown Chaos - Within the Grasp of Titans (Stillborn)
  Buy Now: Within the Grasp of Titans (Stillborn)
  
• The Gentlemen Homicide - Understanding the Words We Speak (Blood & Ink)
• John Gorka - Writing in the Margins (Red House)
• Greg Graffin - Cold as the Clay (Anti)
• The Hylozoists - La Fin du Monde (Boompa)
• Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers - Mine Is Not a Holy War (Cordless)
• Indorphine - Glowsticks for Clubbing Baby Seals (Rock Ridge)
• Kaada - Music for Moviebikers (Ipecac)
• Matt Keating - Summer Tonight (Kealon)
• Robert Earl Keen - Live at the Ryman: The Greatest Show Ever Been Gave (Koch)
• Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone - Blowin' Up (JKss)
  Buy Now: Blowin' Up (JKss)
  
• Khia - Gangstress (TME/ Phase One Communications)
  Buy Now: Gangstress (TME/ Phase One Communications)
  
• The Kilborn Alley Blues Band - Put It in the Alley (Blue Bella)
• Cheyenne Kimball - The Day Has Come (Epic/ Daylight)
  Buy Now: The Day Has Come (Epic/ Daylight)
  
• Chris Knight - Enough Rope (Emergent)
• Greg Laswell - Through Toledo (Vanguard)
• The Living End - State of Emergency (Adeline)
  Buy Now: State of Emergency (Adeline)
  
• The Lordz - The Brooklyn Way (Perfect Game)
• Bill Lupkin & Friends - Where I Come From (Blue Bella)
• Miranda Sound - Western Reserve (Sunken Treasure)
• Nick Moss and the Flip Tops - Live at Chan's (Blue Bella)
• Muse - Black Holes & Revelations (limited edition with DVD due same day; Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Muse Hope Fans Aren't Too Shocked By 'Genre-Morphing' New LP"
  Buy Now: Black Holes & Revelations (Warner Bros.)
  
• Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day (Columbia)
• The North Atlantic - Wires in the Walls (We Put Out)
• Oneida - Happy New Year (Jagjaguwar)
• The Outline - You Smash It We'll Build Around It (Fearless)
• Peaches - Impeach My Bush (Kitty-Yo/ XL Recordings/ Beggars Group)
• Phish -- Live in Brooklyn (three CDs; Rhino)
  Buy Now: Live in Brooklyn (Rhino)
  
• Plaid - Greedy Baby (with DVD; Warp)
• Redding - Redding (Rock Ridge)
• The Remote - Too Low to Miss (Global Underground)
• Rhymefest - Blue Collar (J)
  Buy Now: Blue Collar (J)
  
• Seether - One Cold Night (with bonus DVD; Wind-Up)
  Read: "Seether Lose Guitarist; Frontman Credits Stomach With Acoustic Night"
  Buy Now: One Cold Night (Wind-Up)
  
• Shapes and Sizes - Shapes and Sizes (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Some Girls - Crushing Love (with DVD; Koch)
• Soul Asylum - The Silver Lining (Legacy)
  Buy Now: The Silver Lining (Legacy)
  
• Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras From the Illinois Album! (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Strapping Young Lad - The New Black (enhanced; Century Media)
  Buy Now: The New Black (Century Media)
  
• Striborg - Embittered Darkness/ Isles de Morts (Southern Lord)
• Tenebre - Heart's Blood (Candlelight)
• Torchebearer - Warnaments (Candlelight)
• Trendkill - No Longer Buried (Candlelight)
• Village of Dead Roads - Dwelling in Doubt (Meteor City)
• John Waite - Downtown Journey of a Heart (Frontiers)
• Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites - The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites (Red Ink)
  Read: "Butch Walker Works With Avril, Hot Hot Heat, Says Solo LP Won't Be 'Emo-Tastic' "
  Buy Now: The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites (Red Ink)
  
• Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XL)
  Read: "Thom Yorke Records Album Without Radiohead, Rejects 'Solo' Label"
• Various artists - The Backyardigans Groove to the Music (Nick)
• Various artists - Graciously (Wavelab/ Funzalo)
• Various artists - Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants (Bar/ None)
• Various artists - I'm So Indicted (Capitol Steps)
• Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 22 (Sony)
• Various artists - The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson (Emergent)
• Various artists - Worship Jamz 2 (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - "The Devil Wears Prada" soundtrack (Warner Bros.)
• Various artists - "The Groomsmen" soundtrack (Rykodisc)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Marc Anthony - Grandes Éxitos: Sigo Siendo Yo (Sony International)
  Buy Now: Grandes Éxitos: Sigo Siendo Yo (Sony International)
  
• Booker T. & the MG's -- The Definitive Soul Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Solomon Burke - The Definition of Soul (two CDs; Rhino)
• Robert Callender - Musee de l'Impressionisme (Fallout)
• Canned Heat - Canned, Labeled and Shelved (two CDs; Music Avenue)
• Ray Charles -- The Definitive Soul Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Common People - Of the People/ By the People/ For the People From the Common People (Fallout)
• The Drifters -- The Definitive Soul Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Aretha Franklin - Live at Fillmore West (two CDs; Rhino)
• The Free Spirits - Out of Sight and Sound (Sunbeam)
• The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic, Darklands, Honey's Dead, Psychocandy and Stoned & Dethroned (DualDiscs; Rhino)
• Freedy Johnston - Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop - April 25th, 1998 (Shout! Factory)
• King Curtis - Live at Fillmore West (Rhino)
• Curtis Mayfield - The Definitive Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Michele - Saturn Rings (Fallout)
• The Open Mind - The Open Mind (Sunbeam)
• Otis Redding - The Definitive Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Tom Paxton - Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop - February 23rd, 1991 (Shout! Factory)
• Wilson Pickett - The Definitive Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Tim Rice & Friends - That's My Story (Sunbeam)
• Sam & Dave - The Definitive Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Snoop Doggy Dogg - The Doggfather (enhanced; with bonus DVD; Death Row)
  Buy Now: The Doggfather (Death Row)
  
• Spinners -- The Definitive Soul Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
• Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live in Tokyo (Masterplan)
• The Who - Live From Toronto (two CDs; Immortal)
• Various artists - Brunswick Top 40 R&B Singles 1966-1975 (Brunswick)
• Various artists - Club Hits: The Platinum Collection (SPG)
• Various artists - Comic Strip Heroes: Music From Gotham City and Beyond (Silva)
• Various artists - Disco Fever: Turn the Beat Around (Time Life)
• Various artists - Irie Reggae: Best of Chill (Time Life)
• Various artists - Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-74 (Light in the Attic)

Music DVDs:

• Johnny Cash - "The Man in Black: Live in Denmark 1971" (Columbia/ Legacy)
• Confessor - "Live in Norway" (Season Mist)
• The Derek Trucks Band - "Songlines Live!" (Columbia)
• Tommy Emmanuel - "Live at Her Majesty's Theatre - Ballarat, Australia" (Favored Nations)
• Israel & New Breed - "Alive in South Africa (Integrity/ Columbia)
• Led Zeppelin - "On the Rock Trail" (Delta)
• Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath - "On the Rock Trail" (Delta)
• Phish - "Live in Brooklyn" (two DVDs; Rhino)
• Pink Floyd - "Pulse" (two DVDs; Columbia) and "On the Rock Trail" (Delta)
• Various artists - "Afro-Punk" (Image Entertainment)
• Various artists - "Doo Wop: Vocal Group Greats Live" (Shout! Factory)

Coming Attractions: July 18:

• Alien Ant Farm - Up in the Attic (New Door)
  Preorder: Up in the Attic (New Door)
  
• The Bronx - The Bronx (digipak; Island)
• The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Don't You Fake It (Virgin)
  Read: "The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: You Can Call Them Sellouts"
  Preorder: Don't You Fake It (Virgin)

July 25:

• Flogging Molly - Whiskey on a Sunday (DualDisc; Side One Dummy)
• Jurassic 5 - Feedback (Interscope)
• Pharrell Williams - In My Mind (Star Trak/ Interscope)
  Read: "Pharrell Williams: Fired Up"
  Preorder: In My Mind (Star Trak/ Interscope)

August 1:

• DMX - Year of the Dog, Again
  Read: "DMX Signs With Columbia, Will Release Long-Delayed LP This Spring"
  Preorder: Year of the Dog, Again (Columbia)
  
• Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May (Roadrunner)
  Read: "Slipknot's Taylor Gearing Up For Stone Sour LP — And Tenacious D Tribute"
• Various artists - Kidz Bop 10 (Razor & Tie)

• Thom Yorke
• Muse
• Sufjan Stevens
• Seether
• Peaches

DMX
Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images

A judge issued an arrest warrant for DMX (real name Earl Simmons) on Wednesday (June 28) after the rapper failed to appear in court, The Associated Press reports. "We have granted him a number of courtesies. It ends now," City Court Judge Barbara Leak said in a White Plains, New York, court. DMX's lawyer said the rapper was ill but that he would be in court Thursday. ...

Britney Spears has refused to pose nude for magazines in the past, but she said yes to Harper's Bazaar, which photographed the six-months-pregnant singer Thursday for a feature story and cover of the August issue. Photos from the shoot have already leaked online, and they reveal the singer holding her baby, lying on a terry-cloth-like robe and glamming it up in a black dress to match her new black hair. The issue hits newsstands July 25. ...

Rihanna kicks off her three-month summer tour — her first road trip as a headliner — Saturday in San Diego. The singer will be joined by Field Mob at the beginning of the trek, which makes stops in cities including Las Vegas (July 3), Cleveland (July 10), Toronto (July 16), New York (August 1), Chicago (August 10) and Detroit (September 3) before wrapping up at the Los Angeles County Fair on September 16. While she's on the road, Rihanna will also take the stage at the Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay, Jamaica (July 22), and Fashion Rocks events in Los Angeles (September 6-7) and New York (September 8). ...

Juvenile is bringing his raps to several U.S. military bases this summer. Juvi and openers the Youngbloodz will begin performing for the troops Friday at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Oahu's Kaneohe Bay. After that they'll head to Korea for five dates, ending July 11 at Camp Humphreys in Pyongtaek, South Korea. ... Lauren "LC" Conrad says she's not doing "The Hills" because she wants to be famous — she wants a job in the fashion industry. The "Laguna Beach" alumna told Seventeen for its August cover story that she hopes to create her own line, "specifically for younger girls — more fun, trendy things." But in order to make that dream come true, "you have to have a name," she said. And in order to make the show work for her, she's quit drinking. "You either have a social life or a successful career. ... Now I barely go out." LC says she's also learned that she has to be "on" all the time now, even when the cameras are off. "You can't be rude if someone comes up to you and you're just in a bad mood," she explains. "I have days where I don't want to talk to anybody. I just want to go to the grocery store and get my soup — but I can't do that without having to smile. I mean, you only get one chance to make a first impression." (Check out photos of LC in Seventeen.). ...

Waiting until July 4 to play Ozzfest's second stage wasn't working for Ozzy Osbourne, so he's decided to step into the small time three days early. Ozzy is giving up his mainstage headlining spot to make his second-stage debut Saturday at San Francisco's Shoreline Amphitheatre. ... Korn have a buy-two-get-two-free deal for fans who pick up their "Live on the Other Side" DVD. The first 70,000 copies of the disc include a voucher for two free lawn tickets to the Family Values Tour, redeemable after the purchase of two lawn tickets. ... DJ Quik surrendered to authorities in San Bernardino County, California, on Thursday and is currently in custody, serving a 150-day term for violating a probation order, according to court records. Quik was sentenced in 2005 to two years of supervised probation on charges related to a 2003 incident in which his sister alleged she was assaulted by the rapper. ...

The short, intense life of musician Jeff Buckley is headed for the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, writer/ director Brian Jun ("Steel City") will write and direct a feature based on Buckley's life that will be co-produced by the late musician's mother, Mary Guibert. Buckley, an emotional singer whose three-and-a-half-octave range gave his vocals a haunted, angelic quality, drowned in Memphis in 1997 at age 30. No release date or casting details have been announced. ...

Phish are bringing a little bit of Brooklyn, New York, to Burlington, Vermont, next month. The world premiere of the band's "Live in Brooklyn" concert film — shot in Coney Island on June 17, 2004 — will be hosted at Burlington's Waterfront Park on July 9. The rain-or-shine free screening starts at 8:15 p.m. Fans who can't get to Burlington (or who just prefer watching the show in multiplex comfort) can see the movie on the big screen July 10 at 9 p.m. BigScreenConcerts.com has a list of participating theaters. The "Live in Brooklyn" DVD is in stores July 11. ... Muse's Black Holes and Revelations is also due July 11, but the British band's fans don't have to wait any longer to hear the album. Their latest batch of new music is streaming in its entirety at the band's MySpace page. ...

Does bad karma smell this bad? A judge has ordered Boy George (born George O'Dowd) to spend five days working for New York's Department of Sanitation, AP reports. The singer's community service is the result of his falsely reporting to police that his apartment had been burglarized earlier this year.

06.27.2006

Britney Spears has made it clear that she wants the press to give her a break, and she told OK! Weekly magazine that she's beginning to think her pleas aren't falling on deaf ears. "With the media, it's like, 'You really just have to leave me alone right now.' I think they are getting the picture. It's a blessing and I'm really thankful for it." The pregnant singer, who poses in the magazine to accent her baby bump, says she's not sure how she'll balance family life with her music career. "I'm still trying to figure that out — taking it day by day," she explained. ...

Michael Jackson is going through another shake-up. While awaiting his civil case with former business partner Marc Schaffel, the singer has severed ties with much of his team. Jackson has fired his accountants, business managers and his Bahrani attorneys, hiring New York counsel and naming his publicist as manager instead. The singer is still planning to put out an album, which he says will be coming out in 2007, and he plans to tour within the next several months as well. And he won't be staying in the Middle East much longer — he plans to relocate to Europe in the near future, his representative said. ...

Paris Hilton frolics on a beach with a hot guy in the video for "Stars Are Blind," but she doesn't want you to think she's the kind of girl who cozies up to strangers. "It was kind of embarrassing, making out with some guy on the beach," she said. "And I'm worrying that [paparazzi] are going to use the pictures and make up some lie when it's really just a music video, so that was kind of uncomfortable." Hilton says she has readied another version of the video that will explain everything. "You see more of the love story and how I know the guy." ...

New mom Gwen Stefani knows what time it is — time to debut a line of L.A.M.B. watches. The singer/designer will have 28 timepieces in stores this July, with more due in time for the holiday season. The watches, which include pieces inspired by L.A.M.B. clothing as well as more classic signature pieces designed by Stefani, will debut at Nordstrom's before hitting department stores and boutiques worldwide. ... 50 Cent and Jermaine Dupri were named Songwriters of the Year at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards on Monday. The rapper and the producer were each lauded for their contributions to five hit songs. LL Cool J was presented with the ASCAP Golden Note Award, while 50's "Candy Shop" took the Ringtone of the Year prize. ...

"Promiscuous" is a hit in the U.S., "Maneater" is tearing up Europe, and now Nelly Furtado is contemplating which single she'll release next. "There's this hot track that we're thinking about," Furtado told MTV Radio. "It's called 'Te Busque.' It's a Spanish track featuring Juanes from Colombia." But U.S. fans shouldn't count out "Maneater" yet. "Maybe 'Maneater' will come to the States after it's done invading Europe," she said. ... The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday not to weigh in on the contract dispute between TVT Records and the Island Def Jam Music Group regarding Ja Rule's recording career, The Associated Press reports. Island Def Jam was originally ordered to pay TVT $132 million for backing out of a deal that would have the independent label releasing Ja Rule music. A New York appeals court voided the decision in June 2005, reducing the damages to $126,000. Lawyers for TVT sought to have the appeal overturned by the Supreme Court. ...

The Arcade Fire have recorded 15 songs for their new album and hope to make a trek to Budapest next month to record a few more with a full orchestra. That's according to frontman Win Butler, who took a break from the recording process — currently under way in a church in the band's home city of Montreal — to post an update on ArcadeFire.com. In addition to big-upping the World Cup, Butler also wrote that the bandmembers are focusing on learning to play new instruments, including "a big f---ing pipe organ. ... It's going to be really interesting [to see] how we're going to fit all of these new sounds on a tour bus." There's still no release date for the follow-up to the Arcade Fire's breakout 2004 album, Funeral, but Butler promises that he'll know more very soon. "The next couple of weeks we will be pulling our hair out," he wrote. "I will say hi when we come up for air." ...

For the first time in more than 35 years, former MC5 members Michael Davis, Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson will share a bill with fellow Detroit rock pioneers Iggy Pop and the Stooges. The bands are playing this year's All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, curated by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and set for December 8-10 at Butlins Minehead in Somerset, England. ... British rockers Starsailor have set an August 22 release date for their third album, On the Outside. Rob Schnapf (Beck, the Vines) produced the album in Los Angeles. ...

Leigh Nash, who used to sing for Sixpence None the Richer — remember "Kiss Me"? — is releasing her debut solo album, Blue on Blue, August 15 on her own One Son Records. Nash worked with Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright) on the release. ... Stacie Orrico will follow up her self-titled 2003 release with Beautiful Awakening, due August 29. The first single is called "I'm Not Missing You." ... Barenaked Ladies have released online the 16 individual studio tracks for their new single, "Easy," allowing fans to easily remix the tune. The band will do the same for four more new songs and then release a benefit EP collecting its favorite fan remixes of each. The band's full-length Barenaked Ladies Are Me is due September 12.

• Lauren 'LC' Conrad In 'Seventeen' Magazine

• DMX
• Britney Spears
• Rihanna
• Juvenile
• Jeff Buckley

Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Many More At Bonnaroo 2009

• Nine Inch Nails
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Erykah Badu
• Snoop Dogg
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Widespread Panic and Phish live

• Widespread Panic
• Phish