Chris Cornell
Photo: MTV News

After working with Timbaland on his forthcoming album, Scream, Chris Cornell has realized something about himself: He doesn't need a band behind him to create great songs.

That's why the former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman has made the decision to continue working solo for the foreseeable future.

According to Cornell, working with the producer du jour has been an eye-opening experience in more ways than one. "There's this concept that, as a songwriter and a singer, I can't do it without a band," he explained. "This Timbaland/ Chris Cornell album is a perfect example of why I want to be solo. [I've learned that] there's so much, musically, that I haven't done. I've barely scratched the surface, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I feel like I want to fast-forward into my future of musical expression, because there are just so many different things I haven't done yet."

Cornell recorded Scream's 13 tracks with Timbaland over a six-week period, working only at night. He said they would hit the studio at 1 a.m. and record until sunrise. It was all very new to Cornell, who praised Tim's production on the disc.

"Timbaland's diversity — in terms of his feels, the ideas he brought in, the beats, the rhythms, the musical themes and auras of the different songs — was incredible," he said. "His focus was very much, 'I don't repeat myself, and I won't let you repeat yourself.' Being someone that writes songs mainly from an organic platform, I just really didn't know how much is possible in the musical spectrum until I met Timbaland. What he brought in, every day, was a surprise. He would surprise me with ideas he would bring in or ideas he was working on every time. Timbaland's music, coming from someone like me who started in rock music, I view it as being psychedelic music more than hip-hop, more than pop, more than beat-based music. It's atmospheric, like Pink Floyd is atmospheric — he creates a sonic world that you get lost in, and you listen to it and you start to trip out."

While there is still no official release date for Scream, Cornell has been getting ready to tour in support of the disc. He plans to play the whole thing live, from front to back, in one continuous hour of beat-driven rock, because to him, the album is one big song.

"I've been rehearsing this as a musical piece that's an hour long," he said. "I've been rehearsing it with an entire band, and it's kind of taken on a new life. Something happens to a song when you play it live — it sort of transforms over time. And to have a whole album with these different musical interludes and these different mood changes in between the songs ... to perform that whole thing live, it's kind of transformed into this living, breathing animal, which isn't something I expected. It's challenging, but it's really fresh."

Cornell has also shot a video for the album's title track, with director Alan Ferguson (Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes ). Filmed in Orange, California, last month, the clip reflects the feel of the album, he said.

"The idea Alan had for the video, which is pretty ingenious, is sort of capturing the two moods of the music," he said. "There's kind of two things going on. It's a record that's 111 beats per minute, which is fast. But the music and lyrics and the vocals are actually kind of slow and relaxed and flowing over this beat that's pretty uptempo and kind of chaotic and excited. The way Alan's shot the video, he's shooting both at the same time. My role in the video is performing the song in super-slow-motion, where I'm existing in this Zen-like world, singing these song lyrics and everything going on around me is super-fast, super-chaotic, and I'm just suspended in it. It's a filmic piece that has something to say about the song lyrics and the feel of the music. It's going to be very much a cinematic video."

• Chris Cornell
• Timbaland
• Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd's Rick Wright in 2006
Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images

Founding Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright died in England on Monday (September 15) at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer. No further information about the cause of Wright's death was available at press time, according to The Associated Press.

"The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness, that Richard died ... after a short struggle with cancer," read a statement from a spokesperson. "The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

The self-taught keyboardist met bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason in architecture school and in 1964 joined their group Sigma 6, which eventually evolved into the Pink Floyd Sound. With the addition of late singer/guitarist Syd Barrett — who left the band in 1968 and died in 2006 of cancer — the group, now called Pink Floyd, began its rise as one of the most creative and powerful psychedelic bands on the British scene.

In that early period, Wright was a major force in the band's pioneering experimental sound, penning the songs "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" on Floyd's legendary 1973 black-light rock opus Dark Side of the Moon. He also added key vocals to the 1971 20-plus-minute epic "Echoes" and made significant contributions to the songs "Atom Heart Mother" and the 1975 Barrett tribute "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."

At their peak, from the early 1970s through the early 1980s, Floyd were one of the most popular, successful and influential rock bands in the world. The group regularly filled stadiums with an elaborate show that at different times included brain-bursting light displays, wild props, a giant inflatable pig and, during the tour for 1979's The Wall, the nightly construction of a giant wall across the front of the stage — a symbolic depiction of that album's central themes of loneliness and disconnection.

Floyd's commercial breakthrough, 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, was their first #1 album in the U.S. and spawned what is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime chart juggernaut, remaining on the Billboard albums chart for an incredible 741 weeks to date — including 591 consecutive weeks, from 1976 to 1988 — on its way to selling more than 40 million copies worldwide. The Wall served to further establish their commercial status by spinning off such classic-rock radio staples as "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" and "Comfortably Numb."

However, as the 1970s progressed, Wright, along with Floyd singer/guitarist David Gilmour and Mason, found his contributions diminishing as Waters increasingly dominated the band's songwriting and direction.

In a group whose history is rife with decades-long grudges, Wright was not immune to the inter-band drama, splitting with Floyd in 1979 during sessions for The Wall, due to his strained relationship with Waters. He returned to the group as a paid session musician for shows in 1980 and 1981, but he was not included on 1983's The Final Cut, the only Floyd album on which he didn't appear. Following Waters' departure, Wright rejoined the band in 1988. He played keyboards and sang on A Momentary Lapse of Reason and co-wrote five songs on 1994's The Division Bell.

Wright, who performed on every Floyd tour, was also onstage in 2005, when the surviving members of the band played a rapturously received reunion gig at the Live 8 concert. Wright released a handful of solo albums and appeared on records by Barrett, and he had been performing regularly with Gilmour.

• Pink Floyd

Fans at Coachella 2007
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

On The Record: Take Your Business Associates To Indio

I am on an airplane, flying from New York City to Chicago, watching 20-something business-school grads pull important-looking legal documents out of mahogany-colored folios, leaf through them, highlight the salient bits, shuffle and fold, then place them back into the same mahogany-colored folios. They have been doing this dance — pulling, highlighting, shuffling, refiling — for about an hour now, each trying to look grown-up, professional, on-the-ball, each in their cornflower-blue button-ups, silky, color-coordinated ties, pleated black pants and smart, polished, patent-leather shoes. One of them just ordered a cranberry juice, "straight — no ice." Their bosses are seated across the aisle from them. Their hair is gray. One of them smells slightly like gin. They read newspapers and loosen their ties. They have made this flight at least 700 times in their lives with a different group of 20-somethings each time. And as such, they view them with a mixture of annoyance and humor, because they are not threats, they are not the competition; they are sort of ridiculous. They are entertainment, fodder, someone to highlight salient bits on important legal documents. They don't even know their names, which is OK, because why would they? They probably don't care about them at all.

Rewind four hours. I am sitting in the terminal at LaGuardia, waiting for my flight. There is an e-mail from Goldenvoice, the California concert-promotions company, announcing the lineup for the 2008 Coachella Festival. Somewhere among the coffee and muffin, the tiny music snob inside me stirs. After all, it is a banner day for indie-rock fans and bloggers (if there is even any difference between the two) everywhere. The grand unveiling of the Coachella lineup ... the end of a long winter spent filling message boards with fantasy lineups ("Sources close to the fest tell me they've already got the Smiths, My Bloody Valentine and Pavement confirmed!") and the day to unfreeze assets and begin booking JetBlue flights to the Ontario, California, airport. It's the day when the secretive geniuses at Goldenvoice lift the curtain and reveal just what form of musical madness they made happen for us this year. Surely, it is something epic, something can't-miss. Probably Bowie and the Moz and Kevin Shields jamming together as the sun sets over the Empire Polo Fields, while Daft Punk plugs in the Pyramid across the lawn and Kylie and Madge begin limbering up in the dance tent. And Thom Yorke and Kanye will be there, doing a live version of The Eraser and handing out 7-inches and sunglasses and Ecstasy. It's going to be amazing. You have to be there. You have to.

This is all running through my head as I read the e-mail. "Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival announces line-up [yes! yes! yes!] ... tickets on sale Friday, January 25 at 10:00 am [OK, OK ... gotta remember to set my alarm] ... line-up includes [OK, here we go!] ... Roger Waters [huh? OK, flying pig, metaphorical brick wall constructed onstage ... I can live with that] ... Portishead [Oh, sweet!] ... and Jack Johnson [end of inner monologue, as soul is crushed and head has exploded]."

Now, far be it from me to nitpick and complain (despite the fact that it's what myself and most Coachella-heads are really good at), but ... wow. There's not a word to describe how I felt after glancing through the remainder of the lineup, but something like "underwhelmatrayedappointed" — equal parts "underwhelmed" "betrayed" and "disappointed" — probably does the trick. No Radiohead. No MBV. No Smiths (it was a long shot, but still). No must-see set. No steak. No sizzle. Instead, we get a formerly indie-centric fest headlined by a guy who just penned an opera inspired by the French Revolution, a guy who penned the soundtrack to the "Curious George" movie ... and Portishead. To say that Goldenvoice let us down would be incorrect. Rather, they hurt us this year. Really.

Because this year's Coachella fest wasn't booked for me or the die-hard, make-it-to-Indio-at-all-costs-so-I-can-do-drugs-and-have-a-blast indie kid/ hipster contingent I represent, the one that has buttered Goldenvoice's bread for nine years now but rather for the people I spent the first 270 words of this column talking about: aging, graying businessmen — the kind who used to totally burn one to Dark Side and now look back on those halcyon days as the greatest of their life (bonus points since most of them even sort of look like Roger Waters) and their slicked-back, eager-to-please cronies, who are all totally into Jack Johnson and frequently urge me to "really check him out." (Speaking in generalities is so the best.)

And though it's disappointing, maybe you can't really blame the folks at Goldenvoice for the Coachella '08 lineup. Perhaps they got tired of hearing the whining from their too-picky fans (the backlash over the Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining a night in 2007 was rather legendary) or grew weary of continually trying to top the previous year's festival. So they just said, "You know what? Screw this. Let's just book a couple of headliners that'll bring out regular folks. The kind with plenty of disposable income. The kind who think Black Kids are a public nuisance, not an over-puffed blog band."

Or maybe the folks at Goldenvoice were being smart about things. After all, they've just announced plans for an East Coast version of Coachella — the All Points West Festival (which, of course, organizers would prefer you didn't refer to as an "East Coast version of Coachella") — and the last thing they'd want is to launch the new fest with a less-than-stellar lineup. So maybe GV was willing to sacrifice a bit of its flagship festival's luster to give the shine to the new venture.

Who knows if it will all work out? Clearly, Coachella '08 marks the festival at a crossroads: still begrudgingly recognizing the past (as evidenced by Saturday's Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley, Hot Chip, Stephen Malkmus, "Blogger's Choice" bill), while looking to seize the present — and firm up the future. It's a pretty solid business plan — diversification, expansion, franchising — one that a whole bunch of eager businessmen-to-be would gladly highlight, shuffle, then file away in their folios.

B-Sides: Other Stories I'm Following This Week

The puff-paint on the sunglasses; the Cornholio-channeling chorus of his new single, "Yaaaah"; the delusions of grandeur — Soulja Boy is my favorite rapper ever.

I hate that I read this article and went, "Yeah, totally."

Who will fill the "Old Coot dispensing homespun wisdom with a delightfully antiquated Southern Drawl" role in the GOP now that Fred Thompson has bailed out of the race?

Questions? Concerns? Angry e-mails from Goldenvoice employees? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Pink Floyd
• Jack Johnson

M.I.A.
Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

As usual, this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will feature more than 100 acts, including several reunited alternative-rock giants mixed in with some of the hottest acts touring today. The festival will take place on the weekend of April 25-27 in Indio, California, and be headlined by Jack Johnson, Jack White's Raconteurs, reunited bands the Verve and the Breeders, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket and former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters (who will perform Dark Side of the Moon).

Festival organizers also confirmed that they are launching a new event on the East Coast called All Points West Music & Arts Festival, a three-day event set for August 8-10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. No lineup or ticketing information has been announced for the event, which appears to be in direct competition with the Vineland Music Festival slated to launch in New Jersey this summer from the people behind Lollapalooza and England's Reading Festival.

Among the rarely touring acts performing over the course of the Coachella weekend are trip-hop legends Portishead, who are releasing their first album in more than a decade in April, as well as German techno pioneers Kraftwerk and long dormant English psychedelic rockers Spiritualized. The first night of the festival is packed with some of the best dance and alt-rock bands of the moment, including the National, Animal Collective, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Battles, Aesop Rock, Spank Rock, Santogold, Vampire Weekend, Black Lips, Rogue Wave and Architecture in Helsinki.

Saturday night's lineup is just as strong, with acts that include M.I.A., Cold War Kids, Café Tacuba, Rilo Kiley, Mark Ronson, Islands, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, VHS or Beta, Bonde Do Role, Akron Family, MGMT, and the Bird and the Bee. In addition to the sure-to-be-trippy capper from Waters, the final night will also feature a reunited Love and Rockets, dance stars Justice, gypsy-rock punks Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Simian Mobile Disco, Murs, Autolux, Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sia, Black Kids, Black Mountain, Kid Sister with A-Trak, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra and the Horrors.

Tickets for the fest will be available this Friday, with three-day admission going for $269 and single-day tickets for $90; camping is an additional $55 per person.

The full lineups for each day are:

Friday, April 25: Jack Johnson, the Verve, Raconteurs, the Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, the Swell Season, the National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Múm, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santogold, Jens Lekman, John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, the Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang, Lucky I Am.

Saturday, April 26: Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Café Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, the Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/Silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs (Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic), James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, the Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Uffie.

Sunday, April 27: Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dmitri from Paris, Autolux, the Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy F---, Black Kids, Black Mountain, the Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, the Horrors, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plastiscines, Brett Dennen.

Planning on going to Coachella or any other big music fests this year? Be sure to join the You R Here community, where you can upload your concert photos, videos and reviews. Go there now to check out coverage of last year's Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo festivals.

• Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Amy Winehouse, More At Coachella 2007

• M.I.A.
• Pink Floyd
• Portishead
• Jack Johnson
• Raconteurs

Kevin Federline
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Britney Spears' assistant was served with court papers Sunday morning to give a deposition in a legal matter between the singer and Kevin Federline. Mark Vincent Kaplan, Federline's attorney, told The Associated Press that Alli Sims will be asked to offer a statement "in connection with the Britney Spears/ Kevin Federline issue," although he didn't elaborate. He added that Sims is "believed to have relevant information" but didn't go into specifics about that either. On Wednesday, Kaplan filed documents in Los Angeles Superior Court for primary physical custody of Federline's two sons with Spears. ...

Diddy will executive produce the upcoming biopic of the Notorious B.I.G., Variety reports. "Soul Food" director George Tillman will be behind the lens for "Unbelievable: The Life, Death and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.," for which an open casting call was launched nationally on Sunday. ...

Jennifer Lopez has pegged October 9 as the release date for her English-language album Brave, her second LP of the year and sixth studio disc overall. The set is highlighted by the just-released single, "Do It Well," and will be produced by J.R. Rotem (50 Cent, Christina Aguilera), among others. J. Lo's other album this year, Como Ama Una Mujer, is the best-selling Spanish-language debut LP ever. ... Amy Winehouse, who was hospitalized last week for severe exhaustion, has scrapped two planned shows in Germany opening for the Rolling Stones, RollingStone.com reports. The singer told Britain's News of the World, "I don't know how to explain what happened. ... I can't remember what I looked like. I couldn't recognize myself. It was terrifying." ...

Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Kid Rock and Velvet Revolver will anchor Los Angeles radio station KROQ's Inland Invasion fest — which has been renamed the L.A. Invasion, since its relocation from a venue in Devore, California, to one in Carson. Against Me!, Chris Cornell, Hot Hot Heat, Satellite Party, Paramore and Cypress Hill round out the bill for the show, which will take place September 15. ...

The French publisher of the "Harry Potter" series will not seek damages against a 16-year-old who allegedly posted online an unauthorized French translation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," publishing house Gallimard Jeunesse said Monday (August 13), The Associated Press reports. The case is still being investigated by French authorities, who will decide whether to bring it to trial. ... Robert Smith of the Cure, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, Frank Black and Tom Waits will judge this year's International Songwriting Competition, RollingStone.com reports. ...

Bloc Party, Múm, Of Montreal and more have been confirmed for the ninth annual Iceland Airwaves festival, set for October 17-21 in downtown Reykjavík. ... The Shins have beefed up their fall tour schedule with a smattering of new U.S. dates. After playing Seattle's Bumbershoot festival on September 1 and Chicago's Download Festival the following day, the band will take a month off, then hit the road again beginning October 5 in Berkeley, California. From there, the Shins will play more West Coast and Southwest dates before dipping down South and winding their way up the East Coast for a two-day stand at New York's Terminal Five on October 23-24. They'll cap the tour with a pair of gigs at Las Vegas' Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel on October 27-28. ...

Wilco are bumping a pair of concerts because guitarist Nels Cline has come down with the chicken pox, according to the band's site. The Tuesday night show in Duluth, Minnesota, will now be staged September 4, and a concert scheduled for Winnipeg, Manitoba, will be postponed or scrapped entirely. ... "You Hear It First" vets the Shout Out Louds will tour for a month after they drop their new album, Our Ill Wills, on September 11. The indie-pop quintet will embark at the LA Weekly Detour festival in Los Angeles on October 6 and stay on the road through a November 3 show in Dallas. ...

According to Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D'Antonio, the band will head out for a co-headlining run with Lamb of God this winter. Suicidal Tendencies and Every Time I Die are in talks to open the gigs. ... Alice in Chains have been working on its first new material in more than a decade, according to frontman William DuVall. He said working with the band has "been deeply rewarding" and the new material sounds "insane." No word yet on when the reunited grunge rockers will release their next LP. ...

"Big Lebowski" fans who incessantly re-enact scenes and dialogue from the cult flick are about to be able to make their interpretations even lifelike: action figures are on the way. Seven-inch scale figures devoted to the Dude and Walter will be available in October and can be preordered here. ... Barenaked Ladies will host another cruise in 2008 called Ships & Dip III and leaving Miami on January 27. Tickets go on sale March 22. Meanwhile, Lynyrd Skynyrd (with guests the Marshall Tucker Band) are also hosting another cruise, while Sister Hazel and Toad the Wet Sprocket are signed on for Rock Boat VIII. ...

According to the Asbury Park Press, police charged 33 people with underage drinking last week at the Family Values Tour's Wednesday stop at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. Thirteen others were arrested on various other charges, including resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and assaulting a trooper. In all, 46 people, ranging in age from 16-47, were taken into custody during the gig, which was headlined by tour founders Korn. ... A James Brown trustee accused of misappropriating $350,000 of the late singer's money has resigned, the Chicago Tribune reports. David Cannon turned over a check for the sum at a hearing on Friday. A follow-up hearing has been slated for September 24 as wrangling continues over Brown's estate.

08.10.07

Think 50 Cent is taking his upcoming face-off with Kanye West lightly? In an interview posted on SOHH.com on Friday (August 10), Fiddy threatened to end his rap career if he gets upstaged by 'Ye when their albums go head to head on September 11. "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music," he said. "I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out anymore solo albums." 50's Curtis will square off against West's Graduation. ...

Lily Allen has canceled gigs once again, this time because she has strep throat and sinusitis, she says in a post on her MySpace blog. "I'm back in London eating my mum's chicken soup, 'cause I'm afraid the traveling has caught up with me," she wrote in the post. "Before anyone starts trying to accuse me of neglecting my fans, I want to apologise and say how sorry I am, but I can't risk causing any permanent damage." Defending herself further, the singer also posted an image of her holding her doctor's note. ...

D'Angelo received suspended jail sentences Friday after pleading guilty to charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, AP reports. A Virginia judge revoked his license for 13 and a half months and fined him $1,250, with additional penalties suspended. A reckless-driving charge was dropped. ... Beastie Boys finally said hello to Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday night with — if you can believe it — their first-ever concert in the borough. RollingStone.com reports that the group, which played at McCarren Pool in Greenpoint, aptly opened the set with "Hello Brooklyn" and closed it with "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." ...

Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and Joss Stone are chipping in for Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, which arrives in stores September 25. Paul McCartney, Elton John, Robert Plant and other classic-rock vets also salute the bluesman on the two-disc set, the sales from which will go toward buying instruments for public schools in New Orleans, rebuilding Domino's home there and helping other Crescent City-related programs. ... Emma Bunton, a.k.a. Baby Spice, gave birth to a, um, baby boy in London on Friday. It's the first child for the singer and boyfriend Jade Jones, who used to be in a pop act of his own: boy band Damage. ...

Bright Eyes are lighting up their tour schedule with seven additional dates: September 14 (Boise, Idaho); September 15 (Spokane, Washington); September 18 (Fairbanks, Alaska); September 19-20 (Anchorage, Alaska); September 23 (Eugene, Oregon); and September 24 (Chico, California). ... Waiting for a Cure LP? Well, the wait just got a bit longer. The band's new album was supposed to drop earlier this year, got bumped to the fall — and now won't be ready until the spring, Billboard.com reports. The band is busy touring and frontman Robert Smith hasn't finished writing yet. ...

Underoath will hit the road with Every Time I Die, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster and Poison the Well for a fall tour beginning September 22 in Houston and ending November 6 in Orlando, Florida. ETID, who are still on the Sounds of the Underground Tour, will drop their new Ferret release The Big Dirty on September 4. Earlier this week, they posted "No Son of Mine" — a track from the Steve Evetts-produced (Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura) effort — on their MySpace page. ... Queens of the Stone Age will not perform as part of Samsung and AT&T's free Summer Krush series on Monday in Los Angeles, as previously reported by Billboard.com. Plain White T's will play the gig instead. ...

As promised, Pearl Jam have posted the edited and unedited videos of their performance of "Daughter" at Lollapalooza on their Web site. Some segments of the performance were missing in AT&T's live "Blue Room" webcast, including critical remarks frontman Eddie Vedder made about President Bush. A spokesperson for AT&T recently told MTV News the omissions were not intentional and were mistakenly made by a webcast vendor. ...

Spoon, Coheed and Cambria, Devin the Dude and others have been confirmed for this year's CMJ Music Marathon, going down October 16-20 in New York, Billboard.com reports. UNKLE will play one of their first gigs ever with a live band, and surprise VMA Video of the Year nominees Justice will also hit up the fest. ... Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Deerhoof, Grizzly Bear and David Byrne are among the acts who are contributing performances of songs written by David Shrigley for Worried Noodles, an unusual package containing two CDs and a hardcover book by the Scottish artist. The book of words and drawings was previously issued and caught the attention of the musicians, who have chalked up new songs for the set. ...

Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones flick is rolling into next year. The film, originally slated for an August 26 theatrical release, will open in April instead, to allow the band more time to promote it. ... Speaking of rock docs, IFC has secured the rights to "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten," a flick about the former Clash frontman that will hit select theaters November 2 and be televised on the cable channel thereafter. ... An unreleased Mick Jagger song produced by John Lennon in Los Angeles in 1973 will surface on The Very Best of Mick Jagger, due October 2. Jagger recorded the song, which has been on bootlegs for decades, with a cast of all-stars that included Harry Nilsson, Jack Bruce, Al Kooper and others. ...

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a special edition of the album will be released August 28. The three-disc collection will look like a cloth-covered book, and include remastered stereo and mono versions of the album plus bonus tracks. The effort will also include a 12-page reproduction of Syd Barrett's notebook. ... Notorious ex-David Bowie manager Tony Defries will release his autobiography, Gods and Gangsters, in 2008. Also known for his work with the Beatles and Stevie Wonder, Defries is best remembered for helping to fashion the string of iconic characters rolled out by Bowie in the 1970s, as well as helping launch the solo careers of Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Luther Vandross and John Mellencamp. ... The world's leading record label, Universal Music Group, has announced that it will experiment with offering a large part of its catalog for download without copy protection at least through January. According to The New York Times, Universal (home to 50 Cent, Amy Winehouse and Akon) will offer the songs without DRM through RealNetworks, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Google and some artists' sites — but not on top download service iTunes.

• Britney Spears
• Kevin Federline
• Jennifer Lopez
• Amy Winehouse
• The Smashing Pumpkins

Johnny Depp
Photo: Junko Kimura/ Getty Images

The news happens all the time, even while you're catching up on sleep. Check out this brief rundown to bring you up to speed this morning — a quick heads up from your friends at MTV News.

Here's what we've got:

You won't need a social life from now till Labor Day thanks to our mad-packed summer movie schedule. From "28 Weeks Later" to "The Comebacks" — with "Pirates," "Potter," "Rush Hour," "Ratatouille" and even "The Simpsons" in between — we've got everything you need to know. ...

In other movie news, now that David Yates has been announced has the director of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," some other directors — including Sam Mendes, Rob Zombie, Guillermo del Toro and Zack Snyder — give an irreverent take on what they'd do for the final "Harry Potter" flick. And check back later for Kurt Loder's review of "28 Weeks Later." ...

The real hardest-working man in show business — James Brown — passed on late last year, but T-Pain is doing that legacy proud. The MC, whose "Buy You a Drank" is burning up the clubs as we speak, has guested on a boatload of records this year, and tells MTV News about how Chris Brown, Usher, Charlie Wilson, Britney Spears, Nick Lachey, Joe, Twista, DJ Unk, Bow Wow, Mya, Sammie and R. Kelly have all put in calls for his services. ...

And finally, check out how metalcore outfit the Chariot turned a common grade-school poem into the tracklist for their new album, plus loads more news on things hard and heavy in Metal File ...

Quote of the Day: "It ain't that I'm doing something other people are doing — I'm doing something they're doing and doing it better." — T-Pain

Here's what everyone else is talking about:

Johnny Depp spoke for the first time about his daughter's illness, according to Britain's Daily Mirror. "It gave us a great scare," he said. "It was a very bumpy patch, but she has come through it beautifully and unscathed, and she is now as healthy as she always was. She is wonderful." Lily-Rose, Depp's 7-year-old daughter with French actress-singer Vanessa Paradis, was hospitalized in London earlier this year while Depp was in England filming "Sweeney Todd." ...

"The Queen" star Helen Mirren is reportedly "mortified" over reports that she snubbed the real Queen Elizabeth II's dinner invitation, according to the New York Post. The actress insisted that she tried desperately to rearrange the schooting schedule for "National Treasure," but could not make the trip from South Dakota to London without shutting down production for at least three days. ...

Not long after announcing a 21-date concert stand in London earlier this week, Prince played one of his infamous surprise gigs in the city on Thursday night. According to England's New Musical Express, the singer played several hits — and tantalized the crowd by naming several more he wouldn't be playing — and did a lot of jamming with his band. ...

All four members of Pink Floyd appeared at a tribute concert for founding member Syd Barrett — but not together. According to the BBC, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright joined for the show's finale of Barrett's "Bike," while earlier in the show, Roger Waters performed one of his own compositions solo. Barrett, who wrote most of the songs on the group's 1967 debut but grew increasingly unstable due to drug abuse, died in July of last year. ...

A former high-school classmate who was dating producer Phil Spector said he was "not his usual self" in the days leading up to the death of actress Lana Clarkson at Spector's home in July, 2003. According to The Associated Press, Rommie Davis said at Spector's murder trial on Thursday that she was concerned about him because he was drinking and taking medication.

• Directors Talk Final 'Harry Potter'

• Pink Floyd
• Prince

Hilary Duff on the cover of "Jane" magazine
Photo: Carter Smith

Hilary Duff is onto the paparazzi's moves, and she's got a surefire trick to throw them off. The singer/actress said in an interview featured in the December/January issue of Jane that she has a tactic to duck photographers trying to capture her in a tough moment with her boyfriend, Good Charlotte's Joel Madden: "If we're out someplace, we could totally be fighting, but we'll be looking at each other like this," Duff explained, reportedly flashing a big smile, "because there's a camera right there. Then we end up forgetting we're in a fight, because we're laughing since it's not a real thing to do, and we're both such real people." Real people who listen to music you may not expect, Duff insisted. "I love the Faint. If they would do a song for me, I would blow a fuse." ...

Reprise Records will re-release early Green Day material December 19. The band's 1,039/ Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk! were originally issued on Lookout! Records, and then reissued by that same label in 2004, but Green Day removed the LPs from the Lookout catalog last year after allegations that the band was owed royalties. ... AFI, Trent Reznor, Rise Against and Hellogoodbye have been named winners of the Libby Awards, a new honor put on by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. ("Libby" is short for "liberation.") AFI won Best Vegetarian Band, Rise Against's "Ready to Fall" earned them Best Animal Rights Song of 2006 and Nine Inch Nails frontman Reznor was honored as the Best New Fur Foe. Runners-up included Silverstein, Motion City Soundtrack and NOFX. ...

We're just months away from seeing exactly how "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" translates from book to the big screen (Feast your eyes on the film trailer right here), and now the young wizard's fifth adventure is about to go interactive. The "Order of the Phoenix" video game, scheduled for a July release, will allow players to explore Hogwarts and control multiple characters, including Harry, Sirius Black and Dumbledore. The game is currently being developed by Electronic Arts and will be released for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2 and 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. ...

Capitol/Priority is commemorating the 20th anniversary of hip-hop pioneers N.W.A, with The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge, due December 26. A deluxe version of the 17-song retrospective CD comes with a bonus DVD featuring previously unreleased interviews with Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. In other N.W.A news, nine songs by the act will debut as ringtones on December 12. ... Lil Scrappy's "G's Up TV," a weekly show recounting the rapper's journey to music from the streets, launched Tuesday at GsUpTV.com. In addition to Scrappy's firsthand accounts of his life and career, the series features skits — including a cognac tasting with Lil Jon — and celebrity guests such as Three 6 Mafia, Young Buck and Jamie Kennedy. The series will run through December 5 release, when his debut LP, Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live, drops. ...

Angelina Jolie made an unannounced visit to Cambodia on Wednesday (November 22), The Associated Press reports. The actress, who adopted her son Maddox from the country, spoke with government officials about the $1.3 million nature-conservation project she is funding there. ... The advice may be too late for Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, but Will Smith is sharing his secret to keeping a celebrity marriage alive: "Divorce cannot be an option," he revealed in the current issue of Reader's Digest. Smith explained that he quit his marriage to first wife, Sheree Smith, when he "could have fixed it" — and he said he won't make that mistake again with Jada Pinkett Smith. "With Jada, I stood up in front of God and my family and friends and said, 'Till death do us part.' So there are two possible outcomes: We are going to be together till death or I am dead." ...

After separate jaunts opening for Killswitch Engage and Dragonforce, piping-hot Massachusetts metallers All That Remains will head out for their first headlining track in support of this year's The Fall of Ideals. The band is hoping to have a permanent drummer by the time it kicks off the North American trek, slated for late January. ... Bayside — the New York band that lost a drummer in a van accident while on tour with Hawthorne Heights earlier this year — have assembled a short December trek with Junior Varsity and others called the Holiday Havoc Tour. The outing begins December 3 in New Haven, Connecticut, and winds down December 11 in New York. Bayside's junior album is due February 6. ... Pop punks Cartel will hit the road next year with Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls, Permanent Me and Quietdrive. The 19-date trek kicks off February 7 in Carrboro, New York, and makes stops in Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Dallas, San Diego, Las Vegas and Seattle before winding down March 9 in Milwaukee. ...

This Christmas, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour will release three live tracks that he's dedicated to former bandmember and friend, the late Syd Barrett — who died this summer of pancreatic cancer. An acoustic cover of Barrett's "Dark Globe" and two new versions of Floyd's "Arnold Layne" will be available for download through Gilmour's Web site beginning December 25. ... Reunited New Jersey hardcore pioneers Lifetime will release their first studio album in more than 10 years on February 26 through Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's Decaydance/ Fueled by Ramen label. The self-titled outing will boast 11 tracks in all, but no song titles have been revealed yet. Lifetime plan to spend much of next year on the road touring in support of the disc. ... Influential Delta blues musician Robert Lockwood Jr. died Tuesday of respiratory failure in Cleveland. The Grammy-nominated singer/guitarist and W.C. Handy Award winner was 91.

11.21.2006

Although he bombed at the World Music Awards last week, Michael Jackson is going to give another celebration a try. The singer will go to Japan for a December 19 Christmas celebration that is also commemorating the upcoming 25th anniversary of the release of Thriller. "I look forward to visiting Japan again, and greeting my fans and friends," Jackson said in a statement. ...

Jay-Z recently joined forces with another New York heavyweight — New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez — for a celebrity-poker tournament that benefited their respective charities, the A-Rod Family Foundation and Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. The tourney, which raised a half-million dollars, was held at Jay's 40/40 Club in Manhattan and also counted Nelly, Cedric the Entertainer and baseball vets Cal Ripken, Gary Sheffield and Mariano Rivera among the players. ...

Alicia Keys' new Web site launched Tuesday (November 21), and one of the features on the way is a book club. "I always loved the way Oprah did that," she told MTV News. "To do that with my style and the books I like to read would be really fly." Keys plans to start the group with "The Temple of My Familiar," a novel by Alice Walker. "She is insane, in the best way, when it comes to writing. There's something about a book that engages you, when you become enraptured in the whole thing like it's your life and you're yelling at the book." Keys also plans to recommend the W.E.B. DuBois novel "The Souls of Black Folk," which she just finished recently. "I love to read. It makes you write better, and I just want to open that conversation up, to talk about many things, many styles." ...

Green Day have teamed up with the Natural Resources Defense Council for the Move America Beyond Oil campaign. "People are sick of our oil addiction and feel like nobody is doing anything about it," frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said in a statement. "Our message is that it's OK, and very rebellious, to take on that responsibility." Visitors to GreenDayNRDC.com can access a tool to send text messages directly to lawmakers and corporate leaders to demand change. ... Rock the Bells is about to get a little bit louder. The hip-hop festival's first world tour will now include Ghostface Killah, Pharoahe Monch and EPMD, in addition to previously announced acts Redman and Raekwon. The jaunt begins Tuesday in Washington, D.C. ...

Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has updated fans of the reunited rockers on the progress of their comeback album in a post on the Pumpkins' MySpace page. "We are moving along nicely in the studio," the drummer wrote. "[Frontman Billy Corgan] pulled off a magnificent guitar symphony last night and it is still ringing in my ears this morning. Eight guitars resonating in one big harmonic handshake. ... Today we will be working on vocals and solos. Tomorrow, who knows?" The Pumpkins' forthcoming LP, which is being produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, the Cars), is slated for release next year. While Corgan and Chamberlin are back on board, it remains unclear who else will be in the resuscitated band. ... Come 2007, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will be a year older and a day longer. The now-three-day fest will take place April 27-29 in Indio, California. ...

It's a good thing the "Borat" movie is making so much cash, because the lawsuits just keep coming. The latest is from two residents of Glod, Romania, who claim they were tricked into participating in the movie and were depicted as thieves, racists and "simpletons," according to a $30 million suit against 20th Century Fox and the filmmakers that alleges fraud and civil-rights violations. The Los Angeles Times reports that the suit, filed in New York federal district court by Nicolae Todorache and Spridom Ciorebea, claims the pair fall into a group protected by the laws of the U.S. and the United Nations and that, unlike the others depicted in the satirical film, they don't speak or read English. Also Monday, Fox hit back at a pair of fraternity members who sued over their depiction in the movie, calling the lawsuit a "fatuous" attempt to thwart free speech, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Plaintiffs may claim that they were tricked 'into making fools out of themselves' and becoming 'unsuspecting players' in the movie 'Borat,' " the studio said. "They never contend ... that bigoted and misogynistic statements were put into their mouths." A temporary restraining order against the film's continued distribution was denied November 9 and a hearing is set for December 7 to take up the students' subsequent request for a preliminary injunction. ...

Three fresh tunes from the revived Blind Melon have been posted online at the band's Web site. The cuts, called "Make a Difference," "For My Friends" and "Harmful Belly," are the first new songs the group has written since the death of frontman Shannon Hoon more than a decade ago. They're also the first ones Blind Melon have worked on with new singer Travis Warren, formerly of Rain Fur Rent. ... Hopesfall have entered Vu Du Studios in Freeport, New York, with producer Mike Watts (As Cities Burn, As Tall as Lions) to start tracking the follow-up to 2004's A Types. The band has been writing material for about a year and say there's been a serious progression in its sound. ...

Bloggers across the country were popping corks on Monday after a California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Internet users and providers can't be held liable for posting defamatory material written by someone else. "The prospect of blanket immunity for those who intentionally redistribute defamatory statements on the Internet has disturbing implications," wrote Justice Carol Corrigan, adding that immunity, however, "serves to protect online freedom of expression and to encourage self-regulation." The ruling, supported by such heavy hitters as Google and Yahoo!, upholds the Internet's status as a forum for free speech. "The reason the Internet is such a tremendous forum for free speech is it provides the opportunity to exchange and debate ideas and to pass along what someone else had to say," Ann Brick, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who took part in the case, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "That would all stop if the liability rules were different."

• Our Newest Trailers: 'Harry Potter,' More

• Hilary Duff
• Good Charlotte
• Britney Spears
• Jessica Simpson
• Will Smith

Syd Barrett in 1967
Photo: Nick Hale/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Syd Barrett, the psychedelic pioneer who was Pink Floyd's original frontman but spent the final 35 years of his life in near-total seclusion, has died, according to a spokesperson for the band. He was 60.

The spokesperson — who declined to give her name — would not confirm when or where Barrett died nor would she speculate on the cause of his death, saying only that he died peacefully and that his family is planning a small, intimate funeral. Various media outlets are reporting Barrett passed away Friday at his home in Cambridge, England; he had also suffered from diabetes for many years.

The members of Pink Floyd's best-known lineup — David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright — released a statement on Tuesday (July 11), saying they were ''very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death.''

''Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire,'' their statement read.

Barrett (real name: Roger Keith Barrett) co-founded Floyd with bassist Roger Waters in 1965, and, like many British groups of the era, the band was initially inspired by American blues and R&B artists. But within two years, they began to stretch that material out, incorporating feedback and other guitar trickery into long passages of their songs, and adding psychedelic light shows to their frenetic live sets, which they dubbed "happenings."

The result of all that experimentation was Pink Floyd's first album, the alternately spacey and dense The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Featuring 11 songs — 10 of which were written by Barrett — the 1967 album was lauded by the British press for its compelling mix of complexity and childlike wonder.

But it was during a subsequent U.S. tour in support of the album that Barrett began to show signs of instability, oftentimes standing motionless onstage or noodling away at material that had little, if anything, to do with the music the band was playing at the time. Pink Floyd cut that tour short, hoping that time off the road would help Barrett recover; they enlisted guitarist David Gilmour and operated for a time as a quintet. But over the next few months, Barrett suffered a breakdown and left the band (though he does appear on a couple of tracks on their second album, 1968's A Saucerful of Secrets.)

He re-emerged in 1970 with a pair of fragile and frantic solo records, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, both of which were produced by Gilmour. Neither album proved to be a commercial success, though they did earn Barrett a large cult following that continues to sing his praises loudly to this day, in particular David Bowie (who covered Barrett's "See Emily Play" in 1973), British psycho-folkie Robyn Hitchcock and Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.

The albums would be the last pieces of music Barrett would ever release, although a collection of radio sessions and an outtakes compilation called Opel were released during the 1980s. He would all but disappear from the public eye, giving his last interview in 1971 and living quietly at his Cambridge home, turning away fans and journalists who arrived at his door.

He turned up unannounced at Floyd's recording sessions for 1975's Wish You Were Here, overweight and with his eyebrows shaved, offering to contribute to the album; his erstwhile bandmates didn't recognize him at first. He ultimately did not appear on the LP, although its "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is about him and the album is dedicated to him.

Last year, when Gilmour, Waters, Mason and Wright reunited in London's Hyde Park for Live 8 (see "Jay-Z, U2, Madonna, Pink Floyd Deliver Live 8 Highlights"), Waters dedicated an acoustic version of "Wish" to Barrett.

"It's quite emotional standing up here with these guys," he said as the Hyde Park crowd began to cheer. "We're doing this for everyone who's not here. And particularly, of course, for Syd."

• Pink Floyd
• Syd Barrett

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

Paris Hilton
Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images

The night before "Crash" scored the Academy Award for best picture, the 26th annual Golden Raspberry Awards — prizes that no one in the movie business vies for — were handed out. The biggest Razzie "winner" was "Dirty Love," written by and starring Jenny McCarthy. The film took trophies for worst flick and worst screenplay, McCarthy was named worst actress and her ex-husband John Asher took the prize for worst director. Rob Schneider scored worst actor for "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo", while Hayden Christensen was named worst supporting actor for "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." Paris Hilton's work in "House of Wax" was recognized with a worst supporting actress Razzie, Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman were named the worst screen couple for their roles in "Bewitched," "Son of the Mask" took the award for worst remake or sequel, and Tom Cruise and fiancee Katie Holmes were named most tiresome tabloid target. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have unveiled the album art for their forthcoming double LP, Stadium Arcadium, by way of their official Web site. The Chilis have also posted a teaser trailer for Arcadium, featuring a snippet from the disc's first single, "Dani California," as well as a 30-second downloadable "Dani" ringtone. Stadium Arcadium lands in record stores May 9. ... Pearl Jam have revealed the track list for their upcoming self-titled LP, which is scheduled to drop May 2. Thirteen cuts, including "Life Wasted," "Marker in the Sand" and "Wasted Reprise," will appear on the LP. The first single, "World Wide Suicide," has been uploaded to the band's official bootleg site. ... For one week, Sirius Satellite Radio is devoting an entire station to the music of Pink Floyd and guitarist David Gilmour. Classic rock channel the Vault started the Gilmour marathon Monday, just in time for Tuesday (March 7)'s release of the guitarist's third solo album, On an Island, his first studio outing in more than two decades. ...

A woman is being held without bond on a murder charge in connection with the stabbing death of former Jackson 5 drummer Johnny Jackson, who was found dead in his home in Gary, Indiana, on Wednesday. Yolanda Davis, 44, told police that she stabbed Jackson, 54, with a steak knife when he lunged at her during a fight, according to The Associated Press. Davis could face up to 65 years in prison if she is convicted. ... Paul Rachman's documentary "American Hardcore," a film that recounts the evolution of America's hardcore punk movement from 1980 to 1986, has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, according to Reuters. The movie, which screened at this year's Sundance Film Festival and will be featured at this month's South by Southwest Film Festival, includes concert footage featuring Black Flag, Bad Brains, Jerry's Kids, Suicidal Tendencies and Wasted Youth. Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A Tribal History," the documentary is expected to hit theaters this fall. ...

Overcast, an influential, erstwhile Massachusetts metal band that counted among its members Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D'Antonio and Shadows Fall frontman Brian Fair, will regroup after eight years apart for a special appearance at this year's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, set for April 28-30 in Worcester, Massachusetts. According to the band's Web site, it will also return to a recording studio in May to breathe new life into more than 10 classic Overcast tunes and record two previously unreleased cuts, all of which will appear on the forthcoming Reborn to Kill Again. Killswitch guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (who has produced LPs for Unearth and Underoath) will helm the project. There's no word yet on when the disc will surface, but discussions with several labels are ongoing. ... Saliva will be performing at this year's Elvis Presley Festival, which is set for June 2-4 in Tupelo, Mississippi. According to The Associated Press, rockabilly, country and gospel acts the Dempseys, Cowboy Mouth, Jeff Bates, Travis LeDoyt, Chris Cagle, Chely Wright and the Landmarks join Presley's backing vocalists the Jordanaires in the lineup for the eighth annual event. ...

Political punkers Anti-Flag have teamed up with U.S. Representative Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington state, to urge congressional leaders to fund a study on the use of depleted uranium as munitions. The band released a new song, "Depleted Uranium Is a War Crime," through the After Downing Street coalition's Web site. According to the band, the song is a critique on the military's use of the deadly chemical "without studying its long-lasting and detrimental effects to humanity." The cut will appear on the group's forthcoming For Blood and Empire LP, which is due March 21. ... Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 has entered a North Carolina recording studio, where he's started tracking the follow-up to last year's Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead. He's written more than 30 tracks for his sophomore solo outing so far, including "Buried With Children," "My Home Sweet Homicide," and "Morgue Than Words." Wednesday 13 will be producing the effort, which could surface in late spring. Wednesday's also recorded two covers ("Burn the Flames by Roky Erickson and Motörhead's "R.A.M.O.N.E.S."), but it's not clear whether either track will appear on the as-yet-untitled LP. ...

A federal judge has ordered Rod Stewart to hand over more than $3 million to a Las Vegas casino where the singer was supposed to perform in late December 2000. Stewart canceled the gig, claiming he was unable to sing due to a recent throat surgery, and the Rio Hotel and Casino filed a breach-of-contract suit to recoup to the $2 million advance the singer was paid. According to The Associated Press, Stewart was ordered to cough up an additional $153,483 in contempt-of-court sanctions and legal costs for withholding information from attorneys representing Harrah's Entertainment before the start of last year's trial. The court also awarded Harrah's more than $1 million in interest, penalties, and related legal expenses. ...

03.06.2006

Mariah Carey and John Legend were the big winners at the 20th annual Soul Train Music Awards Saturday, each taking two prizes. Carey scored a best album award for The Emancipation of Mimi and best single honors for "We Belong Together," while Legend took the best male album prize for Get Lifted and best male single trophy for "Ordinary People." Kanye West won best R&B, soul or rap music video for "Gold Digger" featuring Quincy Jones Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jamie Foxx. R. Kelly, who led the field with three nominations, fell to West and Legend for those prizes but didn't leave empty-handed — he was honored with the newly minted Stevie Wonder Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by presented by Stevie Wonder himself. ...

"American Idol" fans who subscribe to the Fox Reality Network can look forward to even more of the talent contest starting March 16. "American Idol Extra," which promises to "reveal the backstage drama of what really happens on 'American Idol' after the weekly vote-off show," kicks off after the first of the final 12 is cut and will continue through the show's finale in May. The show will follow that week's ousted finalist from tryouts through elimination and provide other "peeks behind the curtain," including updates on finalists from past seasons. "American Idol Extra" will air Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and again at 10:30 p.m. ... System of a Down will host and headline the fourth annual Souls benefit concert, which is set for the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on April 23 — the day before the Armenian genocide is commemorated. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Armenian National Committee of America — which is lobbying the U.S. Congress to officially recognize the Armenian genocide — as well as other organizations that work to eradicate genocide across the globe. Tickets go on sale Saturday, and supporting acts will be announced soon. ...

Coldplay are taking a page out the Beastie Boys' playbook for their new live DVD. Much like the B-Boys' "Awesome: I F---in' Shot That!" concert film (which hits select theaters March 31), Coldplay plan to put cameras in the hands of five lucky concertgoers at their two sold-out Toronto shows at Air Canada Centre on March 22 and 23. Enthusiasts can enter the Coldplay fan-cam contest by watching "Entertainment Tonight Canada," catching the Coldplay song of the night and then logging on to GlobalTV.com to complete the contest. ... A number of bands have been added to the bill for this year's Bamboozle festival, set for May 6 and May 7 at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Living Things, Poison the Well, Me Without You, Silverstein, 30 Seconds to Mars, Saves the Day, Chiodos, Halifax, Endeavor, October Fall, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Amber Pacific, Cute Is What We Aim For, Gym Class Heroes, MC Lars, Men Women & Children, Moneen and the Receiving End of Sirens will all take the Bamboozle stage. Previously announced bands Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday and Hawthorne Heights are anchoring the bill. ...

The debut disc from Black Light Burns, Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland's new side project, has been through the mixing process and should be ready for release later this spring. A definitive date has not been pinned down for the LP. ... Head Automatica have announced a slew of new dates that will keep the band busy through early April. Camu Tao will open for the Daryl Palumbo-fronted outfit between March 21 in Athens, Georgia, and April 5 in Farmingdale, New York. The band's forthcoming album, Popaganda, is expected in late May/ early June. ... Underoath are now shooting for a June 20 release for their forthcoming, yet-untitled album, produced by Adam Dutkiewicz, the Killswitch Engage guitarist who has also helmed discs for Unearth and Cannae. To keep them occupied between now and this summer's Warped Tour, Underoath have booked a 17-date tour with Poison the Well, As Cities Burn, Since by Man and Spitfire. That trek kicks off May 3 in Columbia, South Carolina, and wraps up May 30 in Memphis, Tennessee. ...

Riots broke out Saturday night outside of a punk-rock concert in San Bernardino, California, headlined by several British acts, including G.B.H., the Adicts, Vice Squad, Final Conflict, Broken Bones and the Varukers. A number of American bands, such as Total Chaos and Naked Aggression, were also on the British Invasion 2K6 bill. According to The Associated Press, the concert — held at the National Orange Show Events Center — attracted more than 1,500 punk fans. The police, who were responding to a report that someone had been stabbed at the event, attempted to prevent fights that broke out after a group of skinheads began shouting "white power" and were pelted with rocks and bottles by concertgoers. By the time the authorities were able to control the situation, two audience members were hospitalized with serious injuries while dozens of others sustained minor wounds. Two officers were also injured. The AP reports that two patrol cars were destroyed, local businesses were vandalized and fires were set around the arena. At least six people were arrested. ... Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore is amplifying his long-running Ecstatic Peace imprint with a recent Universal Records distribution deal. The label — which has been around since 1981, putting out short runs of records by Jackie-O Mother----er, Yoshimi and No Neck Blues Band — is hoping to break out of obscurity by developing artists in a joint venture with Universal. In the works is the first effort by Pagoda, featuring actor Michael Pitt ("Dreamers," "The Village"), and a "sick" extreme-noise recording between Moore and experimental multi-instrumentalist Prurient.

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Pearl Jam
• Pink Floyd

Madonna, Snoop, U2, Coldplay, Mariah, Velvet Revolver: Live 8 London

• U2
• Coldplay
• Paul McCartney
• Elton John
• Stereophonics