Madonna
Photo: Dave Hogan/ Getty Images

Time to pucker up for Madonna's next album — Billboard.com reports that the singer has settled on the title for it: Licorice. The effort, which will reportedly feature "Candy Shop" and "The Beat Goes On" (featuring Pharrell), is due in late April and will be Madge's last effort for longtime label Warner Bros. Kanye West is said to be a guest on "The Beat Goes On," according to the site, which also reports that Madonna's vintage track "The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" will get an update on the new disc. ...

Jessica Sierra pleaded not guilty on Thursday (December 6) to charges of disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest and violating conditions of her parole on earlier felony battery and possession charges, according to The Associated Press. The former "American Idol" finalist was arrested early Sunday morning outside a bar in Ybor City, near Tampa, Florida, after causing an unspecified disturbance while working inside the establishment. Sierra's lawyer reportedly said he is consulting with doctors to map out a comprehensive drug and alcohol plan for the ex-"Idol" contestant, who is currently being held without bail. Sierra is to remain in jail at least until her next hearing on December 20. ...

Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is ... and Relient K will help anchor next year's Warped Tour, according to Alternative Press. Every Time I Die, From First to Last and the Bronx are also among the first 18 bands named for the summer trek, with the dates yet to be announced. ... Speaking of summer fests, Bonnaroo will take place June 12-15 in Manchester, Tennessee, Billboard.com reports. The lineup will be revealed in late January or early February. ... Your chance to download Radiohead's In Rainbows is about to end. The band has announced that the InRainbows.com Web site will close Saturday. But you can still plunk down $80 for the box set at Radiohead's online w.a.s.t.e. store, while supplies last. ...

Ne-Yo and Macy Gray are joining Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and others as they pitch in for presidential aspirant Senator Barack Obama. Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls will play at an Obama fundraiser in Universal City, California, on Monday, while Gray, Tweedy and others will perform at the senator's Friday event in Obama's hometown of Chicago. On a related note, Wilco will set out for a two-week U.S. tour in February. ... Paris, you've got nothing on Britney — Spears outdid Hilton on eBay in terms of related items sold this year. AP reports that 34,345 Brit-related items were sold, compared with 27,377 for Paris. A mere 8,099 items related to Lindsay Lohan were auctioned, while on the movies front, "Transformers" beat out Harry Potter with 442,342 and 344,825 related items sold, respectively. ...

Indie-rockers, state attorneys general and anti-smoking activists are finding themselves on the same side, oddly enough — some of them are reportedly peeved about an ad for Camel cigarettes that appeared alongside a cartoon-heavy indie-rock feature in the magazine's November 15 issue, Pitchfork reports. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has stopped promotions for its "The Farm" marketing campaign after nine attorneys general sued the company over the ads, according to North Carolina's Winston-Salem Journal. More states are reportedly expected to also sue R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which could face a fine of more than $100 million for violating a 1998 agreement between 46 states and tobacco manufacturers. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement banned the use of cartoons to sell market cigarettes in 1997, effectively killing off Joe Camel. Also being debated, according to Pitchfork, are Camel-sponsored concerts that have featured the Flaming Lips, Band of Horses and the Faint. ...

Alicia Keys will ring in the new year with a performance on the roof of New York's Rockefeller Center as part of Carson Daly's shindig on NBC, People.com reports. The show, which will air December 31 at 11:35 p.m. ET, will also feature Lenny Kravitz performing in Times Square. Keys will sing two songs from her latest album, As I Am. ... LL Cool J, Rev Run, Petra Nemcova, Brett Ratner and other celebs have ponied up items for an ongoing online charity auction staged by Russell Simmons' Diamond Empowerment Fund. "Diamonds Give" features 15 lots of donated diamond pieces and runs through December 16 on eBay. ...

It sounds like U2 might be going back to the future on their upcoming album. The band, which flirted with dance beats and techno on such albums as 1991's Achtung Baby, is incorporating trance, metal and Moroccan influences on its new disc, according to an interview with Bono in The Independent. The singer said fans will "feel the difference. ... Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dance floor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences." He also said the yet-untitled and unscheduled album has some "very hardcore guitar" and "real molten metal" from guitarist the Edge that doesn't sound "like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either." Though he wouldn't categorize the album as "world" music, Bono said its sound was inspired in part by a religious music festival the guys attended in Fez, Morocco, where they were exposed to Sufi music. "It was a real humbling thing for a punk-rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies." So far, U2 have recorded enough material for two records, he added. ...

Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson recently hung with locals, bathed in an irrigation ditch in their boxers and visited an orphanage in Peru this week, according to AP. An image that surfaced shows the two, who reportedly stayed at a cheap hotel room that cost less than $50 per night, smiling and waving in Cuzco. Cameron Diaz, Bill Gates and others visited the area earlier this year. ... Courtney Love has a new video on her hands ... kind of. A clip featuring manga character Princess Ai — whose universe of properties was co-created by Love — will premiere at the New York Anime Festival on Saturday. "Princess Ai: Broken Leash," which includes live action, animation and music, will appear as part of a CD/DVD anthology due in fall 2008. ... It's hard to keep old punks down. After their recent reunion tour of England this year, punk grandfathers the Sex Pistols will hit the road again next summer, according to Reuters. Guitarist Steve Jones did not give any specifics about the 2008 tour on his Los Angeles radio show on Wednesday, other than to say that the group might play an upcoming charity show at London's Royal Albert Hall organized by Who singer Roger Daltrey. ...

And the battle over James Brown's estate goes on. According to AP, two former trustees for the late singer's estate say the judge who is handling the disputes made them resign in late November. In recently filed court documents, Buddy Dallas and Alford Bradley reportedly said they want to retract their resignations and that South Carolina Circuit Judge Jack Early used "improper judicial influence." They are also seeking for the appointment of their successors to be overturned.

12.5.07

Unlike Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, Kiefer Sutherland is not getting off easy with his DUI — the "24" actor has been sentenced to 48 days in a Los Angeles County jail for his September 24 arrest and violating his probation. The actor must start serving his sentence at the Glendale City Jail prior to March 30, UsMagazine.com reports. He has also been sentenced to five years of probation, must finish a year-and-a-half-long alcohol-education program and go to weekly therapy sessions for a half-year. Sutherland, who had a previous DUI before his fall arrest, had been pulled over by police after making an illegal U-turn and reportedly blew twice the legal blood-alcohol level during a breathalyzer test. He issued a statement after entering a no-contest plea in early October, saying, "I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently, and I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers on '24' and at 20th Century Fox." ... Contrasting with Sutherland's devastating news, Richie caught a break on Wednesday when her court-mandated anti-drinking program granted the socialite a leave of absence, according to People. Coordinators at the program were reportedly worried for Richie's safety, with her rep saying such leaves of absence are granted to people with medical conditions and that she did not get special treatment. Richie is eight months pregnant and has to complete the 18-month program as part of her DUI plea deal ...

Bad news for Vanessa Hudgens: A Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday (December 5) that a breach-of-contract suit by her former lawyer can go forward, according to CBS News. Brian L. Schall is suing the "The High School Musical" star for breach of contract, although Hudgens has argued that she was a minor at the time she signed the agreement and therefore isn't bound to it. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow said the matter of Hudgens disaffirming her contractual obligations within a reasonable time period is a "factual issue," and that Hudgens' decision to wait until she was 18 years and 9 months old to reject the contract is an issue for either a jury decision or a motion for summary judgment. The next hearing in the case is slated for January 15. ... Lindsay Lohan might be facing another setback too: Raymundo Ortega, the busboy who is seeking $200,000 in damages stemming from Lohan's collision with his van in October 2005, says he has proof the starlet was drinking before the crash, according to The Associated Press. He reportedly filed papers Tuesday. ...

An interview with T.I. that was conducted prior to his October arrest on gun charges appears in the December/January issue of Rap-Up magazine, which features him and Nicole Scherzinger on alternate covers. The rapper said he has a new urban-clothing line on the way — called "A King of Oneself" — and also revealed his interest in a different type of endeavor: commercial construction. "I want to build a Home Depot or a Wal-Mart, shopping centers," he told the mag. Tip cited Tupac as the rapper who had the most influence on him growing up — and called out some other big names for keeping him out of trouble. "Sometimes I be wildin' out, then [Suge Knight says,] 'Man, you got too much going on, you can't do that. It ain't like the old days,' " said the rapper, who is currently under house arrest. "[Jay-Z] will tell me the same thing, [Diddy] tell me the same thing, Kevin Liles — everybody trying. Wyclef is another one. People, I guess, just care." ...

For her part, Nicole Scherzinger named Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as the singers she admires the most. She also talked about someone else you may have heard of — Kanye West — and why the tracks he produced for her solo debut didn't make the cut. "I wasn't able to really finish them in time," said the singer, whose Her Name Is Nicole LP is due January 29. "When I have the right time and the right album, I wanna finish those songs. There was talks of putting Common on one of them." Scherzinger also talked about shooting her "Whatever U Like" video with the other Rap-Up cover artist, T.I. "When we did the video it was crazy 'cause we were all up in each other's grills, like [director] Paul Hunter really made us go there, but it was great. He's a professional. Paul was making us tug on each other; we were hard-core for a hot second." ...

Jay-Z celebrated his 38th birthday with Beyoncé in Paris on Tuesday, according to People.com. The couple reportedly holed up in a hotel suite, took a drive around the city, ate at L'Avenue restaurant and caught a cabaret show. ... Pete Wentz, Chris Brown, the Jonas Brothers and Corbin Bleu all made Teen magazine's list of the 50 Hottest Guys in Hollywood — but Zac Efron takes the cake by topping the bunch. ... Keira Knightley stripped down for the revealing cover of the latest issue of Interview magazine. "How does that always happen?" the "Atonement" actress asked herself, in the interview, of taking off her clothes. "Because I say yes, I suppose." ...

Styles P, Hurricane Chris and Fabolous will bring some yuletide cheer to Russell Simmons and Rev Run's eighth annual Youth Holiday Party in New York on Tuesday, with MTV News' own Sway acting as one of the emcees. For the festivities, the Simmons brothers and their Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation will turn the Fillmore at Irving Plaza into a winter wonderland, raffling off prizes like an Xbox 360 and tickets to a taping of "106 & Park." Kids will also get Target gift cards. ...

Journey are counting a new singer among their ranks: Arnel Pineda. The Filipino crooner, who previously covered the band's songs with his group the Zoo, is the third Journey singer in two years — he follows Jeff Scott Soto, who left the fold earlier this year after filling in for Steve Augeri, who split with the band in 2006 due to medical reasons. "I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'the voice,' " Pineda said in a statement, referring to yet another former Journey singer: Steve Perry. "But that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world." "Arnel doesn't sound synthetic and he's not emulating anyone," added guitarist Neal Schon, who discovered the singer's Zoo clips online. "I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him ... but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter." ...

Deerhunter, Black Dice, Fischerspooner and others have chipped in unreleased new songs for Living Bridge, a two-CD collection of songs by bands who have previously recorded at Brooklyn, New York's Rare Book Room Studio. The 25-song package will hit stores February 26 and christen Rare Book Room Records, a new label. ... The Breeders will be back in '08 with a new disc hitting stores April 8. Mountain Battles will arrive six years after the band's previous effort, Title TK, which the band took nine years to put out following its most successful album, 1993's Last Splash. The Pixies-affiliated group is also due to tour throughout the year, hitting up South by Southwest and Coachella along the way. ... Peaches will sweeten up New Year's Eve this year by counting down the clock in downtown Los Angeles as part of Hard NYE's bash. She will also perform, as will Justice. ...

Paula Abdul was a "disaster" on "Saturday Night Live" when she hosted the show two years ago — so says Tina Fey in the January issue of Playboy. "I was pregnant at the time and probably a little moody, but I remember thinking, 'She's a disaster!' " Fey said. ... Vivica A. Fox booked herself on Wednesday on charges of driving under the influence, TMZ.com reports. A judge ordered on Monday that the actress be booked or face a bench warrant. ... Charges were dropped against Jonathan Rhys-Meyers after he apologized for creating a drunken fracas at an airport in Ireland earlier this year. The actor, who faced two charges of public drunkenness and breach of peace, said through his lawyer that he intends to make a donation to an unspecified charity. ...

The one guy who seemed kind of charmed by Borat's antics in last year's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" has joined the parade of people suing the fake Kazakh reporter. According to Reuters, driving instructor Michael Psenicska's suit against the film's makers and star Sacha Baron Cohen claims that he was tricked into participating in a film that he was led to believe was a "documentary about the integration of foreign people into the American way of life." Psenicska said he was paid $500 in cash to give Borat a driving lesson and described the experience as "surreal," saying Cohen drove erratically down residential streets, drank alcohol and yelled to a female pedestrian that he would pay her $10 for "sexy time." Psenicska is seeking $100,000 in compensatory damages and additional punitive damages for being misled, and for the emotional harm he allegedly continues to suffer. Psenicska said if he had known the true nature of the film, he never would have participated. The studio behind the flick said the suit had no merit and that Psenicska was a willing participant in the film. ...

Eddie Vedder is making his first video appearance since his spot in Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" clip 15 years ago. Mr. Ed is supporting his soundtrack to "Into the Wild" with a video for "Guaranteed." ... Saosin can't get enough of the road — the band, which toured for most of 2007, has rolled out a new 2008 itinerary. The California rockers will take Armor for Sleep and the Bled along for their jaunt, which starts January 21 in Tucson, Arizona, and ends February 14 in Chico, California. ... The sounds made by the creepy creatures in Will Smith's new movie "I Am Legend" might seem familiar to Faith No More fans — Mike Patton is the one behind them. The always-busy musician, who previously lent his voice to video games like "The Darkness" and "The Portal," is also delving into the film world with "A Perfect Place," a noirish short film for which he composed the music. ...

The family of Justin Barker, the white student who was allegedly beaten by six black classmates last year in Jena, Louisiana, has filed a civil lawsuit against the teens, their parents, the local school board and a seventh student who was not charged in the case, USA Today reports. The lawsuit claims that the attack on Barker was of "such extreme nature so as to require emergency medical care and treatment for the harm inflicted by the attack, and resulting in extensive and permanently disabling injuries." The suit, filed Thursday, also alleges that employees of the LaSalle Parish School Board were not adequately supervising students or maintaining discipline. ...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will flex his rock muscle on Friday at a fundraising show featuring Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy performing solo alongside buzz band the Cool Kids, Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins, Jill Sobule and local indie bands the Changes and Canasta. The "Change Rocks" show will take place at the Riviera Theatre in Obama's hometown of Chicago, with tickets ranging from $50 to $500 apiece. ... Hillary Clinton's campaign has had a change of heart. Less than a month before the Iowa caucuses, Clinton has dropped her controversial campaign theme song, "You and I" by Celine Dion, and replaced it with "Blue Sky" by Colorado 1990s college faves Big Head Todd and the Monsters, according to ABC News. ...

We can see now why comedian Dave Chappelle might have walked away from that $50 million Comedy Central deal: He'd rather be doing stand-up. Chappelle broke his own endurance record on Sunday with a set at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California, that lasted six hours and 12 minutes, besting his previous mark, set in April, by a good five minutes. Club owner Jamie Masada told AP that Chappelle was on a mission. "Dave was determined to keep his record because he recently heard that Dane Cook was planning on trying to break [his] record," Masada said. ... R&B singer Avant has signed to Capitol Records to release his next album, due in the summer. The multiplatinum crooner was previously signed to MCA, before the label folded into Geffen Records, through which he released four albums and a string of hit singles, including his breakout "Separated." Avant's yet-untitled next album is expected to include production from Rodney Jerkins and Mr. Collipark, among others.

• Madonna
• Gym Class Heroes
• Alicia Keys
• Radiohead
• The Academy Is...

Hawthorne Heights' Casey Calvert
Photo: Brian Appio

Fans and fellow musicians continue to mourn the loss of Hawthorne Heights' guitarist Casey Calvert, who passed away Saturday on the band's tour bus outside the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. The cause of the guitarist's death remains uncertain, and a spokesperson for the city's chief medical examiner's office told MTV News that the results of the guitarist's death might not be known for 90 days, pending the results of an autopsy that has already been completed.

News of Calvert's untimely death has been met with shock and sadness by his fans and his fellow musicians, who remember him as a kind and caring soul who loved to laugh and loved being in a band with his best friends.

"My mind was blown when we got the call about Casey passing away," Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz wrote in an e-mail to MTV News on Monday. "It's something that hits you pretty hard, especially after we got to know Casey on the Black Clouds [and Underdogs] Tour. He was one of the sweetest guys in a band that we've ever had the chance to tour with. More than anything, it reminds you of what's really important in life — it humanizes the situation. Maybe gossip in blogs and first-week sales mean a bit less than telling people you care about how much you love them."

Wentz's FOB bandmate Joe Trohman also shared his thoughts with MTV News, saying, "I'm still in utter shock at the passing of Casey. It's really hard to believe that it happened, and so suddenly. We knew him and the rest of HH long, long ago back in our van days, and got even better acquainted when we did the Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour together in '06. He was a stand-up guy, real easy to hang with, and had a great heart. I know for a fact [this has] struck a chord with everyone we are currently on tour with and made us all realize our mortality. I couldn't imagine finding out one of my bandmates, one my brothers, had passed away. Especially while on the road. Our condolences and our hearts go out to the Calvert family and HH. We should all pay our respects by remembering the great guy Casey was, and the positive effect he had on those around him."

De'Mar Hamilton, drummer for the Plain White T's — who have been on tour with Hawthorne Heights multiple times — wrote this e-mail to MTV News on the band's behalf Tuesday (November 27): "Casey Calvert was a great person. He was the one in the group who I felt was the most entertaining. The last time we were on tour together was the Nintendo Fusion Tour. He was a Starbucks lover like me, so a couple times we would walk to get Starbucks together. What I remember most about him was that every night after they were done with their set, he would immediately change into his pajamas. I would call him out about it because it was so funny; it was like clockwork. Casey will be missed by all of us. It was very unfortunate what happened. He will be in our thoughts forever."

In another e-mail to MTV News on Tuesday, Relient K — who shared the stage with Hawthorne Heights on the 2006 Nintendo Fusion Tour — remembered Calvert as an "incredibly uplifting" person who touched many around him with his personality and his music. And frontman Matt Thiessen echoed the sentiments of many when he mentioned Calvert's infectious sense of humor.

"My favorite thing about Casey was his laugh," he wrote. "Whenever Casey and I hung out, he made me feel better about myself. I'm one of those guys that jokes around so much that my closest friends don't think I'm funny anymore. Casey laughed at 99 percent of my jokes, and his laughter was so great that it was contagious. I can guarantee that I'm not the only person who loved hanging out with Casey because of his lighthearted approach to life. As his bandmates said on their Web site, 'he was quirky and he was awesome,' and I'll miss him."

Paramore drummer Zac Farro, another musician whose band had toured with Hawthorne Heights, told MTV News on Monday: "[This past year] we were on Warped Tour ... and we were on [Hawthorne Heights'] bus, and Casey was just the sweetest dude ever," he said. "He was asking how our day was and asking about our band. ... He was just a sweet dude, and he cared about life."

Philadelphia's the A.K.A.s, who were on the road with Hawthorne Heights when Calvert died, posted a lengthy MySpace bulletin about the guitarist, with lead singer Mike Ski writing that Calvert was "hilarious, funny, fun-loving, goofy and amazing ... With that in mind, I'm going to do my best to celebrate his memories with a smile rather than to dwell on the awful facts that he was too young, too awesome and too good of a person to live so short.

"I think anyone who knows him on any level, from very well to in passing would agree, this is the best way to remember him," Ski continued. "With that in mind, as I think of the last few things we said to each other, it makes me want to hold my friends closely and be thankful for the chance to make the most of this life. I urge everyone to do the same ... call someone you haven't spoken to in a while, appreciate the people you see every day but might take for granted at times, and do your best to live with passion for what you do."

Tributes to the late guitarist continued to fill both Hawthorne Heights' MySpace page and his personal page on Victory Records' "VictorMe" network, and fans have also expressed their sadness through MTV's You Tell Us, writing notes that offered condolences to Calvert's wife, a ninth- and 10th-grade English teacher in Oxford, Ohio, and remembered the guitarist as both a musical inspiration and a kind-hearted soul.

"Casey's wife Ashley was my teacher for 10th-grade English and she always had wonderful things to say about her husband that she loved so much," Stephen, a 16-year-old from Calvert's hometown of Hamilton, Ohio, wrote. "I just want to say that his family will be in my prayers, and I am so sorry for your loss."

"I am still in utter disbelief upon hearing of Casey's death. I have been a fan of HH since the very beginning and have watched these guys progress from nothing to one of the biggest bands on the charts," Brett, an 18-year-old from South Charleston, West Virginia, wrote. "It was only four weeks ago that I last saw Hawthorne Heights in Huntington, West Virginia. It was an amazing show ... I give my deepest sympathy to Hawthorne Heights. Hang in there guys, I have lost a bandmember myself and it is the hardest thing to live through, but it gets easier in time. Just keep on keeping on and doing what you do best and always play in Casey's memory."

"Casey was a huge inspiration to me, and if it wasn't for him, I would probably still live in a bubble. He is one of the main reasons I play guitar, and I will never forget him," another message read. "For the rest of you guys, I know this is hitting you so much harder than the rest of us, but please don't stop writing. I know it won't be the same, but this band means so much to me. I love you guys."

• Hawthorne Heights
• Fall Out Boy
• Relient K
• Paramore

Carrie Underwood's <i>Carnival Ride</i>
Photo: Arista

Carrie 2: Carrie Underwood doesn't really need to put out a new album — after all, her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, has sold more than 1 million copies this year alone — but the former "American Idol" winner is jumping on her Carnival Ride anyway. Underwood gives the album-title theme a whirl on songs like "Wheel of the World," but the entire effort isn't all fun and games — she gets heavier on "Just a Dream," which revolves around a woman coping with the death of her soldier fiance. The country crock pot also contains a cover of "I Told You So," one of Randy Travis' earliest hits. Underwood said in a press release that the album title is apt because "it describes the wonderful craziness that I've been through over the past couple years."

'Round the World: Big things have also been happening to Coheed and Cambria, a band that deals with big concepts: In 2006, they went through lineup shifts and the death of frontman Claudio Sanchez's mother. But the group is going for a sense of finality with No World for Tomorrow, which concludes its long-running conceptual sci-fi saga. "I certainly feel a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders," Sanchez told MTV News over the summer. Fans will be on a quest for the deluxe edition, which has a bonus disc featuring animated projections the group used on tour, plus a video about the making of No World for Tomorrow, a deluxe booklet and more.

Serjical Procedure: While Coheed and Cambria's saga is ending, System of a Down singer Serj Tankian's adventure is only beginning. Elect the Dead, the first album he's stitched together — rather literally in some cases, as the limited-edition version comes wrapped in linen — features "humor, political stuff, ecological stuff, personal pain, transcending personal pain, transcending the material and physical — there's a lot of things, whatever I felt at the moment and whatever came through," Tankian told MTV News. If you're looking for an even more intimate side to Tankian, be sure to grab the limited version — it has acoustic versions of two tracks, artwork, poetry and codes to unlock exclusive content online.

Cobra Style: While Tankian is singing about the Dead, Cobra Starship are coming alive with Viva la Cobra!, the dance-punk act's second album. With songs like "World Has Its Shine (But I Would Drop It on a Dime)" and "Prostitution Is the World's Oldest Profession (And I, Dear Madame, Am a Professional)," frontman Gabe Saporta surely got goofy song-titling tips from their pals in Fall Out Boy — in no little coincidence, Cobra Starship penned their entire new effort while touring with FOB. In their defense, though, Saporta did recently tell MTV News, "You're damn right we're not serious."

Relying on Puns: Up for more cringe-inducing titular jokery? Look no further than Relient K's Let It Snow Baby ... Let It Reindeer, which is actually a resurrected version of the Christian rockers' Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand, an album that came as part of a combo pack with copies of 2006's Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... but Three Do. The Christian rockers wrap seven new songs — including "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas" and the hidden song "Good King Wenceslas" — plus a reworked version of "Auld Lang Syne" onto the Christmas release. If that doesn't sound like a holiday treat to you, maybe you should give Larry the Cable Guy a call.

Story of the Hurricane: Speaking of calling on others, you know a rookie is destined for big things when he's able to rope in Game, E-40, Baby and Jadakiss onto his first release — and Hurricane Chris has done just that. Said players appear on the "Rachet Remix" of "A Bay Bay," the 51/50 Ratchet debut single that has brought the 18-year-old to the rap foreground. Chris is hoping his new single, "The Hand Clap," can match the success of "A Bay Bay," which reached #7 on Billboard's Hot 100, but if not, he can always resort to "Playas Rock," "Doin' My Thang" or "Walk Like That."

Zombie Lives: Like Hurricane Chris, Rob Zombie is making his album debut this week — his live-album debut, that is. Zombie captures highlights from his 2006 Educated Horses tour — reaching all the way back to White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65" and "Black Sunshine" — on Live, which also folds in the title tracks to his flicks "Devil's Rejects" and "House of 1000 Corpses." (Horror-movie fans should also take note of the "Saw IV" soundtrack, which features Avenged Sevenfold, Drowning Pool, Ministry, Sixx: A.M. and more.)

Still Seething: Seether put out a concert album last year — the acoustic One Cold Night — but are already back with a new studio LP, their third. "We've adopted an 'anything goes' attitude for this album," Shaun Morgan said in a statement. But the frontman, who went to rehab last year, added that, "This is not by any stretch of the imagination a concept album, nor is it a 'Woe is me, I'm sober' album."

Not in Shambles?: Pete Doherty, who also knows a thing or two about rehab, you could say, is back with his band Babyshambles, who are birthing their second effort this week. Shotter's Nation, which the band recorded in London with producer Stephen Street (Blur, Morrissey), boasts a guest appearance by Scottish folk legend Bert Jansch — on the final track, "The Lost Art of Murder" — and also includes "Crumb Begging," "French Dog Blues" and "Baddies Boogie."

Fallen "Idols"?: We can hear enough about "American Idol" contenders when they're on TV, but when it comes time for them to release material, some of them are actually making their albums hard to find. Elliott Yamin put out his NBC Sounds of the Season: The Elliott Yamin Holiday Collection in Target stores only last week, and now Bo Bice is delivering his new album, See the Light, exclusively to Wal-Mart. Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and ex-Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell helped make sure Bice's second effort had a Southern touch.

Song Title of the Week:

"Manager and Coordinator of Prostitutes" by Les Georges Leningrad (on the Worried Noodles compilation)

Album Cover of the Week:

The "Barbie as the Island Princess" soundtrack

Other Notables:

Black Dice's Load Blown
Given the number of releases the red-hot experimental band from Brooklyn, New York, has put out in recent years, it's no surprise this collection got the name it did. This disc culls tracks that can be found on three of the group's 12-inch vinyl EPs — although, unusually, the third EP is actually dropping Tuesday (October 22) as well. The result is an overview of the output Black Dice have put out the last 18 months, and the disc includes "Kokomo," "Cowboy Soundcheck," "Toka Toka" and more.

Prefuse 73's Preparations
Guillermo Scott Herren goes by many names, but of all his music projects, this glitchy one has been catching on the most. Prefuse 73's fourth release follows 2005's Surrounded by Silence, and while the earlier effort featured a ton of outside artists — Ghostface, GZA and Blonde Redhead among them — this one only has a few guest spots, most notably one by Battles drummer John Stanier. But it also comes with a bonus disc, the 15-track Interrugnums, although it only comes with purchases of the physical release.

Castanets' In the Vines
On the topic of aliases, this act is also centered around one man: Raymond Raposa, the only constant member of the project. Born in San Diego but living in Brooklyn, Raposa regularly mixes up his cast of collaborators, sometimes amid a tour. This album features the likes of Jana Hunter, Nonhorse of Vanishing Voice and Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck, who come together to tell a story partially based on a Hindu fable about being trapped in an unavoidable fate. It also integrates stories of Raposa's adventures as a teen pro surfer and beyond.

New Releases:

· The 69 Eyes - Angels/Devils (two CDs; Caroline)
· Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Follow the Lights (EP; Lost Highway) [Buy Now]
· The Agony Scene - Get Damned (Century Media)
· Gary Allan - Living Hard (MCA Nashville)
· Audio Caviar - Transoceanic (Machine Productions)
· Avenger of Blood - Death Brigade (Heavy Artillery)
· Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation (limited edition comes with DVD; Astralwerks) [Buy Now]
· The Besnard Lakes - Vol. 1 (Jagjaguwar)
· Bo Bice - See the Light (available exclusively at Wal-Mart; StartArt) [Buy Now]
· Bizarre - Blue Cheese & Coney Island (Koch)
· Blue Sky Black Death - Hell Razah (Babygrande)
· The Bridge - The Bridge (Hyena)
· Tom Brosseau - Cavalier (Fat Cat)
· Carla Bruni - No Promises (enhanced; Downtown)
· Grayson Capps - Songbones (Hyena)
· Carbon/Silicon - The Last Post (Caroline)
· Cassius - 15 Again (Astralwerks)
· Castanets - In the Vines (Asthmatic Kitty)
· Steven Curtis Chapman - This Moment (Sparrow)
· The Cinematic Orchestra - Breathe (EP; Domino)
· Circle - Sunrise (No Quarter) [Buy Now]
· Cobra Starship - Viva La Cobra! (Fueled by Ramen) [Buy Now]
Read: "Cobra Starship Take Aim At Their Sudden Fame With Viva La Cobra!"
· Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow (Columbia) [Buy Now]
Read: "Coheed And Cambria Saga Comes To An End On No World For Tomorrow"
· Crime in Stereo - Crime in Stereo Is Dead (Bridge Nine)
· Justin Currie - What Is Love For (Rykodisc)
· Einstürzende Neubauten - Alles Wieder Offen (Potomac/Ryko)
· Euros Child - Miracle Inn (Wichita)
· Famouz - Ghetto Passport (World Jam)
· Far-Less - A Toast to Bad Taste (Tooth & Nail)
· The Forms - The Forms (Threespheres)
· Dave Gahan - Hourglass (also available with bonus DVD; Mute/Virgin)
· Ghost - Overture: Live in Nippon Yusen Soko (with DVD; Drag City)
· Hangar 18 - Sweep the Leg (Definitive Jux)
· Heart - Dreamboat Annie - Legendary Albums Live (Shout! Factory) [Buy Now]
· Helloween - Gambling With the Devil (SPV)
· Ty Herndon - A Ty Herndon Christmas (Pyramid)
· Daniel Higgs - Metempsychotic Melodies (Holy Mountain)
· Holy F--- - LP (Young Turks)
· Hurricane Chris - 51/50 Ratchet (J)
· I Like Trains - Elegies to Lessons Learnt (Beggars)
· Shooter Jennings - The Wolf (Universal South)
· Jesu - Lifeline (EP; Hydra Head)
· Juanes - La Vida Es un Ratico (live; limited-edition version comes with DVD; Universal Latino)
· Junk Science - Gran'Dad's Nerve Tonic (Definitive Jux)
· Karate - 595 (Southern)
· Knights of the Abyss - Juggernaut (Candlelight)
· Layo & Bushwacka - GU33: Rio (Global Underground)
· Lazarus - Hawk Medicine (Temporary Residence) [Buy Now]
· Little Brother - Get Back (ABB)
· Loop 2.4.3 - Batterie (Music Starts From Silence)
· Megan McCauley - Better Than Blood (Wind-Up)
· Moonspell - Under Satanæ (SPV)
· Mötley Crüe - Carnival of Sins Live (two CDs; Eleven Seven)
· Mountain Heart - Road That Never Ends: The Live Album (Rural Rhythm)
· The New Rivals - The New Rivals (SoBe)
· Of Hearts and Chainsaws - Touching Base With a Chainsaw (Tyburn)
· Lisa O'Kane - It Didn't Hurt (digipak; New Light Entertainment/ Universal)
· Orgone - The Killing Floor (Ubiquity)
· Oscar G - Nervous Nitelife: Space Miami (Nervous)
· Phosphorescent - Pride (Dead Oceans)
· Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (Rounder)
· Power Pill Fist - Kongmanivong (digipak; Graveface)
· Prefuse 73 - Preparations (two CDs; Warp)
· Realistic - Perpetual Memory Loss (Illegal Art)
· The Redwalls - The Redwalls (Mad Dragon)
· Saturday Looks Good to Me - Fill Up the Room (K)
· Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre (two CDs; J) [Buy Now]
· Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - Scotland Yard Gospel Choir (Bloodshot)
· Scum of the Earth - Sleaze Freak (with DVD; Eclipse)
· Jon Secada - A Christmas Fiesta (Big3)
· Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (Wind-Up) [Buy Now]
Read: "Seether Frontman Won't Respond To Amy Lee's Attack: 'I Just Refuse To Lower Myself To That Level' "
· Shaman - Reason (Locomotive)
· Siberian - With Me (Sonic Boom)
· Sick City - Nightlife (Trustkill)
· Skindred - Roots Rock Riot (Bieler Bros.)
· Smif N Wesson - The Album (Duck Down)
· Soft - Gone Faded (Academy Fight Songs) [Buy Now]
· Sole and the Skyrider Band - Sole and the Skyrider Band (Anticon)
· Stare Into the Sun - Whispers Turn to Howls (Reformer)
· Subtle - Yell & Ice (Lex)
· Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead (Serjical Strike/ Reprise) [Buy Now]
Read: "System Of A Down Frontman Serj Tankian On Intimate Solo LP: 'I Believe In It' "
· The Temptations - Back to Front (New Door/ UMe)
· These Are Powers - Terrific Seasons (Hoss)
· Thy Will Be Done - Was and Is to Come (Stillborn)
· Toolroom Knights - Mixed by Gabriel & Dresden (Toolroom)
· Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs a Center (Magic Marker)
· Tunng - Comments of the Inner Chorus (Thrill Jockey)
· Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride (Arista) [Buy Now]
· Victory Pill - Victory Pill (Corporate Punishment)
· Seth Walker - Seth Walker (Hyena)
· The Warlocks - Heavy Deavy Skull Lover (Tee Pee)
· Ween - La Cucaracha (Rounder)
· West Indian Girl - 4th & Wall (Milan)
· Witchcraft - The Alchemist (Candlelight)
· Yea Kid + Kid Static - Yea Kid + Kid Static (Jib Door)
· Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (We Are Free)
· Dwight Yoakam - Dwight Sings Buck (New West)
· Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II (collector's edition comes with DVD; Reprise) [Buy Now]
· Rob Zombie - Zombie Live (Geffen) [Buy Now]
· Various artists - DJ Rekha Presents: Basement Bhangra (Koch)
· Various artists - Downtown San Francisco - Mixed by New Mondo (two CDs; Swank)
· Various artists - Free Yr Radio (Free Yr Radio/ Urban Outfitters; available through UO stores only)
· Various artists - Steve Aoki: Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles (Thrive)
· Various artists - Worried Noodles (two-CD box set with book by David Shrigley; Tomlab)
· Various artists - "Saw IV" soundtrack (Artists' Addiction)
· Various artists - "Barbie as the Island Princess" soundtrack (Koch)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana (Heartbeat)
· At Vance - Chained (Locomotive)
· Gato Barbieri - Bahia (Fania)
· Ray Barretto - Greatest Hits (Fania)
· Black Dice - Load Blown (EP; Paw Tracks)
· Black Moth Super Rainbow - Falling Through a Field and Starting a People (digipaks; Graveface/ 70's Gymnastics Recording Co.)
· The Briefs - Greatest Story Ever Told (with DVD; BYO)
· Can - Anthology (two CDs; Mute) [Buy Now]
· Karen Dalton - Cotton Eyed Joe: The Loop Tapes - Live in Boulder 1962 (two CDs and one DVD; Delmore)
· Jermaine Dupri - Y'All Know What This Is ... the Hits (So So Def/ Island Urban) [Buy Now]
· Jacques Loussier - Jacques Loussier Plays Bach - Encore! (two CDs; Telarc)
· John Mellencamp - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection (Island/UMe) [Buy Now]
· Jacob Miller and Ray I - Natty Christmas (VP)
· Charles Mingus - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection (Verve)
· Relient K - Let It Snow Baby ... Let It Reindeer (Capitol) [Buy Now]
· Shadows Fall - Seeking the Way: Greatest Hits (Century Media)
· The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Jukebox Explosion (In the Red)
· T. Rex - Electric Jewels (Get Back)
· Paul Oakenfold - Greatest Hits & Remixes (two CDs; Ultra)
· Of Montreal - If He Is Protecting Our Nation ... Who Is Protecting Big Oil, Our Children? (EP; Polyvinyl)
· The Owls - Daughters and Suns (two CDs; Magic Marker) [Buy Now]
· Tamia - Between Friends/ A Gift Between Friends (two CDs; Plus 1 Llc)
· Various artists - The Christmas Spirit: The World's Favourite Hymns and Carols (two CDs; Decca)
· Various artists - A Holly Jolly Kids Christmas (Hip-O)
· Various artists - Putumayo Presents: New Orleans Brass (enhanced; Putumayo World Music)

Music DVDs:

· Heart - "Dreamboat Annie - Legendary Albums Live" (Shout! Factory) [Buy Now]
· Yusuf Islam - "Yusuf's Café Session" (Hip-O)
· Carole King - "Welcome to My Living Room" (Rockingale)
· Ringo Starr - "Ringo Starr Live at Soundstage" (Koch) [Buy Now]
· Steeleye Span - "The 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004" (Park)

Digital Releases:

· Leigh Marble - Red Tornado (Laughing Stock)
· Arthur Russell - Four Songs by Arthur Russell (EP; Beggars Banquet)

Coming Attractions:

October 30:
· Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (MVI also available; Warner Bros.) [Preorder]
· Backstreet Boys - Unbreakable (deluxe digipak also available; Jive) [Preorder]
· Mario - Go (J) [Preorder]
Read: "Mario Gets Back To Making Music With Akon, Timbaland, Neptunes"

November 6:
· Angels & Airwaves - I-Empire (Geffen)
Read: "Angels & Airwaves' Revolution Has Begun - Just Wait 29 Years, Tom DeLonge Insists"
· Chris Brown - Exclusive (deluxe edition comes with DVD; Jive) [Preorder]
Read:
· Jay-Z - American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella) [Preorder]
Read: "Jay-Z's American Gangster: A Guided Tour By Jigga, Jermaine Dupri, Pharrell And Others"

November 13:
· Alicia Keys - As I Am (J) [Preorder]
· The Killers - Sawdust (Island) [Preorder]
· Ja Rule - The Mirror (Murder Inc./ Universal) [Preorder]
Read: "Ja Rule Leaves Bitterness — And 50 Cent Beef — Behind On New Album"

• Bizarre Christmas Albums

• Carrie Underwood
• Coheed and Cambria
• Serj Tankian
• Cobra Starship
• Hurricane Chris

Notorious B.I.G.
Photo: Bad Boy

Last week marked the 10th anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.'s death and Bad Boy Records' release of Greatest Hits, a collection of 17 tracks from the rapper. This week, the LP sits atop Billboard's top 200 sales chart, earning the late, great Biggie a third #1 debut — though it generated far fewer scans than most of his previous efforts.

B.I.G.'s inaugural outing Ready to Die opened at #15 on the chart in 1994, with sales nearing 56,000, while 1997's posthumous Life After Death bowed at #1 with 689,500 sold. Two years later, 1999's Born Again also debuted at #1, with 485,000 scans, while 2005's Duets: The Final Chapter opened at #3, with 438,000 sales.

Greatest Hits, however, just cleared 99,000 scans, meaning that for a third-straight week, not a single album on Billboard's top 200 hit the 100,000-sold mark, according to the latest SoundScan totals. And this trip to the top wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Canadian indie rockers the Arcade Fire posed quite a threat to Biggie's Hits reign, selling 92,000 copies of Neon Bible, which debuts at #2; the band's 2004 release, Funeral, took 17 weeks to even make the chart, entering at #169 with 6,500 scans.

Compared to previous weeks' charts, this ended up being a strong one for new releases, with a total of 23 cracking the top 200 — five even penetrating the coveted top 10. Opening this week at #5 is honky-tonker Gary Allan's Greatest Hits, which scanned close to 70,000 copies. Right behind him at #6 is the latest from Relient K, Five Score and Seven Years Ago, which sold nearly 64,000 units its first week in stores. Korn's MTV Unplugged set opens at #9, generating 51,000 scans.

Elsewhere on the chart, Sevendust's Alpha closes out its first week at #14 with sales of 42,000. At #31 is Them vs. You vs. Me, the latest LP from Finger Eleven, which sold more than 19,000 copies during its first week of commercial release. Air's Pocket Symphony follows at #40, with close to 17,000 copies sold, while Chimaira's Resurrection pops up at #42 after moving more than 16,000 units.

Bright Eyes' six-song EP Four Winds debuts at #57, having sold 13,000 copies in its initial sales week. The soundtrack to the nation's #1 movie, "300," occupies the #74 slot with close to 11,000 scans. Son Volt's The Search bows at #81 with 10,000 copies sold.

And in at #113 with 7,500 sales is rapper Consequence's latest, Don't Quit Your Day Job. Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.'s first solo crack, Yours to Keep, enters the top 200 at #117, selling 7,000 copies, while the Stooges' first album in three decades, The Weirdness, surfaces at #130, with 6,500 scans. Lovedrug's Everything Starts Where It Ends claims the #162 slot, putting up week-one sales of 5,100, while Ry Cooder's My Name is Buddy follows at #168 with 4,900 scans.

Johnny Cash is back in the top 200 at #184, with his latest compilation, Cash: Ultimate Gospel ending the week with 4,500 units snatched up. At #190 is The Third Hand, the new one from hip-hop producer RJD2, which sold 4,300 copies. And coming in at #195 is the fresh studio offering from !!!, Myth Takes, scanning 4,200 copies.

In addition to the five new releases cracking the latest top 10, there's last week's #1, Daughtry, the eponymous debut from "American Idol" contestant Chris Daughtry's band, which drops two spots to #3 with 82,000 scans. Akon's Konvicted follows at #4, moving 76,000 units, while Norah Jones' Not Too Late falls five positions to #7 with more than 59,000 copies sold. Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High takes the chart's #8 spot with 58,000 scans. Robin Thicke's The Evolution of Robin Thicke moves another 47,000 copies to take #10 on the chart.

Check out the feature "Biggie: Excerpts From the Life" for a closer look at the legendary rapper in his words and those of his friends.

• Notorious B.I.G.: In Memoriam
• Korn 'Unplugged' (Full Concert)

• Notorious B.I.G.
• Arcade Fire
• Relient K
• Korn

Korn's <I>MTV Unplugged</I>
Photo: Virgin Records

Who needs Guns N' Roses when there's Korn, the Arcade Fire and even Notorious B.I.G. to fry up the record racks?

Axl and his motley crew were set to deliver their Chinese Democracy Tuesday (March 6), but if you actually bought that notion, shame on you for believing him for the umpteenth time. In lieu of Rose's failed Democracy, we're building a new one that endorses a set of new leaders — well, for this week, at least — and designing a newfangled Bill of Rights to boot. Care to vote in this new democracy? Just kindly hand over your ballot — i.e., money — to your favorite local record store cashier or online retail outlet.

Presidential? Sweet: That's right, sweet Korn — the band recently hushed down for "MTV Unplugged" and whipped out black masks, Jonathan Davis' handwritten lyrics and a few cover songs. The commanders in chief, who dressed rather stately for the affair, brought along some honorary cabinet members in Evanescence's Amy Lee and the Cure's Robert Smith. The collaborative performances with those artists will appear on the CD, as will Korn's take on the Radiohead hit "Creep," but don't expect to find the first part of the show — including "Thoughtless" and "Here to Stay" — represented. Apparently those documents are classified.

A Notorious Anniversary: Since it's a compilation, Notorious B.I.G.'s Greatest Hits gets vice-presidential honors this week. The album coincides with the 10th anniversary of his death and chalks up 15 classic cuts, along with two unreleased songs: "Running Your Mouth," which was produced by Soopafly, and "Want That Old Thing Back," co-produced by Diddy along with Stevie J. (DJ Kay Slay, Mariah Carey) and Jonathan "Jon Boy" Jordan.

Sunshine State: Foreign-born secretaries of state aren't unheard of — any Henry Kissinger fans out there? — and we can't think of a band that's been creating a better image abroad than the seven-person squad that is the Arcade Fire. This week the Canadian band steps up with its second album, Neon Bible, which doesn't look too favorably on religion, television and, if rumor has it right, Jessica Simpson. We bet Condi already has songs like "(Antichrist Television Blues)" and "My Body Is a Cage" in her iPod.

Garden State: This week's undersecretary of state honors would have to go to one Jonny Greenwood, the Radiohead guitarist who is reaching across the globe for Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller. Ever the diplomat, Greenwood culled the Trojan Records archives to cobble together vintage recordings by Lee "Scratch" Perry, Gregory Isaacs and other reggae greats. It took him six months to compile 17 tracks, so don't think for a second that this disc was a rush job.

Fun House: Ever heard someone talk about "Those Stooges in Congress"? Well this week there really are, as we nominate founding members Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton and drummer Scott Asheton to be the respective speaker, majority leader and majority whip for the House of Representatives. Sorry, newcomer bassist Mike Watt, we're going to have to relegate you to caucus head. Expect the newly elected class to show some raw power as it pushes through its first piece of legislation in 33 years: The Weirdness features such measures as "Greedy Awful People," "O Solo Mio" and "End of Christianity." No decorum please!

Staff Infection: Conor Oberst probably wouldn't be President Bush's first pick if he were to replace Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, given the Bright Eyes singer's scathing rebuke of the commander in chief on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" in mid-2005. Still, Oberst has proven he is a productive, sagely fellow who has a plan for every occasion. In fact, Bright Eyes have their act so together that this week they're dropping a six-song EP, Four Winds, to warm up fans for next month's Cassadaga LP.

They'll Do Abramoff Proud: Who better to assign as chief lobbyists than Big Business? The band consists of just two guys — bassist/singer Jared Warren (Tight Bros. From Way Back When, Karp) and drummer Coady Willis (Murder City Devils) — but their huge, bottom-heavy sound is enough to intimidate even the most honest politicians into taking dirty money. As it turns out, the Northwest pair are actually in a patriotic mood these days: One of the songs on their new album, Here Come the Waterworks, is called "Another Fourth of July ... Ruined."

Now that we've filled up the higher offices, it's time to roll out our Bill of Rights:

First Amendment - Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Assemble: No one knows his right to free speech better than Dave Mustaine. His band Megadeth have cranked out the DVD "That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires" for your viewing pleasure — it includes such outspoken song titles as "Set the World Afire," "Symphony of Destruction" and "Peace Sells." As for the assembly part, Toronto's Apostles of Hustle say in a recent press release that their National Anthem of Nowhere album title means that "Everyone who feels they have no voice or can't be heard can suddenly be united." So there.

Second Amendment - Right to Bear Arms: Who better to uphold this amendment than metal mavens Alabama Thunderpussy and their aptly titled new album, Open Fire? With new singer Kyle Thomas in tow, the band — which is actually from Virginia — unloads with "Whiskey War," "Words of the Dying Man" and "Void of Harmony" (wonder what that one sounds like ...).

Third Amendment - Quartering of Troops: Citizens can't be forced to provide places for soldiers to set up camp, but Air probably had no problem letting Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon crash at their pad for Pocket Symphony. The French duo apparently have lots of room at their digs, actually: enough to house the Far East classical instruments that appear throughout their new LP, at least.

Fourth Amendment - Search and Seizure: Son Volt are searching for something — as anyone who has remedial reading skills will be able to tell by the band's new album The Search. Jay Farrar and the gang dabbled in lots of nontraditional instrumentation — horns, loops, pedals and the like — and, suiting this week's theme, even add in some political commentary with the lyric "When war is profit and profit is war," on "The Picture."

Fifth Amendment - Double Jeopardy: No, we didn't make this up: Christian rockers Relient K actually have a new song called "Plead the Fifth," perfect for our theme this week. On that song and one other, "Deathbed," frontman Matt Thiessen takes the perspective of a man living in the 19th century and spouts a conspiracy theory about Lincoln's assassination. That proves the pop-punks have been flexing their political-history chops — although ol' Abe would probably suggest they subtract one from the five in their new album title, Five Score and Seven Years Ago.

Sixth Amendment - Speedy Trial: On the subject of speed, "Pace Yourself" is sure to be the highlight on the Higher's second album, On Fire — a version of the song that was remixed by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump caps off the LP. Other songs on the Las Vegas band's album include "Rock My Body," "Insurance?" and "Our Movie Rules."

Seventh Amendment - Trial by Jury: Defendants facing a prosecutor and jury probably often feel like it's Them Vs. You Vs. Me, the title Finger Eleven have concocted for their fourth opus. The Ontario modern-rockers are already winning over radio with the album's first track, "Paralyzer." The band, which is touring soon with Chevelle, also chips in "I'll Keep Your Memory Vague," "So-So Suicide" and "Sense of a Spark."

Eighth Amendment - Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Cleveland's Chimaira deliver the biggest heavy-metal wallop this week with their fourth effort, Resurrection — their first since being dropped by Roadrunner. For even more cruel punishment, pick up the limited-edition version: It contains a bonus DVD with an hour's worth of footage from the making of the album, and more.

Ninth Amendment - More Rights: Citizens aren't supposed to be denied their rights in a democracy — so who's to say Albert Hammond Jr. isn't allowed to step away from the Strokes? For his maiden solo release, the guitarist roped in Ben Kweller, Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne) and Sean Lennon. Coincidentally, Australian psych quartet Wolf & Cub have a song called "Hammond" on their own debut album. For Vessels, the Queens of the Stone Age and TV on the Radio tourmates also come up with "March of Clouds," "Seeds of Doubt" and "Conundrum."

Tenth Amendment - Powers of States and People: RJD2 is giving the power to the people with his new affair, The Third Hand. For the effort — his first since leaving Definitive Jux — the alt/hip-hop guru broke each song into individual tracks and posted them on Imeem so fans can remix them.

And for good measure, one for the high court:

Roe v. Wade: We imagine Maryland death-metallers Dying Fetus have something to say about this Supreme Court ruling, but we'll let their new album, War of Attrition, do the screaming instead. Songs include "Homicidal Retribution," "Unadulterated Hatred" and "Parasites of Catastrophe."

Song Title of the Week:

"Beneath the Wings of the Black Vomit Above" from Furze's UTD: Beneath the Odd-Edge Sounds to the Twilight Contract of the Black Fascist/ The Wealth of the Penetration in the Abstract Paradigms of Satan

New Releases:

· !!! - Myth Takes (limited editions come with bonus CD; Warp)
· The 69 Eyes - Angels (enhanced; Caroline)
· Air - Pocket Symphony (enhanced; Astralwerks) [Buy Now]
· Alabama Thunderpussy - Open Fire (Relapse)
· Anat Fort/ Perry Robinson/ Ed Schuller/ Paul Motian - A Long Story (ECM)
· Ryland Angel - Ryland Angel (Manhattan)
· Antibalas - Security (digipak; Anti)
· Apostles of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere (Arts & Crafts)
· Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (deluxe edition with book also available; Merge) [Buy Now]
· Assembly of Dust - Recollection (Hybrid)
· Patti Austin - Avant Gershwin (Rendezvous)
· Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks (Hydra Head)
· Blackfield - Blackfield II (Atlantic)
· Bright Eyes - Four Winds (EP; Saddle Creek)
Read: "Bright Eyes Slim Down With Single LP, Fatten Up With Loads Of Collabos" [Buy Now]
· Victor Calderone - Evolve (Ultra)
· Cassette - Beautiful California (Atomisk)
· Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Calling (Zoë/Rounder)
· Michael Cashmore - Snow Abides (Durtro)
· Cheeseburger - Cheeseburger (Kemado)
· Chimaira - Resurrection (limited edition comes with DVD; Ferret)
· Combichrist - What the F--- Is Wrong With You People? (Metropolis)
· Ry Cooder - My Name Is Buddy (Nonesuch)
· Dawn of Man - In the Bronze Age (EP; Postfact)
· Dying Fetus - War of Attrition (Relapse)
· Emmure - Goodbye to the Gallows (Victory)
· Finger Eleven - Them Vs. You Vs. Me (Wind-Up)
Read: "Finger Eleven Take The Gloves Off For Them Vs. You Vs. Me"
· Fulton Lights - Fulton Lights (Android Eats)
· Giorgia Fumanti - From My Heart (Manhattan)
· Furze - UTD: Beneath the Odd-Edge Sounds to the Twilight Contract of the Black Fascist/ The Wealth of the Penetration in the Abstract Paradigms of Satan (Candlelight)
· Golden Ball - The Antique Barking Swirls of Dawn (Honeymoon)
· Jeff Golub - Grand Central (Narada)
· Green Pitch - Ace of Hearts (Funzalo)
· Greencards - Viridian (Dualtone)
· Gruff Rhys - Candylion (Team Love)
· Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours to Keep (enhanced; New Line)
· The Higher - On Fire (Epitaph)
· Illinois - What the Hell Do I Know? (Ace Fu)
· Infernaeon - A Symphony of Suffering (Prosthetic)
· Joseph Israel - Gone Are the Days (New Door)
· Seu Jorge - Live at Montreux 2005 (Eagle Rock)
· Korn - MTV Unplugged (Virgin) [Buy Now]
Read: "Korn Quiet Down With The Cure, Amy Lee For 'MTV Unplugged' "
· Lanu - This Is My Home (Ubiquity)
· The Last Town Chorus - Wire Waltz (digipak; Hacktone)
· James Livingston - Fat Fingers (Helical)
· Lovedrug - Everything Starts Where It Ends (digipak; The Militia Group)
· Vusi Mahlasela - Guiding Star (ATO)
· Wynton Marsalis - From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (Blue Note) [Buy Now]
· Willy Mason - If the Ocean Gets Rough (Astralwerks)
· Moaners - Blackwing Yalobusha (Yep Roc)
· Shannon Moore - Evaporate (Water)
· MrNorth - Fear and Desire (Rock Ridge)
· No More Kings - No More Kings (digipak; Astonish)
· Onslaught - Killing Peace (Candlelight)
· Pantaleimon - Cloudburst (EP; Durtro)
· Paulson - All at Once (Doghouse)
· The Photo Atlas - No, Not Me, Never (Stolen Transmission)
· Kristoffer Ragnstam - Sweet Bills (Bluhammock)
· Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago (Capitol) [Buy Now]
Read: "Relient K Pump Serious Rock, Sugary Pop In The Tank For Upcoming LP"
· Jeremy Riddle - Full Attention (Word)
· RJD2 - The Third Hand (XL Recordings) [Buy Now]
· Sasha & Shawna - Siren (Manhattan)
· Savoy Brown - Steel (Blue Wave)
· Sevendust - Alpha (7Bros/Asylum) [Buy Now]
· Shaw Blades - Influence (VH1 Classics)
· Siberian - Hey Celestial (EP; Sonic Boom)
· Son Volt - The Search (Legacy) [Buy Now]
· The Stooges - The Weirdness (Virgin) [Buy Now]
Read: "Iggy Pop, Stooges Complete First Studio LP In 33 Years"
· Sunny Sweeney - Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame (Big Machine)
· Kelly Sweet - We Are One (Razor & Tie)
· Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower (Saddle Creek)
· This Moment - Star Parallel (enhanced; Uprising) · Twisted Black - Street Fame (TVT)
· Kenny Werner - Lawn Chair Society (Blue Note)
· Wolf & Cub - Vessels (digipak; 4AD)
· Various artists - Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller (Trojan)
· Various artists - "300" soundtrack (special-edition digipak also available; Warner Bros.)
· Various artists - "The Namesake" soundtrack (Rounder)
· Various artists - "Stomp the Yard" soundtrack (Adrenaline)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Gary Allan - Greatest Hits (MCA Nashville)
· Johnny Cash - Cash: Ultimate Gospel (Columbia/Legacy)
· John Coltrane - Giant Steps (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Doobie Brothers - Toulouse Street (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Grateful Dead - American Beauty (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· George Jones - 40 Years of Duets (Time Life)
· KMFDM - Nihil and Xtort (Metropolis)
· Love - Forever Changes (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Joni Mitchell - Blue (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Notorious B.I.G. - Greatest Hits (Bad Boy) [Buy Now]
· Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguwar)
· Revolting Co--s - Cocktail Mixxx (digipak; Megaforce)
· Billy Joe Shaver - Greatest Hits (Compadre)
· Duncan Sheik - Brighter: A Duncan Sheik Collection (Rhino)
· Paul Simon - Graceland (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· The Stooges - Fun House (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Television - Marquee Moon (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Totimoshi - Ladrón (Volcom)
· Yes - Close to the Edge (mini-LP CD replica; Rhino)
· Various artists - Hightone Records Anthology: Rockin' From the Roots (Time Life)

Music DVDs:

· Canned Heat - "Live at Montreux 1973"/ "Boogie With Canned Heat: The Canned Heat Story" (Eagle Vision)
· Dixie Dregs - "Live at Montreux 1978" (Eagle Vision)
· Fats Domino - "Fats & Friends" (Time Life)
· Jerry Lee Lewis - "Last Man Standing Live" (Artists First/ Shangri-La Entertainment)
· Megadeth - "That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires" (Image Entertainment)
· The Steve Morse Band - "Live in Baden-Baden Germany March 1990" (Eagle Vision)
· Elvis Presley - "Elvis Lives: The 25th Anniversary Concert - 'Live' From Memphis" and the two-DVD "He Touched Me: The Gospel Music of Elvis Presley" (Spring House)
· Various artists - "Screaming Masterpiece" (Milan)

Coming Attractions:

March 13:
· Gillie Da Kid - The Best of the GDK Mixtapes (Babygrande)
· Lloyd - Street Love (Motown) [Preorder]
· Musiq - Luvanmusiq (Atlantic) [Preorder]

March 20:
· C-Murder - Screamin' 4 Vengeance (Capitol) [Preorder]
· Decemberists - "A Practical Handbook" DVD (Kill Rock Stars)
· LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (Capitol) [Preorder]
· Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic) [Preorder]
· Young Buck - Buck the World (Interscope) [Preorder]

March 27:
· Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival (Epic) [Preorder]
Read: "Good Charlotte Don Their Dance Shoes For Feel-Good Revival"
· Jennifer Lopez - Como Ama Una Mujer (Epic) [Preorder]
Read: "Jennifer Lopez Says New Single Came From Marc Anthony's Dream"
· Tha Dogg Pound - Dogg Ch-- (Koch) [Preorder]

• Korn
• Notorious B.I.G.
• Arcade Fire
• Relient K
• !!!

Relient K
Photo: Capitol Records

As far as explanatory statements from musicians go, this one by Relient K frontman Matt Thiessen about his band's new album, Five Score and Seven Years Ago, sort of takes the cake for general awesomeness:

"We had already come up with the title of the album, so I decided to write some lyrics about John Wilkes Booth. I hope people don't think it's a concept record about Abraham Lincoln or anything like that."

Gee, why would anyone think that? After all, there are tons of albums out there that nick their title from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ("Four score and seven years ago ...") and kick off with a song about the assassination at Ford's Theatre ... and none of them are concept records about our 16th president.

"You're honestly the first person to bring all that up," Thiessen laughed. "I mean, the significance of the title is that it's our fifth album, and our last album came out seven years ago. And now we have five guys in the band. So we just thought it would be fitting or something. But, no, it's definitely not an album about Abe Lincoln. Because that would be a little weird."

Weird, yes. But out of the question? Not entirely. Because with Score (due March 6), Relient K are clearly gunning for their own piece of the "artistic cred" pie. Though the LP still maintains a level of the "aw shucks" humility fans have grown to love from the Ohio group, there's obviously something bigger at work. Produced by Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge), packed to the gills with additional instrumentation (piano, banjo, lap steel) and concluding with a gorgeously maudlin, 11-minute long rumination on death, it's the kind of album bands make when they're either following up a commercial breakthrough or flush with major-label cash.

Though neither of those statements are entirely true when talking about Relient K.

"The way our career has gone, each of our records slightly outsells the last one. It's been a really steady progression," Thiessen said. "And I'm not saying anything bad about them, but look at Fall Out Boy: They did a pop-punk album, and it did OK, and then all of a sudden they blew up, and so now if their new album doesn't blow people away, they're cursed.

"Whereas with us, if we keep doing a bit better, we're not gonna be as huge as Fall Out Boy, but we're building a career," he continued. "And that's why we were able to make this record. And do it exactly the way we wanted to do it."

That's certainly the approach Thiessen took when he wrote the album's first single, the beyond-saccharine love song "Must Have Done Something Right." He freely admits to upping the cheese quotient (sample lyric: "We should get jerseys/ 'Cause we make a good team/ But yours would look better than mine/ 'Cause you're out of my league"), and he's more than aware that a lot of longtime Relient K fans might be slightly worried when they hear the tune. But that's exactly what he wanted.

"I wrote 'Must Have Done Something Right' at like 3 in the morning as sort of a 'Ha ha, this is so happy' type of thing. But it ended up turning out all right," he laughed. "I know some people are going to hear that song, and think, 'Uh oh ... where are these guys going?' because I know it's a little bit cheesy and kind of sugary. But when people get to hear more of the record, they'll realize that it's not a Sugar Ray record, and it's not all pop and happy — and it's not supposed to be played in a T.G.I. Friday's."

• Relient K

Kevin Federline

Kevin Federline's lawyer, Mark Kaplan, has issued a new statement regarding K-Fed's divorce with Britney Spears. "Kevin is prepared to go the distance in order to do what he feels is necessary to protect and safeguard the children and will not be intimidated or dissuaded from pursuit of those goals." ...

K-Fed's not alone, of course, as he will soon join Jason Alexander as one of Spears' ex-husbands. Alexander had some choice words for Federline on "Extra": "I don't hate the guy. I think he made an idiot of himself," Alexander said, among other remarks. Alexander also revealed that he's still infatuated with Spears, saying, "I still love her." "Give me a call. I'm a good guy to talk to ... and I'm here for you." ...

Katt Williams is out on bail after having served three days at a Los Angeles jail. The comedian, who was released Friday (November 10), had been detained on a weapons charge at Los Angeles International Airport while on his way to New York. "Good stuff happens, bad stuff happens," Williams said in a video clip that's spreading fast on YouTube. ...

Nas hosted an album-listening session at Sony Music Studios in New York on Thursday evening for his forthcoming Def Jam debut, Hip-Hop Is Dead ... The N. Label president Jay-Z was in attendance, as were superproducers Swizz Beatz and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. The crowd of reporters and industry insiders was teased with a brief clip of the long-awaited Nas/Jay-Z collabo cut. ... Later that night, Jay celebrated the one-year anniversary of his 40/40 Club in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hov was accompanied by Beyoncé, while Nas and Clive Davis were among the celebrities who made the trek down to A.C. for the festivities. ... Juvenile is in the clear. A six-person jury ruled in favor of the New Orleans rapper on Thursday, AP reports, exonerating him in a lawsuit that claimed he was responsible for an off-duty police officer injuring her knee during a shopping mall melee involving Juvenile. An attorney for the officer said he will file a motion for a new trial or appeal. ...

You can now add a couple of frat boys to the list of people who don't think "Borat" is funny. According to The Associated Press, two fraternity brothers from a university in South Carolina have filed suit against 20th Century Fox and three production companies associated with the hit movie, claiming that they were tricked into making boozy racist and sexist comments in the film and engaging in behavior "they otherwise would not have engaged in." The suit claims that the movie's production crew took the students, who are not named in the filing, to a bar to loosen them up for what they were told would be a documentary shown outside of the U.S. The men claim the comments they made while on camera have caused embarrassment and are asking for damages and for the studio to stop using their likenesses in the film's advertising. A studio spokesperson said the lawsuit has no merit. ...

Hinder have set a new record for rock-ringtone sales. Their song "Lips of an Angel" has sold more than 1 million units. ... On March 6, squeaky-clean pop-punksters Relient K will release Five Score and Seven Years Ago, the follow-up to their 2004 breakthrough disc, MMHMM. The new album is produced by Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, the Used) and features 14 songs, including "Come Right Out and Say It," "Forgiven" and "Bite My Tongue." It's book-ended by a pair of tracks ("Plead the Fifth" and the 11 minute album-closer "Deathbed") that are, according to frontman Matt Thiessen, about "a 19th century man with an intriguing conspiracy theory about Abraham Lincoln, and an aging cancer patient, respectively" (sounds, um, awesome!). The first single from Five Score, "Must Have Done Something Right," is expected to hit radio soon. ...

Bloc Party have been forced to drop off their current tour with Panic! at the Disco after drummer Matt Tong suffered a collapsed lung following Thursday night's show in Atlanta, according to the band's Web site. Tong was admitted to an Atlanta hospital after the show; he is in stable condition and not in any immediate danger but will likely remain in the hospital for three days of observation. It is not known when he will be able to return to the stage, which means the group will miss upcoming shows in Charlotte, North Carolina; Fairfax, Virginia; and next week's Madison Square Garden concerts in New York. ... The Texas chapter of the Recording Academy will honor indie rap label Swishahouse — founded by DJ Michael "5000" Watts and home to Paul Wall and Mike Jones — on Monday at its Governors Awards gala in Austin, Texas. ZZ Top, Yolanda Adams and the founders of the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference will also be honored at the ceremony, which includes a silent auction with proceeds benefiting MusiCares' support of Texas musicians. ...

A survey has been posted on the Ozzfest Web site, where metal fans can put in their two cents and perhaps even shape the lineup for the festival's 12th run. The questionnaire asks about past Ozzfests and seeks suggestions for bands that should grace the stage in 2007. ... Mastodon will hit the road next year with Converge and Priestess for a full U.S. trek that's set to kick off in Minneapolis on February 5. Just 11 dates have been confirmed so far, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. Gigs are currently booked through a February 17 show in Washington, D.C. ... There was more grit than glitz at Thursday night's tribute to Bob Dylan at New York's Lincoln Center, where musicians just jammed away to their favorite Dylan song. Some went the sad route (Philip Glass and Natalie Merchant's take on "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll") while others played for laughs (Sandra Bernhard turned into a storyteller and belted out "Like a Rolling Stone"). The audience burst into cheers as Rosanne Cash sang, "Who's gonna take away his license to kill? You are," in Dylan's "License to Kill," and the Roots received a standing ovation for "Masters of War." Ryan Adams, Cat Power, Patti Smith and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah also performed. ...

Legendary R&B vocalist Gerald LeVert passed away Friday in his Cleveland home, his record label has confirmed. He was 40. According to early reports, the singer, best known for his hit single "Casanova," died of heart complications. "[LeVert] was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer," read a statement issued by Atlantic Records. The feisty singer made his debut in the '80s as one-third of LeVert alongside his younger brother and childhood friend. He released his first solo album, Private Line, in 1991, and went on to release more than 10 LPs. That includes collaborative efforts with his father, former O'Jays singer Eddie LeVert, and a group project with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill called LSG. Gerald LeVert is survived by his four children. ... Jack Palance has also died, AP reports. The actor died of natural causes and was 87 years old. Palance appeared in more than 100 movies, including "Shane" and "Sudden Fear," both of which earned him Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor. When he later accepted that trophy for his unforgettable role in 1991's "City Slickers," the then-73-year-old surprised the Academy Awards crowd by doing one-handed push-ups onstage.

11.09.2006

Diddy and Kim Porter are content now, committed to one another and expecting twin daughters. But it wasn't that long ago that the man formerly known as Puff Daddy was split from Porter, the mother of his son Justin, and in the midst of a high-profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez. "With Jennifer, I was attracted to someone who had the same energy as me," Diddy explained in the December issue of Essence. "But that isn't necessarily the best. Because I'm so aggressive, the best energy for me is someone who slows me down and makes me feel like I can breathe. It's hard for me to breathe. When I'm around Kim I feel like I can do that." ...

In other Diddy news, he's signed on with hip-hop veteran Chris Lighty's Violator management, the company confirmed Thursday (November 9). Lighty, who has helped guide the careers of 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Mobb Deep, will oversee Diddy's music and branding ventures, according to a report in the New York Daily News. ... Taylor Hicks will sing the national anthem at the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series: Ford 400 on November 19 at Homestead Miami Speedway. ...

It may be time for Lindsay Lohan to consider getting a driver. The accident-prone actress was involved in her third car crash in two years early Tuesday morning. People magazine reports that the 20-year-old singer/actress was rear-ended by a paparazzo around 2 a.m. while driving in Los Angeles. According to her spokesperson, Lohan was not injured in the incident. In May 2005, a photographer was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after hitting Lohan's car. ...

When it rains, it pours. As his debut tanks on Billboard's albums chart (it will open at #151) and he faces divorce from Britney Spears, Kevin Federline's promotional concert tour has hit another snag. According to the Chicago Tribune, tickets for Federline's Wednesday night show at the House of Blues Chicago were selling so slow that the venue was giving them away just to fill up the joint. Federline's Thursday show in Cleveland has been canceled. ... "American Idol" finalist Kellie Pickler is faring considerably better, entering that same Billboard albums chart at #9 with her debut, Small Town Girl, and even scoring her own sitcom. Variety reports that Pickler will star as a naive Southern girl who learns that a prominent governor is her father — putting his presidential hopes in jeopardy until their charming father-daughter bond wins his constituents over. 20th Century Fox Television and "Idol" producers 19 Entertainment are teaming up to produce the still-untitled series. ...

Add Russia to the list of countries that don't get "Borat." BBC News reports that the neighbor and close ally of the butt of many of the movie's jokes, Kazakhstan, has banned the hit comedy flick, refusing to provide a distribution license because Russian officials said it could potentially humiliate different ethnic groups and religions. ... John Mayer, ?uestlove and Perry Farrell are featured on The Best of the Jammys Volume One, a DVD featuring performances from the jam-band award show, which launched in 2000. Due Tuesday, the DVD will also feature Ryan Adams, Phil Lesh and Moe. ... Dave Matthews, Gov't Mule and the John Popper Project featuring DJ Logic will headline the 18th annual Warren Haynes Presents: The Christmas Jam, scheduled for December 16 in Asheville, North Carolina. Edwin McCain is also scheduled to perform. ... Shinedown are planning their second United Service Organizations tour later this month. The band will meet and perform for troops stationed in the Persian Gulf. ...

Megan Zacher, 22, is living proof that hips do lie. The Delanco, New Jersey, native is suing Calico Jack's Cantina in New York after she was injured during a "Shake-It-Like-Shakira" contest that went awry. According to reports, Zacher slipped and fell off a wet bar and tore ligaments in her left knee that required surgery after participating in the bar-sponsored shake-off. Her lawyer claims that the bar should have known that the promotion was "dangerous and likely to lead to injury." ... Microsoft has agreed to pay a percentage of sales from its new Zune portable media player and its new online music store to the Universal Music Group. The New York Times reports that Universal will receive more than $1 from the sale of each $250 device as part of a royalty for licensing its recordings to the new player, pledging to give half of what it receives to its artists. The deal is a departure from the precedent set by Apple, which pays record companies for songs sold through its iTunes store, but does not give them a cut of the sales of iPods. Microsoft said it would offer similar royalty deals to the rest of the music industry. ...

Apparently, nobody really wants to see show-tune versions of Bob Dylan songs sung by peppy hoofers with fake guitars under a circus big top. Less than a month after it opened on Broadway, the heavily panned Dylan musical, "The Times They Are A-Changin'," will close. Reuters reports that the show will take its final bow on November 19, closing after 28 performances in what Village Voice critic Michael Musto referred to as a "mercy killing." The show, a collaboration with choreographer Twyla Tharp, follows in the footsteps of another Boomer-era musical that flopped last year, "Lennon," which chronicled the life of late Beatles icon John Lennon. ... Daniel Baldwin was arrested Wednesday in Santa Monica, California, on suspicion of stealing an SUV, AP reports. The actor was stopped in a GMC Yukon that had been reported stolen in Orange County. Authorities said the vehicle was owned by an acquaintance of Baldwin's, but the actor did not have permission to take it. He was booked for investigation of grand theft auto, with bail set at $20,000. ... Longtime CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley has passed away, The Associated Press reports. The vaunted journalist, the only one to have landed a TV interview with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, died of leukemia. He was 65.

• All Eyes On: Jay-Z & Nas Behind The Scenes

• Kevin Federline
• Jay-Z
• Nas
• Panic at the Disco
• Bloc Party

Hawthorne Heights
Photo: Jason Campbell

Coming soon to a corporate-named pavilion near you: a whole bunch of emo kids and even more Nintendo-related frippery!

On Friday (July 28), organizers for the fourth annual Nintendo Fusion Tour — which this year includes Hawthorne Heights, Relient K and Plain White T's — revealed the full itinerary for the trek, scheduled to launch September 27 in Columbus, Ohio. The tour will make stops in 32 additional cities before coming to a close November 11 in Chicago.

While the lineup for this year's tour lacks much of the sizzle of Fusions past (which have included Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and My Chemical Romance), it does boast one huge advantage: the chance for fans to get their hands on Nintendo's much-anticipated next-gen console, the Wii (see "The Revolution Has A Name: Nintendo Wii").

Nintendo Fusion Tour dates, according to Nintendo:

• 9/27 - Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
• 9/28 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Egyptian Room
• 9/29 - Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
• 9/30 - Cleveland, OH @ Tower City Amphitheater
• 10/1 - Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre
• 10/4 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 10/5 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
• 10/7 - Pittsburgh, PA @ University of Pittsburgh
• 10/8 - New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
• 10/9 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
• 10/10 - Winston-Salem, NC @ The Millennium Center
• 10/11 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
• 10/12 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
• 10/13 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
• 10/14 - Jacksonville, FL @ Plush
• 10/15 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
• 10/17 - Jonesboro, AR @ ASU Convocation Center
• 10/18 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
• 10/19 - Selma, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 10/20 - Dallas, TX @ Nokia Theatre Grand Prairie (NextStage Arena)
• 10/22 - Phoenix, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre
• 10/24 - Anaheim, CA @ The Grove of Anaheim
• 10/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern LG
• 10/26 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
• 10/27 - San Diego, CA @ SOMA
• 10/28 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
• 11/2 - Spokane, WA @ Big Easy
• 11/4 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
• 11/6 - Maplewood, MN @ Myth
• 11/7 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
• 11/8 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave/ Eagles Club
• 11/9 - West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
• 11/10 - Champaign, IL @ Assembly Hall
• 11/11 - Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre

• Hawthorne Heights
• Relient K
• Plain White T's

Method Man
Photo: Getty Images

Coming soon to the wilds of New Jersey: Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, All American Rejects, tons of emo-lovin' kids and ... Method Man?

It's true. On Wednesday (February 1), festival organizers put to rest months of rumors by confirming that Meth will indeed be performing alongside tons of Hot Topic favorites at the second annual Bamboozle, to be held May 6 and 7 at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey.

The idea of having the Ticallion Stallion appear at the Bamboozle was actually hatched back in November, when organizers first spoke with MTV News about the festival (see "Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack Good To Go For Bamboozle '06"). And though it had been whispered about ever since — even making the rounds on various indie-punk messageboards last week — no one was willing to confirm the rapper's involvement until now.

Organizers also hinted at the possibility that Meth might be "bringing some of his good friends with him" to the Bamboozle, though they would not clarify whether or not those "friends" included a group of gentlemen who go by the name of the Wu-Tang Clan — who, incidentally, are planning on launching an East Coast tour later this month (see "Raekwon Linx Up With Busta, RZA; Wu-Tang Dedicate Tour To ODB").

But just how will Meth and his various associates mix with the young, rather suburban crowd the Bamboozle is likely to attract?

Aside from the rather obvious parallels between his festival appearance and his short-lived sitcom "Method & Red" — in which he and good pal Redman played a couple of rappers who move into a plush gated community, with somewhat hilarious results (see "Method Man Says Sitcom Isn't Showing The Real 'Method & Red' ") — event organizers aren't really sure. Which was part of the plan: One organizer said they hoped the addition of Meth would "blow kids' minds."

Method Man is just one of several acts to commit recently to the Bamboozle, joining the likes of HIM, Relient K and Panic! at the Disco.

• Method Man
• Panic at the Disco
• HIM
• Relient K

Relient K
Photo: Capitol

Oftentimes, when videos make the leap from ink-stained initial treatment to shiny, ready-for-TV final cut, they undergo massive changes. Such is the case with Relient K's new clip, for the song "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been," in which gangly frontman Matt Thiessen underwent a fairly drastic transformation: He became a woman.

Well, not exactly. Seems that somewhere in between the time MTV News spoke with the band at this summer's Warped Tour and the first day of shooting, Thiessen's character in the clip had somehow morphed into a teenage girl in cutoff shorts.

"Yeah, basically, I'm walking down the street, and when I stop, the whole world around me stops, and when I start moving again, everything moves twice as fast," Thiessen explained backstage at the August 12 Warped stop in Camden, New Jersey. "And there's a car crash, and I have to try and save the day. It's cool. You'll see."

We did see the clip, and Thiessen's not walking down the street at all; rather, he and the rest of Relient K are rocking out on a rooftop, while Thiessen's replacement makes her way down a busy sidewalk, seemingly controlling time with her every move. As she walks forward, a woman stumbles and spills a stack of books into the street, a man drops a television set and a boy is hit by a car. But as she stops or backtracks, the action pauses and rewinds.

The whole thing — including the idea of replacing Thiessen with a teenage girl — springs from the mind of director Jon Watts, who helmed the bizarre clip for Death Cab for Cutie's "Soul Meets Body" (see "Death Cab For Cutie Admit Magical Forest Video Is 'A Little Weird' "). But Watts' wild imagination didn't just start running when the film was loaded into the camera; in fact, it was his unique take on the traditional concept of a treatment that won Relient K over in the first place.

"Jon was so excited to do this video that he made this really weird treatment for us. Instead of a normal treatment, he submitted a video camera and videotaped himself explaining how things are going to work," Thiessen said. "We were all kind of watching it going, 'O-kaaay ...' "

So they went with Watts ... and while they didn't end up getting what was initially promised, they've got to be happy with the finished product — or maybe not. After all, they weren't really big fans of their "Be My Escape" video (see "Relient K Kind Of Like Getting Flipped The Bird"). In the end, the band just wanted another video, because it gives Capitol Records another reason to send them back out on the road.

"We're going on tour with MxPx and Rufio, starting on October 8 in Ohio, and we're super excited," Thiessen said.

Relient K tour dates, according to Capitol Records:

• 10/8 - Kings Mills, OH @ Paramount King's Island
• 10/9 - Whitestown, IN @ Eagle Center
• 10/11 - Nashville, TN @ Rcktwn
• 10/13 - Springfield, MO @ Shrine Mosque
• 10/14 - Grand Prairie, TX @ Nokia Theatre
• 10/15 - Austin, TX @ Stubb's BBQ
• 10/16 - Pryor, OK @ Pryor Creek Festival Grounds
• 10/18 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
• 10/19 - St Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing
• 10/20 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
• 10/21 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
• 10/22 - Doswell, VA @ Kingswood Amphitheatre
• 10/23 - Buies Creek, NC @ Saylor Park
• 10/25 - Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
• 10/26 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
• 10/27 - Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues
• 10/28 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 10/29 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
• 10/30 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 11/1 - Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
• 11/2 - East Lansing, MI @ Michigan St. University
• 11/3 - Big Rapids, MI @ Wink Arena
• 11/4 - Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
• 11/5 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
• 11/6 - Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre
• 11/8 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave/ Eagles Club
• 11/9 - Saint Louis, MO @ The Pageant
• 11/10 - West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
• 11/11 - Saint Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
• 11/12 - Fargo, ND @ Playmaker's
• 11/14 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
• 11/16 - Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre
• 11/17 - San Diego, CA @ SOMA
• 11/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater
• 11/19 - San Luis Obispo, CA @ Cal Poly St. Univ.
• 11/20 - San Francisco, CA @ SF Weekly Warfield
• 11/21 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
• 11/22 - Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre

• Relient K

MTV.com Exclusive: Relient K

• Relient K

Nokia Unwired @ Hard Rock Live: Relient K 06.28.05

• Relient K

MTV.com Exclusive: Relient K Photos 05.25.2005

• Relient K