Scarface
Photo: Def Jam

While "XXX" may not be that type of movie, the two-CD soundtrack sure sounds sexy, featuring music by Nelly, Queens of the Stone Age, N.E.R.D. and Moby.

Also out Tuesday (August 6) is yet another project from Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur). This time he's teamed up with some of the finest musicians from the African nation of Mali to create a sound that they simply call Mali Music.

Plus, it's finally time for embattled Project Pat to lay da tracks down. After at least four months of scheduling changes and pesky imprisonment hang-ups, Layin' Da Smack Down finally gets released this week alongside Trick Daddy's Thug Holiday and Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band's King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents.

Also look out for Libertineby Gene, Scarface's The Fix, MTV's "Road Rules"soundtrack featuring songs by Jimmy Eat World, Unwritten Law and Hoobastank, and from the file of "When bad album titles happen to good artists," Jean Grae's Attack of the Attacking Things.

Out Tuesday, August 6:

• Vicente Amigo - City of Ideas (Windham Hill)
• Analogue II - Oh Perfect Masters (Rubric)
• Astrobotnia - Part 3 (EFA-CAR)
• Jim Brickman - Love Songs & Lullabies (Windham Hill)
• Dee Dee Bridgewater - This Is New (Verve)
• Buc Fifty - Bad Man (Battleaxe)
• The Buzzhorn - Disconnected (Atlantic)
• Cage - Movies for the Blind (High Times)
• Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving (Sad Robot)
• Color Red - Clear (RCA)
   Read: "Color Red Learning From Ant Farm But Still Haven't A Clue About Their Name"
• Cruxshadows - Wishfire (Dancing Ferret)
• Dälek - From the Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (Ipecac)
• Dani Girl - All Me (Rockboy)
• Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are (Rhino)
• Diary of Dreams - Freak Perfume (Metropolis)
• DJ Joe - A Mover ... (Cutting)
• DJ Sammy - Heaven (Robin's Ent.)
• DJ Sangeet - DJ Sangeet (EFA-CAR)
• Foreigner - Double Vision (Rhino)
• Foreigner - Head Games (Rhino)
• Kevin Fowler - High on the Hog (Tin Roof)
• Gene - Libertine (iMUSIC)
• Martin Gerschwitz - Lazy Afternoon (Silica)
• Golden - Apollo Stars (Touch & Go)
• Jean Grae - Attack of the Attacking Things (Third Earth Music)
• Kind of Like Spitting - Bridges Worth Burning (Barsuk)
• Kitchens & Bathrooms - Utter a Sound (Sonic Unyon)
• Mack & Jamie - Extreme Channel Surfing (Uproar)
• Mali Music - Mali Music (Honest Jon's/Astralwerks)
• Ray Manzarek - Freshly Dug (Ozit Morpheus)
• Mastretta - Mastretta (Minty Fresh)
• Meshuggah - Nothing (Nuclear Blast)
   Read: Meshuggah Deliver Something For Nothing
• Stephan Micus - Towards the Wind (ECM)
• Allison Moorer - Miss Fortune (Universal South)
• No Secrets - No Secrets (Jive)
• Off by One - Off by One (MCA)
• Opium Jukebox - Bhangra Bloody Bhangra: A Tribute to Black Sabbath (Underground Inc.)
• Pietasters - Turbo (Fueled by Ramen)
• Project Pat - Layin' Da Smack Down (Loud)
   Read: "Project Pat Digging Street Love, Layin' The Smack Down"
• Ray Makers - Phantom Third Channel (Transistor)
• Riddlin' Kids - Hurry Up and Wait (Aware/Columbia)
• Jack Russell - For You (Knight)
• Sasha - Airdrawndagger (Kinetic)
• Scarface - The Fix (Def Jam)
   Buy Now: The Fix (Def Jam)
  
• Sixteen Horsepower - Folklore (Jet Set)
• Sole Music Presents - Homecookin': Do What You Wanna Do (Sole)
• Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band - King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents (King Biscuit)
• Stretch Princess - Fun With Humans (Wind-up)
• Steve Tibbetts - A Man About a Horse (ECM)
• Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday (Slip-n-Slide/Atlantic)
   Read: "Trick Daddy Celebrating Thug Holiday In August"
   Buy Now: Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
  
• Unleashed - Hell's Unleashed (Century Media)
• Various artists - Amnesia Ibiza (Groovilicious)
• Various artists - Baadasssss Cinema: The Sounds of Blaxploitataion (TVT)
• Various artists - Body + Soul: Ladies Got Soul (Time Life)
• Various artists - Critical Mass Vol. 3 (Metropolis)
• Various artists - Cuts: Session 002 (Groovilicious)
• Various artists - Dance Mix NYC Vol. 2 (Tommy Boy)
• Various artists - Fluid Ounce: Unmeasured (Ubiquity)
• Various artists - Hi-Fidelity House Vol. 4 (Guidance)
• Various artists - Notes from Thee Real Underground Vol. 4 (Underground Inc.)
• Various artists - Om 100 (Om)
• Various artists - Pitamaha: Music From Bali (Amulet)
• Various artists - Real Deal (Bomb Hip Hop)
• Various artists - Total Lee: The Songs of Lee Hazelwood (Astralwerks)
• Various artists - "24 Hour Party People" soundtrack (London)
   Read:"Kurt Loder Weighs In On '24 Hour Party People' "
• Various artists - Soulful House Experience (Nervous)
• Various artists -"Spy Kids 2" soundtrack (Milan)
• Various artists - Trance Mix USA Vol. 3 (Radikal)
• Various artists - "The Kid Stays in the Picture" soundtrack (Milan)
• Various artists - "The Last Minute" soundtrack (Palm Pictures)
• Various artists - MTV Road Rules: Don't Make Me Pull This Thing Over Vol. 1 (Roadrunner)
• Various artists - "Providence" soundtrack (MCA Nashville)
• Various artists - "XXX" soundtrack (2 CDs, Universal)
• Phil Vassar - American Child (Arista)
• Jeff "Tain" Watts - Bar Talk (Columbia)
• The Wildweeds - The Best Of: No Good to Cry (Confidential)
• Victoria Williams - Sings Some Ol' Songs (DualTone)

August 13:

• Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park (Redline)
• Slum Village - Trinity: Past, Present and Future (Priority/ Capitol)
• Keith Sweat - Rebirth (Elektra)

• Lady May - May Day (Arista)
   Read: "Lady May: Savage Hip-Hop Straight From the Suburbs"
• Maná - Revolución De Amor (Warner Music Intl.)
• Murderdolls - Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
   Buy Now: Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
  
• Orbital - Work 89-02 (FFRR/ WSM)

• Erykah Badu - TBD (EP, Motown)
• Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash - Distance Between (Ultimatum)
• BBMak - Into Your Head (Hollywood)
   Buy Now: Into Your Head (Hollywood)
  
• Beenie Man - Tropical Storm (Virgin)
• The Black Crowes - The Black Crowes Live (V2)
• Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
   Buy Now: A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
  
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP, Epitaph)
• Dixie Chicks - Home (Open Wide/ Monument/ Columbia)
• Eve - Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
   Read: "Eve, Alicia Keys Team Up For Some 'Gangsta Love'"
   Buy Now: Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
  
• Gus Gus - Attention (Moonshine)
• Aimee Mann - Lost in Space (Superego)
• Mudhoney - Since We've Become Translucent (Sub Pop)
• Ms. Jade - Girl Interrupted (Beat Club/ Interscope)
   Read: "Ms. Jade's 'Big Head' Is Meant To Move Your Big Butt"
• Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
   Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Flex Their Star Power"
   Buy Now: Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
  
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic)
   Read: "Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates"
• Stone Sour - Stone Sour (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
• Trina - Diamond Princess (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Diamond Princess Trina Recruits Tweet For 'No Panties' Single"
• Viva Death - Viva Death (Vagrant)

• Christina Aguilera - TBD (RCA)
   Read: "Christina Aguilera: Not Your Puppet"
• Cassius - Au Rêve (Astralwerks)
• Ladytron - Light & Magic (Emperor Norton)
• Nine Days - So Happily Unsatisfied (Epic)
• OK Go - OK Go (Capitol)
• Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance (Century Media)
   Read: "You Hear It First: Shadows Fall"

• Trick Daddy
• Scarface
• Meshuggah
• Project Pat
• Sasha

Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method and Orbital will headline America's first Creamfields festivals in Long Island, New York, and Las Vegas in September.

DJs Timo Maas, Tall Paul and John Aquaviva will also perform outside of the Big Apple on September 1, while Basement Jaxx, Sandra Collins and DJ Dan will play Sin City on September 29, organizers announced Monday (May 21).

Several other top electronic acts are slated for both shows, including former Underworld DJ Darren Emerson, Stereo MC's, Uberzone, Richie Hawtin, Pete Tong, Josh Wink, Photek, Max Graham, Scott Henry, Scott Hardkiss, Scanty Sandwich and the Dub Pistols.

The Long Island festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and several circus tent arenas hosted by influential clubs from the East Coast and the U.K., will also include DJ Feelgood, Christian Smith, DJ Dara and DJ DB. The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Dave Ralph, Donald Glaude, Bad Boy Bill, Christopher Lawrence and Adam Freeland will spin at the Las Vegas festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and six tents. That show will run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

More acts, along with ticket information, will be announced later this month, organizers said.

Leading European dance event promoters Cream staged the first Creamfields in the U.K. in 1998. Held annually since, it has become one of the biggest dance-music festivals in the world, attracting 50,000 fans last year.

This year's U.K. fest will be held August 25 at the Old Liverpool Airfield in Liverpool. Fatboy Slim, Gorillaz, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, Paul van Dyk, Goldie, Seb Fontaine, Judge Jules and Pete Tong are among the artists scheduled to appear.

• Fatboy Slim
• The Crystal Method
• Orbital
• Timo Maas
• DJ Dan

Fatboy Slim
Photo: MTV News

Fatboy Slim's five nods tops the long list of nominees for the DanceStar 2001 Tiscali World Dance Music Awards, which were announced Wednesday (April 25).

Close behind are Sonique and Spiller, each nominated for four awards, which will be presented June 6 at London's Alexandra Palace.

Fatboy Slim, a.k.a. Norman Cook, is up for Best Club DJ, DanceStar of the Year and Best Breakbeat/Eclectic Act for "Sunset (Bird of Prey)," Best Album of the Year for Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, and Best Video for "Demons" (featuring Macy Gray).

The other nominees for DanceStar of the Year are Timo Maas for "Ubik," Spiller for "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)," Craig David for "Rendezvous" and Sonique for "It Feels So Good." Sonique's Hear My Cry is also nominated for Best Album along with Daft Punk's Discovery, MJ Cole's Sincere and Bent's Programmed to Love. Fatboy faces stiff competition in the Best Club DJ category from Erick Morillo, Danny Tenaglia, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, John Digweed, Seb Fontaine, Fergie, Carl Cox and Judge Jules.

Morillo, founder of New York dance label Subliminal Records, will host the awards along with Gail Porter and DJ Brandon Block.

Faithless, who occasionally feature founder Rollo's sister, Dido, are among the acts scheduled to perform. Others include U.K. garage duo Architechs, trance star Darude, Denmark percussionists Safri Duo and Jakatta, who will perform his hit European single "American Dream," a reworking of the title track to the film "American Beauty." Additional artists will be announced later.

Moby, Artful Dodger, ATB and Chicane (featuring Bryan Adams) performed at last year's inaugural ceremony.

DanceStar 2001 will be webcast live at Tiscali's music portal, www.musix.com.

A worldwide academy chose the nominees and winners are voted on by the public at www.dancestar.net.

In conjunction with the awards, DanceStar will release a compilation album featuring many of this year's nominees.

• Fatboy Slim
• Timo Maas
• Sonique
• Daft Punk
• M.J. Cole

Sonicnet Music News

Welsh trance DJ/producer Sasha (born Alexander Coe) and German singer Sasha (born Sasha Schmidt) have settled their dispute over domestic rights to the name Sasha, as the latter will release his U.S. debut under the name Sasha Alexander.

The two have been fighting over the name since early summer, when a dance remix of Schmidt's single "If You Believe" climbed into the "Billboard" Club Play chart.

"It was a complete mess," Coe said. "He was sending white labels out to these record stores with just the name Sasha on them, and it was this horrible, cheesy pop music. The guy has definitely tried to capitalize off my name. I've worked very hard to build my name. For some cheesy pop artist to use it is nonsense."

Responding to Coe, Schmidt said, "What can I say? I never met him. It was between our lawyers. It was a little bit strange for me because it's my name and it's been my artist name since two years."

Schmidt said he did not think audiences would compare the two artists because their music is totally different.

"Maybe the club charts are his territory," Schmidt said. "Maybe that's why he came in, because he never said a word when I was just releasing my singles."

Schmidt released his debut album, "Dedicated To...," in November of 1998. The record, which features a cover of the Commodores' "Easy" and the German top-20 hit "I'm Still Waitin'," went platinum in Germany and gold in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland. A collection of songs from "Dedicated To..." and new material was scheduled for release in the United States on Reprise Records this summer, but has been pushed back to early next year, according to his spokesperson.

Coe began his career spinning records at the London dance club Renaissance. In recent years, Coe and partner John Digweed have set the standard for mix-CDs with their acclaimed "Northern Exposure" series, and this summer released "Communicate," the first mix to debut on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart.

Both artists and their lawyers have decided the rights to the name Sasha should go to who had the name first in each country.

"The early bird catches the worm," Schmidt said. "He was there before and it's also his name, so he has Sasha in America and I will be called Sasha Alexander or whatever, just so we don't confuse people."

In Germany, Coe will use the name DJ Sasha, he said.

"It's unfortunate, but this guy has actually sold like a million records in Germany," Coe said. "In the States, he has absolutely no right to use my name. And we're still fighting to make sure he doesn't release any records in the U.K. It's very, very frustrating."

Schmidt, who sings entirely in English because, he says, "It's hard to sing love songs in German," said his grandfather named him after a '70s French singer named Sasha. "It's a Russian name that means 'the protector,'" he said.

• John Digweed
• Sasha

After breaking through to the mainstream in 1999 with his Bedrock single,"Heaven Scent," English DJ John Digweed is quickly evolving into a legitimate multimedia star here in the U.S.

"Communicate," the new mix record from Digweed and his frequent DJ collaborator, Sasha, is currently charting in the "Billboard" Top 200, right as Digweed is drawing rave reviews for his part in "Groove," a film that recounts a night in the life of the San Francisco dance scene.

Sasha and Digweed have grown global-sized reputations as international DJs since first hooking up in the U.K. in 1993. Bedrock, one of Digweed's many other projects, percolated over to wider, non-club audiences last year when its "Heaven Scent" track was featured in a DKNY commercial.

Now, as "Groove" continues to open in cities across the country, Digweed is earning praise for playing himself in a role that calls for him to literally save a dance party in the S.F. warehouse district after local cops come in and attempt to shut it down.

Digweed recently sat down with MTV News and talked about how he was approached to become involved in the "Groove" film.

"Basically, I got a call from my management over here," Digweed explained, "saying that there's people interested in me playing a cameo role in this film that's being shot in San Francisco. So, I got the script sent over, read through it, and met with the director [Greg Harrison] when I was in San Francisco, doing some gigs."

"I met up with the director and kind of really hit it off. I was kind of nervous at one point, just in how I wanted to be perceived and everything. But once I met [Harrison] and heard his intentions for the film and I saw he generally wanted to promote the scene in a good way--that was my main concern--once I realized that, I got involved."

"But it was great," he added. "I love playing in San Francisco. It's one of my favorite places, and to be involved with a project over there was a lot of fun. Everyone was so supporting, 'cause I'd never done any acting like that before, so it was very nervous, but I had a lot of fun."

The "Heaven Scent" single by Bedrock is featured on the "Groove" soundtrack, and Digweed indicated that a follow-up to that record is being discussed, an album that would consist of the records he spins during his scenes in the flick.

"That's something that's been talked about, and I think it's gonna happen," Digweed said.