Madonna
Photo: Dave Hogan/ Getty Images

Justin Timberlake got one heck of a 27th birthday surprise on Thursday (January 31) when Madonna presented him with a cupcake and champagne on the set of her new video, Madge's representative told MTV News. The clip, for "4 Minutes to Save the World," is currently being shot in London with directors Jonas & Francois (who helmed Justice's "D.A.N.C.E.") (Maroon 5, James Blunt) and will feature JT as well as Timbaland. The track will appear on Madonna's yet-untitled LP, due this year. ...

In Style magazine is teaming with the Grammys for the first-ever Grammy Salute to Fashion, which will take place February 7 and feature a performance by Rihanna. The event peeks at the spring collections from the fashion houses of Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson. It will be hosted by producer Jimmy Jam and also feature a showcase for the Recording Academy's own fashion line, Grammy Brand. ...

Beck's Odelay deluxe reissue is filled with unreleased and rare tracks, and other goodies — but incorrect lyrics weren't supposed to be among them. "The first pressing of the recent Odelay [reissue] was found to have gone out with unproofed lyrics that were taken from a lyrics Web site as place holders for layout purposes," his publicist said in a statement. "Beck apologizes for this unfortunate oversight and is making arrangements for the corrected lyrics to be available gratis via Beck.com. Subsequent pressings of the Odelay [reissue] will also include the corrected lyrics." ...

The routing for this year's Warped Tour will find the 14th annual edition of the fest kicking off June 20 in Pomona, California, and swinging through 45 cities across North America before winding up August 17 in Los Angeles. Venues for the trek have not yet been announced, and tickets won't go on sale until March. Confirmed performers include Gym Class Heroes, Every Time I Die, the Academy Is ..., Relient K, From First to Last and Reel Big Fish, who will all perform on the entire tour. ...

George Clooney toured the United Nations headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday as part of a ceremony anointing him a U.N. messenger of peace, according to The Associated Press. The "Michael Clayton" actor, who recently returned from a trip to Sudan, took on his new U.N. "role" — for which he will promote the world body's peacekeeping missions — after launching many of his own efforts to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. ...

Dizzee Rascal and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have been added to the list of performers for this year's Plug Independent Music Awards, to be held March 6 in New York. Funnyman Patton Oswalt will host, with José González and St. Vincent — who, like Cave and Rascal, are also nominated for Plug honors — also performing. ... Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore slipped out an exclusive iTunes EP on Wednesday, according to Pitchfork. Live From SoHo showcases Moore — with SY drummer Steve Shelley and others — performing nine songs at an Apple store in New York in October. ... She & Him — Zooey Deschanel's music project with indie folkie M. Ward — are plotting to release their first album, Volume 1, March 18 via Merge. The group has also been added to San Francisco's Noise Pop, slated for February 26 through March 2. Working for a Nuclear Free City, Quasi, White Denim, Entrance and Great Northern have also been tossed onto the fest's bill. ...

Antony has handcrafted a white silk dress and is planning to put it up for auction February 14 on eBay. Proceeds will go to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a grassroots group that fights for the rights of people to self-determine their gender identity and expression. ... The indie-rock community is continuing to reach out to help Callum Robbins, the 2-year-old son of former Jawbox frontman J. Robbins who has an incurable spinal disease. Now rare items by Mission of Burma, Shellac, Shudder to Think, John Vanderslice, Kristin Hersch and others are The bidding will end in seven or eight days, depending on the item. ...

J Mascis's Witch project — the sludgy, metal-ish answer to his main band, Dinosaur Jr. — have thrown together their second album, Paralyzed, and it will see the light of day March 18. Witch are also scheduled to play this year's South by Southwest music festival, set for March 12-16 in Austin, Texas. ... Ex-Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow had been touring with his new band, Qui — until he suffered a collapsed lung during a stop in Pittsburgh earlier this week. According to Pitchfork, he was released from the hospital Tuesday night and is planning to attend Thursday's Los Angeles premiere of "Al's Beef," a short-form Western in which he acted. While Yow has recovered, though, Qui's live dates in February and March are still scrapped. ...

Ahoy, Pirate Bay — you've got a bit of a problem on your hands. Four men who run the popular file-sharing site are facing charges of conspiracy to break copyright law in Sweden, according to BBC News. While the site's servers don't contain copyrighted material, they do offer links to the download location of movies, TV shows, albums and software. A prosecutor reportedly said the site — which was temporarily shut down two years ago after police seized its computers — was commercially exploiting copyright-protected materials because it got its money from advertising revenues. "In case we lose the pending trial (yeah right) there will still not be any changes to the site," replied a post on the site. "The Pirate Bay will keep operating just as always. We've been here for years and we will be here many more." The men could go to prison for up to two years if convicted, according to BBC News.

1.30.08

All hail Madonna: the singer is the richest woman in music, according to Forbes.com. Madge reportedly earned a staggering $72 million between June 2006 and June of last year, with her Confessions tour raking in $260 million. Also earning big bucks were Shakira ($38 million), Beyoncé ($27 million), Gwen Stefani ($26 million), Christina Aguilera ($20 million), Mariah Carey ($13 million), Hilary Duff ($12 million), Avril Lavigne ($12 million), Britney Spears ($8 million), Carrie Underwood ($7 million), Nelly Furtado ($7 million), Fergie ($6 million), Jennifer Lopez ($6 million) and Norah Jones ($5.5 million). ... Brangelina better have a lifetime supply of Pampers — the couple are expecting more children, according to UsMagazine.com. Angelina Jolie, who already has four children with Brad Pitt, is reportedly pregnant with twins with her mate. ...

Kevin Federline's lawyer wants Britney Spears to pay up. Mark Vincent Kaplan filed a motion Tuesday asking the court to make Spears foot his client's attorney bill, according to TMZ. The Web site estimates the fees to be more than $500,000 since the custody battle began in July. A hearing on the request is set for March 10. ...

The 3-D flick "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" accounted for roughly 90 percent of ticket sales at Fandango.com and MovieTickets.com as of Wednesday morning (January 30), even though it will only open in 684 digital theaters on Thursday at midnight, Reuters reports. ...

The Academy Awards have a backup plan in the event that the ongoing writers' strike doesn't resolve itself by then, The Associated Press reports. The February 24 ceremony's contingency program would include "history and packages of film and concepts that are not normally ones that we would have for the show if we were moving straight ahead," Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis reportedly said Wednesday. The Academy is in talks with the Writers Guild of America, AP says. ... Death Cab for Cutie have slapped a title onto their next album, which is due in May. According to a post on the indie-rockers' Web site, they're calling it Narrow Stairs. ...

What would a year be like without the Snoop Bowl? Snoop Dogg announced on Wednesday that he will stage the event for a sixth time — and he's going to have to hustle, since he's planning for it to happen Saturday. The charity game will be held at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Matt Leinart Foundation, a group set up by the Arizona Cardinals quarterback that helps disadvantaged youth. Leinart will be in attendance at the Bowl. ... A day later is the Super Bowl, of course, and ESPN is planning to sport an odd musical combo on its "Sunday NFL Countdown" pregame show prior to Sunday's big game. Acoustic heavy-metal duo Rodrigo y Gabriela will perform and chat on the show. ...

Keep your eye out for unreleased freestyle and video footage from Eminem, Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan and other hip-hop superstars that will surface on UrSession.com, a new social-networking site that launches Thursday in beta form. The site, hatched by System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian, along with King Tech and MTV News' own Sway, will also feature a music label and an area that allows artists to audition their music. The unreleased hip-hop footage is coming courtesy Sway and Tech's "Wake Up Show." ... Ruben Studdard just can't catch a break anymore. The former "Idol" champ, who was dropped by J Records last year after his 2006 LP, The Return, tanked, is suing a concert promoter for breach of contract. TMZ reports that Studdard is seeking $45,000 from Dallas company Peachez Inc. in a suit filed Monday in New York Supreme Court. ...

Organizers of the Melbourne leg of Australia's Big Day Out festival were defending themselves Tuesday against charges that they could have done a better job with security during a set Monday by bombastic reunited rockers Rage Against the Machine. According to the Herald-Sun, dozens of fans in the crowd of 46,000, the biggest ever for a Melbourne Big Day Out show, climbed to precarious spots on top of marquees, speaker stacks and trees, forcing headliners Rage to stop playing for a bit as security pulled them down. Two men were also seriously injured during the set after falling off a marquee — one dislocated his shoulder and the other suffered spinal shock — and one crowd-surfer was pulled over the barrier unconscious, according to the paper. Fans reportedly complained of overcrowding and a floor plan that made the crowd aggressive, though organizers said that considering it was the first year at a new venue, things went smoothly. "This is the first year at a brand-new venue and, generally, everything ran very well," said spokesperson Miranda Brown. In all, 11 people were transported to the hospital during or after the event and 413 were treated, mostly for minor injuries. ...

Mötley Crüe have written 10 songs for their forthcoming LP, according to bassist Nikki Sixx. "I'm very proud of the songs," he said in a post on his Web site. "I think we're onto some of the better songs we've had in years. Time will tell, of course." Some of the songs slated to appear on the record include "A Scar on Hollywood Blvd" and "The Saints of Los Angeles." Sixx said the record will be named The Dirt — calling to mind the band's autobiography, "The Dirt - Mötley Crüe: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band" — and the lyrics will follow the story in the book. "It's challenging and exciting to have to write the songs into time capsules spreading over years," Sixx said in his post. "I've written a lot of songs with [guitarist] Mick Mars ... and the chemistry in the studio as we're writing is unbelievable." ... Pink is not alone: Like the pop singer, Chrissie Hynde is joining People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' protest over horse-drawn carriages in New York. The Pretenders frontwoman, who was married years ago while sitting in a horse-drawn carriage in Manhattan, will lead a PETA protest and talk with tourists on Thursday. She's also backing a recently introduced bill that would ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. ...

30 Seconds to Mars premiered their new short film, "A Beautiful Lie," Wednesday on MySpace. The band claims the video for the title track from its 2005 platinum album marks the first time a music clip has been shot 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Greenland. "Shooting in Greenland was a dream come true and one of the most exciting adventures we've ever had as a band," singer Jared Leto said in a statement. "Although incredibly challenging and at times it seemed just out of our reach, once we finally arrived, the beauty and magnificence of the terrain, the wonderful culture of the people, and the amazing journey itself were all inspiring beyond belief. Almost everyone has heard of global warming by now but for the people of Greenland it is a real and tangible problem of today, not an issue of tomorrow. This journey changed our lives." The band and the video's director worked with the National Resource Defense Council to find ways to offset the environmental impact of filming, including minimizing fuel consumption and buying certificates supporting renewable-energy generation that offset the environmental effects of burning coal, gas and other fossil fuels across North America. ...

Papa Roach are down a drummer following the departure of Dave Buckner, frontman Jacoby Shaddix confirmed in a post on the band's MySpace page. "It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do," he wrote of the split. "He's taking this time to get his life together. We are still friends and still talk on a regular basis. The road is a hard place to live, and if you are falling apart, it will destroy you. He will be missed." There's no word yet on whether the band has found or is searching for Buckner's replacement. ... Chevelle and Finger Eleven — who opened for Evanescence last year — will hit the road together again starting February 19 in Flint, Michigan. Dates run through April 2 in Denver. ... Face to Face will reunite for some upcoming live shows after breaking up in 2003. There are no immediate plans for a full scale tour, but the punk outfit will play select festival dates in the U.S., including Bamboozle Left, which is set for April 5 in Irvine, California. ...

John Oates' mustache — yeah, the one you might've seen on your parents' old Hall & Oates records — is so famous that it's getting its own cartoon, according to Glenwood Springs, Colorado's Post Independent. "My mustache has superpowers," Oates, who has since shaved off the 'stache, told the paper. The 'toon is reportedly in development. ... While dating your tourmate would be pretty convenient, Miley Cyrus insists that she and Jonas Brothers heartthrob Nick Jonas are not an item. "We're just really good buds," the singer told USA Today. The "Hannah Montana" starlet was on the road with the band of brothers for the Best of Both Worlds Tour from October till December, before the Jonases were replaced by Aly & AJ. ... It's still unclear who, exactly, is in the re-formed New Kids on the Block, but after 14 years apart, the reunited boy band has a new song on its Web site. Portions of a new, untitled track have been posted on the NKOTB site over a montage of images highlighting their career. The piano ballad features the lines, "I know it's hard to see me go/ To see me standin' so close to the door/ And I know it's hard when I'm far away/ But I promise you when I get back, I'll stay." The clip ends with the words, "Are You Ready?" flashing on the screen.

• Madonna
• Rihanna
• Sonic Youth
• Zooey Deschanel
• Beck

Nick Bollea's car after the Sunday crash
Photo: Tim Boyles/ Getty Images

Nick Bollea, Hulk Hogan's 17-year-old son, was discharged from a hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Monday morning (August 27) after being involved in a car accident the previous evening. Police said Bollea, who was featured in VH1's "Hogan Knows Best" reality series, was driving his Toyota Supra at a high speed along state route 60 when he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a raised median at 7:30 p.m. in Clearwater. The car reportedly flipped over, and the rear of the vehicle collided with a palm tree. Bollea and one of his car's passengers, 22-year-old John Graziano, were airlifted to the Bayfront Medical Center following the crash. The nature of both Bollea's and Graziano's injuries was not immediately known, but a police spokesperson characterized them as serious. Graziano remains under the hospital's care in critical condition. Alcohol is not believed to have played a role in the accident, but police continue to investigate the crash. No criminal charges have been filed. ...

Jordin Sparks doesn't have a name for her debut album yet, but she's got a release date set in stone: November 20. In anticipation of the 19 Recordings/ Jive disc, the "American Idol" champ drew back the curtains on her first single on Friday, debuting "Tattoo" on AOL's Pop Eater blog. The track hits radio Monday. Sparks told The Associated Press that the effort was partly modeled after one of her own idols, Kelly Clarkson — but that she's a bit nervous to be following in the wake of Clarkson and Carrie Underwood's success. "They've risen the bar so high and I'm like, 'I hope I can reach it,' " she said. "Hopefully [my LP will] sell well and people will like it." ...

The runner-up to Sparks, Blake Lewis, is following suit — he just signed to 19 Recordings/ Arista and is planning to drop his first album late this year as well. Hit-maker du jour J.R. Rotem is already on board for the effort. ...

It's no McDonald's parking-lot tour, but Missy Elliott will be featured in a new Doritos ad campaign debuting September 17, Billboard.com reports. In the clip, she is seen working on a new song and snacking on Doritos Collision, different-flavored chips that spur her to fuse a little country into her hip-hop track. A contest to be held on SnackStrongProductions.com will allow visitors to create their own mash-ups using Elliott's track, although the prizes have yet to be determined. The site also features a help section in which Elliott will give tips. ...

Listen up, punk-rockers: Unreleased and rare tracks by Panic! at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes, the Used, Cute Is What We Aim For, Sparta, Head Automatica and more fill up Press Play: Volume 1, a new comp that was put together by Photo Finish and Alternative Press. A portion of the proceeds from the September 25 release will go to the Keep a Breast Foundation, a nonprofit organization that fights breast cancer. ...

The Disney Channel will air a special dance-along version of "High School Musical 2" on September 8 at 8 p.m. ET, People reports. Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and other castmembers will instruct viewers on how to mimic their dance moves during the opening and closing numbers. ... Russell Simmons has stepped down from his post as CEO of Phat Fashions, the company he founded in 1992 that spawned Phat Farm clothing. "I leave the division and the brand in great hands. There are so many things I want to achieve, and this is the appropriate moment for me to move on to my next business venture," the hip-hop mogul said in a statement. ...

Mos Def is sounding off about José Padilla, the Guantánamo detainee who was convicted earlier this week of supporting terrorism. "We all know the history of insufficient evidence or testimony under duress — at the very least, legal circumstances that demand some sort of reinvestigation ... basically saying these people are not the criminals they're being made out to be," he told The Associated Press on Thursday. Mos Def will participate this weekend in the 10th annual Black August benefit concert at New York's Nokia Theatre. The event serves to create awareness about people who its organizers, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, believe have been unfairly convicted — Talib Kweli, Saigon and Dead Prez are also on the bill. ...

Music, martial arts and chess ... how could members of the Wu-Tang Clan not be involved? RZA and GZA are participating in the Hip-Hop Chess Foundation's first-ever Chess Kings Invitational, set for October 13 at the San Francisco Design Center. The rappers will talk on the tournament's Life Strategies panel about how music, martial arts and chess — activities the organization uses to promote nonviolence — have affected their lives. ...

Muse have plotted a handful of September dates with Juliette and the Licks: Seattle (September 9); Portland, Oregon (September 10); Orem, Utah (September 12); Dallas (September 16); Morrison, Colorado (September 18); Mesa, Arizona (September 20); and Irvine, California (September 21). Muse will also hit the San Diego Street Scene on September 22. ... Ben Kweller just squeezed out a new seven-track live EP, Ben Kweller: Live and Solo at the Artists Den, that was recorded December 13 at New York's Solo House. The disc of rarely performed songs is available now at digital outlets. ...

System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian will shoot a video for "Praise the Lord, Pass the Ammunition," from the rocker's solo debut, Elect the Dead, at an undisclosed venue in Hollywood next week with director Greg Watermann (Mudvayne, Lamb of God). Extras are needed for the video — those interested in auditioning can e-mail Watermann at serjvideo@gregwatermann.com. ... The track list for Thrice's upcoming LP The Alchemy Index: Vols. I & II - Fire & Water has been revealed. Fire will boast six cuts, including "The Messenger," "Backdraft" and "Burn the Fleet"; Water will also contain six tunes, among them "Open Water," "Night Diving" and "Kings Upon the Main." Look for the discs to hit stores October 16. ...

A writer/producer who worked on "In Living Color" and created Nickelodeon's "Roundhouse" is suing the Walt Disney Company, claiming it stole his idea for "Hannah Montana," Reuters reports. In the suit, Morris Taylor "Buddy" Sheffield says he pitched Disney Channel executives the idea for a kids' show about a high school student who leads a secret life as a pop star. Sheffield also claims Disney could owe him and his production company millions in lost profits and damages, and he wants compensation for legal fees. A Disney Channel spokesperson told the news service the network had no comment. ...

Kirsten Dunst's penthouse suite at a hotel in Manhattan, New York, was robbed earlier this month, according to court records obtained by AP. Thieves got away with a $13,000 handbag, cell phone, $2,500 in cash, an iPod, two digital cameras and ID cards belonging to the actress, who had been in the city to shoot scenes for her upcoming flick "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People." One suspect was arraigned Wednesday on burglary and grand-larceny charges, and is being held on $50,000 bond. ...

Hellyeah — the band featuring members of Mudvayne, Pantera and Nothingface — are on the hunt for a dozen women they'd like to act as their "Hellyeah girls." The winners will be featured in the band's 2008 calendar — to enter, contestants need to post an audition video to Break.com and send a link to the clip to hellyeahtv@gmail.com. ... The Dillinger Escape Plan will headline a U.S. tour this fall set to kick off October 4 in Cleveland, Ohio. Just five dates have been confirmed, but more will be announced in the coming weeks. The trek will also feature A Life Once Lost, Behold ... the Arctopus and Genghis Tron. Dillinger's forthcoming LP, Ire Works, lands in stores November 13. ...

The resurrected Jesus & Mary Chain are heading back to the studio to record their first studio album in nine years. The band will also treat four West Coast cities to more concerts: Las Vegas (October 20); Anaheim, California (October 22); Los Angeles (October 23) and San Francisco (October 26-27). ... Queen guitarist Brian May has finished his doctorate in a crazy little thing called astrophysics — he was awarded his Imperial College qualification on Thursday in London. May had been an astrophysics student before joining the band 37 years ago but dropped out as Queen became successful. His thesis? "Radical Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud." ...

Ted Nugent is at it again. The controversial right-wing rocker went on a profanity-spewed tirade at a concert last week, according to video footage posted on LiveLeak.com. With machine guns in his hands, a camouflaged Nugent yelled, "Obama, he's a piece of sh--, and I told him to suck on my machine gun. ... And then I was in New York. I said, 'Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset.' " He also went off on Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer before saying, "Any questions?" and shouting, "Freedom!"

08.23.07

In one minute, out the next: Nicole Richie checked herself into the Century Regional Facility in Lynwood, California, on Thursday (August 23) to start serving her DUI sentence — only to find herself checking out less than an hour and a half later due to overcrowding. Richie had been sentenced to serve four days in jail. "At this time, the criteria for a female arrestee sentenced to 30 days or less for a nonviolent offense is as follows: the arrestee is booked, screened and usually released within 12 hours," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a press release issued to MTV News. "This procedure is based on jail overcrowding to manage population levels mandated by federal court guidelines. Based on the mandated guidelines and Ms. Richie's 96 hours sentence, she will be treated in the same manner as other inmates with a similar sentence." The jail is the same one where Paris Hilton served a portion of her DUI sentence. ...

The Kelly Clarkson train is slowly getting back on the tracks. After the early-summer one-two punch of dumping her manager and canceling the tour in support of My December, the singer has booked the first two shows of what is expected to be a fall/winter outing. The dates — an October 10 show at Verona, New York's Turning Stone casino and another on October 15 at New York's Beacon Theater — are in venues decidedly smaller than some of the arenas Clarkson had been originally booked to hit as part of her scotched 35-date summer tour. The full itinerary for her rescheduled trek is expected in two weeks, according to a management spokesperson. ...

Justin Timberlake is joining the cast of "The Love Guru," a sports comedy starring Mike Myers, Verne Troyer and Jessica Alba. The Myers-produced film is set to begin production next month in Toronto and tentatively be released in theaters June 20. Timberlake will play a hockey player tangled in a love triangle with the top player on a team owned by Alba. ...

Though she's not likely to attend the ceremony given her doctor's orders to take a break from touring and making appearances for the rest of the year, Amy Winehouse is one of the leading nominees for England's Music of Black Origin awards with four nominations for Best U.K. Female, Best R&B Act, Best Video and Best Song for "Rehab." Also nominated for four awards is rapper Dizzee Rascal. The show will take place September 19 at the O2 arena in London, with the winner chosen by a tally of public votes on the event's Web site. A number of American acts are also nominated, among them Kanye West, Common and 50 Cent in the Best Hip-Hop category; and Amerie, Robin Thicke and Ne-Yo, who will battle Winehouse in the Best Song category. Rihanna has a pair of nominations, including one for Best International Act, in which she'll face off against Diddy, Akon and T.I.. ...

In related news, Paolo Nutini has reshuffled his tour plans following news that tour partner Winehouse tabled her U.S. trek until next year. The Scottish singer/songwriter's jaunt will now run from September 7 in Buffalo, New York, through October 28 in New Orleans. "I'll be thinking a good thought for her, she is a remarkable talent. In the meantime, I'm truly excited about this upcoming tour of North America — I guarantee it will be my best yet," Nutini said in a statement. ...

Rapper Saigon was arrested at 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday in New York on Manhattan's West Side after police stopped him for a traffic violation and allegedly found a switchblade-like knife in the car console. According to his lawyer Scott Leemon, the rapper (born Brian Daniel Carenard) was pulled over while driving someone else's car in what Leemon called "another example of NY's finest targeting a member of the rap and entertainment industry ... the small pocket knife was found in a console in the car, not in his possession. As such, I am hoping after further investigation this will be another example of a rapper being wrongfully arrested." Because of a prior felony assault charge, the weapon-possession charge was bumped up to a felony, according to Leemon. Saigon was released on $1,500 bail and is due in court again December 5. ...

On the hunt for killer B-sides? How about Killers B-sides? The band — which put out its last studio album, Sam's Town, less than a year ago — is planning to pump out a rarities disc before the end of the year, Brandon Flowers recently told Billboard.com. The band's cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay," rendition of Mel Tillis' "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" and "Spider-Man 3" soundtrack contribution "Move Away" are all on the tentative track list, which may include new material. The Killers have also teed up a different new song for release December 1: "Don't Shoot Me Santa," the band's next Christmas charity single for the Red Campaign. "Last year we were able to raise over $100,000 from the one song ['A Great Big Sled'], and hopefully we'll be able to do it again," Flowers said. ...

The Decemberists aren't planning just any old tour — on their upcoming trek, dubbed "The Long and Short of It," the indie-rockers will mix it up by playing at least two nights in 13 cities. They're also parsing the trek into "long" and "short" shows — the former ones will showcase their poppier material and the latter gigs will revolve around the band's epic songs. The jaunt runs from October 28 in Chicago through December 9 in Seattle. The Decemberists have also slapped together a new EP — The Perfect Crime #2 drops September 25 and features four tracks, including a remix by Junior Boys. ... Morrissey's tour plans are perhaps even more ambitious: For what is expected to be his last sweep through the States for a while, he'll hole up in Los Angeles for a marathon 10-night stand at the Palladium (October 1-13), play a four-night stand at San Francisco's Fillmore and a five-night one at New York's' Hammerstein Ballroom (October 28). Dates for the full trek are from September 21 (Las Vegas) through November 4 (Atlanta). ... Last but not least, Bright Eyes have beefed up their tour regiment, stretching their run from September 13 in Denver through November 19 in New York. ...

Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore doesn't have too many kind words to say about Avril Lavigne and John Mayer these days — although he's got plenty of respect for a certain avant-garde legend and another classic-rock hero. "I am playing with Yoko Ono, and she's well past 70 and she rocks," he told Spin for the magazine's September issue. "Neil Young rocks. It's certainly not John Mayer or Avril Lavigne. Those people don't rock. If that's the young generation in the culture, then [forget] it. In the underground, the old guys are cool. I like the fact that the older we get the more we can rock." ... Ramones fans, get ready to be bombarded: More than four hours of unreleased and rare concert material is being piled onto "It's Alive 1974-1996," a double-DVD set poised for an October 2 release. With performances of a whopping 118 songs, the set is highlighted by unissued video footage of the band's New Year's Eve 1977 gig at London's Rainbow Theatre — the show was previously captured in audio form, as the band's noted It's Alive live album. ...

Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder will perform at the world premiere of the Iraq war documentary "Body of War" at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11. The movie, which tells the story of paralyzed Iraq war vet Tomas Young — who appeared on stage with PJ at Lollapalooza — features two new songs written by Vedder, "No More" and "Long Nights." ... Talk about product placement. Southern-rap-news Web site MemphisRap.com claims Master P and his son Romeo have teamed up with T-Mobile to promote the new Sidekick LX by writing a song called "Sidekick" for their upcoming Miller Boyz album, due September 4 on P's new profanity-free label, Take a Stand Records. ... Fred Durst is in negotiations to direct "Comeback," an inspirational Pop Warner football drama starring Ice Cube, according to The Hollywood Reporter. ...

Samuel L. Jackson will emcee Save the Children's 75th anniversary event at New York's Lincoln Center on September 6. The event, to feature a performance by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, will also serve as a tribute to former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, as well as Melinda Gates, for their humanitarian efforts. ... If you have tickets to see enigmatic metal-masked rapper MF Doom anytime soon and the guy onstage doesn't look, or even sound like, the Super Villain you know and love, you might be onto something. Bloggers have been abuzz over the past week about several recent West Coast Doom shows that have reportedly featured an impostor taking the stage in place of the rapper and performing (some say lip-synching) in Doom's place. The first sign that something was up, according to a fan who wrote into the Byron Crawford blog, was that cameras at a recent San Francisco show were strictly prohibited. The disgruntled fan wrote that Doom appeared 100 pounds lighter than usual during the 20-minute headlining performance. A spokesperson for Doom had no comment. ...

A forensics expert backed up defense claims made in the Phil Spector murder trial — and refuted by a prosecution witness on Wednesday — that Lana Clarkson might have continued breathing after she was shot at the music producer's mansion. Prosecutors sparred with the expert, Dr. Werner Spitz, afterward. ... The biggest ticketing agency in the country and the world's biggest concert promoter appear headed for a breakup. According to reports in Hits magazine online and Variety, internal documents about the negotiations from Ticketmaster said it is "doubtful" that Live Nation will renew its agreement with Ticketmaster when their current agreement expires at the end of this year. The loss of the Live Nation business, which Variety said accounted for about 15-20 percent of Ticketmaster's U.S. business in 2006, could mean Live Nation is gearing up to launch its own ticketing venture.

[This story was originally published at 8:00 pm E.T. on 8.23.2007]

• System of a Down
• Thrice
• Hellyeah
• Dillinger Escape Plan
• The Joseph & Mary Chain

Fabolous' <i>From Nothin' to Somethin'</i>
Photo: Def Jam

A decade ago Tuesday (June 12), inter-league play was introduced into Major League Baseball, tearing down the wall that prevented American and National League teams from competing outside the World Series — and giving migraines to fans who hate designated hitters.

So what more appropriate place to celebrate the 10-year anniversary than in a column about new CDs (talk about inter-league play!)? Well, ESPN, probably — but we're going to have a little fun anyway by pitting disparate artists from different genres against each other and seeing what happens. Let's play ball!

Fabolous vs. Queens of the Stone Age
Fab was wise to wait a week before finally releasing his forever-delayed From Nothin' to Somethin' — last week he would've be up against Rihanna, Daddy Yankee and T-Pain, whereas this week he's got the hip-hop playing field pretty much all to himself. Having said that, Rih Rih and T-Pain actually both pay a visit on Fab's LP — as do Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Akon, Ne-Yo and basically every other major rapper you can name.

But QOTSA have a few friends too — namely affiliate Mark Lanegan and Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, both of whom tag along with the band as it ushers in its new Era Vulgaris. Trent Reznor, another pal of frontman Josh Homme, collaborated with the band as well, but their resulting song — called "Era Vulgaris," actually — is being reserved for bonus-track purposes. Speaking of which, Best Buy has a bonus all its own — a cover of Billy Idol's "White Wedding."

Betting Line: Fab unloads a ton more discs than QOTSA, but "White Wedding"? Come on. Homme gives a better interview too.

DJ Khaled vs. Enrique Iglesias
Miami hip-hop is staying hot thanks in part to DJ Khaled, whose 99 Jamz WEDR radio show is the most popular one in the city. He's hoping his hometown success translates across the rest of the country with his sophomore album, We the Best — which comes almost exactly a year after he dropped his Listennn ... The Album debut. He's got a ton of friends in tow to ensure chart appeal: T.I., Game, Lil Wayne, Akon, Ludacris, Ja Rule, Rick Ross, Juelz Santana and Young Jeezy — and that's not even the whole list.

Also banging out of MIA this week is Iglesias — he wasn't born in Miami (Madrid, Spain, can claim that honor) but is based there. Wayne is buds with him too, apparently — Weezy crops up on "Push," a new track featured on the singer's three-years-in-the-works Insomniac. There aren't nearly as many guests on the 15-track bilingual album as on Khaled's LP — although producer Sean Garrett does help out — but the rap DJ still has a little catching up to do, as Enrique has already dished out more than 40 million copies of his albums over the course of roughly a decade.

Betting Line: Enrique, who loves smack talk, will likely bring the smackdown.

DMX vs. Tia Carrera
He acts, she acts — except the "she" in question is actually a "they." That's right: Tia Carrera (not Carrere, for those of you who are paying close attention) are a blues-metal band from Austin, Texas. TC's new Heaven/Hell release is only an EP, but that's still more fresh material than you'll get from DMX this week. While he's working on a new studio album called Soul of a Man, former label Def Jam has taken the time to issue a 20-track best-of comp — but there aren't any goodies on The DEFinition of X: Pick of the Litter.

Betting Line: X isn't someone you ever want to mess with — in the record racks or anywhere else — and even though Tia Carrera (the band) isn't really the actress, they should still have to live down this movie.

Tupac Shakur vs. Sonic Youth
Like DMX, 'Pac is getting stuck with an archival release with no new material: Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991, which is a straight reissue of the set. Sonic Youth are pouring plenty of treats onto a reissue of their own — a deluxe-edition version of their iconic indie-rock album, Daydream Nation. Dropping 19 years after it was first issued — why didn't the label just wait a year on the reissue and make it an even 20? — the album now features live versions of all the songs featured on the LP, studio bonuses and covers of Beatles, Mudhoney, Captain Beefheart and Neil Young tunes. If you're still not convinced, Daydream Nation was one of the first 200 albums chosen by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Recording Registry. So there ya go.

Datarock vs. Katatonia
The debut album by Datarock — Datarock Datarock, no self-promotion there! — has cemented the Norwegian dance-pop band abroad since the LP's release two years ago. Now the sucker — with its references to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and love letter to Laurie Anderson — is finally hitting the States. "In Norwegian, you would call a computer a 'data machine' ... but in English, 'data' means information, which is even more appropriate because Datarock is essentially the product of 30 years of the information society," Fredrik Saroea," one-half of the duo, said in a statement. Too much in-for-ma-tion!

Veteran doom/goth-metal band Katatonia, from neighbor-to-the-east Sweden, take a, uh, slightly milder approach than Datarock. In a recent statement surrounding the band's recent The Great Cold Distance LP, singer Jonas Renkse said: "While embracing this album, one must know that it will only help to increase the coldness between us. It's a devious life. And this is a soundtrack to it." Now they're dishing up Live Consternation, a CD/DVD set that captures Katatonia's performance at the Summerbreeze Festival in Germany last year and includes Cold tracks as well.

Betting Line: Songs like "Computer Camp Love," "Night Flight to Uranus" and "I Used to Dance With My Daddy" give Datarock the edge.

Would the above list not make for a killer sequel to the "Judgment Night" soundtrack?

Song Title of the Week:

"Woof & Warp of the Quiet Giant's Hem" from Blitzen Trapper's Wild Mountain Nation

Album Cover of the Week:

Child Abuse's Child Abuse

Other Notables:

Pig Destroyer's Phantom Limb "The most deranged metal songs we could come up with." That's what singer J.R. Hayes said in a statement about the extreme-metal band's latest LP, which features "Rotten Yellow," "Girl in a Slayer Jacket" and "Thought Crime Spree." The quartet — which features a sound/noise manipulator but not a bassist, if you can believe it — included signed CD booklets with preordered copies of the disc.

Wooden Wand's James & the Quiet
This songwriter, whose parents named James Jackson Toth, sometimes plays with NYC psych-folk unit Vanishing Voice — or with his own band, which confusingly also plays under the same Wooden Wand moniker. (Adding to the insanity, two members of Vanishing Voice perform on this release, even though it's being credited to Wooden Wand — the man and the band, we presume.) That'll be cleared up soon enough, as this is expected to be the last release Toth will put out under the Wooden Wand alias. None of this seems to have bothered members of Sonic Youth, who have nearly taken him/them in as their own — Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace is the label releasing this album, and Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley lent a hand for it.

Blitzen Trapper's Wild Mountain Nation
In case the band and album names don't already give you the sense that you're lost in the woods somewhere, the conceit is furthered by song titles like "Badger's Black Brigade," "Country Caravan" and "Wild Mtn. Jam." The Portland, Oregon, six-piece is putting out this effort all on its own — but recent and upcoming gigs with Modest Mouse and the Hold Steady should boost Blitzen Trapper's profile. Just don't tell Santa!

New Releases:

· A Perfect Murder - War of Aggression (Victory)
· Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem - Big Old Life (Signature)
· Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (Lidkercow)
· Block - The Last Single Guy (Sona Blast!)
· Blue Scholars - Bayani (Rawkus)
· Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark (Sugar Hill)
· Cherryholmes - Cherryholmes II: Black and White (Skaggs Family)
· Child Abuse - Child Abuse (Lovepump United) [Buy Now]
· Chow Nasty - Super (Electrical) Recordings (Omega)
· Paula Cole - Courage (Decca) [Buy Now]
· The Conformists - Three Hundred (54-40 or Fight)
· Crunchy Black - From Me to You (Asylum)
· Damnation A.D. - In This Life or the Next (Victory)
· Datarock - Datarock Datarock (Nettwerk)
· John Doe - A Year in the Wilderness (Yep Roc)
· Fabolous - From Nothin' to Somethin' (Def Jam) [Buy Now]
Read: "Fabolous' 'All-Stars' Jay-Z, Jeezy, Rihanna Make LP Somethin' To Be Reckoned With"
· Fair to Midland - Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True (Republic)
· Firescape - Dancehall Apocalypse (Red Ink) [Buy Now]
· The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim (XOXO)
· Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd - After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks (Darla)
· Michael Hearst - Songs for Ice Cream Trucks (Bar/None)
· Jon T. Howard - Time for Something New (Mettafour)
· I Hate Sally - Don't Worry Lady (Density)
· Enrique Iglesias - Insomniac (Interscope) [Buy Now]
· Joan as Police Woman - Real Life (Cheap Lullaby)
· Katatonia - Live Consternation (with DVD; Peaceville)
· Toby Keith - Big Dog Daddy (Show Dog Nashville)
· DJ Khaled - We the Best (Terror Squad/ Koch)
· Eddie Levert Sr. & Gerald Levert - Something to Talk About (Atlantic)
· Little Texas - Missing Years (Montage)
· The Lodger - Grown-Ups (Slumberland)
· Mad Juana - Acoustic Voodoo (Azra)
· Jono Manson - Summertime (Sunset)
· The Mission U.K. - God Is a Bullet (Cooking Vinyl)
· Abra Moore - On the Way (Sarathan)
· Laurie Morvan Band - Cures What Ails Ya (Screaming Lizard)
· Napalm Death - Punishment in Capitals (Eagle Rock)
· Mark Olson - The Salvation Blues (Hacktone)
· Paramore - Riot! (MVI album with bonus CD due same day; Fueled by Ramen)
· People Noise - Ordinary Ghosts (self-released)
· Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (Relapse)
· Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (Interscope) [Buy Now]
Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Usher In A 'Positively Dirty' New Era"
· Mark Ronson - Version (Red Ink)
· Saturna - Some Delicious Enemy (Nexus Underground) [Buy Now]
· Scissors for Lefty - Underhanded Romance (Eenie Meenie)
· SoCalled - Ghettoblaster (JDub)
· Spyro Gyra - Good to Go-Go (Heads Up)
· Takeovers - Bad Football (Off) [Buy Now]
· Tia Carrera - Heaven/Hell (EP; Arclight)
· Tuatara - East of the Sun (Fast Horse)
· David Vandervelde - Nothin No (EP; Secretly Canadian)
· Wooden Wand - James & the Quiet (Ecstatic Peace)
· Various artists - Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur (two CDs; Warner Bros.)
· Various artists - "Nancy Drew" soundtrack (Bulletproof)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Bad Manners - Stupidity (SOS)
· The Bongos - Drums Along the Hudson (Cooking Vinyl)
· Buckethead/ Travis Dickerson - Chicken Noodles, Gorgone and Death Cube K Tunnel (TDRS)
· Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison - Deluxe Edition (with DVD; Jive)
· James Cotton - Vanguard Visionaries (Vanguard)
· Dick Dale - Checkered Flag; King of the Surf Guitar; Mr. Eliminator; and Summer Surf (Sundazed)
· DMX - The DEFinition of X: Pick of the Litter (Def Jam) [Buy Now]
· Yvonne Elliman - Simple Needs (EP; Eborhythm)
· Moe. - Warts & All 5 (three-CD box set; Fat Boy)
· Nada Surf - Karmic (Hi-Speed Soul) [Buy Now]
· O'Death - Head Home (Ernest Jenning)
· Tupac Shakur - Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991 (Koch) [Buy Now]
· Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - Deluxe Edition (two CDs; Geffen/UMe)
· Andy Summers - Synaesthesia (Times Square)
· Keith Sweat - Sweat Hotel Live (Shout! Factory)
· Traveling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys Collection (two CDs and one DVD; deluxe edition due same day; Rhino)
· Dan Zanes and Friends - How to Grow a Family Band Gift Set (six-CD box set with book; Ryko)

Music DVDs:

· Black Sabbath - "Up Close and Personal" (Hurricane) [Buy Now]
· Deep Purple - "Live at Montreux 2006" (Eagle Vision) [Buy Now]
· Keith Sweat - "Sweat Hotel Live" (Shout! Factory) [Buy Now]
· Various artists - "Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built" (Rhino)
· Various artists - "Glastonbury" (two DVDs; Velocity)

Digital Releases:

· The Dilettantes - 101 Tambourines (in stores July 10; StrangerTouch)
· Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (available exclusively on iTunes until June 26, when it is properly released; Last Gang) [Buy Now]

Coming Attractions:

June 19: · Mandy Moore - Wild Hope (Firm) [Preorder]
· Tomahawk - Anonymous (Ipecac)
Read: "Tomahawk Actually Starting To Sound Like An American-Indian Band"
· White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.) [Preorder]
Read: "White Stripes Reveal Icky New Album Details"

June 26: · Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up (Capitol) [Preorder]
· Kelly Clarkson - My December (RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Kelly Clarkson On Her Revealing New LP: 'I'm Not Even This Open With Boyfriends!' "
· Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (Last Gang) [Preorder]

July 3: · Kelly Rowland - Ms. Kelly (Columbia) [Preorder]
· T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Atlantic)
Read: "T.I. Taking On T.I.P. With Help From Eminem, Justin Timberlake"
· Velvet Revolver - Libertad (RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Scott Weiland Pumped For Velvet Revolver LP, Solo Collabo With Pharrell"

• Fabolous
• Queens of the Stone Age
• DMX
• Sonic Youth
• Tupac

Flavor Flav performs at SXSW on Friday
Photo: John Shearer/ Wire Image

AUSTIN, Texas — Every March, the music industry throws on a pair of shorts, slathers on the SPF 45 and heads on down to Austin for South by Southwest, a weeklong celebration of bands, BBQ and (sometimes free!) beer. It's a brutal bacchanal and music marathon powered by thousands of acts playing in hundreds of venues — at all hours — plus an unreal number of open bar tabs and fancy private parties.

Sleep is not exactly a top priority, so MTV News has dispatched three of its most tireless reporters into the fray. They'll be filing reports a few times each day (scroll down for the evening report), which will chiefly serve as a way of keeping you up to speed about what's going on deep in the heart of Texas, but also double as a convenient way — for us, anyway — of making sure everyone's still alive.

The Day

James Montgomery, MTV News writer: Another afternoon, another 36 Kool-Aid-colored wristbands to weigh down my wrists. At every day party I attend, my wrist gets slapped with a brightly colored piece of plastic (or, as is the case at the Levi's/Fader fort, two pieces), which — in theory — are supposed to keep the unwashed masses from gate-crashing and allow me preferred access to VIP areas and/or free booze. But the only thing they're really good for is snagging on clothing and making me look like this guy.

I know, I know ... cry me a river. But after only three days at SXSW, I'm totally starting to feel the inner Andy Rooney in me come to life (and he loves Robyn Hitchcock). Maybe it's the fact that every dude here is wearing a tank top, or the fact that every girl looks she's Karen O's stunt double. Who knows? ...

OK ... deep breath. Spent the afternoon at the SPIN party, where there was free popcorn, free ice cream, free cigarettes and, of course, more free wristbands! There was also a middling set from New Orleans funk act Galactic featuring cameos by a who's who of rappers that no one cares about (Lyrics Born, the Coup's Boots Reilly), a Kirsten Dunst sighting and a truly awesome early evening performance from the Kings of Leon, who rock nearly as hard as their pants are tight (and that's very).

Off now to get some dinner ... then hopefully catch a sweaty, late-night set from Girl Talk. Oh, also, my buddy in Beirut just invited me on a four-hour "BBQ excursion" set for Saturday afternoon. Wristbands or no, things are lookin' up, indeed!

John Norris, MTV News correspondent: By and large, the consensus in the local media and among people I have talked to seems to be that while the significance of SXSW has changed — I mean, we all know where music is "broken" in 2007, and it ain't at one gig at one festival — the festival still plays a vital role. As a one-stop shop for those who don't have bands rolling through their town every week, and for artists to get their music seen and heard by those in and out of the mainstream biz.

Among the bands, at varying levels of notoriety, that have introduced themselves to me on the streets of Austin and gotten their music into my hands in the past couple of days: Aloke, the GoStation, Locksley, New Year's Day, the Animators, the Stock Market Crash and some pretty cool garage girls from Atlanta who go by the lovely name the Coathangers (who count in their arsenal a fairly demure jam called "Nestle in My Boobies").

Finally, I have been avoiding going on a vegan rant for the last few days and just sucked it up and dealt with foraging around town to find non-animal-product dining. When in Rome ... yeah, yeah. Well, I'm sure as hell not gonna start eating flesh slathered in barbecue sauce, that's for sure. I'm often in situations like this — it means repeated trips to Asian places, which at least know what tofu is — so I've been twice to P.F. Chang's and once to Veggie Heaven. But then you slip and eat cheese sometimes. At last year's SXSW, even Chrissie Hynde — as much an icon of animal rights as a goddess of rock — told me she occasionally will eat cheese and she's been vegan for more than 30 years. Really, I love longhorns. To look at. Or pet. Not to eat, sit on or wear. End of screed.

Gil Kaufman, MTV News writer: I'm going to announce a moratorium on the bad-name thing, though Chicago's Flosstradamus get an honorable mention. Let me just say this now: If Australia's Youth Group don't become the next U2, something is seriously amiss. These guys have the kind of swaying, epic songs — like "Shadowland" — that fill up a dingy daytime bar show and make it feel like a stadium.

The pressure to melt down in public for new hot messes like Amy Winehouse must be intense, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down the hottest mess on everyone's tongue this week, Atlanta's notorious Black Lips. More than six years into their career, the band still knows how to shock, or revolt, as when guitarist Cole Alexander lost his lunch mid-solo just two songs into the band's set. Pro that he is, he never missed a lick, though the crowd did take a step back.

Note to the dude walking down the street with earplugs in: Bro, yeah, it's loud in the venues sometimes, but you can take them out on the way to lunch.

One of the reasons rock stars love South By (that's what the cool kids call it, for real) is they can just blend in, because every hipster doofus worth his salt has rats-nest hair, too-tight jeans and an expensive-looking ripped shirt. So, if you walk down the street and see Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore hanging on the corner, or Joan Jett waiting for a cab outside your hotel, yeah, it's them.

Speaking of which, I was on the phone in the elevator and I see a guy walk in with a huge clock around his neck and a bunch of dookie chains and my first thought is, "What kind of a bozo thinks he can cop that look from Flavor Flav in 2007?" Oh, my bad, it was Flavor Flav! We chatted, I wished him luck on his show Friday night (March 16) and when the doors opened, he gave me a knuckle pound and zoomed out into the lobby on his wheelies.

Here's what I missed today but heard about from people who were better line-jumpers than me: Pete Townshend jamming on "The Seeker" with the Fratellis, and Vietnam — or "those dudes with the giant beards," as one patron described them.

The Evening

James Montgomery: If you like slightly tubby guys with super scraggly beards, rare, out-of-print Boredoms 7-inches and uttering the phrase "They're still playing the same song?!" then the Ecstatic Peace Records and Tapes showcase was the place to be Friday night. Owned and operated by Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, Ecstatic Peace releases records (actual records; like, on vinyl and everything) by a whole lot of erudite, experimental bands that you've never heard of, many of which — including the ethereal Gown, the drone-y Black Helicopter and the unpronounceable Charalambides — were on display tonight.

Of course, doe-eyed dreamboat Michael Pitt's little grunge outfit, Pagoda was there too, but I spotted John digging them pretty hard, so I'll leave it to him to document their set. Needless to say, it didn't take me long to get my fill of avant instrumentalism, and I was quickly out the door. But not before snagging a copy of the free Ecstatic Peace 'zine for my reading leisure. Thanks, Thurston!

Then it was off to Stubb's, where a little of the old "I'm with MTV News ... my camera crew is inside, and I need to get to them now!" routine (note: professional!) got me to the front of the line and into the much-hyped gig by Damon Albarn's new project, the Good, the Bad and the Queen. I'd been hearing a lot about how the whole thing was some sort of semi-conceptual play, a sort of time-skipping portrayal of life in London throughout the 20th Century, and I was anxious to check it out myself.

Sadly, all I got out of the performance a whole lot of former Clash bassist Paul Simonon's booming, bubbly low-end (I mean, seriously, dude was loud) and a few pictures of Albarn in a top hat. Playing on a stage littered with streamers and Union Jacks, in front of an impressionistic portrait of London, the atmosphere was right, but the music — all percolating, dubby basslines and three-quarter-speed guitars — wasn't. Truth be told, the whole thing was a complete snoozer. And if it was come sort of concept, I wasn't getting it. Maybe, on this night, I just wasn't smart enough for any of it. Not sleeping and existing solely on ribs and cigarettes tends to do that to a person.

John Norris: While I didn't stick around at Stubb's long enough to check out the Good, the Bad and the Queen, there was still plenty of the Snide, the grungy and the unexpected to go around.

Began my travels at Buffalo Billiards, where you rack 'em up downstairs and upstairs you hear music — cool music on this night, in the form of Nashville's Clem Snide, the band fronted and really embodied by one of the dryer, wittier guys in indie music, Eef Barzelay. He led his two backing players through a 40-minute set full of Clem Snide's trademark tunes that build and build ... and suddenly end. Eef's sarcasm was in abundance as well, in songs like "Girls Don't Care" and in his between-song patter, like when he told the SXSW crowd "You quench me. Your applause is like calamine lotion on my mosquito-bitten skin." Oh and he even busted out a bit of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable."

Three encounters making my way down a packed 6th Street: former MTV VJ and walking musical encyclopedia Matt Pinfield, shooting a show for DirectTV; my old pals Taylor and Zack Hanson, being interviewed for another video outlet; and Damaris Drummond, a performance artist who is planning to cover herself with vintage Atari joysticks on Saturday and ask people to choose one to play with. Where in Austin will this happen? "Wherever they will let me," says Damaris. I am not kidding.

Nor am I kidding when I say that Michael Pitt rocks. Pitt may be the easy-on-the-eyes actor who starred in "The Dreamers" and "Last Days," but he has apparently put acting on the backburner indefinitely to concentrate on his neo-grunge band Pagoda, who played outdoors at the Mohawk. With Pitt on guitar and wailing vocals (playing a Cobain-like character has clearly had an impact on him), plus bass, drums and cello (!) the band ripped through one impassioned song after another, and you might have thought it was 1993 all over again. Only one beef though: say something, dude. I get it, you want to downplay the "movie star as frontman" thing; who wouldn't? But apart from "Thanks Thurston" and "This is our last song," Pitt was totally mute ... and he tended to overdo the whole back-to-the-crowd thing. Mike — you can play guitar, you can sing and scream, your band is good. Lighten up.

Plenty light and comfortable is Mancunian troubadour Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy. Although large open-air Stubb's may not have been the best setting for his sound, Gough lit up the night with his peppy alt pop, including the winning title track from his most recent release, Born in the U.K. Plus, he's a dead ringer for my MTV News buddy Aaron Pinkston, who was watching the show with me. There could be a sitcom in here. Couple of bearded, longhaired, beanie-wearing dudes from opposite sides of the Atlantic. It could work ...

Gil Kaufman: If there's anyone who loves the Ramones more than me, it's Japanese punk bands. Which is why the Japan Night showcase is always at the top of my list. This year was no disappointment, with a killer set from Osaka's The50Kaitenz, a power trio who rocked a blistering set of Ramones-inspired rockabilly while wearing matching black suits with Colonel Sanders-style black string ties. They were followed by the equally off-the-charts Pistol Valve, a 10-woman collective with eight horn players, an electric violinist and DJ, all combining forces (like Voltron!) to create a truly unique brand of Afro-Cuban-funk-jazz-hip-hop-a--go-go, all while wearing fedoras and varying stages of lingerie.

After flashing my badge, dropping some names, pretending to call my nonexistent cameraman and using every slimy excuse I could think of to jump in front of the two-block long line, I finally got in to see hot not-mess Brazilian funk carioca trio Bonde do Role. The group — really just two MC's and a DJ — mash up party-ready Bailefunk rhythms with hip-hop and samples that range from classic rock to Brazilian dance and snatches of the "Grease" soundtrack, and they had the packed house bouncing off the walls. They got even the most jaded hipsters to throw down.

Can James snag himself a nap? Are there more Beyoncé covers in John's future? Will Gil's line-cutting come back to haunt him? Check back all weekend for our SXSW coverage!

Earlier this week:

· "Tom Morello's SXSW Gig Turns Into Raucous All-Star Jam With Slash, Perry Farrell"

· "Amy Winehouse Raises Eyebrows, Bloc Party Draw A Mob As SXSW Wakes Up"

· "Pete Wentz Clones Descend, Lily Allen Warbles As SXSW Gets Under Way"

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

[This story was originally published on 3.16.2007 at 8:45 p.m.]

• Five Coolest Things At SXSW 2007
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• Kings Of Leon, Mastodon, Flava Flav, More Rock SXSW '07

• Flavor Flav
• Lyrics Born
• Galactic
• Kings Of Leon
• Beirut

Young Jeezy's <i>The Inspiration</i>

With the War on Christmas and the War on the War on Christmas raging on, another holiday is about to begin this weekend: Hanukkah. But while the festival of lights is starting to glow, the number of CD releases is dimming — as it does every year around this time. Young Jeezy, Tyrese, Ghostface and a pair of Idols are hoping you haven't finished your holiday shopping yet and will be scouting for snowballs as they try to outdo each other with new albums. So before Hanukkah Harry comes a knockin', let's light a candle for each of the eight major releases dropping this week:

Oh Jeez: It must be the wintertime, because Da Snowman is about to open his trap. With CD sales so low these days, Young Jeezy deserves extra credit for carrying his 2005 major-label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, to multiplatinum status. Now he hopes to nab another carrot — maybe he can use it as his Snowman nose! — with The Inspiration, the guest list to which puts 101's to shame. The 16-track platter features T.I. ("I Got Money"), R. Kelly ("Go Getta"), Keyshia Cole ("Dreamin' "), Timbaland ("3 A.M.") and others ... feeling inspired?

A Hick Move: So if 63.4 million people voted for Taylor Hicks in the final round of "American Idol," that means his maiden major-label LP should sell about ... 9 minus 6, carry the 1 ... well, let's just say Soul Patrol will be giving Da Snowman a run for his money. Like Jeezy, Hicks has enlisted some hitmaking talent to help him do his self-titled big-time debut up right: Rob Thomas, "Un-Break My Heart" author Diane Warren, producer Matt Serletic (Courtney Love, Santana) and even Bryan "Summer of '69" Adams all claim songwriting credits on the LP. With covers of songs made famous by Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye to boot, Hicks might be tasting another #1 prize next week.

Straight From the Barrino: Also doing the whole "Yeah, I won 'American Idol' and I'm naming my new J Records album after myself" thing is Fantasia, who in 2004 wore the crown that currently sits atop Hicks' head. That same year saw her debut, Free Yourself, get platinum honors, a feat the Grammy-winning single mom and Kanye West tourmate hopes to duplicate with Fantasia. This CD is a busy one: Missy Elliott co-wrote and co-produced three tunes; Outkast's Big Boi pops in for a visit on "Hood Boy"; Swizz Beatz puts his polish on "Surround U"; Diane Warren, Babyface, Bryan-Michael Cox and Sean Garrett also help out with writing and production; and Fantasia samples songs by James Brown, Al Green and the Supremes throughout.

'Rese's Pieces: Topping off J Records' busy menu this week is Tyrese's two-disc Alter Ego, which features his titular Black Ty rap persona. The aforementioned Michael Cox and R. Kelly lend their production skills to this LP as well, although 'Rese has a boatload of additional help: Lil Jon crops up on "Turn Ya Out" on the first, R&B-centric disc; and on disc two, Snoop Dogg spruces up "Get Low" and "Roll the Dice"; the Game helps Tyrese reminisce about "Ghetto Dayz"; Method Man shows him how to "Get It In"; and David Banner, Mannie Fresh, Kurupt, Lil Scrappy and Too Short prop him up elsewhere.

Something's Fishy: Ghostface Killah is squaring off against Black Ty and Def Jam labelmate Jeezy with More Fish, which, as the small lettering near the album title leads us to believe, is actually a quasi-collaborative affair with Ghost's Theodore Unit. The MC's son, Sun God, who is a member of the crew, also helps out his dad, who is releasing this LP less than 10 months after dropping its predecessor, Fishscale. Underground-hip-hop tastemaker MF Doom produces "Cartoonz" and "Stones From Greece," the latter of which drops references to the Hardy Boys. Oh, and some guy named Kanye West joins forces with this Ne-Yo dude for a remix of "Back Like That."

The Hits Just Keep Coming: Now that's she's really broken through — and landed oodles of awards and nominations along the way — it's time for Mary J. Blige to stop and reflect. The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul chalks up four new recordings on Reflections (A Retrospective): the opening "Reflections (I Remember)," the single "We Ride (I See the Future)," "You Know" and the John Legend duet "King & Queen." There are 15 tracks in total — which averages out to one for every year Blige has been recording.

Fire Up the DVD Player: The ever-outré AFI have been exorcising their inner demons for 15 years, but at long last a DVD is coming down the pipe. Shot with a startling 22 cameras at the Long Beach Arena in Southern California on September 15, the 18-song performance by the band balances out to 72 minutes' worth of goth-a-riffic footage — and includes a guest appearance by Tiger Army's Nick 13. For A Fire Inside's biggest show to date, they let loose with "God Called in Sick Today," "Death of Seasons," "Kill Caustic" and "Bleed Black." Happy Hanukkah.

Also doing the DVD thing for the first time are Taking Back Sunday, whose "Partone" disc (no, not "Part One") you probably won't find in the DVD racks. The New York rock quintet are appending their 90-minute video to re-releases of the band's Louder Now CD, which itself is being furthered with four additional live tracks. Like AFI's video, the TBS DVD component collects performances from the Long Beach Arena, but also captures the bandmembers at home, in their hotel rooms and beyond. A making-of-the-album feature and behind-the-scenes material from the group's "MakeDamnSure" video round out the release.

Song Title of the Week:

"Bump What Your Friends Say" from Fantasia

Other Notables:

Sonic Youth's The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities: Pulling together this band's obscure material is like dumping buckets of water out of a (diamond) sea: No matter how hard you work at it, there will always be more. This disc prudently selects just 11 odds and sods, including the previously unreleased outtake "Fire Engine Dream" and unissued versions of "Three Part Sectional Love Seat" and — coincidentally — "Queen Anne Chair," as well as Japan-only bonus tunes, soundtrack and compilation cuts and more.

Duncan Sheik's "Spring Awakening: A New Musical" soundtrack: The cult-fave singer/songwriter showed off his lofty ambitions with 2001's Phantom Moon, for which he constructed somewhat elaborate orchestral arrangements with poet/dramatist Steve Sater. But few were prepared for what Sheik threw together a couple of years later: a Broadway musical he wrote with Sater that is based on a controversial 19th-century drama about sex, violence and suicide. The musical backdrop to the theatrical production — which opened Sunday in New York — includes "The Bitch of Living," "The Word of Your Body" and "I Don't Do Sadness."

Various artists' "B4MD: Before the Music Dies": Everyone knows CDs will soon become extinct — but while we're at it, is pop music on its way out altogether? That's the hypothesis drawn up in this critical look at the genre, narrated by Forest Whitaker and featuring performances and commentary by Dave Matthews, Erykah Badu, the Roots' ?uestlove, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, My Morning Jacket, Ray Charles and more. "The reality is that superficiality is in, and depth and quality is kind of out," Branford Marsalis says in the film. Decide for yourself.

New Releases:

· Fantasia - Fantasia (J) [Buy Now] Read: "Fantasia Unleashes Her Inner Rock Star: 'This Time It's My Own Vision' " · Ghostface Killah - More Fish (Def Jam) [Buy Now] Read: "Ghostface Killah Warms Up Leftover Fish For Second 2006 Album" · Taylor Hicks - Taylor Hicks (Arista/ 19 Recordings) [Buy Now] Read: "Taylor Hicks Hopes 'Traveling Circus Of Fans' Follows Him On Tour" · Red Wanting Blue - The Warehouse Sessions (with DVD; self-released) · Duncan Sheik - "Spring Awakening: A New Musical" soundtrack (Decca Broadway) · Tyrese - Alter Ego (two CDs; J) [Buy Now] Read: "Tyrese Gives In To Rap Passion, Plans To 'Change The World' With Double LP" · Young Jeezy - The Inspiration (Def Jam) [Buy Now] Read: "Jeezy Waiting On Kanye For LP; Addresses Rumors Of Tour With Jay, Nas" · Various artists - "Charlotte's Web" soundtrack (Bulletproof) · Various artists - "Children of Men" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande) · Various artists - "Eragon" soundtrack (RCA)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Ames Brothers - Together (two CDs; Jasmine) · Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Me - Deluxe Edition 5.1 (DVD Audio version; Desperation) · Mary J. Blige - Reflections (A Retrospective) (Geffen) [Buy Now] Read: "Mary J.'s Greatest-Hits LP Brings Three New Songs, Brushes Off Rumors" · Neil Diamond - 12 Songs (limited-edition "artist's cut" with bonus CD; Columbia) · Kangaroo - Kangaroo (Fallout) · Ramsey Lewis - Legends of Jazz With Ramsey Lewis (box set with four CDs and four DVDs; LRS) · Sonic Youth - The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities (Geffen) · Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now (limited edition with bonus DVD "Partone"; comes in two different covers; Warner Bros.) [Buy Now]

Music DVDs:

· AFI - "I Heard a Voice - Live From Long Beach Arena" (Interscope) · Eagles - "Music in Review" (Classic Rock Legends) · Genesis - "The Definitive Critical Review" (two CDs; Classic Rock Legends) · Elton John - "Music in Review" (Classic Rock Legends) · Barry Manilow - "Manilow Live!" (Image) · Oasis - "The World's Greatest Albums: The Oasis Phenomenon - The Ultimate Critical Review" (Classic Rock Legends) · Various artists - "B4MD: Before the Music Dies" (BSide) · Various artists - "Best of 'Later ... With Jools Holland' 2000-2006" (Warner Bros.)

Coming Attractions:

December 19: · Katharine McPhee - TBD (RCA) Read: "Katharine McPhee's LP: A Little Bit Pussycat Dolls, A Little Bit Mariah" · Mos Def - Tru3 Magic (Geffen) [Buy Now] · Nas - Hip-Hop Is Dead ... The N (Def Jam) [Buy Now] Read: "MTV News Exclusive: Nas Previews Hip-Hop Is Dead ... The N" · Styles P - Time Is Money (Ruff Ryders) · Trick Daddy - Back by Thug Demand (Atlantic) [Buy Now] · UGK - Underground Kingz (two CDs; Jive) [Buy Now] Read: "Ex-Con Pimp C Juiced For UGK Album, Says He Has Lessons To Teach"

December 26: · Good Charlotte - "Fast Future Generation" DVD (Epic/Daylight) · N.W.A - The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge (deluxe version with DVD also available; Capitol/Priority) · Omarion - 21 (Sony Urban) Read: "Boy To Man: Omarion Grows Up On The 'Personal' 21" · Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity (Columbia) Read: "Life, Death, Social Entropy? Switchfoot Get Weighty On Oh! Gravity" · Various artists - The Family Values Tour 2006 (Firm)

January 2: · Various artists - L-Tunes: Music From and Inspired by "The L-Word" (Columbia) · Carly Simon - Into White (Columbia) · Unwritten Law - The Hit List (Rocket Science)

• Young Jeezy
• Taylor Hicks
• Fantasia
• Mary J. Blige
• AFI

Busta Rhymes
Photo: Interscope

Chopping off his signature dreadlocks probably had nothing to do with it, but perhaps aligning with Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint did the trick. Whatever the reason, Busta Rhymes should be sporting the widest grin he can muster today as the latest SoundScan totals show that The Big Bang will open at #1 on Billboard's album chart, marking a first in a career that spans 15 years, seven solo albums and a stint with Leaders of the New School.

Week-one sales of The Big Bang, Busta's first collection of fresh material since 2002, topped out at nearly 209,000 copies — more than enough to earn Rhymes his inaugural chart-topping debut. The success has to taste sweet for Busta, especially after his last release, 2002's It Ain't Safe No More, opened at #43 with 62,000 scans — the rapper's first LP to debut outside of the top 10.

Rhymes' current retail dominance helped him usurp the Billboard crown from previous champs AFI. Second-week sales of the rockers' Decemberunderground slipped 43 percent to finish the week with 104,000 sales and the chart's #3 ranking. The Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way spends a second-straight week at #2 after selling 130,000 units.

There's no stopping the soundtrack to the Disney Channel original movie "High School Musical," which climbs one spot to #4 with 79,000-plus scans after 23 weeks in stores. The #5 slot belongs to a newcomer: One-X, the second LP from Canadian rockers Three Days Grace, which sold 78,000 copies its first week out. The soundtrack to the animated feature "Cars" follows at #6 with 75,000 scans, just in front of Stadium Arcadium, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Rick Rubin-produced double album. During its sixth week of release, Arcadium sold another 74,000 copies to finish at #7.

Rascal Flatts' Me & My Gang holds at #8 with 73,000 scans, followed at #9 by Yung Joc's New Joc City, which slides six spots with nearly 70,000 sales. Ice Cube's Laugh Now, Cry Later drops to #10 after selling 64,000 copies during its second week in stores.

Busta and Three Days Grace led a total of 13 new releases that will crack the Billboard 200. Billy Joel's 12 Gardens Live, a two-disc souvenir from the Piano Man's recent 12-show stand at Madison Square Garden, opens at #14 with 44,000 scans. Widespread Panic's Earth to America put up first-week sales of close to 21,000 for a #48 bow. Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped debuts at #71 with 16,000 sold, while Shadows Fall claim #83 after first-week interest in the New England metallers' Fallout From the War turned into 13,000-plus sales.

Regina Spektor debuts at #135 after selling nearly 8,000 copies of Begin to Hope. Anatomy Of, an album's worth of covers from Ozzfest 2006 performers Between the Buried and Me, finishes at #151 with sales just shy of the 7,000 mark. Keb' Mo's Suitcase claims the #176 slot, selling close to 6,000 copies, and Frankie J just makes the cut at #198, selling 5,000 copies of his new Spanish-language album, Un Nuevo Dia.

• Busta Rhymes
• Three Days Grace
• Billy Joel
• AFI
• Dixie Chicks

Busta Rhymes' <I>The Big Bang</I>
Photo: Aftermath

A Cosmic Effort: The stars are aligning for Busta Rhymes' new album — it's his first for Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint and has a good chance of breathing new life into Bus' career. But the stars are also aligning on the record, what with Nas, Missy Elliott, Will.I.Am, Q-Tip, Raekwon — hell, even Stevie Wonder and the late Rick James — cropping up on there. "You Can't Hold the Torch," Rhymes declares midway through the record. Let's see if he can.

Outta Sight: Be on the lookout this week, as two of the biggest music releases hitting stores are meant for the eyes, not the ears. No Doubt's "Live in the Tragic Kingdom," which found its way into a million VHS players, reaches the DVD format bundled with unreleased home movies, more performances, backstage stuff, promo clips and a slideshow.

"Chris Brown's Journey," on the other hand, is all-new material by the R&B phenom and revolves around a 25-minute documentary featurette, rather than concert footage. Still, there is some live content — two numbers from Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party — plus three videos (with making-of segments for each), bloopers, Easter eggs and "Krumping With Chris," wherein he busts his best moves. The bonus CD has two unissued slices — "So Glad" and a remix of "Run It" — and a software device that lets you do your best Scott Storch and remix "Gimme That."

Sonic Youth probably aren't expecting Kidz Bop-like numbers with their newest opus, Rather Ripped, which is why they've been streaming all 12 tracks for free online. The band returned to what it calls its "OG nucleus" of Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo, as fifth member Jim O'Rourke was busy studying language and film in Japan. Tracks include "Do You Believe in Rapture?," "Turquoise Boy" and "Or."

Sibling Revelry: Speaking of OGs, "We O.G.'s" is the lead single from the Reyes Brothers — the long-awaited matchup of Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace. That tune features fellow West Coasters Snoop Dogg and Warren G, while the rest of Ghetto Therapy hosts two Bishops — Lamont and Don Magic Juan — plus Sen's Cypress Hill teammate, B Real.

Also showing signs of brotherly love are Aron and Robert Mardo, whose band goes by their last name. The group's second outing, The New Gun, showcases the unit's new keyboardist and guitarist, but the deaths of nine people close to the group in one month made "The Healing" undeniably grim.

Guitarist Mato Nanji is taking a different approach: While he originally made his band Indigenous a family effort, he's since given his siblings the boot so he can focus entirely on the undertaking himself. The American Indian singer/songwriter did co-write "The Way You Shake" with his sister Wanbdi, but he left the production duties to Steve Fishell (Willie Nelson, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band).

Beyond the Stereo: Alas, a handful of this week's releases might actually make you leave your bedroom. Jam titans Widespread Panic are playing their new LP, Earth to America, in its entirety at a free show at New York's Irving Plaza on Tuesday night (June 13). While 100,000 people showed up for the band's 1998 CD release party, expect 1,000 or so of the Panic faithful to help celebrate the band's 20th anniversary.

John Fogerty will drive some fans to cineplexes Tuesday, as the release of his "The Long Road Home in Concert" DVD is being celebrated with one-night-only theatrical showings in eight major cities. Speaking of which, Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" DVD, which sold a fair number of tickets earlier this year, hits the shelves in double-disc form this week.

And so-called "multimedia art-punk terrorists" the Residents are forcing you to get off your couch if you're interested in their River of Crime project, a series of recordings that are only available at Virgin Megastores, Cordless.com or New York's Museum of Modern Art. Modeled after true-crime radio broadcasts, the five episodes were previously available online in serial form.

Spotted: Gwen Stefani sweetening up "All Nighter" on Together as One by reggae hero Elan of the Wailers; Motion City Soundtrack, Plain White T's, Nightmare of You and other pop-punk newcomers giving it up for their favorite caped hero on the Sounds of Superman compilation; Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco and Steve Earle showing their mugs in the bonus video content that accompanies the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack reissue; Replacements Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars coming back together to record their first new material in 16 years for Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements; MF Grimm and Angelo from Fishbone hopping onto Krak Attack by underground hip-hop bizarro CX Kidtronik; Origin drummer John Longstreth hitting the toms on Skinless' brutal Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead; and Fountains of Wayne guitarist Jody Porter adding licks to Life in the Shade, the second album by Brookville, the latest venture of Ivy's Andy Chase.

Song Title of the Week:

"Pudgy Young Blondes With Lobotomy Eyes" from Zao's The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here

Other Notables:

Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope: She's made a name for herself by touring with the Strokes, lending her voice to an mtvU commercial and spelling her last name slightly differently than a certain embattled record producer, but will the anti-folk antihero be able to overcome her nemesis, black-metal wizards Spektr? Their Near Death Experience drops this week as well, but expect Spektor's Begin to Hope — limited versions of which boast a five-track bonus disc — to win out.

The Futureheads' News and Tributes: Hurry, 'Heads heads, as only the initial pressings of the U.K. breakout band's second LP will have three bonus tracks that previously appeared on its Area EP. Producer Ben Hillier (Depeche Mode, Blur) holed up with the quartet in his Scarborough studio, where they crafted "Return of the Berserker," "Worry About It Later" and "Favours for Favours."

Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds: Sometimes the track list just says it all, like this roster by Toronto's very own one-man orchestra. Each song is supposed to correlate with a level in "Dungeons & Dragons," so test your skills accordingly: "Arctic Circle," "He Poos Clouds," "This Lamb Sells Condos," "If I Were a Carp," "I'm Afraid of Japan," "Song Song Song," "Many Lives 49 LP," "Do You Love" and "Pooka Sings."

New Releases:

• The Acacia Strain - The Dead Walk (Prosthetic)
  
• Tony Allen - Lagos No Shaking (Honest Jons/ Astralwerks)
  
• The Alarm - Under Attack (enhanced; Eleven Thirty)
  
• Antler - Nothing That a Bullet Couldn't Cure (Small Stone)
  
• The Bleeding Alarm - Beauty in Destruction (Immortal)
  
• Brookville - Life in the Shade (Unfiltered)
  
• Sam Bush - Laps in Seven (Sugar Hill)
  
• Busta Rhymes - The Big Bang (Aftermath)
  Read: "Busta Making An Even Bigger Bang With Em, ODB, Neptunes, Rick James"
  Buy Now: The Big Bang (Aftermath)
  
• Regina Carter - I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve)
  
• Codetalkers - Now (Collard Green)
  
• Compton's Most Wanted with MC Eiht - Music to Gang Bang (enhanced; Thump)
  
• CX Kidtronik - Krak Attack (Sound Ink)
  
• Dabrye - Two/ Three (Ghostly)
  
• Jamie Davis - It's a Good Thing (with DVD; Unity)
  
• Dropping Daylight - Brace Yourself (Octone)
  
• Elan - Together as One (Interscope)
  
• Every Time I Die - Gutter Phenomenon (with bonus DVD; Ferret)
  
• Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds (Tomlab)
  
• First Nation - First Nation (Paw Tracks)
  
• Foundry Field Recordings - Prompts/ Miscues (Emergency Umbrella)
  
• Frankie J - Un Nuevo Día (Columbia)
  Buy Now: Un Nuevo Día (Columbia)
  
• Futureheads - News and Tributes (limited edition also available; Vagrant)
  Buy Now: News and Tributes (Vagrant)
  
• The Handsome Family - Last Days of Wonder (Carrot Top)
  
• Hot Chip - The Warning (DFA/ Astralwerks)
  
• Glenn Hughes - Music for the Divide (Frontiers)
  
• Indigenous - Chasing the Sun (Vanguard)
  
• Nicki Jaine - Nicki Jaine Live (self-release)
  
• Billy Joel - 12 Gardens Live (two CDs; Columbia)
  Buy Now: 12 Gardens Live (Columbia)
  
• Etta Jones - Don't Go to Strangers (Prestige)
  
• Keb' Mo' - Suitcase (Epic)
  
• Dayna Kurtz - Another Black Feather (Kismet)
  
• Blaine Larsen - Rockin' You Tonight (BNA)
  
• Lil Weavah - Underground Music (BCD)
  
• Mardo - New Gun (House of Restitution)
  
• The Del McCoury Band - The Promised Land (McCourey Music)
  
• Allison Moorer - Getting Somewhere (Sugar Hill)
  
• Morning 40 Federation - Ticonderoga (M80)
  
• Mr. Lif - Mo' Mega (Definitive Jux)
  
• The Playwrights - English Self Storage (Sink and Stove)
  
• Priestess - Hello Master (Red Ink)
  
• Joshua Radin - We Were Here (Columbia)
  
• The Residents - River of Crime (Cordless)
  
• Reyes Bros - Ghetto Therapy (Lightyear)
  
• Roses Are Red - What Became of Me (Trustkill)
  
• Satyricon - Now, Diabolical (enhanced; Century Media)
  
• Shadows Fall - Fallout From the War (Century Media)
  Buy Now: Fallout From the War (Century Media)
  
• Skinless - Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead (Relapse)
  
• Small Sins - Small Sins (Astralwerks)
  
• Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped (Geffen)
  Buy Now: Rather Ripped (Geffen)
  
• Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope (two-CD limited-edition version also available; Sire/ London/ Rhino)
  Buy Now: Begin to Hope (Geffen)
  
• Spektr - The Near Death Experience (Candlelight)
  
• Strays Don't Sleep - Strays Don't Sleep (Hybrid)
  
• Three Days Grace - One X (enhanced; Jive)
  Buy Now: One X (Jive)
  
• The Vibration - Amarilla (Sink & Stove)
  
• Waking Ashland - Telescopes (enhanced; Immortal)
  
• Widespread Panic - Earth to America (Sanctuary)
  
• David Wilcox - Vista (What Are Records)
  
• Trent Willmon - A Little More Livin' (Sony Music Nashville)
  
• Zao - The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here (limited edition with bonus DVD also available; Ferret)
  
• Various artists - Sound of Superman (Rhino)
  
• Various artists - "The Break-Up" soundtrack (Hip-O)
  
• Various artists - "Waist Deep" soundtrack (Def Jam)
  

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Yolanda Adams - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Virginia Bell Armstrong - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Boston - Boston and Don't Look Back (deluxe digipaks; Epic/ Legacy)
  
• Toni Braxton - The Collection (La Face)
  Buy Now: The Collection (La Face)
  
• Brandi Carlile - On Tour (Red Ink)
  
• Twinkie Clark - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Commissioned - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Daryl Coley - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook, Vol.1 (Prestige)
  
• Miles Davis All Stars - Walkin' (Prestige)
  
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Fit to Be Tied: Great Hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (enhanced; Blackheart)
  Buy Now: Fit to Be Tied: Great Hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Blackheart)
  
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Legends of American Music: Jerry Lee Lewis - A Half Century of Hits (three-CD box set; Time Life)
  
• Barry Manilow - Live (two-CD special edition; Arista/ Legacy)
  
• Jack McDuff - The Honeydripper (Prestige)
  
• The Replacements - Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements (Rhino)
  Read: "Replacements — Well, Some Of Them — Reunite For New Songs"
  Buy Now: Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements (Rhino)
  
• RuPaul - Reworked (Ruco)
  
• Richard Smallwood - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend (two-CD special edition; Volcano/ Legacy)
  Buy Now: Girlfriend (Volcano/ Legacy)
  
• Various artists - The State I'm In (Hip-O)
  
• Various artists - The Very Best of Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Various artists - "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack (special edition with DVD; Columbia/ Legacy)
  

Music DVDs:

• Arcturus - "Shipwrecked in Oslo" (Season Mist)
  
• The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - "40th Anniversary" (Classic Rock)
  
• Chris Brown - "Chris Brown's Journey" (with CD; Jive)
  
• J.J. Cale - "To Tulsa and Back: On Tour With J.J. Cale" (Time Life)
  
• DMX - "Ride or Die" (Allumination)
  
• Extreme - "Videograffitti: The Definitive DVD" (A&M)
  
• John Fogerty - "The Long Road Home in Concert" (Fantasy)
  
• The Gipsy Kings - "Live at Kenmore House in London" (Liberation Entertainment)
  
• Jimi Hendrix/ Otis Redding - "Jimi Plays Monterey/ Shake! Otis at Monterey: The Criterion Collection" (Criterion)
  
• No Doubt - "Live in the Tragic Kingdom" (Interscope)
  
• Rush - "Replay X 3" (three DVDs and one CD; Mercury/ Universal)
  
• Therion - "Celebrators of Becoming" (six DVDs; Nuclear Blast)
  
• UB40 - "Live" (Eagle Vision)
  
• Wu-Tang Clan - "Legend of the Wu-Tang: The Videos" (CMV/ Loud/ RCA/ Legacy)
  
• Neil Young - "Heart of Gold" (two DVDs; Paramount)
  
• Various artists - "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (widescreen edition also available; Universal)
  
• Various artists - "Monterey Pop: The Criterion Collection" (Criterion)
  

Coming Attractions:

June 20:

• Fefe Dobson - Sunday Love (enhanced; Island)
  Preorder: Sunday Love (Island)
  
• Nelly Furtado - Loose (Geffen)
  Read: "Nelly Furtado Hooks Up With 'Distant Cousin' Timberlake, Emerges With 'Sexy' Song"
  Preorder: Loose (Geffen)
  
• Keane - Under the Iron Sea (Interscope)
  Read: "Keane Nearly Followed Breakthrough With A Breakup"
  Preorder: Under the Iron Sea (Interscope)
  
• Madonna - I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (with DVD; Maverick)
  Preorder: I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (Maverick)
  
• Pearl Jam - Live at Easy Street (J)
  
• Obie Trice - Second Round's on Me (Aftermath)
  Read: "Eminem Denies Retirement Rumors; Currently Hard At Work On Obie Trice LP"
  Preorder: Second Round's on Me (Aftermath)
  

June 27:

• Björk - Surrounded (seven-DualDisc box set; Rhino)
  
• Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer (Vagrant)
  Read: "No Reggae Emo, But New Dashboard LP Owes A Lot To Jamaica"
  Preorder: Dusk and Summer (Vagrant)
  
• Lostprophets - Liberation Transmission (Columbia)
  Read: "Lostprophets Enlist Metallica Producer But Leave 'Chugga-Chugga' Metal Behind"
  Preorder: Liberation Transmission (Columbia)
  

July 4:

• Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways (Lost Highway)
  
• Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness (Geffen)
  Buy Now: The Sufferer & the Witness (Geffen)
  
• Hans Zimmer - "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" soundtrack (Disney)
  

• Busta Rhymes
• No Doubt
• Chris Brown
• Shadows Fall
• Sonic Youth

The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne
Photo: John Shearer

The Flaming Lips are hitting the road this summer, and they'll no doubt bring their smoke machines with them. And their giant balloons, their confetti, their fuzzy bunny costumes and as many other of their fun onstage props as they can fit into their trucks.

You'll be able to catch it all at a club near you (or an amphitheatr, state fair, whatever) when they launch a full-scale headlining tour on July 22 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. Acts that will accompany them at various dates include the Go! Team, Sonic Youth, Ween and Wolfmother.

The Lips will mix their headlining gigs with a string of appearances at summer festivals, including slots on the Hedgpeth Festival in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, on July 28, Lollapalooza on August 5 in Chicago (see "Kanye West, Red Hot Chili Peppers Lead Lollapalooza '06 Lineup") and Austin City Limits in, um, Austin, Texas, on September 15. The band will also jet off to Japan to play two festival dates in mid-August.

According to a spokesperson for the band's label, Warner Bros. Records, more dates will be announced in the coming weeks. The Flaming Lips' latest album, At War With the Mystics, was released last month and debuted at #11 on the Billboard albums chart — the band's highest-ever debut.

Flaming Lips tour dates, according to Warner Bros. Records:

• 7/22 - Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre
• 7/23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
• 7/28 - Twin Lakes, WI @ Hedgpeth Festival
• 7/29 -Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• 8/3 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center (92.3 K-Rock Presents Kuyahoga)
• 8/4 - Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
• 8/5 - Chicago, IL @ Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
• 8/24 - St. Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fair
• 8/25 - Council Bluffs, IA @ Harrah's Stir Cove
• 8/26 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
• 8/28 - Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
• 8/31 - Allentown, PA @ TBA
• 9/1 - Syracuse, NY @ TBA
• 9/3 - Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion
• 9/6 - Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues
• 9/7 - Burlington, VT @ Patrick Gymnasium
• 9/15 - Austin, TX @ Zilker Park (Austin City Limits)

For lots more on the Flaming Lips, dig into the feature "The Flaming Lips: At War With Complacency."

• The Flaming Lips
• Sonic Youth
• Ween
• Wolfmother
• The Go! Team

Lindsay Lohan in the April issue of <I>Cosmopolitan</I>
Photo: Cliff Watts for Cosmopolitan

A dark-haired Lindsay Lohan graces the April cover of Cosmopolitan, and within its pages the singer/actress gets personal about family problems, body-image issues and guys. Lohan talks about her first onscreen love scene — with Elijah Wood in the upcoming "Bobby" — and says she hopes she'll have time for a real boyfriend when she's done shooting "Chapter 27" in New York. (Successful candidates need to be confident, loyal and have a good sense of humor, "because I come with a lot of baggage.") The 19-year-old, who says sleeping around doesn't appeal to her, admits she's harboring her fair share of crushes. And in a multiple-choice questionnaire, she skips over Orlando Bloom, Jude Law and Brad Pitt to write in votes for favorite heartthrobs Johnny Depp and scruffy indie-rocker Devendra Banhart. ...

California authorities have granted Michael Jackson a 24-hour extension to settle an unpaid-wages dispute at his Neverland Valley Ranch. A spokesperson for the California Department of Industrial Relations said the singer's representatives have been in touch with the office and they are "trying to get the money together" to pay the more than $500,000 in fines Jackson was ordered to shell out by Tuesday (March 14). Authorities shut down Neverland March 9, alleging that Jackson failed to pay his employees and maintain workers'-compensation insurance. Jackson owes $69,000 for allowing his insurance policy to lapse two months ago, as well as $306,000 in back wages and $100,000 in fines. If he does not pay up by the end of Wednesday, department spokesperson Renee Bacchini said her office will file a civil action in court seeking the funds and the singer could face contempt charges. A spokesperson for Jackson did not return calls for comment. ...

Banking on the massive appeal of "American Idol," the TV Guide Channel is launching a live pre-show called "Idol Tonight" that will take viewers behind the scenes of each week's competition until this season's winner is announced in May. The one-hour show premieres Tuesday at 7 p.m. and will be hosted by former-"Idol"-finalist-turned-entertainment-correspondent Kimberly Caldwell. ... Yellowcard, Simple Plan and "X-Men" Iceman Shawn Ashmore are just some of the celebrity gamers who have customized Xbox 360 faceplates for charity. Starting Friday fans will be able to bid on the faceplates over at eBay.ca/XboxCelebrityFaces, with all proceeds going to the Children's Miracle Network of Canada. ... Sorry ladies: Jack Black is reportedly off the market. The Tenacious D frontman and "Nacho Libre" actor eloped with his girlfriend, musician Tanya Haden, according to People magazine. The pair met at a private high school in Santa Monica, California, but only began dating recently. "They love each other very much. We're thrilled," the bride's father, noted jazz saxophonist Charlie Haden, told the mag of his daughter's recent nuptials. Black's publicist would neither confirm nor deny the story. ...

The Dave Matthews Band will perform two nights at Boston's historic home of the Red Sox, Fenway Park, as part of their summer tour. Sheryl Crow will open up both gigs, scheduled for July 7 and 8. ... On Tuesday morning Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. set a trial date for one of the two owners of the Station — the Warwick, Rhode Island, nightclub where 100 people died in a 2003 blaze during a Great White concert. According to The Associated Press, Michael Derderian's case will begin July 31 in Rhode Island's Kent County. Derderian and his brother, Jeffrey, are facing 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter — two for each of the 100 lives lost in the fire, which was sparked when Great White's pyrotechnics ignited flammable soundproofing foam inside the venue. Jeffrey Derderian will be tried following the conclusion of his brother's trial. ... British rockers Hard-Fi are crashing the U.S. in style. To celebrate the Stateside release of their debut album, Stars of CCTV, the band will play a free show at Tower Records in Sherman Oaks, California, Tuesday at 7 p.m. for fans who buy the LP that same day. The gig marks the beginning of the quartet's North American headlining tour, which will include four more back-to-back in-store appearances in San Francisco, San Diego, Portland and Seattle. ...

Seventeen years after their last tour, the members of pioneering new-wave band the Cars — well, a couple of them anyway — are gearing up for a major U.S. summer tour with fellow new wavers Blondie. The New Cars, featuring original members Elliot Easton (guitar) and Greg Hawkes (keyboards), will be joined on the Road Rage Tour 2006 by singer/guitarist Todd Rundgren and his old Utopia bandmate, bassist Kasim Sulton, as well as former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince. Each online ticket purchase for the tour will come with a free download of a disc with five songs each from the New Cars and Blondie. The tour kicks off May 12 at the Grand Casino Tunica Event Center in Robinsonville, Mississippi, and is slated to wrap July 1 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. ...

OK Go frontman Damian Kulash was booked on resisting-arrest charges by police in Orlando, Florida, after ignoring an officer's orders to head inside the local House of Blues where the band was performing. Instead Kulash insisted on loitering outside with several of the group's fans. According to the band's Web site, Kulash was "locked up for about nine hours, during which time he ate corn flakes and made friends with a couple of guys." He was released Tuesday morning — which means OK Go's gig Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida, will go on as scheduled. ... Also in trouble is Less Than Jake frontman Chris Demakes, who was arrested last week while the Gainesville, Florida, ska band was filming a video in Los Angeles for the track "Overrated" — the first single off In With the Out Crowd, due May 23. According to a label spokesperson, the band was in the Topanga Plaza shopping mall, performing for people chowing down in the food court. Security guards asked the band to hit the bricks, and when that took a little too long Demakes was hauled off by police for trespassing.

03.13.2006

Master P and younger brother Silkk the Shocker have struck a plea deal with prosecutors, resolving the felony gun charges stemming from their arrests more than a year ago at the University of California at Los Angeles, according to Reuters. On Monday (March 13) they were each sentenced to 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $700 fine as part of the deal. P (real name Percy Miller) pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded and unregistered weapon while Silkk (real name Vyshonne Miller) pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying an unregistered and loaded firearm. Silkk was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation. ...

Maybe Natalie Portman really is as straight-laced as she seems. In the April issue of Vanity Fair, on newsstands Tuesday, the 24-year-old "V for Vendetta" star admits she prefers reading to partying, Converse to Manolos and a style that's classily demure to scantily clad — but that doesn't stop the starlet from letting loose once in a while. "Granted, I'm not super scandalous, but I've had drunken nights out, you know?" Portman admitted to the mag. She also reveals she still remains very close with her folks, who haven't hesitated to speak their minds on her roles. "[During 'The Professional'] my dad had stipulations on how many drags on a cigarette I could take, how many times I could curse," she recalled of her 1994 breakthrough role. "I wasn't actually allowed to inhale. My dad would have people standing behind me, blowing the smoke out." ...

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne appeared Friday on "The Howard Stern Show" to discuss Black Sabbath's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sharon also addressed the egging incident targeting Iron Maiden that took place back during the band's final performance on last summer's Ozzfest. Sharon admitted that she orchestrated the fiasco, paying "200 Hispanic kids" to carry out the attack. She also commented that Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson's performance was diminished because of the "eggshells in his mouth." ... Phil Anselmo, former Pantera frontman and current Superjoint Ritual singer, joined the reunited Alice in Chains Friday night for the taping of VH1 Classic's "Decades Rock Live!" tribute to Heart. At the concert, which took place at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Anselmo actually took the microphone for two Alice tracks, "Them Bones" and "Would?" ...

Tool's forthcoming 10,000 Days will hit stores May 2. The LP will feature 11 tracks, including "Vicarious," "Lipan Conjuring" and "Viginti Tres." ... Those adorable faux new-wave moppets Devo 2.0 will take their show on the road later this month to support their debut CD/DVD, which will be released Tuesday. The tweens, who play their own instruments, will perform their peppy covers of Devo songs during an 11-date tour of U.S. junior high and high schools that kicks off March 27 in Boston. The tour — which will hit schools in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis — will help raise support and awareness of music education in schools. ...

Nine Inch Nails will release a single for "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" April 4. The track, taken from the Nails' latest disc, With Teeth, will be accompanied by remixes, including a Sam Fog and Carlos D (Interpol) take on the title track, two reworkings of "The Hand That Feeds" (one provided by Death From Above 1979) and a couple of new interpretations of the song "Only." ... Due that same day is Thrice's Red Sky EP, which will feature four live tracks and two previously unreleased B-sides: "Flags of Dawn" and "Weight of Glory." ... One more April 4 treat for good measure: the Goo Goo Dolls' ninth studio album, Let Love In. The record will include the hit single "Better Days," but according to singer Johnny Rzeznik, that's the only ballad on the disc. ...

Sonic Youth may be without fifth member Jim O'Rourke for their newest outing, but the band is apparently still buff — their newest album will be titled Rather Ripped. Due June 13 and produced by the band, SY's 20th effort was recorded at Sear Sound in New York, where they tracked Sister and Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. Songs on Rather Ripped include "Pink Steam," "Incinerate," "Rapture" and "The Neutral." A summer tour is being planned, as is a stop at this summer's Lollapalooza. ... Offspring singer Dexter Holland is set to run the Los Angeles Marathon on March 19 to raise money for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic that handles cases where post-conviction DNA testing of evidence can yield conclusive proof of innocence. "All I want to do is beat Oprah," the singer said in a statement. Oprah's previous marathon time is 4 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds. ...

Adema have found a frontman in Bobby Reeves, formerly of Los Angeles rockers Level. According to an online post from bassist Dave DeRoo, Reeves possesses "the attitude, the voice and the vocal range to bust out anything from our catalog, and we've never sounded better." He replaces Luke Caraccioli, who left the band last fall. ... Emo rockers Emanuel were involved in a car accident in San Antonio, Texas, over the weekend. No one in the band was seriously injured, but the group's van, trailer and equipment weren't as fortunate. With their mode of transportation and instruments mangled, Emanuel have been forced to drop off their current tour with 30 Seconds to Mars and Aiden. The trek was scheduled to run through the end of the month.

• Lindsay Lohan In The April 2006 Issue Of 'Cosmopolitan'

• Lindsay Lohan
• Michael Jackson
• Yellowcard
• Jack Black
• Nine Inch Nails

E-40's <I>My Ghetto Report Card</I>
Photo: Warner Bros/ Wea

Move Over, Crunk: E-40 claims to have inserted "It's all good" and "fo' shizzle" into the hip-hop lexicon, and this week he's trying to incorporate the hyphy movement into the mainstream with My Ghetto Report Card. He's called all hands on deck for the effort, including Mike Jones, Juelz Santana, Too Short, UGK, T-Pain and Oakland, California's best-named artist, Keak Da Sneak. Lil Jon was apparently too busy behind the decks to spit out any verses on tracks like "They Might Be Taping," "Do Ya Head Like This" or the curious two-part skit "GetTheF---On.com."

Score Another One for the Underdogs: Re-releasing albums with a bonus DVD shortly after their original release is all the rage — but Fall Out Boy aren't ones to conform. Instead they're revisiting their Grammy-nominated From Under the Cork Tree with just one disc, a limited-edition item specifically designed for their Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour. They've managed to squeeze extra cuts on the new version, endowing them with their hi-larious titular prowess: "Snitches and Talkers Get Snitches and Walkers," "The Music or the Misery" and "My Heart Is the Worst Kind of Weapon." There's also remixes of "Sugar, We're Goin Down" (by lead singer Patrick Stump) and "Dance, Dance."

Old-School Boogie: DMC is shooting for high scans this week with his long-awaited solo debut, Checks Thugs and Rock N Roll — more scans, that is, then the disappointing number Run-DMC counterpart the Rev Run tallied with his own solo debut, Distortion, late last year. A limited run comes with a bonus DVD — and, of course, those peculiar guest spots by Kid Rock, Sarah McLachlan, Jam Master Jay and members of Korn, Buckcherry and Aerosmith.

Meanwhile, Boogie Down Productions — who treaded the path beaten by Run-DMC — are also recalled this week with Blast Master Tapes: The Best of the B-Boy Sessions. There's a heap of unreleased songs from 1985-'87 sprinkled over the course of the two discs, including the very fermented "D-Nice Rocks the House" and an alternate version of "Criminal Minded."

Hard Up for Bonus Tracks?: You'd have to think all the way back to last summer to recall Hard-Fi's Stars of CCTV making a splash in the U.K. (and subsequently getting some lovin' from the Brit Awards), but now the neo-ska band's debut disc is finally hitting U.S. shores. So what extra treats await all you holdouts? None, unfortunately: Free of bonus content, the U.S. version has the same 11 tracks that appeared on the U.K. one, including "Middle Eastern Holiday," "Tied Up Too Tight" and "Feltham Is Singing Out."

Party on, Dave: Don't want to sit through a movie to hear your favorite hip-hop artists perform? Well, that's what soundtracks are for. The one for "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" has a dozen delectable delights, including the Roots' eye-popping pair-up with Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap, Mos Def's "Universal Magnetic" and "Umi Says," and more Erykah Badu performances than you can shake a stick at.

Kids' Stuff: The "Kidz Bop" clan pummeled the competition with its little fists a couple of weeks ago, and now there's a second wave of pint-size threats this week led by Devo 2.0. Ranging in age from 10 to 13 years old, Nicole, Nathan, Kane, Jackie and Michael put a pre-pubescent polish on Devo classics like "Whip It" and "Cyclops" — even though, according to their profiles, they're more into the Mars Volta and Chopin. If you still don't believe this project, feast your eyes on the accompanying DVD, which has performance material by the teensy troupe, plus footage of original Devo members and some computer-animation elements.

Over on the other side of the playground, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice, Vol. 2 lets the original artists do the talking, and this time around that means Gwen Stefani, Ciara, Weezer and Franz Ferdinand. Extra special is Simple Plan's live performance of "Shut Up" from the 2005 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

Slightly older kids — namely those 45 years and above — will jump for joy upon seeing, for the first time in the U.S., the soundtrack to the movie version of hallucinogenic children's show "H.R. Pufnstuf." There's more tracers, er, traces of Sid and Marty Krofft this week with the reissue of "The Bugaloos" soundtrack, which was a show about a bunch of rock musicians with wings who live in a magical forest and are hunted by Benita Bizarre, who wants to deprive them of all their happiness. Now that's what you call a bad trip.

Lest Ye Forget: Sonic Youth have hundreds of records to their name, but even loyal fans are probably lacking the original EP the band put out way back in October 1981. Well, they're in luck this week: Not only is Geffen re-tailoring the five-song set with eight additional tracks (mostly live stuff from that year), they're also tossing two more related titles back into stores after being out of print for more than a decade. The Whitey Album, a Madonna tribute of sorts by Ciccone Youth — the SY-ers, plus the Minutemen's Mike Watt and Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis — is back, as is SY guitarist Thurston Moore's 1995 solo affair, Psychic Hearts.

And in other play-it-again news, Now ReIgnition Records is giving Black on Black: A Tribute to Black Flag another push. Initial Records originally slipped out the disc in mid-2003, but the label went bust shortly thereafter. BF and metalcore fans alike should take note, because there are six bonus covers by Bleeding Through, Most Precious Blood, the Black Dahlia Murder and others appended on the re-release.

Song Titles of the Week:

"Auntie Toothache" and "What a F---ing Lovely Day!" from Stephin Merritt's Showtunes

Other Notables:

Nicolai Dunger's Here's My Song: You Can Have It ... I Don't Want It Anymore/ Yours 4-Ever: Gotten over that title yet? Good. Dunger — a seasoned Swedish singer/songwriter who's collaborated with Will Oldman, Calexico and others — has found new friends in Mercury Rev, with whom he partnered for his new LP. He co-produced and recorded the album with the New Yorkers, letting them handle most guitar duties, although the album isn't officially a joint release between the two camps. Don't miss the slick slide guitar on "Country Lane."

NOFX's Never Trust a Hippy: Twenty-two years into their career, NOFX have finally accomplished their mission. "Thing is, NOFX will be going to hell for this EP," the band says on its Web site. The six-song menu includes a song to that end, "I'm Going to Hell for This One," plus "Everything in Moderation (Especially Moderation)," "Golden Boys," "You're Wrong" and two slices that will resurface on the band's incoming Wolves in Wolves' Clothing LP: "Seeing Double at the Triple Rock" and "The Marxist Brothers."

Miss Kittin's Radio Caroline: French neo-electro whiz Miss Kittin pays homage to pirate station Radio Caroline with a mix CD featuring 15 artists you've never heard of. They include Jesper Dahlbäck, Der Zyklus and Andreas Fragel. Hopefully this disc's as animated as her Web site (MissKittin.com).

New Releases:

• Ambulance LTD - New English EP (TVT)
• Axxis - Paradise in Flames (Locomotive)
• Big City Rock - Big City Rock (Atlantic)
• Border Crossing - Ominous (Recall)
• Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise - What About That: New Year's Eve in Bloomington (two-CD live album; Kufala)
• Bonnie Bramlett and Mr. Groove Band - Roots, Blues & Jazz (Zoho)
• Devo 2.0 - Devo 2.0 (digipak with DVD; Disney)
  Read: "Are They Not Kids? Yes, They Are — And They're Giving Devo A Disney Makeover"
• DMC - Checks Thugs and Rock N Roll (limited edition comes with DVD; Asylum)
  Read: "DMC Hoping 67-Year-Old White Guys Dig His New Record"
• Nicolai Dunger - Here's My Song: You Can Have It ... I Don't Want It Anymore/ Yours 4-Ever (Zoë/ Rounder)
• E-40 - My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: My Ghetto Report Card (Warner Bros.)
• Donald Fagen - Morph the Cat (deluxe edition with DVD also available; Reprise)
• Paul Flaherty and Chris Corsano - Beloved Music (Family Vineyard)
• Flee the Seen - Doubt Becomes the New Addiction (Facedown)
• Jimmy Gaudreau - In Good Company (CMH)
• Jackie Greene - American Myth (Verve Forecast)
• Grace Griffith - My Life (Blix Street)
• Grand National - Kicking the National Habit (limited edition; Recall)
• Guillemots - From the Cliffs (EP; Fantastic Plastic)
• Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV (Atlantic)
  Read: "Hard-Fi Don't Need Clash Comparisons To Know They're Cool"

Buy Now: Stars of CCTV (Atlantic)
• Etta James - All the Way (RCA)
• Lanterna - Desert Ocean (Jemez Mountain)
• Las Rubias Del Norte - Panamericana (Barbès)
• Miss Kittin - Radio Caroline (Mental Groove)
• Willie Nelson - You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker (Lost Highway)
• NOFX - Never Trust a Hippy (EP; Fat Wreck Chords)
• Pure Inc - A New Day's Dawn (Locomotive)
• Duke Robillard - Guitar Groove-a-Rama (Stony Plain Music)
• Joe Satriani - Super Colossal (Epic)
• The Saw Doctors - The Cure (Shamtown/ Ryko)
• Sepultura - Dante XXI (SPV)
• Seven Glory - Over the Rooftops (7spin Music)
• Jules Shear - Dreams Don't Count (Mad Dragon)
• SheDaisy - Fortuneteller's Melody (Lyric Street)
• Slick Ballinger - Mississippi Soul (Oh Boy)
• Soledad Brothers - The Hardest Walk (Alive)
• Garrison Starr - The Sound of You & Me (Vanguard)
• Thomas Stronen - Parish (ECM)
• Warren Zanes - People That I'm Wrong For (Dualtone)
• Various artists - Nickelodeon Kids' Choice, Vol. 2 (Nick)
• Various artists - Pickin' on the Dixie Chicks: A Bluegrass Tribute (CMH)
• Various artists - Pickin' on Keane: A Bluegrass Tribute (CMH)
• Various artists - "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" soundtrack (Geffen)
• Various artists - "The Shaggy Dog" soundtrack (Disney)
• Various artists - "She's the Man" soundtrack (Lakeshore)

Notable Reissues And Archival Material:

• Bill Anderson - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O/ MCA Nashville)
• Benise - Nights of Fire! (Rosanegra)
• Black Sabbath - Greatest Hits 1970-1978 (Rhino)
• Boogie Down Productions - Blast Master Tapes: The Best of the B-Boy Sessions (two CDs; Traffic Entertainment)
• Bobby Brown - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O/ Geffen)
• Cameo - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O/ Mercury)
• The Chesterf!elds - Electric Guitars in Their Hearts: The Best of the Chesterf!elds (Cherry Red)
• Ciccone Youth - Whitey Album (Geffen)
• Dr. John - Right Place, Right Time: Live at Tipitina's - Mardi Gras '89 (The Music Force)
• Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree: Limited Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour Edition (Island)
  Read: "Fall Out Boy Promise An 'Event' Video For 'Sixteen Candles' "

Buy Now: From Under the Cork Tree: Limited Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour Edition (Island)
• Rick James - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O/ Motown)
• Charlie Louvin - Echoes of the Louvin Brothers (Varèse)
• Hugh Masekela - Hugh Masekela Presents: The Chisa Years 1965-1975 Rare and Unreleased (BBE)
• Stephin Merritt - Showtunes (Nonesuch)
• Thurston Moore - Psychic Hearts (Geffen)
• Vinnie Moore - Vinnie Moore Collection: The Shrapnel Years (Shrapnel)
• Willie Nelson and Roy Clark - An Introduction to Willie Nelson & Roy Clark - The Liberty & Capitol Masters (Fuel)
• The Pretenders - Pirate Radio: 1979-2005 (box set with four CDs and a DVD; Rhino)
• Prince - Ultimate (two CDs; Rhino)
• John Rich - Underneath the Same Moon (BNA/ Legacy)
• Otis Rush - Fuel Presents: An Introduction to Otis Rush (Fuel)
• Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth (EP; Geffen)
• Various artists - Black on Black: Tribut to Black Flag (Law of Inertia)
• Various artists - Punk 101: The Best of the Punk Years (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - "Bugaloos" soundtrack (Él)
• Various artists - "Heartworn Highways" soundtrack (Shout! Factory)
• Various artists - "H.R. Pufnstuf" soundtrack (Él)

DVDs:

• Benise - "Nights of Fire!" (Rosanegra)
• Conspiracy - "Live" (Cleopatra)
• Chick Corea - "Rendezvous in New York: New Trio" and "Rendezvous in New York: Chick Corea & Gonzalo Rubalcaba Duet" and "Rendezvous in New York: Now He Sings, Now He Sobs Trio" (Image Entertainment)
• Danielle Dax - "Bad Miss M: Danielle Dax Live" (Cherry Red)
• Jazz Crusaders - "New Morning: The Paris Concert" (Music Video Distributors)
• Lovedolls Superstar - "Fully Realized" (Eclectic)
• Poison - "Seven Days Live" (Music Video Distributors)
• Mike Stern - "New Morning: The Paris Concert" (Music Video Distributors)
• Tankard - "Fat, Ugly and Still (A)Live" (Locomotive)
• Type O Negative - "Symphony for the Devil" (SPV)
• Townes Van Zandt - "Be Here to Love Me" (Palm Pictures)
• Various artists - "ATL Underground Live" (Carlos Glover)
• Various artists - "The Butterfly Ball" (Music Video Distributors)
• Various artists - "Funk You Very Much" (Music Video Distributors)

Coming Attractions:

March 21:

• Teddy Geiger - Underage Thinking (Columbia)
• My Chemical Romance - Life on the Murder Scene (with DVD; Reprise)
  Read: "My Chemical Romance's 'Murder' DVD Just Got Bigger"
• Prince - 3121 (Universal)

March 28:

• Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (Def Jam)
  Read: "Ghostface Killah Spins Tales From The 'Hood On Fishscale"
  Buy Now: Fishscale (Def Jam)
• T.I. - King (limited-edition re-release with bonus DVD; Atlantic)
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (Interscope)

Read: "Are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Anxious About Bones? No No No"
Buy Now: Show Your Bones (Interscope)

April 4:

• Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Flaming Lips Go To War Against Britney, Gwen On New LP"

Buy Now: At War With the Mystics (Warner Bros.)
• Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors (Sanctuary)
• Pink - I'm Not Dead (La Face)
  Read: "Pink Pens An Open Letter To President Bush On New Album"

• E-40
• Fall Out Boy
• Hard-Fi
• Nicolai Dunger
• Darryl "DMC" McDaniels

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

• Arctic Monkeys
• The Jesus & Mary Chain
• Stephen Marley
• Satellite Party
• Jane's Addiction

2003 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

• Beastie Boys
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Ben Folds
• Ben Harper
• Blur