Destiny's Child
Photo: Getty Images

Boy Band Meets Its Destiny: 'NSYNC might have a bigger posse, but they're going to have a hard time toppling female peers Destiny's Child, whose blockbuster breakup tour is still fresh in mind. Destiny's #1's has three brand-new nuggets in addition to 13 chart-toppers; the DualDisc has the songs in 5.1 stereo, seven videos and a trailer for the "Destiny's Child - Live in Atlanta" DVD. 'NSYNC's Greatest Hits, on the other hand, is a glitter-free set with 12 of the group's most well-known cuts — no incentives for the ardent fan here. Point, set, match: DC.

A Sinful Set: Mötley Crüe fanatics had plenty of chances to catch the band's pyrotechnic summer tour, but for those who missed out, the "Carnival of Sins" DVD will leave them with fewer regrets. Splayed over two discs is their April 27 concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan, plus loads of bonuses, including the obligatory behind-the-scenes footage.

Aerojoint: The title of Aerosmith's latest — Rockin' the Joint - Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas — pretty much says it all, except that the set list includes a few rarities ("Season of Wither," on a concert album for the first time, plus a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rattlesnake Shake," etc.), and that the DualDisc's video side has four clips, backstage material and more.

Faith Evans usually takes three or four years between releases, but the holiday spirit has apparently overcome her this time around. Fresh on the heels of April's The First Lady — her first album that didn't include "faith" in the title — Biggie's widow returns to tradition with A Faithful Christmas, a set of traditional songs including "Happy Holiday," "White Christmas" and "O Come All Ye Faithful."

Incidental Spookiness: Are this week's releases haunted? Sink your fangs into Children of Bodom's Are You Dead Yet?, Renee Heartfelt's Death of a Ghost and Hank Williams III's Straight to Hell, or get bewitched by new LPs and reissues by Dead Can Dance, Dead Kennedys, Goblin Co--, Gravenhurst, I Am Ghost, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and Program the Dead. BOOyah!

George on Their Minds: George Harrison enthusiasts will want to take note of a remastered version of the two-CD The Concert for Bangladesh, but even more prized is a limited, deluxe-edition version of the DVD, which has a different cover and is jam-packed with unique ephemera like handwritten lyrics, 10 postcards, a static-cling sticker and reprint of the original poster. Joel Harrison isn't one of George's offspring, but he takes advantage of his namesake all the same by redoing 11 selections by the Beatles guitarist. And speaking of the Fab Four, Ben Harper, Ted Leo, Ben Kweller, Sufjan Stevens, Low and Dar Williams laud one of the band's best records with This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul.

Song Titles of the Week:

• "Pretty People Never Lie/ Vampires Never Really Die" (I Am Ghost's We Are Always Searching)
• "F. Ree P. Ersonality T. Est" (Program the Dead's Program the Dead)

Other Notables:

Angie Stone's Stone Hits: The Very Best of Angie Stone and "Stone Hits Live: The Very Best of Angie Stone" DVD: The soul revivalist is hoping for another resurgence of sorts with two comps. Her CD has a pair of new cuts, including "I Wasn't Kidding," while her DVD boasts guest spots by Anthony Hamilton at a performance in Atlanta, plus extra footage and photos.

They Might Be Giants' Here Come the ABCs and They Got Lost: The always-unique TMBG really do run through the alphabet on their children's collection ABCs, and there's even more fun for the family with the accompanying DVD, which is full of animated components. Not to be overlooked, so to speak, is They Get Lost, a rarities set with 21 tracks of collectible goodness, due the same day.

Calvin Johnson's Before the Dream Faded: He's been on oodles of albums and played with a bunch of bands (Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System, Halo Benders), so it's hard to imagine that Faded is only the second solo opus by the Northwest indie-punk guru. Members of his K Records clique — including folks from the Blow, Mount Eerie, Glass Candy and Mirah — prop up Papa Johnson on tracks like "When Hears Turn Blue," "Rabbit Blood" and "Obliteration Overload."

New Releases:

• A Day in Black and White - Notes (Level Plane)
• Aberdeen City - The Freezing Atlantic (Dovecote)
• Aerosmith - Rockin' the Joint - Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas (DualDisc; Columbia)

Buy Now: Rockin' the Joint - Live at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas (Columbia)
• Allele - Point of Origin (Corporate Punishment)
• Annie - DJ Kicks (Studio K7)
• John Arnold - Style and Pattern (Ubiquity)
• The Bacon Brothers - White Knuckles (spinART)
• Jeff Bates - Good People (RCA)
• Jay Bezel - Diplomats Present Jay Bezel: Philadelphia Beast (Sure Shot)
• Bigg Milt - Power 2 the People (Thump)
• Rick Braun - Yours Truly (Artizen)
• Breakestra - Hit the Floor (Ubiquity)
• Buckethead & Friends - Enter the Chicken (Serjical Strike)
• Julie Budd - The New Classics (Ruby/Ryko)
• Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering (DiCristina Stair Builders)
• Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet? (Fontana International)
• Dirty Faces - Superamerican (Jagjaguwar)
• DJ Muggs Vs. GZA the Genius - Grandmasters (Angeles)
• The Drift - Noumena (Temporary Residence)
• Earlies - These Were the Earlies (Secretly Canadian)
• Faith Evans - A Faithful Christmas (Capitol)

Buy Now: A Faithful Christmas (Capitol)
• F-Minus - Won't Bleed Me/ Failed Society EP (Alternative Tentacles)
• Fefe Dobson - Sunday Love (enhanced; Island)
• The Fire Still Burns - Keeping Hope Alive EP (Blackout)
• Girls in Hawaii - From Here to There (Titan/Pyramid)
• Goblin Co-- - Bagged and Boarded (Absolutely Kosher)
• Gravenhurst - Fires in Distant Buildings (Warp)
• Great Big Sea - The Hard & the Easy (Zöe)
• G3 (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci) - Live in Tokyo (with DVD; Epic)
• Joel Harrison - Harrison on Harrison: Jazz Explorations of George Harrison (High Note)
• Marcos Hernandez - C About Me (TVT)
• Scott Holt Band - Revelator (Rockview)
• Hoods - The King Is Dead (Eulogy)
• I Am Ghost - We Are Always Searching (Epitaph)
• Il Divo - The Christmas Collection (Columbia)
• Jin - Jin Presents the Emcee's Proper?Ganda (Draft)
• Colin John Band - Acousticland Lady (Rockview)
• Calvin Johnson - Before the Dream Faded (enhanced; K)
• LaSalle - Expedition Songs (Thick)
• The LeeVees - Hanukkah Rocks (Reprise)
• Jacques Loussier Trio - Mozart Piano Concertos 20/23 (Telarc)
• Matt Maneri - Pentagon (Thirsty Ear)
• Bette Midler - Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook (DualDisc; Columbia)
• Mikoto - Mikoto EP (Level Plane)
• Milemarker - Ominosity (Eyeball)

Buy Now: Ominosity (Eyeball)
• Niacin - Organik (Magna Carta)
• Joe Nichols - III (Universal South)
• Tony Orlando & Dawn - A Christmas Reunion (R2 Entertainment)
• Rebecca Pidgeon - Tough on Crime (The Lab)
• Pinetop Seven - The Night's Bloom (Empyrean)
• Program the Dead - Program the Dead (Low Altitude/Universal)
• Queenadrena - The Butcher and the Butterfly (One Little Indian)
• Collin Raye - Twenty Years and Change (Infinity Nashville)
• Renee Heartfelt - Death of a Ghost (Textbook)
• Report Suspicious Activity - Report Suspicious Activity (Alternative Tentacles)
• Lisa Shaw - Cherry (Naked)
• She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge (Geffen)
• The Skygreen Leopards - Jehovah Surrender (Jagjaguwar)
• Silver Sunshine - A Small Pocket of Pure Spirit EP (Empyrean)
• Slum Village - Slum Village (Barack)
• Socialburn - The Beauty of Letting Go (IRock Entertainment)
• Solea - Solea (Textbook)
• Spyritual - Wall of Soul (Kitty Yo)
• Marty Stuart - Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota (Universal South)
• Stereocell - Into Tomorrow (Rockview)
• They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs (with DVD; enhanced; Walt Disney)
• Randy Travis - Glory Train: Songs of Faith, Worship, and Praise (Word)
• Townes Van Zandt - Live at Union Chapel, London England (Tomato)
• Vaux - Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice (Lava)
• Hank Williams III - Straight to Hell (Curb)
• Various artists - Imaginational Anthems (Near Mint)
• Various artists - Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked (Impulse)
• Various artists - Pull My Finger: Jingle Smells (Oglio)
• Various artists - This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - Windham Hill Christmas: The Night Before Christmas (Windham Hill)
• Various artists - "Saw II" soundtrack (Image Entertainment)

Notable Reissues:

• Sarah Brightman - Love Changes Everything: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection - Volume Two (Decca)
• Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas (DualDisc; Columbia)

Buy Now: Merry Christmas (Sony)
• Johnny Cash - The Legend of Johnny Cash (Hip-O/Sony BMG/UME)
• John Coltrane - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Harry Connick Jr. - Harry for the Holidays (DualDisc; Columbia)
• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Miles Davis - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Dead Can Dance - Memento: The Very Best of Dead Can Dance (Rhino)
• Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables: Special 25th Anniversary Edition CD + DVD (Manifesto)
• Destiny's Child - #1's (DualDisc; Columbia)
  Read: "Destiny's Child Look Back With #1's Before Going Their Separate Ways"
  Buy Now: #1's (Columbia)
• Eric Dolphy - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Jerry Garcia - Ladder to the Stars: Garcia Plays Dylan (Rhino)
• Red Garland Quintets Featuring John Coltrane - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Gun Club - Mother Juno (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
• George Harrison and Friends - The Concert for Bangladesh (Capitol)
• Coleman Hawkins - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Lightnin' Hopkins - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Give Me Back My Bullets - Deluxe Edition (Geffen/UME)
• Jackie McLean - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - Gay, Black & Married (Rykodisc)
• 'NSYNC - Greatest Hits (Jive)

Buy Now: Greatest Hits (Jive)
• Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wildweed (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
• Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop)
• Sonny Rollins - Prestige Profiles (with bonus collectors' CD; Prestige)
• Jimmy Smith - Christmas '64 (Verve)
• Angie Stone - Stone Hits: The Very Best of Angie Stone (J)
• They Might Be Giants - They Got Lost (Rounder/Zöe)
• Toots & the Maytals - Roots Reggae: The Classic Jamaican Albums (box set; Trojan)
• Various artists - The Concert for Bangladesh (Capitol)
• Various artists - For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records (Bloodshot)

DVDs:

• ABBA - "The Movie" (Universal)
• The BellRays - "At the Barfly" (Music Video Distributors)
• Blues Company - "Keepin' the Blues Alive" (Music Video Distributors)
• Captain & Tennille - "Ultimate Collection" (Bayside)
• George Harrison and Friends - "The Concert for Bangladesh" (limited deluxe edition due same day; Rhino)
• Billie Holiday - "Ultimate Collection" (Verve)
• Mötley Crüe - "Carnival of Sins" (two DVDs; Clear Channel Entertainment)
• The Residents - "Wormwood" (Music Video Distributors)
• Frank Sinatra with Dean Martin and Bing Crosby - "The Frank Sinatra Show: High Hopes" (Music Video Distributors)
• Angie Stone - "Stone Hits Live: The Very Best of Angie Stone" (J)
• Thunders, Kane & Nolan - "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" (Music Video Distributors)
• Trick Daddy - "Thug Holiday" (Music Video Distributors)
• Voivod - "D-V-O-D-1" (Music Video Distributors)
• Various artists - "The Dirty South - Raw & Uncut" (Music Video Distributors)

Coming Attractions:

November 1:

• Nirvana - Sliver: The Best of the Box (Geffen)

Buy Now: Sliver: The Best of the Box (Geffen)
• Blink 182 - Greatest Hits (Geffen)
• Santana - All That I Am (Arista)
  Read: "Guest List For New Santana LP: Big Boi, Mary J., Will.I.Am, Bo Bice And More"
  Buy Now: All That I Am (Arista)

• Limp Bizkit - Greatest Hitz (Geffen)
• The Mars Volta - Scab Dates (Universal)
• Young Buck - T.I.P. (Mass Appeal)

November 15:

• Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi: Platinum Edition (Island)
  Read: "Mariah Carey Emancipating Mimi Again, With Bonus Tracks"
• Green Day - Bullet in a Bible (with DVD; Reprise)
• Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor (Warner Bros.)
  

Buy Now: Confessions on a Dance Floor (Warner Bros.)

• Destiny's Child
• NSYNC
• Aerosmith
• Mötley Crüe
• Faith Evans

Chris Rock's <I>Never Scared</I>
Photo: Dreamworks

Chris Rock has never been one to shy away from controversy, so naturally his fourth album, Never Scared, finds him talking about sex, parenthood, marriage, a new generation of rap music, Michael Jackson, Lil Jon, George W. Bush and Jermaine Jackson. The release, taken largely from his 2004 HBO comedy special of the same name, also includes a DVD with behind-the-scenes footage.

They Might Be Giants — who have taught us such valuable lessons as the relationship between Istanbul and Constantinople and how James K. Polk came to be president — are now showing fans young and old how to make learning the ABCs fun. Featuring songs like "C Is for Conifers," "The Vowel Family" and "Go for G!," Here Come the ABCs imparts some more useful information than, say, "old New York was once New Amsterdam."

L.A. ska-punk outfit Goldfinger release their first studio album since 2002's Open Your Eyes. Founding member and singer John Feldmann returns to for Disconnection Notice after taking some time to write and/or produce for bands including Good Charlotte, the Used and Story of the Year.

Out Tuesday, February 15:

• A-Lines - You Can Touch (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
• American Head Charge - The Feeding (DRT Entertainment)
• Astarte - Sirens (Cleopatra)
• Cal Bennett - Live at the Blue Note, Las Vegas (Thump)
• Blue Merle - Burning in the Sun (Island Def Jam)
• Buttersprites - Buttersprites (Dionysus)
• Damon & Naomi - The Earth Is Blue (20/20/20)
• Ethan Daniel Davidson - Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson Five (Times Beach)
• Joey DeFrancesco and Jimmy Smith - Legacy (Concord)
• Dierdre - One (Six Degrees)
• Franklin Delano - Like a Smoldering Gun in Front of Me (File13)
• Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now (UMG Nashville)
• Goldfinger - Disconnection Notice (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: Disconnection Notice (Warner Bros.)
• Grayskul - Deadlivers (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
• Hollow Points - Black Spot (Disaster)
• Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers - Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers (Universal Motown)
• LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (Capitol)
• Jeff Lorber - Flipside (Narada)
• Cyril Morin - Western Pansori (reissue, Milan)
• My Way My Love - Hypnotic Suggestion: 01 (File13)
• One Mile South - One Mile South (Infinity)
• Opera IX - Anphisbena (Cleopatra)
• Plate Fork Knife Spoon - Plate Fork Knife Spoon (Wide Hive)
• Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower - Love in the Fascist Brothel (Revelation)
• Porcupine Tree - Warszawa (Madfish Records)
• Chris Rock - Never Scared (Geffen)
• Pete Schlegel - Strong Stuff (Infinity)
• Trygve Seim - Sangam (ECM)
• Shade Empire - Sinthetic (Cleopatra)
• Striker - Spekulantsvinet (Six Weeks)
• They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs (Walt Disney)
  Buy Now: Here Come the ABCs (Walt Disney)
• Throes of Dawn - Quicksilver Clouds (Cleopatra)
• VMW - VMW (Coalition)
• Watershed - 5th of July (Idol Records)
• The Wedding Present - Take Fountain (Manifesto)
• The White Mice - Assphixxxeatateshun (Load)
• The Willowz - Are Coming (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
• Young Dubliners - Real World (Higher Octave)
• Various artists - "Cursed" soundtrack (Treadstone)
• Various artists - Disneymania 3 (Disney)
• Various artists - Just Go Destroy Everything in Sight! (Dionysus)
• Various artists - Lowrider 2005 Tour (Thump)
• Various artists - SubNoize Souljaz (Suburban Noize)
• DVD: Al Di Meola - "One of These Nights" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Incognito - "In Concert: Ohne Filter" (Music Video Distributors)

February 22:

• Tori Amos - The Beekeeper (Sony)
• Omarion - O (Sony)
  Read: "Omarion's O Has Tracks For Grandma, B2K And (Almost) Nekkid Club-Goers"
• Thievery Corporation - Cosmic Game (ESL Music)

March 1:

• Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams (Universal)
• Jennifer Lopez - Rebirth (Sony)
  Read: "Fat Joe Nearly A No-Show To Flow With J. Lo"
• Mars Volta - Frances the Mute (Universal)

March 8:

• 50 Cent - The Massacre (Aftermath)
  Read: "50 Cent Renames LP, Makes Video For Sexy Song 'Candy Shop' "
• Black Label Society - Mafia (Artemis)
  Read: "Zakk Wylde Rips Blind Followers On 'Just Another Black Label Society Record' "
• Kasabian - Kasabian (RCA)

• Chris Rock
• They Might Be Giants
• GoldFinger
• Damon & Naomi

Gordon Gano
Photo: Jill Epstein

With so many visitors it's sometimes hard to know who's the star and who's the guest, hip-hop has perfected the art of the cameo.

But with the exception of Santana's multi-platinum Supernatural and recent CDs from Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow, most rock artists have been less willing to share their albums with a raft of guest vocalists and players.

A pair of upcoming albums from two punk/new wave legends, though, takes the idea of star-studded collabos and twists them around in two unexpected ways.

The solo debut from Violent Femmes lead singer Gordon Gano, Hitting the Ground (August 27), is so star-studded that the nasally voiced singer could only squeeze his vocals onto three of the 11 tracks.

Of course, it helps when your songs are sung by the likes of two different members of the Velvet Underground (Lou Reed and John Cale), PJ Harvey frontwoman Polly Jean Harvey, former Pixies singer Frank Black, They Might Be Giants, and ex-4 Non Blondes singer and Pink/Christina Aguilera producer Linda Perry.

On the flip side, John Doe, singer for Los Angeles punk legends X and leader of the John Doe Thing, simply called some of his friends in to help out on his upcoming fourth full-length solo album, Dim Stars, Bright Sky (August 20). His friends just happen to be folks like Jakob Dylan, Aimee Mann, Juliana Hatfield and Go-Go's member Jane Wiedlin, whose contributions are decidedly more subtle than Gano's collaborations.

"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to sing with them ... people who I respect as people and artists?' " Doe said of his first acoustic album, which he tagged as "folk soul." "I have a difficult time separating the two, because if I don't like the person I usually don't like what they sing about."

Gano came by his high rollin' cameos through a back door. His first solo effort after 20 years fronting the Femmes was conceived as the soundtrack to a film by David Moore ("Polish Spaghetti"). The indie filmmaker tapped Gano for the project after seeing a performance of the "Blister in the Sun" singer's musical, "Carmen: The First Two Chapters" at New York's avant-garde Knitting Factory club.

"It started because I thought that, for a movie, it seemed silly if the same voice is singing in the background all the time," Gano said. While, like Doe, Gano nabbed some friends to voice his songs, he'd never met some of the guests, such as Perry.

"I was vaguely familiar with her, but there were probably only five or 10 seconds of the 4 Non Blondes record that had something that I liked vocally," he said candidly. The two bonded on the phone, though, over their mutual love of smoky jazz singer Nina Simone, and Perry turned in a nuanced, sensual vocal that surprised both her and Gano.

In another surprise, Polly Jean Harvey's take on the title track features her amazing, quavering imitation of Gano's signature vocal style over a driving folk punk track, which he took as a high compliment.

Though Gano wrote all of the songs and recorded rough demos for his colleagues (and in some cases finished songs awaiting their vocals) to work off of, only punk godfather Lou Reed got a co-songwriting credit.

"I told him about the project and he said if he had time and was inspired that he would try to do something," Gano said of his musical hero. "Well, at the point where I thought it wasn't going to happen, he called and said he was done, but that he'd changed some of the lyrics." As it turned out, in addition to rewriting more than half of the lyrics to the playful sung/spoken "Catch 'Em in the Act," Reed also completely rearranged the song's phrasing in a way that Gano said he could have never imagined.

Being the old-school punk that he is, Doe had always eyed all-star albums with a healthy dose of skepticism. But, after years of being asked why he hadn't recorded an all-acoustic album, Doe finally decided that the songs he'd been writing seemed to call for a more mellow setting, so he swallowed his punk rock pride and unplugged.

Bringing along his friends for the ride suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea, either.

"The same part of me that resisted doing an acoustic album resists being pigeonholed and worries about getting old, or soft," Doe said. "It's difficult to maintain that intensity after you've relied on electric guitars and fast tempos. Making rock music is very seductive and you always wonder, 'I've been at 10, am I getting to 10 this way?' "

While he traded bashing drums, electric guitars and loud vocals for pedal steel, mandolin, acoustic guitars and piano, Doe found a different kind of intensity. Paired with female singers who complement his voice in a more seductively poppy way than the edgier vocals of his longtime partner in X, Exene Cervenka, Doe's voice takes on a mellower, wounded tone on the album. Songs like "Closet of Dreams," "Still You" and "Backroom" are a series of elliptical poems about lives hanging in the balance and fuzzy portraits of characters barely keeping hold of the ones they love, and in some cases, themselves.

With a solo career that has frequently drawn more accolades than record sales, Doe said he thought the novelty of an acoustic album, paired with the guests, couldn't hurt his prospects.

"I'd be a liar if I said I did it strictly because of the art," he said. "Eighty percent of the people that say 'I love John Doe' have no idea what I sound like. But I also realize that it's cool and people like those things in an age where there's so many things going on at once and every small advantage my help you make another record."

Similarly, Gano said he wasn't concerned that his voice doesn't appear all over his solo debut, because his guests wont' likely hurt sales, either. "It was just very natural in how it developed," he said. "Maybe it's like my version of a hip-hop solo record!"

• Gordon Gano
• John Doe
• Lou Reed
• John Cale
• PJ Harvey

You don't need to hear it from a Korn Korrospondent (whatever happened to them, by the way?) to know that the band is "Here to Stay." Their latest album, Untouchables, is this week's big new release.

Nipping at Korn's heels are those lovable Osbournes, whose Family Album compilation includes a few oldies and some new goodies — Kelly's rendition of "Papa Don't Preach" and Pat Boone's TV-theme version of "Crazy Train" among them.

Former Tony! Toni! Toné! crooner Raphael Saadiq releases Instant Vintage, featuring D'Angelo, Angie Stone, and TLC's T-Boz, while They Might Be Giants fans say Yes to the band's latest effort, No!.

With renewed vision and a new label to express it on, David Bowie serves up Heathen, his latest offering, which features guest spots from Dave Grohl and the Who's Pete Townshend.

Wanna see where all the beef began? Check out The Difference, the compilation featuring KRS-One's first dis track to Nelly ("Clear 'Em Out") as it hits shelves as well.

And some tribute albums — to Disturbed and System of a Down — may be cool, but it seems like just about anyone can get this type of recognition these days. What's next, a tribute to Sum41? Oh, wait ...

Out Tuesday, June 11:

• Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope (Relapse)
• Gregg Allman - No Stranger to the Dark: Best Of (Legacy)
• Troy Andrews - Trombone Shorty's Swingin' Gate (Louisiana Red Hot)
• Arch Enemy - Black Earth (Century Media)
• Atmosphere - God Loves Ugly (Fat Beats/ Razor & Tie)
• AZ - Aziatic (Motown) Read about it ... AZ Shoots Video And Short Film Inspired By 'Training Day'
• Balligomingo - Beneath the Surface (Windham Hill)
• Joey Beltram - Form & Control (BML)
• Kristin Scott Benson - Straight Paths (Pinecastle)
• Black Crowes - By Your Side (reissue, American Recordings)
• Black Crowes - Sho'Nuff (5 CD Box Set, American Recordings)
• Blackshine - Soulless & Proud (Steamhammer)
• David Bowie - Heathen (ISO/ Columbia) Read about it ... Foos' Dave Grohl, Moby Are Bowie Buddies On New LP
• Jesse Brock - Kickin' Grass (Pinecastle)
• John Brown's Body - Spirits All Around Us (Shanachie)
• The Byrds - Byrds Play Dylan (reissue, Legacy)
• Caribbean Jazz Project - The Gathering (Concord Picante)
• The Clarks - Another Happy Ending (Razor & Tie)
• Concept - Culture Clash (Water Music)
• Cradle of Filth - Lovecraft & Witch Hearts (Koch)
• Dabrye - One/ Three (Ghostly International)
• Howie Day - Australia (reissue, Epic) Read about it ... Howie Day: Cutting Class And Kicking Ass
• Darling Kandie - People Next Door (Underground Inc.)
• Deathray - White Sleeves (EP, Doppler)
• Defragmentation - Self Construct (Underground Inc.)
• Dervish -Live in Palma (2 CDs, Compass)
• Daz Dillinger - This Is the Life I Lead (DPGRecordz) Read about it ... Daz Dillinger Lets The Dogs Out On DPG Album
• Earthride - Taming of the Demons (Southern Lord)
• Es Mac - My L.I.F.E (Let Me Live It!) (DIMW)
• Farrah - Moustache (Ark 21)
• Sue Foley - Where the Action Is (Shanachie)
• Chris Fortier - Bedrock (Bedrock)
• Nnenna Freelon - Tales of Wonder (Concord Jazz)
• Bill Frisell - The Willies (Nonesuch)
• G-Man - Avanti (EFA-CAR)
• Great Deceiver - A Venom Well Designed (Peaceville)
• Michele Greene - Ojo de Tiburón (Appleseed Recordings)
• Groove Assassins - Street Level Jams (Glasgow Underground)
• Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove -Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall (Verve)
• Hanna - Amen (Shadow)
• Hem - Rabbit Songs (Bar/None)
• Kristian Hoffman - & (eggBERT)
• James - Getting Away With It: Live (Sanctuary)
• Jorma Kaukonen -Blue Country Heart (Columbia)
• Keepsake - Black Dress in a B Movie (Fearless)
• Willie King - Living in a New World (Rooster Blues)
• Korn - Untouchables (Immortal/ Epic) Read about it ... Korn: The Untouchables
• Tim Krekel - Happy Town (FreeFalls/ Envoy Agency)
• Lana Lane - Project Shangri-La (Limb)
• Lathun - Fortunate (Motown) Read about it ... Lathun Drops Fortunate, Widens Neo-Soul Scope
• Little Axe - Hard Grind (Fat Possum)
• Sofia Loell - Right Up Your Face (Curb)
• Lucky Dube - Soul Taker (Shanachie)
• Lunar Aurora - Weltenganger (World War III)
• Magnetic - Lo Culture (Shadow)
• Malevolent Creation - Eternal (Crash)
• Mammoth Volume - Early Years (Crash)
• Marie Sisters - Marie Sisters (Republic/ Universal)
• Mars Ill - Blue Collar Sessions (Ill Boogie)
• Amanda Marshall - Everybody's Got a Story (Columbia)
• Ronnie McDowell - A Tribute to the King (Varèse Sarabande)
• Metalium - Millennium Metal (Crash)
• Montany - New Born Day (Limb)
• Mutabaruka - Life Squared (Heartbeat)
• New Found Glory - Sticks and Stones (MCA)
• Jeanne Newhall - Paris Nights (Marzipan)
• Nightmare - Cosmovision (Napalm)
• No Return - Machinery (Nuclear Blast)
• Origin - Informis, Infinitas, Inhumanitas (Relapse)
• Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (Koch)
• Peace Division - Nite:Life 010 (NRK)
• Phatzo - The Classics Vol. 1 (AMC)
• Quill - Voodoo Caravan (Steamhammer)
• Raphael Saadiq -Instant Vintage (Pookie/ Universal)
• Joe Sample - The Pecan Tree (PRA/ Verve)
• Santana - San Mateo Sessions (Universal)
• Seiko - Area 62 (Hip-O)
• Maia Sharp - Maia Sharp (Concord)
• Siebengurgena - Plagued Be Thy Angel (Napalm)
• Chad Simmons - Heaven Sent (Hitpros)
• Sinisstar - Future Shock (Geffen)
• Soul Parlor - Way We Talk (EFA-CAR)
• Special Skank - Ska Au Go Go (Cleopatra)
• Speedometer - Private (Lakeshore)
• Spice 1 -Spiceberg Slim (D3)
• St. John - Blast the Speakers (UBL)
• Ralph Stanley - Ralph Stanley (DMZ)
• Theorem - THX: Experiments in Synchronicity (Minus)
• They Might Be Giants - No! (Idlewild/ Rounder)
• The Tragically Hip - In Violet Light (Zoë/ Rounder)
• Valley's Eve - Deception of Pain (Limb)
• Various artists - Beatles Tribute: Number One Again (Lakeshore)
• Various artists - Body & Soul Vol. 4 (Wave)
• Various artists – "The Bourne Identity" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
• Various artists - Brazilectro Vol. 3 (SPV-NAV)
• Various artists - Constant Elevation (Astralwerks)
• Various artists - Defining Tech (Orbisonic)
• Various artists - The Difference (Official Jointz)
• Various artists - Electronic Tribute to Depeche Mode (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Globus Mix Vol. 6 (EFA-CAR)
• Various artists - Halo (Sumthing Else)
• Various artists - Inside Traxx (Warner Bros./ Curb)
• Various artists - King Size Dub: Chapter Eight (Echo Beach)
• Various artists – "Lilo and Stitch" soundtrack (Disney)
• Various artists - Loud Records: The Early Daze (RCA)
• Various artists – "Love and a Bullet" soundtrack (TVT)
• Various artists – "Mr. Deeds" soundtrack (RCA) Read about it ... Dirty 'Deeds': Adam Sandler Croons Bowie Classic
• Various artists - Nova Soul (SPV-NAV)
• Various artists - Pickin' on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Vol. 2 (CMH)
• Various artists - The Osbournes Family Album (Epic) Read about it ... Osbournes Unveil F — -ing Family Album
• Various artists - The Pioneers of Bluegrass (CMH)
• Various artists - The Reggae Tribute to Pink Floyd (Snake Machine)
• Various artists - Teleportation (EFA-CAR)
• Various artists - A Tribute to Disturbed (Big Eye)
• Various artists - A Tribute to Sum41 (Big Eye)
• Various artists - A Tribute to System of a Down (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Very Best of After Hours (Instinct)
• VHS or Beta - Le Funk (On)
• Wasp - Dying for the World (Sanctuary/Metal-Is)
• Widespread Panic - Live in the Classic City (3 CDs, Sanctuary)
• Brian Wilson - Pet Sounds Live (Sanctuary)

• Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip (Island/Def Jam) Read about it ... Jerry Cantrell Conjures Ghost Of Alice In Chains On New LP
• Our Lady Peace - Gravity (Columbia)
• Papa Roach - Lovehatetragedy (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Papa Roach Distance Themselves From Rap-Metal Peers On New LP
• Swizz Beatz - G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Swizz Beatz Unveils Metallica/Ja Rule Track, Sets 'Guilty' Single
• Wyclef Jean - Masquerade (Columbia)

• Boy George - Night Out (Moonshine)
• Epidemic - Epidemic (Elektra)
• Play - Play (Columbia)
• Will Smith - Born to Reign (Columbia) Read about it ... Will Smith Drops Samples For Guitars On Born To Reign
• Sonic Youth - Murray Street (Geffen)
• Vida Blue - Vida Blue (Elektra)

• Aerosmith - O Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (Columbia)
• Cypress Hill - Stash (Columbia)
• Nas - From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes (Columbia)
• Jerzee Monét - Love & War (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Jerzee Monét: Workin' For Her Big Break
• Jessica Simpson - This Is the Remix (Columbia)
• Various artists - "Men in Black 2" soundtrack (Sony) Read about it ... Will Smith Preps Next LP, New Tracks For 'MIB2'
• Various artists - So So Def Presents: Definition of a Remix (So So Def/ Columbia)

• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic) Read about it ... Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates

• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit) Read about it ... Lil' Romeo Battles His Evil Twin On B-Ball Court

• Korn
• Ozzy Osbourne
• David Bowie
• Raphael Saadiq
• The Black Crowes

They Might Be Giants
Photo: Susan Anderson

Few bands have a résumé as extensive as the one belonging to They Might Be Giants, so it's no wonder their accomplishments should make perfect fodder for a documentary.

In their 20 years together, the quirky duo of John Linnell and John Flansburgh have successfully telemarketed themselves into underground celebrity, composed scores and theme music for television and film, and won a Grammy (for "Boss of Me," the theme to "Malcolm in the Middle"), while recording seven studio LPs and a slew of EPs, live albums and singles. Flansburgh even found time to moonlight as a video director, helming clips for Ben Folds Five, Harvey Danger, Soul Coughing, Edwyn Collins and Frank Black, in addition to two videos for his own band.

While many other bands who emerged from the same mid-'80s alternative explosion burned out a few years later, TMBG persevered on their own terms with a work ethic to rival a Harvard grad student. After two decades of working together, the Johns, childhood friends from a Boston suburb, have got this making-music thing down to a science.

"We both have project studios, so we can do double duty," Flansburgh said. "John can be in one room and I can be in another room and we can work with other people and get a lot of stuff done quickly. Sometimes that's necessary, because we created insane deadlines for ourselves. The other thing is that we've just been around forever and have a backlog of stuff, and we work really efficiently [with it]. We don't write in the studio. We've been kind of allergic to that ever since the beginning, when we were poor enough that we couldn't do that. We try to get everything mapped out in our project studios, and we both are kind of uptight and not into wasting time, so we try to do everything pretty quickly, and that's a good way to work."

Their intense regimen has most recently produced the new theme music to "America's Most Wanted," scheduled to debut in May; the companion soundtrack to McSweeney's Literary Journal's Art & Music Issue #6; "Now That You're One of Us" for the film "Return to Neverland"; the themes to the WB's animated series "The Oblongs" and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show"; music cues for ABC's "Nightline Primetime"; music for a Diet Dr. Pepper commercial; and No!, a 17-track children's album due June 11, as well as their latest LP, Mink Car, released last fall.

The recording of the album and the events leading up to it are captured in "Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)," a documentary marking the 20th anniversary of TMBG's first show. The film premiered March 10 at the South by Southwest Film Festival and will move on to the film festival circuit before a still-unscheduled commercial release.

Director A.J. Schnack began filming "Gigantic" last March and finished just two weeks before the premiere. Shot in London and the U.S., the film chronicles the Johns' early days of growing up in Lincoln, Massachusetts, to first writing songs together in high school, to moving to Brooklyn, New York, where they started the Dial-a-Song phone hotline while shopping around their demos to labels. For 20 years and counting (call (718) 387-6962 and see for yourself), Dial-a-Song has offered fans the chance to hear early demos and random musical musings, a promotional tool that helped develop the band's local following even before they released their 1986 self-titled debut. A collection of some of the "outgoing musical messages," Dial-a-Song: An Anthology, will be released in August.

TMBG's second effort, Lincoln, was the best-selling indie album of 1989, and its successor, 1990's gold-certified Flood, berthed the group's nationwide breakthrough single, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." Three other albums followed, each possessing the distinctive TMBG trademark of accordion-bellowed melodies, whiney vocals and songs sometimes too clever for their own good (see Factory Showroom's "James K. Polk" and "XTC Vs. Adam Ant").

Mink Car, however, bucks the Giants' system of keeping everything under control and allows outside hands — including those of producers Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley, Fountains of Wayne singer/songwriter Adam Schlesinger and Pat Dillett — into the frey. The result is an album that shows the duo at their most adventurous.

"We were really doing it in pieces," Linnell said of recording Mink Car while also working on incidental music for the new season of "Malcolm." "We were approaching the idea like, 'How can we create a breakthrough song with you?' It was not like our regular album experience. We really wanted to make a really strong record."

"We always want to make strong records," Flansburgh clarified, "but in this case we also were at the point where we were confident enough to give stuff to people and say, 'Go completely crazy.' Well, maybe they didn't go completely crazy, but they did stuff that we would have never have done ourselves. They were doing stuff that was kind of un-Giants."

Perhaps the most un-Giant-like of the bunch are the tender, pop-lite strum of "Another First Kiss," featuring crooned-not-whined vocals, and the disco-inspired "Man, It's So Loud in Here." The latter lives at the polar opposite of the TMBG spectrum, with its steady throb of staccato beats. Even the biggest fan might not identify the track's creator, until, that is, the curmudgeonly funny lyrics surface. A comment on the social dynamic within a dance club, the song depicts a one-sided conversation between a club kid who attempts to hold his interest's interest with "Baby, check this out, I got something to say/ Man, it's so loud in here/ When they stop the drum machine and I can think again, I'll remember what it was."

They Might Be Giants tour dates, according to their publicist:

• 3/26 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Carefree Theatre

• 3/27 - Gainesville, FL @ The Palace

• 3/28 - Panama City, FL @ Boardwalk Beach Resort

• 3/29 - Jacksonville, FL @ Marquee Theatre

• 3/30 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca Cola Roxy Theatre

• 4/2 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz

• 4/3 - Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre

• 4/4 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue

• 4/5 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's

• 4/6 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall

• They Might Be Giants

Paul McCartney
Photo: Kevin Mazur

The first-ever tribute to Paul McCartney's post-Beatles career is taking off.

Listen to What the Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney, scheduled for an October 9 release, focuses on McCartney's work since leaving the Beatles, both in Wings and as a solo artist. The compilation includes interpretations by artists such as Robyn Hitchcock, Matthew Sweet, Sloan and They Might Be Giants of the former Fab Four bassist's popular hits, as well as little-known gems, according to the album's publicist.

Singer/songwriter Owsley covers the classic "Band on the Run," the title track from Wings' 1973 third album, while pop-punkers SR-71 offer their take on "My Brave Face," a tune McCartney wrote with Elvis Costello for Paul's 1989 solo album, Flowers in the Dirt. Semisonic take "Jet" for a spin, and rockers Virgos, fronted by temporary Creed bassist Brett Hestla, deliver their rendition of the heart-wrenching "Maybe I'm Amazed," from Sir Paul's 1970 solo debut, McCartney.

A companion disc of McCartney covers by lesser-known artists arrives October 23. The 15-track Coming Up: Independent Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney features a few Mac nuggets, like the Andersons' version of "Temporary Secretary" (from 1980's McCartney II) and Band on the Run's "Helen Wheels" interpreted by the Shazam, alongside a trio of tunes — "Every Night" (Mark Bacino), "My Brave Face" (Star Collector) and "Maybe I'm Amazed" (Gadget White Band) — that are also covered on Listen to What the Man Said.

The LP also marks the return, after a 28-year absence, of Emitt Rhodes, who duets with Ray Paul on "Oh Woman, Oh Why." Rhodes was the frontman of late-'60s Brit-pop sound-alikes the Merry-Go-Round, whose "Pardon Me" closely resembles McCartney's Beatles composition "Fool on the Hill." He hasn't released an album since his 1973 solo LP Farewell to Paradise.

A portion of the proceeds from both albums will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Paul's late wife Linda lost her battle with the disease in 1998.

Track list for Listen to What the Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney, according to the album's publicist:

• Owsley - "Band on the Run"
• SR-71 - "My Brave Face"
• Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page and Kevin Hearn with the Lilac Time's Stephen Duffy - "Junk"
• Semisonic - "Jet"
• The Merrymakers - "No More Lonely Nights"
• Robyn Hitchcock - "Let Me Roll It"
• Finn Brothers - "Too Many People"
• The Minus 5 - "Dear Friend"
• Matthew Sweet - "Every Night"
• Sloan - "Waterfalls"
• World Party - "Man We Was Lonely"
• The John Faye Power Trip - "Coming Up"
• Virgos - "Maybe I'm Amazed"
• Judybats - "Love in Song"
• Linus of Hollywood - "Warm and Beautiful"
• They Might Be Giants - "Ram On"

Track list for Coming Up: Independent Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney:

• Starbelly - "Let 'Em In"
• The Jellybricks - "Take It Away"
• Mark Bacino - "Every Night"
• Cliff Hillis - "This One"
• Star Collector - "My Brave Face"
• The Andersons - "Temporary Secretary"
• Kyf Brewer - "Mull of Kintyre"
• The Masticators - "With a Little Luck"
• Phil Keaggy - "Somedays"
• Michael Carpenter - "Getting Closer"
• Gadget White Band - "Maybe I'm Amazed"
• The Shazam - "Helen Wheels"
• Ray Paul with Emitt Rhodes - "Oh Woman, Oh Why"
• Cherry Twister - "Another Day"
• Cockeyed Ghost - "Back on My Feet"

• Paul McCartney
• Matthew Sweet
• Semisonic
• Robyn Hitchcock
• Owsley

They Might Be Giants
Photo: BMG

They Might Be Giants — never an easy band to pin down — are recording an album that "falls somewhere between Tool and Aaliyah," according to one of their producers.

Adam Schlesinger, of fellow New York pop-rock bands Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, said the duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell cover a broad range of styles on the still-untitled record, which also features production work by new-wave tandem Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, Elvis Costello, Bush).

Schlesinger is producing three tracks, including a cover of the 1965 Georgie Fame #1 UK hit "Yeh Yeh." "I did a song called 'Man It's So Loud in Here,' which is kind of about being trapped in a nightclub where you can't hear yourself talk," Schlesinger said. "And there's one called 'Another First Kiss,' which is an acoustic-based love song with great Everly Brothers-type harmonies" They Might Be Giants are working in a Greenwich Village studio on the album, which is due in September.

Schlesinger's Fountains of Wayne won't have an album out anytime soon. But the New Jersey store they took their name from was immortalized in a recent episode of HBO's "The Sopranos," and "Joe Rey," from the group's 1996 self-titled debut, will be used in an upcoming episode.

Ivy's first album since 1997's Apartment Life is scheduled for U.S. release July 10 on Nettwerk America. Schlesinger and guitarist Andy Chase produced Long Distance, which includes a cover of British pop-rock quartet the Blow Monkeys' 1986 hit "Digging Your Scene" and was released overseas last year.

"Edge of the Ocean," the album's first single, is featured in the Jennifer Lopez movie "Angel Eyes," due in late May.

"The album as a whole is very groovy and atmospheric, and a little less jangle-guitar-oriented than our earlier stuff," Schlesinger said.

The sugary songwriter, who penned the title song to the Tom Hanks movie "That Thing You Do," recently produced the Verve Pipe's next album (see "Verve Pipe Land Fountains Of Wayne Co-Founder For New Album").

They Might Be Giants, who in the past few years have been involved in projects ranging from a children's album to Linnell's geography-themed State Songs, recently recorded a 37-track CD to accompany the sixth issue of the literary journal McSweeney's. Each track corresponds directly to a story or piece of artwork in the issue, which is available in bookstores and at www.mcsweeneys.net.

The duo delivered three previously unreleased tunes to November's "Malcolm in the Middle" soundtrack, including the show's theme song, "Boss of Me" (see "They Might Be Giants, Basement Jaxx, OPM For 'Malcolm' ").

The quirky rockers behind such classics as "Particle Man" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul" are touring mostly colleges along the East Coast while recording their album.

TMBG tour dates, according to a band publicist:

• 4/14 - Garden City, NY @ The Vanderbilt
• 4/17 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
• 4/18 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Metropol
• 4/19 - Providence, RI @ Brown University
• 4/20 - Rochester, NY @ Rochester Institute of Technology
• 4/21 - Keene, NH @ Keene State College
• 4/25 - Atlanta, GA @ Emory State College
• 4/27 - Lowell, MA @ University of Massachusetts-Lowell
• 4/27 - Springfield, MA @ Springfield College
• 4/28 - Worcester, MA @ Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• 4/30 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 5/3 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
• 5/4 - Cleveland, OH @ Odeon
• 5/5 - Oberlin, OH @ Oberlin College
• 5/6 - Altamont, NY @ Altamont Fairgrounds

• They Might Be Giants

In the grand tradition of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" comes the television soundtrack to the breakout FOX-TV series "Malcolm In The Middle."

Slated to contribute new songs to the impending LP are They Might Be Giants, Basement Jaxx, and alternative foursome Flak.

Although most of the acts will only serve up one cut each, They Might Be Giants will deliver three previously unreleased tunes, including the show's theme song, "Boss Of Me."

Also appearing on the album is skate-rock band OPM with "Heaven Is A Halfpipe," which also appears on the group's debut CD, "Menace To Sobriety." The LP features guest appearances by Angelo Moore from Fishbone, Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction, and Ulises Bella and Asdru Sierra from Ozomatli. Currently in heavy rotation on MTV2, OPM will be supporting the new album out on tour with Eve 6 on a trek that kicks off on Tuesday in Minneapolis.

As for the "Malcolm In The Middle" soundtrack, it's slated to drop November 7.

• Basement Jaxx
• OPM
• They Might Be Giants

While the music industry digs in its heels to battle online music distribution, quirky New York alt-popsters They Might Be Giants are charging straight ahead releasing their latest effort in the MP3 format.

TMBG rolled out the eight-song EP "Working Undercover For The Man" this week on Emusic.com, making individual tracks available for 99 cents and the entire album for $7.99. Users can download the songs in the MP3 format, and Emusic plans to ship a copy of the CD to the first 10,000 customers who buy the entire EP.

"As the world moves towards MP3, this will show a lot of people how easy getting their music off the Net really is," TMBG guitarist John Flansburgh said in a statement announcing the move. "Giving our audience the music in both MP3 and CD formats lets everybody relax."

They Might Be Giants' move does in fact come at a time when music biz anxiety over online distribution is at an all-time high. After the four major U.S. record labels filed suit against MP3.com, a court recently ruled that the site's downloadable music library violates copyright law (see "Court Rules MP3.com Violates Copyrights"). That setback came after artists such as Metallica and Dr. Dre filed suit against the online music distribution tool Napster claiming copyright infringement (see "Metallica Sets Legal Sights On Napster" and "Dr. Dre Sues Napster").

However, They Might Be Giants have long experimented with new ways to bring their music to fans via their official Web site (at www.tmbg.com) and their long-running Dial-A-Song service, which has also gone online (at www.dialasong.com).

• They Might Be Giants

The men of They Might Be Giants have proven once again that they know how to reach out to their fans.

-- David Basham

• Phish
• They Might Be Giants