T.I.
Photo: Getty Images/ Kevin Winter

T.I. adjusted his calendar Thursday (January 3) after an Atlanta judge postponed until February 19 a suppression hearing that had been scheduled for Thursday. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Grand Hustle rapper's lawyers are seeking to have evidence thrown out because they claim it was obtained as a part of an illegal search when T.I. (real name: Clifford Harris Jr.) was arrested in October for allegedly attempting to purchase illegal machine guns. Lawyers for the rapper filed a motion in November stating his vehicle had been searched without a warrant, consent or probable cause. He has been under house arrest awaiting trial after posting a $3 million bond in late October. ...

Chris Brown has hit a bump as he tours across the U.S. — the singer's set designer is suing him for breach of contract, according to TMZ. John Troxtel claims in a federal lawsuit he filed Christmas Eve that while he was paid for some of his labor, "extra work was required and requested." He says an oral agreement was made but that the touring company has refused to make good on its promise. Troxtel, who is seeking more than $1 million in damages, is also reportedly suing Brown for unjust enrichment. ...

Former B2K groupmates Dreux "Lil Fizz" Frederic and Jarell "J-Boog" Houston have released a statement through their publicist regarding the claims of sexual molestation Raz-B made against manager Chris Stokes in recent online videos. "We had nothing to do with the [videos], their release and/or their claims, we are unaware of any inappropriate behavior," the statement read. Raz-B later retracted and apologized for the accusations. Meanwhile, Raz-B's business partner had no comment on a new, recently surfaced tape of Raz-B, his brother Ricky Romance and Stokes, and said he didn't know when it was shot. ...

Nate Dogg suffered a stroke on December 19, according to a coordinator for the hip-hop crooner's recently formed gospel choir, Innate Praise. Reports had circulated that the longtime Snoop Dogg associate had been admitted to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in California after suffering a heart attack. Erica Beckwith, however, confirmed to MTV News that Nate Dogg was released on December 26 after being treated for a stroke and is currently in a medical-rehab facility to assist him in his recovery. ...

The Jonas Brothers have inked a fat deal with Live Nation, and it's being called the first of its kind for an up-and-coming group, according to Billboard. The multimillion-dollar agreement will see the band of brothers playing a jaw-dropping 140 shows at theaters and arenas over the next two years. Eight shows have been lined up so far for the Look Me in the Eyes Tour, in Tuscon, Arizona (January 31); Las Vegas (February 1); Los Angeles (February 2); Everett, Washington (February 5); Portland, Oregon (February 6); February 8 (Salt Lake City); El Paso, Texas (February 11); and San Antonio (February 12). ... Radiohead have, according to the U.K.'s The Times, agreed to a deal with iTunes — which some fans may have noticed, given that the band's In Rainbows album is now available through the online store. "In terms of digital income, we've made more money out of this record than out of all the other Radiohead albums put together, forever," Thom Yorke reportedly said about the release. ...

Bono has teamed with Hard Rock for a new tee that is benefitting the Wildlife Conservation Society's Conservation Cotton Initiative, which helps educate impoverished African farmers. The Bono Signature Series T-shirt, which will be available starting Monday at Hard Rock's terrestrial and online shops, is being made available via Edun, a socially conscious clothing company that Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, launched in spring 2005. ... Bright Eyes mainman Conor Oberst, who toured as part of the Vote for Change Tour in support of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, performed at a rally for another Democratic contender, Senator Barack Obama, in Iowa on Tuesday. According to The New York Observer, Oberst played for a crowd of approximately 1,000 Obama supporters and at one point told them, "I met the next president of the United States earlier today." But that's hardly the only star Obama has on his side. Scarlett Johansson was a special guest at a rally for him in Iowa on Wednesday night, according to The Nation. She reportedly spoke with a group of young supporters in Des Moines. ...

The Facebook profile cited in many articles (including MTV News') about Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the late Benazir Bhutto's son, is a hoax, according to a statement from Farahnaz Ispahani of the Pakistan Peoples Party. "The statement that's on [the Facebook profile] is not his statement," he told The New York Times. "It seems genuine but according to Mr. Zardari, and we checked with him, the Facebook statement has not been written by Bilawal." ...

Foo Fighters are following in Justin Timberlake's footsteps — the band is participating in this year's "My Grammy Moment" segment for the February 10 awards ceremony. Unsigned instrumentalists — sorry, singers — are getting the chance to perform with Dave Grohl and the gang as part of an orchestra, with the winner being showcased as the featured instrumentalist. Interested? Record a performance video that is no longer than one minute and reflects your talent and submit it here. A Grammy Awards panel will choose 45 quarter-finalists, after which the public will narrow down the group to semifinalists who will perform with the five-time Grammy-nominated band. ... Christina Aguilera and Katie Holmes, starring side by side in a new flick? Rumors are circulating online that the two have been tapped for an upcoming comedy called "Humboldt Park," but Rene Rigal, who is executive producing the flick, told MTV News in regards to the castings, "We haven't heard anything as of yet." ...

Mark this one with a "WTF?" on your calendar: Keytar-wielding indie-rockers and former You Hear It First artists Mute Math will open for Matchbox Twenty and Alanis Morissette on their Exile in America tour, which runs from January 25 in Hollywood, Florida, through March 18 in Las Vegas. ... Hot Chip will pad their February 5 release, Made in the Dark, with a smattering of shows in April. The British electro-poppers will play nine gigs, from an April 10 one in Philadelphia through an April 24 show in San Francisco. ... Meanwhile, Ween are barreling on with their longest tour in three years. The band will play six gigs in January — from January 23 in Washington, D.C., through January 31 in Orlando, Florida — and is slated to play February 1-2 in St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before jetting overseas. ...

Sketch-comedy duo Tim and Eric have a few friends you may know. Maroon 5 bassist Mickey Madden, Phantom Planet frontman Alex Greenwald and the Like singer/guitarist Z have chalked up covers of songs by the pair's fictional Casey and His Brothers group. Check 'em out on TimAndEric.com. ... Sean Penn will head the awards jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which is slated for May 14-25. According to AP, the "Into the Wild" director said "a new generation of filmmaking may have begun," and that there seems to be "a rejuvenation of cinema building worldwide." ...

The Offspring are nearly finished with the follow-up to 2003's Splinter. According to a post from frontman Dexter Holland on the punk-rockers' Web site, they're "taking a quick break from recording right now to be with our families. I've got two lyrics to do, a couple more to sing, and various musical tweaks and fixes to get done. Then, we'll be ready to mix." There's no release date for the album yet, but the Offspring "want to thank all our fans who have been so patient, and we want you to know that we've been in the studio nearly every day now for quite awhile working hard to make a great record," the post says. ...

Former Kid 'N Play frontman Christopher "Play" Martin was reportedly hospitalized over the weekend when his car was struck by another vehicle whose driver was wounded by a bullet. According to North Carolina's The News & Observer, the one-time rapper's car was struck after a man — suspected of fleeing from where a home robbery took place — was allegedly fired upon by local police. The man, identified as Raul Riva Aldamo, reportedly died as a result of the gunfire. Martin and his companion, Michelle Gonzales, were released from doctor's care on Wednesday, and according to a rep for Martin, he is at home recovering.

1.2.08

Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump has been named one of the un-sexiest men of 2007 by Boston alt-weekly The Phoenix. He lands at #95 on the list, right next to Larry King and Jon Heder. ...

Prodigy, who will start serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence on a charge of gun possession for which he was indicted in October, plans to issue his second solo album while behind bars. H.N.I.C. Part 2 will drop in March, feature production from Mobb Deep group mate Havoc and Alchemist, and be integrated with Voxonic technology, which converts a voice into hundreds of languages with near-perfect accuracy. Prodigy also released a statement regarding his upcoming sentence, saying, "Throughout my life, I have always lived through adversity. I'm a survivor. You don't understand the mental power that I have. While I'm locked up, I'm going to be writing lyrics, working on the script for my second feature film, 'Dope,' and finish writing an autobiography of my life, which will be finished by the time I'm released. My mind is going to be focused, and I'll have time to think and map out my entire plan. The experience will make me a tougher, stronger person. I'm gonna work on getting out faster, so I can get back to doing what I do best. When I get home, it's gonna be on!" ...

R.E.M. have christened their forthcoming album Accelerate and set an April 1 release date for the effort. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, Snow Patrol) and will feature "Until the Day Is Done," "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and "Staring Down the Barrel of Middle Distance." Expect the band to tour in the spring. ... It's not like she was expecting an Oscar nomination, but a nod for the worst? In a poll conducted by AOL's Moviefone Web site, 58 percent of respondents gave Lindsay Lohan the dubious distinction of turning in the worst performance by an actress in 2007 for her role in "I Know Who Killed Me." Another one of Lohan's box-office bombs, "Georgia Rule," finished second among the more than 3.8 million voters, just behind the Eddie Murphy comedy "Norbit," as the biggest waste of $10. "Norbit" also earned the comedian the title of worst performance by an actor. ... Eddie Murphy and "Good Luck Chuck" producer Tracey Edmonds got hitched during an intimate New Year's Day ceremony on a private island in French Polynesia, according to People.com. Johnny Gill was reportedly Murphy's best man. ...

Radiohead singer Thom Yorke has hit back at the boss of his former label, EMI Music, after claims that the band had rejected a nearly $6 million advance for their new album while demanding the copyrights to older titles. In a December 29 post on the group's official Web site under the heading "FYI — if you care — for your information," Yorke wrote, "We did not ask for a load of cash from our old record label EMI to re-sign. That is a L I E. The Times in the U.K. should check its facts before it prints such dirt. What we wanted was some control over our work and how it was used in the future by them — that seemed reasonable to us, as we cared about it a great deal. [EMI boss Guy] Hands was not interested. So neither were we. We made the sign of the cross and walked away. Sadly." Yorke said the group was upset about the airing of "dirty laundry" in public. Separately, Yorke told BBC Radio 4 that releasing In Rainbows solely as a digital download — the physical album hit stores this week — would have been "stark raving mad" because 80 percent of fans still buy physical releases. "We didn't want it to be a big announcement about 'everything's over except the Internet, the Internet's the future,' 'cause that's utter rubbish," Yorke said. "And it's really important to have an artifact as well, as they call it, an object." Yorke, in one of his first public comments about the decision to release In Rainbows under a pay-what-you-wish scheme, explained that Radiohead had a "moral justification in what we did in the sense that the majors and the big infrastructure of the music business has not addressed the way artists communicate directly with their fans. ... In fact, they seem to basically get in the way. Not only do they get in the way, but they take all the cash." He also denied reports that In Rainbows was downloaded more than 1.2 million times in its first week, but, in keeping with the band's silence on sales, would not confirm how many times it was actually downloaded. "It's total nonsense. ... We're the only people who know, and it feels wrong to say exactly what happened," he said. "But it's been a really nice surprise and we've done really well out of it." ...

The presidential race will bleed over into late-night TV on Wednesday night (January 2) when David Letterman chats up Democratic contender Senator Hillary Clinton and Jay Leno welcomes Republican candidate Mike Huckabee on the respective comeback episodes of their shows. Chingy will perform on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," while Lupe Fiasco will play on the "Late Show With David Letterman," with Robin Williams also appearing. Letterman struck a deal with the Writers Guild of America that will allow him to return to air with writers, but Huckabee and Chingy will be crossing the picket line with their appearances on Leno's show, as the writers' strike continues. ... "L.A." Reid, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, Brett Ratner, Billy Joel and others partied Sunday on a private yacht owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Jon Bon Jovi and Robbie Robertson performed at the shindig, according to Fox News. ...

Staind's Aaron Lewis, along with members of Boston, Tesla, Stryper and other bands, will join host Dee Snider of Twisted Sister at the fifth anniversary Relief Fund Charity Concert, to be staged February 25 at Providence, Rhode Island's Dunkin' Donut Center. The event is being put on by the Station Family Fund, a group founded by survivors, family members and community members affected by the Station fire, the February 2003 nightclub tragedy that claimed 100 lives. Proceeds from the show will go to the survivors of the fire, many of whom did not qualify for Social Security benefits. ...

The lineup for Dave Mustaine's Gigantour 2008 has been revealed. The trek, to launch in mid-April and run through late May, will feature his band Megadeth, as well as In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy and High on Fire. ... P.O.D. have set an April 8 release date for When Angels & Serpents Dance, the band's forthcoming LP. The record will feature a guest appearance by Suicidal Tendencies mainman Mike Muir. ... Former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland's band, Black Light Burns, have begun work on material for their second album, which is set for release in early 2009. Borland said in a statement that the new stuff is "a lot more guitar-heavy than it is synth-heavy. The feeling/tone is a little more fun and weird compared to the darkness of the first album." The effort follows the band's debut disc, last year's Cruel Melody. ... Hatebreed were forced to postpone the final concert in their Stillborn Fest series after guitarist Frank Novinec broke his ankle. No word yet on when they'll make up the gig, which was supposed to happen Sunday in Rochester, New York. ...

A lawyer who previously represented Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight in a $130 million lawsuit over ownership of the onetime gangsta-rap powerhouse is asking a judge to set that judgment aside. According to the Los Angeles Times, in a hearing set for Wednesday attorney Dermot Givens is asking that the judgment be voided because of what he claims is new evidence that the plaintiff, singer Lydia Harris, and her imprisoned drug-dealing husband, Michael, allegedly duped a Los Angeles judge into ruling against Knight. The motion contends that Harris hid from the court that she had filed for bankruptcy five years before suing Knight and that she never claimed an ownership stake in Death Row during that legal proceeding. The motion also alleges that recent sworn testimony by the couple shows that Michael Harris, an alleged crack kingpin, was the real party of interest in her lawsuit against Knight; Michael Harris sued Knight in 1996 claiming he helped finance Death Row, and was awarded a $300,000 out-of-court settlement. Lydia Harris filed a separate suit in 2002 claiming that she and Knight started the label together and that he cheated her out of millions in profits. ...

James Brown's final recordings have been caught up in the legal feud over the late rock legend's estate, according to The Associated Press. Brown recorded an album in Los Angeles in summer 2006, but courtroom disputes over who should get his music royalties are preventing the release of the tracks. More than 50-60 additional unreleased songs recorded by Brown are also reportedly in the archives. ... The Jersey Boys have a bit of a problem on their hands. Tommy DeVito, ex-bassist of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons — on which the "Jersey Boys" story is based — is being sued by the widow of a man who also wrote a story about the group, according to TMZ. Donna Corbello says her late husband Rex Conrad Woodard's yet-unpublished book was the basis of the Broadway smash, and she is reportedly seeking a declaration that he is the volume's "joint owner" so she can get some of the future profits from the production. The suit was recently filed in a district court in Texas. ...

It's Hammer time all over again. MC Hammer is about to launch a new Web site that he hopes will rival YouTube as the online hub for sharing and watching dance videos, according to AP. He is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of DanceJam.com, which will go live later this month and profit from Internet advertising. Perhaps the site will reverse Hammer's hard luck — he filed for bankruptcy in 1996 with nearly $14 million in debts. ... Evan Farrell, an indie-rock bassist who played with the Magnolia Electric Co. on tour and, earlier this year, left the Rogue Wave fold, died the weekend of December 22-23 after sustaining injuries from a house fire in Oakland, California. He was 33. "He was a fixture in our community and a bright spot in all of our lives," Secretly Canadian, the label the Magnolia Electric Co. call home, said about Farrell in a statement. "He was exceptionally talented, funny and genuine."

• T.I.
• Chris Brown
• B2K
• Nate Dogg
• Jonas Brothers

Ween
Photo: Rounder Records

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa

On The Record: Indestructible Like The Cockroach.

There are perhaps more fitting contexts in which to discuss Ween's inexplicable new studio album, La Cucaracha, but I can't think of a better one than this: I am currently listening to it in a hotel room in deserted downtown Cedar Rapids, adjacent to a Quaker Oats factory that makes everything smell like burning dog hair, while a freight train slowly squeals through town. It is 1:17 in the morning. There are smokestacks on the horizon, a Mexican restaurant called Gringos around the corner and an abandoned jewelry store directly below me. I have spent the better part of the past five hours in a Western-themed bar in nearby Iowa City, talking about Isotope 217 and Philip Glass and Clipse with my pal Joseph, then driving back up I-80 in a rental van while the moon hung low and red in the sky. There was trance music on the radio. Somewhere along the way I burned the roof of my mouth on a slice of pizza. And Joseph got sick from drinking too much whiskey and puked in the lobby of the hotel.

La Cucaracha is clearly the soundtrack to all of this, except with more reggae. It is mind-meltingly bizarre; a chintzy, tinny, gold-lamé-wrapped baked potato of an album, thrown in a microwave and emitting sparks and flames and plumes of purple smoke that give you a headache and leave you seeing colors. It's borderline unlistenable, except that since it came out last Tuesday I've been listening to it nonstop, and I'm either much dumber or much smarter for doing so. It sounds like drugs and drinking too much and Midwestern Mexican restaurants, and Euro-trance and country and fog-machine mysticism. Which means it's basically like every other Ween album ever made — seriously jokey, scatterbrained in its focus, incredibly proficient in totally amateur ways — only multiplied by a million.

For more than 20 years now — ever since Aaron Freeman (alias Gene Ween) and Mickey Melchiondo (alias Dean Ween) met in an eighth-grade typing class and started messing around with a tape machine — Ween have been doing essentially the same thing: belching out metric tons of musical CO2; indefinable, goofy, bong- (or Scotchgard-) addled rock that somehow manages to be both hilarious and creepy, often at the same time. And the fact that they've managed to fashion a rather accomplished anti-career while doing so is perhaps the most amazing thing of all.

They've had semi-hits (1993's "Push Th' Little Daisies," from the previous year's Pure Guava) and critical acclaim ('94's Chocolate & Cheese). They've made Nashville records (the infamous 12 Golden Country Greats, which featured the boys backed by legendary Music City session players — and also only 10 songs); nautical-themed prog records; and druggy records named after French-Canadian cities. They did an amazing video with Spike Jonze that found them trying to steal the Liberty Bell (for 1994's "Freedom of '76"), and they've skewered everything from Wings-era McCartney to "Margaritaville"-era Buffett, plus Philly soul, thrash metal, twee folk and pretty much anything else you can think of. They've even recorded jingles for Pizza Hut.

And they've done it all half-seriously (well, as seriously as you can do a calypso number like "Bananas and Blow" — that's the Buffett-skewering tune — or "Mr. Richard Smoker"), always displaying a stunning level of musical proficiency and an unerring pop sensibility, plus a predilection for potty humor that rivals even the most imaginative fifth-grader. And those facts — coupled with Ween's longevity — makes them confounding and frustrating, for sure, but they've also earned the band perhaps the most rarefied musical status of all: Much like Frank Zappa or Primus or even R. Kelly, they are completely critic-proof.

Which is a good thing, because, honestly, I don't know how you'd be able to offer a critical analysis of La Cucaracha, except to say that it's probably the most "Ween" thing Ween have ever done, and if you're a fan of the Deaner and the Gener you: a) know exactly what I'm talking about; and b) already own it. Cucaracha kicks off with a chintzy game-show theme — the kind they used to play while fabulous prizes were being revealed — called "Fiesta" and wraps up with the amazing "Your Party," a smooth-jazz excursion that floats upon a satin-sheet saxophone solo from David Sanborn (for real) and recalls windswept dunes, couples' massages and glasses of white wine at dusk. In between, there are helium-voiced odes to blue balloons, Casio-fied club numbers and the aforementioned stab at reggae, plus detours into strummy, Vocoded wizard-rock and a 10-minute prog epic that starts with drums and flute but rises into a fiery exercise in interlocking guitar solos.

It's pretty great in parts, completely annoying in others — seriously, in the past week, my wife has threatened to leave me if I keep playing "Your Party," which she says reminds her of Filene's Basement, and "the theme from 'Silk Stalkings' " (you can hear the song here and read Christopher Weingarten's amazing non-review of it, too) — and totally doesn't make any sense overall, which isn't really a knock on the album in any sense. It's Ween playing to their strengths, poking fun at sacred cows, being politically incorrect and generally no longer caring what anyone has to say about them, fans included.

Except it's difficult to see why any of their fans wouldn't like La Cucaracha, which is the perfect synthesis of old, lo-fi Ween, mid-period studio-monkey Ween and current, well, old-dudes-who-like-to-wail Ween. If you're not a fan, you probably won't have an opinion of the album either way, because you're not going to listen to it. If you're a music journalist like me, you'll find that you've spent nearly 900 words trying to describe the album, yet you probably won't have an opinion either. And if you're a high-minded rock critic, you'll probably try to have an opinion about the album, but you'll find out that there's really nothing bad to say about it that hasn't already been said about every Ween album before it.

So, in essence, Ween are indestructible. They can survive nuclear holocausts and can live on a bar of soap for a week. They are musical cockroaches (hence the title of the album), and they will be here long after you and I are gone. Ween win.

So understanding all that, forming any sort of cohesive review/analysis of Cucaracha seems rather impossible. Only time can judge the album. But I will say this: It's the perfect record for wild Iowa City boozing and crushing Cedar Rapids hangovers. It's the audio equivalent of the skin hanging off the roof of your singed mouth, of smokestacks in the distance and vomit in the lobby. And so are Ween, which isn't a knock at all. In fact, it's probably the highest compliment you can pay them. And, really, can you say that about anyone else?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to fire up "Your Party" again. And then get the hell outta Cedar Rapids. And I should probably go clean up Joey's puke, too.

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

Catholic League objects to Britney's religious-themed photographs, Madonna objects to Britney not even trying anymore (see "Britney Spears Slammed By Catholic League For Blackout's Religious-Themed Photos").

Skill set required to survive zombie attack remarkable similar to skill set required to survive Easter Bunny mauling, since, in both cases, your assailant would be completely f--king fictional (see "How Do You Survive A Zombie Attack? Scary-Movie Vets Roth, Tarantino, Raimi Give Advice").

This is what I was doing in Iowa when I wasn't listening to Ween's La Cucaracha (see "Barack Obama Gets Thumbs-Up From Iowa Students After MTV/MySpace Chat: 'He Did A Great Job' ").

Questions? Concerns? Boognish? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Ween

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

The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne
Photo: Jim Dyson/Getty Images

The annual Austin City Limits Festival unveiled its lineup for this year's edition, and it might just be the only place you'll find Irish soul legend Van Morrison sharing a stage with modern R&B astronauts Gnarls Barkley, or classic rocker Tom Petty on the same bill as rock revivalists the Raconteurs.

With more than 100 acts on the bill for the three day blow-out (September 15-17) at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, the festival has its usual allotment of something for everyone, including sets from the Flaming Lips, Matisyahu, Massive Attack, John Mayer, Ben Harper, the Shins, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, the New Pornographers, Nada Surf, String Cheese Incident, Feist, Phoenix, Goldfrapp, Ween, the Stills, Kings of Leon, Matt Costa and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

"Talent, breadth, and depth. That's what ACL is about — seeing someone that you'll never hear on the radio, or discovering someone new," said one of the event's co-producers Charlie Jones, in a statement. This year's edition will feature 130 bands playing on eight stages.

Also on the roster, according to event organizers: Iron & Wine, Aimee Mann, the Tragically Hip, Gomez, Wolf Parade, Stars, Guster, Sparklehorse, KT Tunstall, Cat Power and the Memphis River Band, Los Lonely Boys, Thievery Corporation, Kasey Chambers, Matt Nathanson, Galactic, Okkervil River, the New Orleans Social Club, Calexico, Son Volt, Explosions in the Sky, Deadboy & the Elephantmen, the Secret Machines, Brazilian Girls, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Los Amigos Invisibles, Murder by Death, Ben Kweller, G. Love & Special Sauce, Damien Rice and the Long Winters.

• Raconteurs
• The Flaming Lips
• Gnarls Barkley
• Tom Petty
• John Mayer

Photo: Elektra

• Robert Randolph & The Family Band
• The Roots
• Phish
• moe.
• Medeski Martin & Wood

That Smash Mouth, always sweet-talkin' the ladies. "You are My Number One" is the first single from Get the Picture? and acts as the band's requisite summer single. Also on the album are the succinctly summarized tunes "Hot" and "Fun."

Killing Joke's latest self-titled album features drumming by Dave Grohl. Meanwhile, the Libertines release the EP I Get Along alongside '60s guitar god Jeff Beck's Jeff and Junior Senior's Euro-pop album D-D-Don't Stop the Beat.

Blues Traveler get honest on Truth Be Told, on which the jam band makes an effort to keep its songs from wandering. On the other hand, drummer Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, the Vandals) drops a solo album under the name Stripsearch and tries his hand at some improvisational sounds. The self-titled album features his brother and music mate Jason Freese on the saxophone, plus bass player Mike Elizondo (Eminem) and guitarist Michael Ward (Wallflowers).

Finally, with the exception of a song extolling the virtues of Zoloft and some routine wordplay, wacky Ween tone down their act a bit and get more serious on Quebec. Ooh la la.

Out Tuesday, August 5:

• Paolo Angeli - Bucato (ReR/Cuneiform)
• Arraya - Arraya (Volcom)
• Jeff Beck - Jeff (Sony)
• Terence Blanchard - Bounce (Blue Note)
• Blast - Alta Strata (ReR/Cuneiform)
• Blue October - History for Sale (Universal)
• Blues Traveler - Truth Be Told (Sanctuary)
  Buy Now: Truth Be Told (Sanctuary)
  
• BT - Emotional Technology (Nettwerk)
  Read:"BT Secretive About 'NSYNC Payback On Upcoming Album"
  
• Canterbury Music Festival - Rain & Shine (Rev-Ola)
• Nikki Cleary - Nikki Cleary (Jive)
• Cruxshadows - Frozen Embers (Dancing Ferret)
• Division of Laura Lee - Trapped In (Burning Heart)
• Enchant - Tug of War (Inside Out)
• Found Cats - Full Gospel Rockabilly (Golly Gee)
• Funker Vogt - Revivor (Metropolis)
• Jeff Golub - Soul Sessions (GRP)
• Shaun Groves - Twilight (Rocketown)
• Hocico - Disidencia Inquebrantable (EP, Metropolis)
• Hyperions - Under My Sombrero (Surprise Truck)
• Javier - Javier (Capitol/Priority)
• Wynonna Judd - What the World Needs Now Is Love (Curb)
• The Juliana Theory - Live 10.13.2001 (Tooth & Nail)
• Junior Senior - D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat (Atlantic)
  Read: "Junior Senior: Anarchistic Odd Couple Wants To 'Move Your Feet'"
  Buy Now: D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat (Atlantic)
  
• Killing Joke - Killing Joke (Red Ink)
• Lake Trout - Another One Lost (RX/Palm Pictures)
• Ben Lee - Hey You. Yes You. (F2 Music)
• Jeffrey Lewis - It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
• Libertines - I Get Along (EP, Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
• Charlotte Martin - In Parentheses (EP, RCA)
• Mr. Criminal - Criminal Mentality (Thump)
• New Amsterdams - Worse for the Wear (Vagrant)
• Pinebender - The High Price of Living Too Long With a Single Dream (Lovitt)
• The Poor - Poor (Rev-Ola)
• Robert Randolph & the Family Band - Unclassified (Dare/Reprise)
• Don Ross - Robot Monster (Narada)
• Rachael Sage - Public Record (Mpress)
• Smash Mouth - Get the Picture? (Interscope)
  Buy Now: Get the Picture? (Interscope)
  
• Steadman - Revive (Elektra)
• Stripsearch - Stripsearch (Magna Carta)
• Tampa Tony - Y-Not (Empire Musicwerks BMG)
• The Derek Trucks Band - Soul Serenade (Sony)
• Turbulence - The Truth (Sanctuary/Ras)
• Velvet Acid Christ - Hex Angel: Utopia-Dystopia (Metropolis)
• Ween - Quebec (Sanctuary)
• Luther Wright and the Wrongs - Guitar Pickin' Martyrs (Back Porch)
• Various artists - Supertones Surf (Golly Gee)
• Various artists - "Uptown Girls" soundtrack (Nettwerk)

August 12:

• Pat Benatar - Go (Bel Chiasso)
• Dashboard Confessional - A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar (Vagrant)
  Read: "Dashboard Confessional Singer Heals Scars, Stops Singing The Blues On New LP"
  Buy Now: A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar (Vagrant)
  

August 19:

• Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks (Astralwerks)
• Neil Young - Greendale (Warner Bros.)
• Various artists - Neptunes Presents: Clones (Arista)
  Read: "Summer Music Preview: Neptunes' Star Trak Presents ... Clones"
  Buy Now: Neptunes Presents: Clones (Arista)
  
• Bow Wow - Unleashed (Columbia)
  Buy Now: Unleashed (Columbia)
  

August 26:

• Hilary Duff - Metamorphosis (Disney)
  Read: "Hilary Duff: Not Just For Kids"
  Buy Now: Metamorphosis (Disney)
  
• Peter Frampton - Now (33rd St.)
• Anthony Hamilton - Coming From Where I'm From (Arista) Read: "Eve, D'Angelo Can Testify: Anthony Hamilton Is 'Hellified Powerful' "
  Buy Now: Coming From Where I'm From (Arista)
  
• Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (La Face)
  Buy Now: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (La Face)
  
• Triumph the Insult Comic Dog - Songs in the Key of Poop (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Eminem Enemy Triumph Previews LP; Beefs With Bow Wow, Benji"

September 2:

• Mariah Carey - Remixes (Sony)

September 9:

• John Mayer - Heavier Things (Sony)
  Read: "John Mayer Tries Hip-Hop With Help From Roots' ?uestlove"
• Seal - Seal (Warner Bros.)

September 16:

• Elvis Costello - North (Universal)
• Bubba Sparxxx - Deliverance (Interscope)
  Read: "Bubba Sparxxx Softens Bumpkin Image, Teams Up With Justin For A 'Hootnanny' "
  
• Carnie Wilson - For the First Time (KMA)

October 7:

• Jin - Almost Famous (Virgin)
  Read: "Ruff Ryders' New Dog: Jin"

• Smash Mouth
• Killing Joke
• Junior Senior
• The Libertines
• Blues Traveler

Ten years ago this week, Dr. Dre's financial future appeared as bleak as his musical future looked bright.

The former N.W.A member faced multimillion-dollar lawsuits from former bandmate Eazy-E and his Ruthless Records (who accused Dre and his new label, Death Row, of racketeering) and rap TV show host Dee Barnes (who accused Dre of assaulting her). On top of that, a Los Angeles record producer was accusing Dre of breaking his jaw, and a separate assault charge stemming from a brawl in New Orleans could've landed the beat doctor in jail for 18 months.

"'92 just wasn't my year," Dre said. "'93 will be, though. You can believe that."

After two years of being the subject of lawsuits and arrests, after being shot at and having his house burn down, Dr. Dre displayed his frustration by posing for the cover of "The Source" with a gun held to his head. "That's how I felt at the time," he said. "It was perfect, too, you know? The whole '92 was talking about Dre. I just kept my head above water until my album came out."

A decade ago, Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic, was at #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the first single, "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," was just starting to get national airplay. The world was also beginning to take notice of Dre's protégé, the up-and-coming Snoop Doggy Dogg.

"He grew up with my little brother, so he's been around," Dre said. "I never knew he could rap until maybe about two years ago. My little brother had a tape of him at a bachelor party. We popped the tape in, it was funky."

Meanwhile, in Germany, where neo-fascist violence was on the rise, U2's Bono and The Edge took part in an all-star concert in Hamburg condemning anew the rise of Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party 60 years earlier. The two, who were recording in Berlin with the rest of U2, performed an acoustic version of "One." Three days after the show, German authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on hate rock, raiding the homes and offices of musicians and record labels and seizing guns, explosives and 30,000 records.

Back home another sort of operation was underway, as oddball rockers Ween began infiltrating popular culture. Their story of success, explained singer/guitarist Dean Ween, is purely accidental. "Everything, including this interview, it's all a big accident."

Whether accidental or accidentally on purpose, Ween's bizarre take on pop and rock earned them critical raves and a growing cult of devoted fans. "Push Th' Little Daisies," the first single from Ween's major-label debut, Pure Guava, emerged as a surprise hit. Still, the band was more than willing to take food handouts from fans at shows. In fact, they solicited hot meals in the liner notes of Pure Guava.

"It's just a joke," Dean insisted. "People bring us just really lousy food, whereas we were hoping to get glazed roast duck and things like that, big bowl of rice pudding, but no one has come through."

For more "This Week In ...", check out the This Week In Archive.

• Dr. Dre
• U2
• Ween

Black Crowes' Chris Robinson
Photo: V2

SEATTLE — More than 200,000 music fans braved rainy patches and crowded performance areas to pour into the multivenue Seattle Center grounds Friday through Monday for the 31st annual Bumbershoot festival. The $16-per-day ticket price — for such acts as David Lee Roth, Cake, Guided by Voices and Mos Def, along with scores of smaller-caliber bands and a plethora of artists in nearly every creative medium — proved a bargain.

The weekend kicked off with a Memorial Stadium hip-hop showcase featuring Mos Def, Jurassic 5 and Dilated Peoples. Dilated kicked out the jams with a high-energy set of favorites and a sneak preview of their upcoming album, Expansion Team. Seeming loath to release the stage to the next act, they led the massive crowd in a bouncing call-and-response session of hip-hop aerobics.

The energy came down a notch when J5 hit the stage. Although they delivered an easygoing vibe, the Los Angeles collective demonstrated less SoCal chill and more urban grit in person than they do on record. Turntablists DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist pumped addictive beats and the audience responded appropriately.

Perhaps the night's biggest surprise was headliner Mos Def, who Mos Definitely ran half an hour late. The reason became apparent when he hit the stage. The artist sometimes considered hip-hop's conscience has begun playing more rockcentric shows, and this one required a full backing band. Once the beats-happy crowd got used to the idea, wah-wah guitar and all (the less enthusiastic headed for the exits), hundreds jumped for classic tracks off last year's Black on Both Sides filtered through a Hendrix/Chili Peppers/Rage Against the Machine kaleidoscope. Mos' band contained members of black rock groups Funkadelic, Living Colour and Bad Brains.

A different sort of rock emerged from the same stage Saturday, when the bluesy, whisky-soaked Black Crowes played to an equally packed stadium. Frontman Chris Robinson is an anomaly in the current climate of shoegazers and Fred Durst-y nü-metallers: a reborn, Southern-fried Jagger, all sexy prancing and dirty lyricism. Barefoot and clad in a voluminous red scarf, unbuttoned-to-the-navel shirt and second-skin bell-bottoms, Robinson (and band) delivered a hard-charging selection of tracks from the Crowes' recent Lions before pleasing the crowd with older favorites such as "Remedy" and "Hard to Handle."

Lines snaked around the Key Arena for joke-rockers Ween, who indulged their astonishingly enthusiastic fans with such inspiring ditties as "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)," "Waving My Di-- in the Wind" and the always-endearing, country-tinged "Piss Up a Rope."

Many shows saw as many as 500 ticket holders left grumbling in line as venues reached their capacity, a problem the festival tried to alleviate by requiring free, limited-number wristbands (available at kiosks) for the more popular shows.

On the other end of the Center, quietly elegiac rockers Low and the aching, otherworldly cult figure Cat Power played to a rapt audience in the Opera House. Even the notoriously skittish Power was buoyant, running through gorgeously stripped-down covers of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Free Bird." Power posed the rhetorical question "What would Keith Richards do?" as she exited the stage with Richards-esque hip swivels.

David Lee Roth whiplashed a full arena straight back to 1984 as the festival hurtled forward Sunday, proving himself just as loud, lewd and double-jointed as ever. Rock's long-reigning showman doused the audience in Jack Daniels and belted out Van Halen classics while showcasing his genital area and undiminished mid-air toe-touching abilities.

On Monday, a far more subdued Cake followed G Love and Special Sauce with a solid set of new and old. After enlisting a large portion of the high-energy crowd as backing singers, the group introduced "mountaineer dancers" Project Bandaloop, whose acrobatic Spider-Man antics above the band provided the set with its finale.

High-wire acrobatics like these — not to mention underground heroics, top-40 hall-of-famers and surprise guests, including former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, who joined Los Angeles rockers Bluebird for three songs on Friday in the Liquid Lounge — are what keep Bumbershoot fans coming back for more after three decades.

• The Black Crowes
• Mos Def
• David Lee Roth
• Jurassic 5
• Guided By Voices

Mos Def
Photo: Priority

The Black Crowes, Mos Def, Ween and David Lee Roth are among approximately 500 artists slated to perform during Seattle's 31st annual Bumbershoot festival over the Labor Day weekend. Mos Def, Dilated Peoples and Jurassic 5 will kick it all off August 31 at the Hip-Hop 101 showcase. The festival will be held at the 74-acre Seattle Center.

Also on the bill are Taj Mahal, Rufus Wainwright, Neko Case, Loretta Lynn, Marshall Crenshaw, Meshell Ndegéocello, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Built to Spill, Cat Power, Low, Reverend Horton Heat, Galactic, the Rollins Band, King Sunny Adé and His African Beats, Jon Brion and the Funky Meters.

The So Many Roads tour, featuring Ratdog, Rusted Root and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, will converge with Bumbershoot on September 2. Additions to the festival this year include an electronic-music venue called the Electro-Deck, a street-dance stage and a new indie-rock hub at Experience Music Project's Sky Church. Tickets go on sale Friday via bumbershoot.org.

• The Black Crowes
• Mos Def
• Ween
• Dilated Peoples
• Jurassic 5

Tool's Maynard James Keenan
Photo: Volcano

In addition to singing with Tool and A Perfect Circle, Maynard James Keenan has somehow found the time to record with a third band.

Keenan's vocals will be heard in "Ass Kickin' Fat Kid," a song by the equally ass-kickin' — though totally fictional — metalheads Titannica in the upcoming film "Run, Ronnie, Run," according to New Line Cinema. The movie is the brainchild of David Cross and Bob Odenkirk of the defunct HBO sketch-comedy series "Mr. Show With Bob and David." Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and Samantha Maloney, the Hole drummer who filled in for the injured Randy Castillo during last summer's Mötley Crüe tour, also appear on the track, along with Titannica members played by actors Odenkirk and Brian Posehn.

Tool completists will have to see "Run, Ronnie, Run" when it hits theaters next spring to experience the song because it won't be included on the film's soundtrack album. Instead, the LP promises Melissa Auf Der Maur's cover of the Poison power ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Ween's rendition of the Atlanta Rhythm Section's "Champagne Jam," and the Vandals' version of the Foreigner classic "Dirty White Boy" among its tracks.

"Mr. Show" fans will be pleased to know that Wolfgang Amadeus Stallonies Von Funkenmeister and Pootie-T of the series' Color Me Badd-esque boy band Three Times One Minus One have added lyrics to their tune "Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew," transforming it into "Ronnie and Kayla's Love Theme," which will also appear on the soundtrack.

"Run, Ronnie, Run" traces the trials and tribulations of Ronnie Dobbs, an alleged criminal notorious for his multiple appearances on the TV show "Cops." Besides "Mr. Show" alums, the film also boasts appearances by Tenacious D's Jack Black, Dave Foley of "Kids in the Hall"/"Newsradio" fame, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, former Conan O'Brien sidekick Andy Richter, and actors Jeff Goldblum, Garry Shandling and Ben Stiller, among others.

• Tool
• Hole
• Anthrax
• Ween
• The Vandals

Bonnaroo 2007 Performances

• The National
• Lily Allen
• Damien Rice
• Regina Spektor
• Damian "Junior Gong" Marley