Amy Winehouse and husband Blake Fielder-Civil
Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

The trial involving Amy Winehouse's husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, has been delayed in light of allegations that he "perverted the court of justice," or the U.S. equivalent of obstruction of justice. He was back in court on Monday (November 12) for a brief hearing, and according to Agence France-Presse, he smiled throughout the session. The trial, previously slated to start Monday, has been adjourned until November 23, and Fielder-Civil — who was arrested last week following a raid on his and Winehouse's London home — is to remain in custody until then. Michael Brown, a 39-year-old who is supposed to stand trial with his friend Fielder-Civil, was not in court on Monday, and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. BBC News also reports that James King, who was allegedly beaten by Fielder-Civil and Brown in June, was one of the men arrested last week, and that he has also been charged with the aforementioned crime. Fielder-Civil was remanded on technical bail. ...

Teeing with JT: Justin Timberlake has inked a five-year deal with the PGA Tour that will find him hosting a tournament in Las Vegas next year. "Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open," which will be played October 13-19, will help raise funds for the Shriners group, which provides medical care at no charge to children under 18 years old. The singer will play in a celebrity-golf game that week as well. "Raising money to better children's lives while playing golf? I can't think of a better way to pass the time," he said in a statement. ... Timberlake's visibility has also landed him on Barbara Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People of 2007" list, and they'll be seen chatting on an hourlong ABC special set to air December 6 at 10 p.m. ET. Former President Bill Clinton, Jennifer Hudson, Posh Spice and two surprise guests will also appear on the show. ... Could J.K. Rowling top Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore on a competing list, Time's Person of the Year? That's how the voting is shaping up on the Time Web site, although, as it indicates, the editors reserve the right to give the honor to the person of their choosing. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are also in the running, and the December issue will be on sale December 21. ...

Radiohead have set the North American release date for In Rainbows. The album will hit stores January 1 through the band's own TBD Records (which, as expected, is teaming with ATO Records Group for the release), with "Bodysnatchers" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" as the first two singles. According to a press release, more information on the album and the band's tour plans will be announced soon. ... In case teens need an extra incentive to rack up credit-card debt, branded cards featuring Hilary Duff and Usher are on the way, according to Brandweek. Duff is getting a prepaid Visa gift card "aimed to show the young ones how to manage their pocket change (and learn about service fees)," according to the branding-news magazine, while Usher has a Debit MasterCard that features an empowerment message. The Platinum Plus Visa card devoted to Elvis Presley actually has a charitable aspect, as money from it goes to a foundation that helps homeless families. A Kiss credit card is available too. ...

Tom Morello, guitarist for reunited rockers Rage Against the Machine, serenaded some 3,000 people involved in the Hollywood writers' strike outside 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, California, last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. ... Chiodos, Mindless Self Indulgence and Finch are among the first confirmed bands for next year's Bamboozle Festival, which is scheduled for May 3-4 at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Jack's Mannequin, Less Than Jake, Forever the Sickest Kids, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, I Am the Avalanche and the Starting Line have also been booked for the bill. ... Xzibit has signed on for a tour of duty in Oliver Stone's upcoming Vietnam movie, "Pinkville." The film revolves around the 1968 My Lai Massacre, during which 500 people — mostly women, children and the elderly — were killed by U.S soldiers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the "Pimp My Ride" host will play a soldier who is convinced he acted ethically when he carried out his orders. ...

My Chemical Romance's Bob Bryar has issued a statement concerning the band's cancellation of a recent gig at the University of Maine, which had prompted school officials to consider legal action against the band. Late last week, the college's newspaper, The Maine Campus, announced that MCR would be paying the student government $20,500 in restitution fees for scrapping the October 27 show. The student government had previously said it would pursue legal action against the band unless it paid all expenses incurred by Monday, arguing that if it did not recoup the money, it would cost more than $2 from each student's activity fee. "We are very sorry about canceling our recent show in Maine. I have been having many problems with my wrists over the past few years," Bryar wrote in his statement. "They have been getting worse but I kept playing. I have seen many doctors to get some relief so I wouldn't have to stop playing. I guess I pushed it too hard this time. During our [recent] show at Maxwell's [in Hoboken, New Jersey], I got a golf ball-sized lump in my wrist, I started to not only have pain, but lose control and feeling in my fingers. I went through a process to control the swelling and attempted to play the show [opening for] Bon Jovi the next day. The Bon Jovi show was really bad for me — I was dropping sticks and could barely hit my drums. After that show, we decided I had to go get immediate treatment. I had to leave the tour. Being the stubborn person I am, I made a last-minute decision to give it another shot on the second Bon Jovi show. It didn't work, [and] we had to cut the set in half. We have a fill-in now as I am getting treatment. He learned the songs in one day." At press time, the identity of Bryar's fill-in was unconfirmed. ...

In a note posted on his Web site late last week, Kid Rock gave props to the head of his security team, Little Bear, for "finding a hidden camera in the dressing room at the show at the Myth Nightclub" in Minneapolis on Thursday night. "Little Bear, who runs SpyOps.net, discovered the device before the show and alerted the authorities, who are now investigating," Rock wrote. TMZ obtained photos of the alleged spycam from Little Bear that appears to indicate it was set up to broadcast on the Internet, but in a statement from the club released to the Star Tribune, the management explained, "The green-room camera in question is part of the venue's security aspect, available for viewing by head of security only ... Rock's allegation that there was some kind of Internet broadcast in progress is simply not true and without foundation." ...

The Broadway stagehands' strike isn't just affecting theatrical productions — Duran Duran's 10-night residence at New York's Ethel Barrymore Theatre has also been stymied by the protest. The band canceled its Saturday night show and moved its Monday and Tuesday gigs to the Roseland Ballroom. "We are really disappointed that we weren't able to finish up the run on Broadway, which has been in the planning for months," singer Simon LeBon said, according to BBC News. "However, we are relieved that there was somewhere else available to us so that we don't have to disappoint our fans by not playing." ... With Army of Anyone's future in doubt — the band, featuring former Filter frontman Richard Patrick and two former members of Stone Temple Pilots, is said to be on "hiatus" — drummer Ray Luzier has opted to handle drum duties during Korn's upcoming European tour, set to begin in early 2008. Luzier replaces Slipknot's Joey Jordison, who in turn replaced Terry Bozzio earlier this year, as the band's touring drummer.

11.9.07

Britney Spears fans must be asking themselves why the singer risks getting behind the wheel anymore. According to a video posted on TMZ.com, the singer blew through a red light and made an illegal turn against oncoming traffic, with her two sons in the backseat of her Mercedes as she was driving in Los Angeles on Thursday. The footage also apparently shows Spears' court-appointed monitor ducking in the passenger seat. The video came to light following Thursday's emergency hearing in her child-custody dispute with Kevin Federline, her ex-husband. Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan hadn't seen the footage by the time the hearing commenced, and there's no word yet if this will affect his motion to prevent Spears from driving with her kids. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told MTV News on Friday that authorities weren't planning to cite Spears with any traffic violations because they hadn't been made aware of any unsafe left turns. The spokesperson also said police hadn't heard anything further about Spears recently running over a cop's feet. ...

Weezer fans, the countdown for a new album has begun. The band's mysterious AlbumSix.com Web site has posted release dates for two upcoming projects: Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, which is due December 11, and the simply titled Album Six, which is poised for an April 22 release. ...

Chamillionaire invited old pal Paul Wall to perform with him onstage at a BET Black College Tour stop at Texas Southern University earlier this week. The once-feuding Houston rappers performed their classic collaboration, "N Luv Wit My Money." ...

The nominees for this year's People's Choice Awards rolled out Thursday — and not surprisingly, they're the usual suspects who have been cropping up in other awards competitions throughout the year. Beyoncé is up for three awards; while Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5 and Daughtry landed two nods each. Also in the running in various categories are: Kanye West, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna, Linkin Park, the Killers, John Mayer, Ne-Yo, Plain White T's, Timbaland, Shop Boyz and Shakira. As for the movie contenders, Matt Damon, Jessica Alba, Jamie Foxx, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and others are all in the running. The awards show will air January 8 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. ...

Radiohead have been busting out some surprise covers on Radiohead.tv, which has featured live webcasts by the band for the past two days. Alongside live versions of their own songs, Radiohead have ripped into Björk's "Unravel," the Smiths' "The Headmaster Ritual" and New Order's "Ceremony," according to RollingStone.com. ...

Prince is "not suing his fans," his U.K. tour promoter AEG Live insisted in a recent statement, according to TheDailySwarm.com. Earlier this week, Prince fan sites claimed to have been hit with cease-and-desist letters from his lawyers demanding the sites remove all images, artwork and fan-submitted pictures related to the singer. "Prince is not suing his fans, is not looking to penalize fans and nor is he looking to or inhibiting freedom of speech in any way," the statement reportedly read. "In fact, he is simply looking to provide Prince fans with exclusive music and images entirely free of charge, and bypassing unofficial and unauthorized phony fan sites that exploit both consumers and artists." AEG did, however, single out the fan sites that assembled to create a new URL, PrinceFansUnited.com. While the promoter said mediations are being conducted between the parties to resolve the issue, it claimed, "The three sites in question have falsely positioned themselves as representatives of millions of Prince fans. In fact, many have come out in support of Prince at his official site and even on the messageboards of the unofficial sites in question." More revealing perhaps is that, according to the reported statement, Prince is taking on ThePirateBay.com, the self-proclaimed world's largest BitTorrent tracker. "They are in fact exploiting copyrighted material for their commercial gain," the statement claimed. "The site has flouted constant legal notices from artists and corporations throughout the world while cashing in on advertising monies. All the time, they keep up the pretence of being an anarchist, 'free music' fan site when it is really a massive moneymaking venture." ...

ThePirateBay.com is likely hoping it doesn't meet the same fate as Demonoid, a Canadian BitTorrent tracker that recently folded after coming under fire from the Canadian Recording Industry Association, according to Idolator.com. The CRIA has allegedly threatened the company that had been renting servers to Demonoid, which had moved its hosting company from the Netherlands to Canada because the latter country reportedly has less strict copyright-infringement laws. ... This year's Bang! Festival is a bust. The two-day event, which was set to feature Kanye West and Smashing Pumpkins as headliners and go down this weekend in Miami, has been postponed, according to the Bang! Web site. No reason was announced for the postponement, although tickets can be refunded at point of purchase. ...

Neverland Ranch is safe ... for now. That's the word from a spokesperson for Michael Jackson, who denied reports Thursday that the embattled singer's mansion is facing foreclosure. A day after notice of default on Neverland was made public, spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain issued a statement saying Jackson was never in default on the loan. Bain explained that Jackson's former advisers refinanced the loan in 2006 and that the loan matured last month, and now he's refinancing again. "Mr. Jackson is in the final stages of refinance and will not lose Neverland Valley Ranch," Bain said. The copy of the default notice posted on the Web site of local station KSBY-TV said that as of October 12, Jackson owed $23,212,963 on a $23 million loan. ...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to terminate the nearly weeklong Hollywood writers' strike. According to Reuters, the actor-turned-politician said on Thursday that he has taken on an unspecified backstage role in trying to end the strike, which is already having a serious impact on shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "24." Schwarzenegger revealed during a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento, "I'm talking to the parties that are involved because I think it's very important that we settle that as quickly as possible, because it has a tremendous economic impact on our state." He did not, however, specify his role in the talks. ... Ellen DeGeneres has also made her feelings about the strike known — she has crossed the picket line, People reports. While her talk-show peers have taken an indefinite hiatus, the TV host is continuing to film her daytime program, "Ellen." She skipped her monologue on Friday (November 9), saying she was doing so in honor of her writers. As for the rest of the show continuing, she qualified on her show, "It's sweeps, which is a very important time in television, because that's when you do your best shows, your funniest material." The Writers Guild of America responded to DeGeneres on Friday, saying it was "extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike," according to UsMagazine.com. "Ellen's peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise." ...

Krist Novoselic, former Nirvana bassist and current member of Flipper, kicked off his Seattle Weekly blog this week. In his first entry, he posted about Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's iconic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video and anarchy, one of the clip's prevalent themes. "Indeed, [ex-Bikini Kill singer and Cobain friend] Kathleen Hanna wrote, 'Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit' on Kurt's apartment wall," he said in the post. "I recall seeing it and thinking, 'Too much cheap red wine!' I don't know why she wrote it, but I know for sure that Kurt Cobain did not have any odor problems. Even though his place was a mess, he took care of his hygiene. This person would soak in the bath night after night only listening to the Beatles." ...

A rededication ceremony for the Peace Garden at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia, is set for Saturday afternoon. The ceremony will begin with a drumline procession into the Peace Garden, followed by a performance from Pac's Kids (students from the center's outreach program); a prayer for peace from the late rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur; and a ribbon-cutting. The free ceremony will end with the release of butterflies. The rededication comes three weeks after vandals defaced a statue of Tupac Shakur in the garden by pasting racist messages on it and hanging a wooden cross around its neck. Earlier this week, a man was charged with felony second-degree criminal damage to property in connection with the incident. Kenneth Anthony Wilson, 43, is being held in DeKalb County jail on a $1,500 bond, though a police spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that authorities doubt Wilson, who is black, had a racial motive in the incident. ...

Hallmark has filed a motion seeking the dismissal of Paris Hilton's lawsuit. The heiress is suing the company for a half-million dollars for using her photo and "That's hot!" catchphrase on one of its cards. Hallmark argued in a statement that, "Hilton has become a household name, based in large part on her efforts to draw attention to herself," according to "Access Hollywood." "Having done so, she has subjected herself to public scrutiny and the parodist's pen. The First Amendment does not allow her to respond by welcoming the fawning and flattering, but silencing the critical and comical." ...

Winona Ryder, mommy dearest to ... Spock? You read it right — the 36-year-old actress will play the mother of Zachary Quinto's character in J.J. Abrams' upcoming "Star Wars" reboot, Variety reports. She joins Simon Pegg, Eric Bana and other previously announced members of the cast. ...

The popular Pandora Radio Web site made the jump to cell phones on Thursday when AT&T announced that it will offer personalized radio stations from Pandora on eight of its cell phones. As on the Web site, AT&T users can type in a song or artist and start listening to a personalized station within seconds on their handset, according to a press release from AT&T announcing the deal. Songs heard on Pandora can also be bookmarked and purchased later at the AT&T Mobile Music Store. The service is free for five days and then costs $8.99 a month.

• Amy Winehouse
• Radiohead
• Hilary Duff
• Xzibit
• My Chemical Romance

• Nas
• Game
• Xzibit

Diddy's <I>Press Play</I>
Photo: Bad Boy Records

Mo' Diddy: It's been five years since we last heard a batch of new material from Diddy — even though he's been doing just about everything else in the meantime, between the clothing lines, record-label signings and humanitarian efforts. The mogul/artist/fill-in-the-blank is re-entering in style, getting big names to help with the Press Play festivities: Christina Aguilera ("Tell Me"), Nas and Cee-Lo ("Everything I Love"), Mary J. Blige ("Making It Hard"), Jamie Foxx ("Partners for Life"), Mario Winans ("Through the Pain (She Told Me)"), Brandy ("Thought You Said"), and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. Plus, behind the boards he's got Kanye West, Will.I.Am, Big Boi, Mobb Deep's Havoc, Timbaland and the Neptunes. Now there's a guy with a few friends.

This week's second most impressive guest list belongs to Hi-Tek, who roped in Nas, Busta Rhymes, Common, Talib Kweli, Jadakiss, Papoose, Bun B and Ghostface Killah for Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip. Going above and beyond the call of duty, he tapped Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Slim Thug and Raphael Saadiq for three tunes that appear on a special edition only available at Best Buy stores. That set also comes with a bonus DVD loaded with videos, a documentary and more.

JoJo's Mojo: Expect to see a lot of JoJo this week — on MTV, "The Today Show" and beyond — as she hops back from the big screen to the music world for The High Road. Her "Too Little Too Late" single is skittering up the charts, but — shocker! — there are other tracks on the album as well: "Let It Rain," "Good Ol' " and "Note to God," among others. Oh, and there's a bonus DVD with plenty of JoJo fruits as well.

Circling Around: Xzibit has some mighty hip-hop competition this week in the form of Diddy, but his fans should be coming around for Full Circle. Too Short ("Movin' in Your Chucks"), Kurupt ("Say It to My Face," "Movin' "), DJ Quik ("Poppin' Off") and T-Pain ("On Ball") have all hopped onto the affair, which furthers Xzibit's pattern of releasing an album every two years since he burst onto the scene in '96.

Murder Is the Case: Also in the rap mix is C-Murder, the criminally prone younger brother of Master P who is reservicing his LP The Truest Sh-- I Ever Said with five additional cuts he laid down after getting out of prison: "I Want It," "I Live in the Ghetto," "Calliope," "On My Block" (featuring Bootleg of the Dayton Family) and "Die for Mine" (featuring B.G.). There's also a bonus DVD with a 60-minute documentary hosted by B.G., plus behind-the-scenes material and videos to boot.

			MTV News RAW: Diddy The rapper/producer tells MTV why listeners have no choice but to 'Press Play', and explains why there's a bed in his studio.

Studly Efforts: He's won "Idol," Grammy-nomination honors and sold more than 3 million albums, but Ruben Studdard clearly has an appetite for more. On The Return, he redoes "If Only for One Night" — Rube's version has more in common with Luther Vandross', as opposed to original singer Brenda Russell's — as well as three songs he co-wrote: "I'm Not Happy," "Blow Ya Mind" and "To Tha Crib." The velvet teddy bear gets some production boosts from Scott Storch, Ne-Yo, Bryan-Michael Cox and Dre & Vidal. As it turns out, Ne-Yo and Cox also lend support to Latin R&B prince Frankie J with his Priceless album, which is peppered with guests Chamillionaire, 112's Slim and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

Weird Stuff: This week's crop of new releases is a strange one indeed:

When it comes to being odd, no band does it better than Primus, and they don't fall short this week with their Primus Singles: They Can't All Be Zingers CD and "Blame It on the Fish" DVD releases. On the DVD is a 30-minute documentary in which leader Les Claypool, playing a 102-year-old, talks about what life has been like for Primus into the year 2065.

Badly Drawn Boy is also pretty batty, and to coincide with the release of his Born in the U.K. LP this week, he's put up a contest on his Web site that asks viewers to choose their favorite fish-and-chips restaurant in England. Or, more specifically, "the chance to vote for your favourite local 'Batterie' and gamble the fishy reputation of your regular chish 'n fip shop." The contest prize? Nothing.

It Dies Today haven't exactly made a reputation for themselves as a family-friendly band, after touring as part of Ozzfest and with Trivium, Machinehead and other brutal bands. But as it turns out, "Sacre Coeur" — a song featured on their new release, Sirens — is actually named after a Parisian church where singer Nick Brooks says, in a press release, "I hopefully plan on proposing to someone there someday."

A mishmash of "Whatever Happened To ... ?" musicians — including members of Jellyfish, the Candy Butchers, Self, Semisonic and Papas Fritas — have joined forces for L.E.O. It isn't exactly a cover band but tries its best to channel prog-rock legends ELO all the same with Alpacas Orgling. It's doubtful that when those guys headed to the studio they limited themselves to ingesting only bread, water, eggs, coffee and whiskey, but that's exactly what Denison Witmer did for Safe Away, which is being reissued this week with a bonus EP.

To close out a 30-year career that has seen way too much hair and too many half-hearted reunions, Twisted Sister are regrouping one last time for ... a Christmas album? Yes, it's true: With singer Dee Snider leading the pack, the band bizarrely runs through "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "Heavy Metal Christmas (The Twelve Days of Christmas)" and other selections that will lead fans to say, "Uh ... OK." Can you take it?

Toronto quartet the Sadies have crafted the soundtrack to "Tales of the Rat Fink," a film that lives up to its odd mantle: It revolves around cartoonist/custom-car designer Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and his anti-Mickey Mouse character, Rat Fink. The soundtrack is heavy on instrumental surf music, while the film features vocal contributions from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the Smothers Brothers, John Goodman, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and other people you wouldn't expect.

Also getting back together — a whopping 27 years after issuing their last studio LP — are all-women punks the Slits, with frontwoman Ari Up leading the pack. Equally surprising is that they've only come up with enough new material for an EP, Revenge of the Killer Slits, although it does feature appearances from such question-mark contributors as Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and Adam and the Ants axeman Marco Pirroni. Oh, three daughters also help out: Cook's child Holly, Mike Jones' daughter Lauren, and Phoebe, who calls Slits guitarist Tessa Pollitt mom. Even if it's just an EP the Slits are putting out, it'll give them a good excuse to tour with Dmonstrations next month. That San Diego band has a CD of its own coming out this week — Night Trrors. Shock! Songs include "Hair Pretzel," "Polyp" and "Coelcanth Shower" and, according to the press release, lyrics revolve around "food, sexual politics and international playgirls."

On the subject of unusual lyrical subject matter, Houston trio the Scattered Pages invoke children's authors Lewis Carroll and J.M. Barrie on Lazy Are the Skeletons, which features "Alice to Wonderland" and the less whimsical "Annie Get Yer Gun" and "You Were Depressing Me." And Sharam — one-half of Grammy-winning electronic duo Deep Dish — spends his double-disc Sharam GU29 - Dubai focusing on a country that usually comes up in a conversation about port security, not dance music. Paul van Dyk, Felix Da Housecat and Armin van Buuren lend him a hand. And Doleful Lions obsess over pro wrestler Terry Gordy on "Oriental Spike," featured on their album Song Cyclops Volume Two, which also features Beach Boys and Misfits covers.

Other strange highlights: KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza finds the singer/songwriter covering Beck's "Golden Age," of all things; Jack White has called neoclassical musician Dexter Romweber a major influence, and Romweber's 13-track Piano was produced by Le Tigre collaborator Chris Stamey; clothing designer Todd Oldham is really into the Changes, who drop their debut LP, Today Is Tonight, this week; and Anticon one-man-band Dosh — who courted Andrew Bird and members of Tapes 'N Tapes for his LP The Lost Take — was raised by a onetime priest and mother who almost became a nun. And last but not least there's the imitable Glenn Danzig, whose Black Aria II is a classical operatic piece based on the mythological first wife of Adam. Why bother being normal?

Song Title of the Week:

"Gutrot Hogfrenzy" from Regurgitate's Sickening Bliss

Other Notables:

Bert Jansch's The Black Swan: The towering British folk musician has made the surprising leap to Chicago indie label Drag City for his first album in four years. But a cadre of luminaries are helping brighten the set all the same, including Beth Orton and Devendra Banhart. Tracks include "Maddalina's Dance," "Texas Cowboy Blues" and "Bring Your Religion."

Jeremy Enigk's World Waits: Rumors of another Sunny Day Real Estate reunion are floating around again, but in the meantime, fans will have to be satisfied with the second solo effort by the angel-voiced frontman. "Been Here Before," "Wayward Love" and "Dare a Smile" bulk up the disc, although some were written more than 10 years ago, shortly after the release of his solo debut.

Elanors' Movements: Chicago spouses Noah and Adriel Harris have been doing the orchestral-pop thing for a couple of years now, but for this outing, they convinced Judah Johnson drummer Daniel Johnson and bassist Rodrigo Palma to join the fun. Using pre-1960s music as their guide, this political-protest LP features "Counsel of Bodies," "Thieving Kings" and "Drifters."

New Releases:

• Alrights - High School (City Canyons)
• Annuals - Be He Me (Ace Fu)
• Avalon - Faith: A Hymns Collection (Sparrow)
• DJ Baby Anne - Baby Anne Rocks! (System)
• Badly Drawn Boy - Born in the U.K. (Astralwerks)
• Barzin - My Life in Rooms (Monotreme)
• Dierks Bentley - Long Trip Alone (limited-edition version with bonus DVD also available; Capitol)
• Blut Aus Nord - Mort (Candlelight)
• Ayla Brown - Forward (CBUJ)
• Cage9 - El Motivo (Long Live Crime)
• Barton Carroll - Love & War (Skybucket)
• Changes - Today Is Tonight (Drama Club)
• Cradle of Filth - Thornography (Roadrunner)
• Glenn Danzig - Black Aria II (Megaforce)
• Kevin Devine - Put Your Ghost to Rest (Capitol)
• Diddy - Press Play (Bad Boy)>
• Dmonstrations - Night Trrors. Shock! (GSL)
• Doleful Lions - Song Cyclops Volume Two (Parasol)
• Dosh - The Lost Take (Anticon)
• Earl Greyhound - Soft Targets (Some)
• Elanors - Movements (Parasol)
• Jeremy Enigk - World Waits (Reincarnate)
• The Esoteric - Subverter (Prosthetic)
• Victor Fields - Thinking of You (Regina)
• Renée Fleming - Homage: The Age of the Diva (Decca)
• Frankie J - Priceless (Columbia)
• Vince Gill - These Days (four-CD box set; MCA Nashville)
• Michael Hall - The Song He Was Listening to When He Died (Freedom)
• Hi-Tek - Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip (Best Buy limited edition features bonus tracks and DVD; Babygrande)
• Imitation Electric Piano - Blow It Up, Burn It Down, Kick It 'Til It Bleeds (Drag City)
• Insomnium - Above the Weeping World (Candlelight)
• It Dies Today - Sirens (Trustkill)
• Bert Jansch - The Black Swan (Drag City)
• JoJo - The High Road (with DVD; Blackground)
• George Jones and Friends - God's Country (Category 5)
• Eartha Kitt - Live From the Café Carlyle (DRG)
• Klaxons - Xan Valleys (enhanced EP; Modular/Interscope)
• L.E.O. - Alpacas Orgling (Cheap Lullaby)
• Layzie Bone - Cleveland (Koch)
• Little Ones - Sing Song (EP; Astralwerks)
• Lonestar - Mountains (BNA)
• Matt Mays + El Torpedo - Matt Mays + El Torpedo (Reincarnate)
• Maria McKee - Maria McKee Live: Acoustic Tour 2006 (Cooking Vinyl)
• Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong (Arista)
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Love Their Country (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Doug Moreland - Doug Moreland (Double Xxposure)
• Regurgitate - Sickening Bliss (Relapse)
• Dexter Romweber - Piano (Orange Sound)
• Sadies - "Tales of the Rat Fink" soundtrack (Yep Roc)
• Scattered Pages - Lazy Are the Skeletons (Three Ring)
• Sharam - Sharam GU29 - Dubai (two CDs; Global Underground)
• Shimmers - The Way You Shine (Transit of Venus)
• Shiny Toy Guns - We Are Pilots (Universal)
• Slits - Revenge of the Killer Slits (EP; SAF)
• Squarepusher - Hello Everything (Warp)
• Ruben Studdard - The Return (J)
• Thunderball - Cinescope (Eighteenth Street Lounge Music)
• Tribaljazz - Tribaljazz (Hidden Beach)
• Trucks - The Trucks (Clickpop)
• KT Tunstall - KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza (with DVD; Virgin)
• Twisted Sister - A Twisted Christmas (Razor & Tie)
• Unwed Sailor - The White Ox (Burnt Toast)
• Rhonda Vincent - Beautiful Star: The Christmas Collection (Rounder)
• Michael "5000" Watts - The Day Hell Broke Loose 3 (Swishahouse)
  
• Xzibit - Full Circle (Koch)
• Youngblood Brass Band - Is That a Riot? (Layered Music)
• Your Black Star - Sound From the Ground (Wonka Vision)
• Various artists - Infamy: Music Inspired by the Film (Image)
• Various artists - She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool: A Tribute to Barbara Mandrell (BNA)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Aerosmith - Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith (Columbia)
• Davie Allan & the Arrows - Cycle Breed (Sundazed)
• Black Oak Arkansas - The Definitive Rock Collection (Rhino)
• Blind Melon - Live at the Palace - Hollywood, CA, October 1995 (Capitol/EMI)
• Billy Bragg - Don't Try This at Home, England, Half English (with the Blokes; enhanced) Volume II (box set with eight CDs and one DVD), William Bloke and Workers Playtime (Yep Roc)
• C-Murder - The Tru Story ... Continued (limited-edition version with DVD and bonus tracks; Koch)
• Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Surfers' Choice (Sundazed)
• Dokken - The Definitive Rock Collection (Rhino)
• Esteban - Best of Esteban (Strip City)
• Everly Brothers - 36 Unreleased Recordings From the Late '50s and Early '60s (Varèse Sarabande)
• Fat Jon & Styrofoam - The Same Channel (Morr)
• Feathers - Synchromy (Hometapes)
• Foghat - The Definitive Rock Collection (Rhino)
• Lowell Fulsom - In a Heavy Bag (Sundazed)
• Goldfrapp - We Are Glitter (Mute)
• Gomez - Five Men in a Hut (A's, B's & Rarities: 1998-2004) (two CDs; Virgin/EMI)
• Charlie Gracie - The Best of Charlie Gracie: Cameo Parkway 1956-1958 (ABKCO)
• Earl Hooker - The Genius of ... (Sundazed)
• Love - The Definitive Rock Collection (Rhino)
• Willie Nelson - 54 Songs: Songwriter Sessions (three-CD box set; DBK)
• Primus - Primus Singles: They Can't All Be Zingers (Interscope)
• Todd Rundgren - The Definitive Rock Collection (Rhino)
• Jimmy Smith - Bluesmith (Lilith)
• Sweet - Sweet Chronology (Friday)
• Frank Tovey - Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey (box set with two CDs and two DVDs; Mute)
• Denison Witmer - Safe Away (original CD plus the Are You a Sleeper? EP; Militia Group)
• Link Wray and His Ray Men - White Lightnin': Lost Cadence Sessions '58 (Sundazed)
• Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. (two CDs; Rhino)
• Various artists - Cameo Parkway: The Greatest Hits (ABKCO)
• Various artists - The Ultimate James Bond Film Music Collection (four-CD box set; Silva America)

Music DVDs:

• Cars - "The Cars Unlocked - The Live Performances" (with bonus CD; New Video Group)
• Diplomats - "The Diplomats Present: 140th & Lenox, Vol. 1" (Koch Vision)
• Face to Face - "Shoot the Moon (The Essential Collection)" (two DVDs; Image)
• Kinks - "One for the Road" (Velvel)
• Primus - "Blame It on the Fish" (Frizzle Fry)
• Rolling Stones - "Rock Files: Truth and Lies" (Eagle Vision)
• Neil Sedaka - "The Show Goes On: Live at the Royal Albert Hall" (Eagle Vision)
• Various artists - "Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux 2004" (three DVDs; Eagle Vision)

Coming Attractions:

October 24:

• My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (Reprise)
• Sparta - Threes (Hollywood)
• Various artists - "The Nightmare Before Christmas" soundtrack (special two-CD edition; Disney)

October 31:

• Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick)
• Lady Sovereign - Public Warning (Def Jam)
• Kevin Federline - Playing With Fire (Reincarnate)

November 7:

• James Blunt - Back to Bedlam (limited-edition version with bonus CD; Atlantic)
• Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (RCA)
• Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (Koch)
• Dave Matthews Band - The Best of What's Around, Vol. 1 (two CDs; RCA)
• Ol' Dirty Bastard - A Son Unique (Def Jam)

• Diddy
• JoJo
• Xzibit
• C-Murder
• Ruben Studdard

Nelly Furtado at Guess' 25th anniversary celebration on Tuesday
Photo: Evan Agostini/ Getty Images

It was one swanky soiree Tuesday night at New York's Capitale as Guess celebrated its 25th anniversary, one of many Fashion Week kickoff parties. (Feast your eyes on the smokin' snaps right here.) Kristin Cavallari and DJ AM mingled together in the VIP area, while Nelly Furtado made the rounds, posing for the paparazzi in a not-so-promiscuous outfit: a black dress covered by a bulky white jacket. Brit beauty Natasha Bedingfield gave a strong solo acoustic performance, and KT Tunstall sang her heart out to the chichi crowd, admitting that she's always been a "black horse" when it comes to fashion. "After being penniless for 10 years, this is very educational," she said. "I don't know much about fashion really. Some ladies are really tall, though. I'm not tall." Speaking of tall, statuesque models posed in front of blown-up Guess images of Carrie Otis, Claudia Schiffer and Anna Nicole Smith, re-enacting sultry black-and-white ads from the past. One model, who was sitting atop a huge pile of hay for three hours in nothing but a slinky dress, told MTV News she was a little uncomfortable and "itchy." Ah, what some women will do for fashion. Jimmy Fallon, Denis Leary, Eva Mendes and others will be presenting at the Fashion Rocks concert, airing Friday on CBS. ...

30 Seconds to Mars have beat out Angels & Airwaves, Blue October, Ima Robot, the Pink Spiders and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus for a Radio City Music Hall gig. After scoring the most text-message votes in the Want You to Sound Off contest, the band will play a set from the marquee of the legendary New York theater at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday to kick off the Fashion Rocks festivities, featuring live performances by Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Christina Aguilera and many others. ...

Xzibit, Jaime Pressly, Shannon Elizabeth and Elisha Cuthbert were a few of the celebs who turned out to party with Tommy Lee and Papa Roach at their three-day Bacardi Global Gathering party last weekend in Las Vegas. Damien Fahey of "TRL," Melinda Clarke ("The O.C."), Roger Cross ("24"), Kelly Carlson ("Nip/Tuck") and Stacy Keibler ("Dancing With the Stars") also made the afterparty, held Sunday in the Real World suite at the Palms casino and hotel. Xzibit joined Papa Roach for an impromptu collaborative performance as well. ...

They don't holla back, but they look a lot like Gwen Stefani. The No Doubt singer announced Tuesday she's releasing a series of eight limited-edition dolls named after her debut solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby. Each 10-inch doll represents Stefani or one of her Harajuku Girl dancers dressed in costumes from the singer/designer's tour, and will be available for $24.95. Stefani isn't just focusing on toys — the singer has also been recording new music, according to a statement posted on her Web site. ... American Eagle Outfitters is dishing up songs and videos on its Web site, Aerie.com, as part of the urban mass-market label's new Artists Music Series. On Wednesday (September 6), the site premiered Ben Lee's new single, "Since I Met You," and a new cut by Zero 7 collaborator Sia, "Pictures." Lee is performing Wednesday night at the Union Square store in Manhattan, New York, and his Awake Is the New Sleep and Sia's "Colour the Small One" LPs will be released as special editions through AE. Videos for both artists, as well as interviews, live performances and more content, will be unveiled in AE stores and on the company's Web site. ...

After five months of speculation and rumor, Suri Cruise finally made her public debut on Tuesday. The offspring of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is featured with her parents on the October cover of Vanity Fair, as revealed by Katie Couric on her first night hosting the CBS Evening News. The infant — who has a head of remarkably thick dark hair — was shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for a 22-page spread and is seen on the cover cradled inside Cruise's leather jacket, with Holmes looking over his shoulder. ... Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson amassed $36 million in assets during their three-year marriage — and since Simpson refused to sign a pre-nup, Lachey can claim approximately $18 million of that under California law. But according to TMZ.com, Lachey has agreed to less than his fair share in the couple's divorce proceedings in order to avoid a messy court fight. He will reportedly take more than the $1.5 million he was originally offered by Simpson, but considerably less than the 50 percent he's entitled to by law. ...

Death Cab for Cutie have scheduled yet another tour in support of Plans and their latest single, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark." The trek begins October 26 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, and ends November 30 in Houston. ... The Pussycat Dolls casting call continues, with open tryouts being held Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. Final contenders will face off on the CW series "The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll." Visit CWTV.com for an application and audition requirements. ... Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor has started working on new material for the follow-up to 2005's With Teeth. There's no official word yet on the album's title, but the LP could be out later this year or early 2007. ...

Michael Jackson will have to pay ex-wife Debbie Rowe $60,000 in attorney fees as she continues pursuing a custody case against him, The Associated Press reports. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider said Jackson must pay Rowe by September 28, although he did not rule on whether Rowe can have visitation rights to their children, Prince Michael and Paris. ... In related news, the man who won a multimillion-dollar settlement from Jackson in 1993 after accusing the pop star of molestation has won a permanent court restraining order against his father, according to AP. The unnamed man, now 26, said his father "struck him on the head from behind with a twelve and one-half pound weight and sprayed his eyes with mace or pepper spray and tried to choke him," according to an appellate court ruling. He was granted a temporary restraining order against his father in August 2005, but the judge refused to issue a permanent order at the time, a ruling a two-judge appellate panel said was a mistake. ...

A Kurt Cobain action figure, inspired by Nirvana's 1993 appearance on "MTV Unplugged," will be released this December. The 7-inch figurine will feature Cobain with his acoustic guitar, a chair, microphone and music stand. The toy will carry a $16 price tag. ... Willi Ninja, the New York dancer who inspired Madonna's song and video "Vogue," died Saturday at age 45 of AIDS-related heart failure, according to The New York Times. Ninja (born William R. Leake) — called the Grandfather of Vogue — helped popularize the dance style on the New York club scene in the 1980s, taking the strutting, posing gestures to the big screen in the acclaimed 1990 documentary "Paris Is Burning." He began dancing at age 7 and by the early 1980s he was vogueing all over New York in his signature style, which included swift, sharp arm movements inspired by martial arts. He later modeled in runway shows for designers Jean Paul-Gaultier and Thierry Mugler, and gave models including Naomi Campbell advice on how to strut on the runway, most recently working with Paris Hilton on her red-carpet sashay. ...

The cop is avoiding the slammer. Victor Willis, the former "policeman" in the 1970s disco band the Village People, was sentenced by a California judge on Tuesday to three years probation on drug and gun possession charges, according to a Reuters report. Willis, 55, who co-wrote such hits as "YMCA" and "In the Navy," pleaded no contest and got a suspended three-year, eight-month prison sentence on condition that he complete a 30-day drug treatment program at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, followed by at least six months in a treatment program in Long Beach, California. The judge warned that Willis would go to prison if he violated his probation.

09.05.2006

Plenty of artists release special editions of their new CDs with bonus tracks a few months after the discs hit stores. But a few weeks? Paris Hilton didn't authorize an early update of her disc, but British graffiti artist Banksy has placed 500 doctored copies of the heiress' debut CD in 48 U.K. record stores, replacing Hilton's album with 40 minutes of remixes and altering the cover to advertise titles including "Why Am I Famous?" and "What Am I For?," according to BBC News. The guerrilla artist also changed pictures of Hilton on the CD sleeve to show her topless and with a dog's head, but kept the original barcode intact — which means that some may buy the LP thinking it is the real thing. A representative for record chain HMV told BBC News that it has recovered seven altered copies from stores but no customers have returned a tampered version of the disc. The altered copies also include a Hilton remix CD credited to "DM," which Danger Mouse's management confirmed is him. "It's hard to improve on perfection, but we had to try," the Gnarls Barkley mastermind said in a statement. Danger Mouse and Banksy are believed to have met while shopping for costumes in SoHo, New York. ...

In other Paris news, the actress/singer is getting ready to shed her babe-on-the-beach image from her "Stars Are Blind" video for something a little more wholesome. Well, just a little. For her next video, "Nothing in This World," Hilton's playing a girl-next-door role, and she promises the clip will be hot. "It's going to be really sexy," she said. Though Hilton was originally considering pairing up once again with Chris Applebaum or David LaChapelle for the clip, instead, she's picked director Scott Speer (Teddy Geiger, Switchfoot). "He's a hot new director," she said. "I'm very excited." Also raising the temperature is Elisha Cuthbert, who is making a cameo in the clip. ...

The Arctic Monkeys beat out Thom Yorke and the Editors on Tuesday (September 12) to win the coveted Mercury Prize for the best British album of the year. While most past Mercury winners were not big sellers, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not smashed the British record for the fastest-selling debut album, with 363,700 copies sold in its first week. ... "American Idol" season one finalist Tamyra Gray married producer and former Color Me Badd singer Sam Watters in Capri, Italy, on Saturday, according to People. Gray and Watters, who met when he was hired to produce her last album, were wed on a cliff overlooking the ocean. ...

First Young Jeezy wanted you to get your mind right — now he wants you to get your money right too. The trap star will join Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network on September 16 for the group's financial-empowerment tour, "Get Your Money Right," at Atlanta's Morris Brown University. Jeezy and a host of rappers, executives and financial consultants will discuss credit history, home ownership and other related money matters. "Joining with Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris to host the Atlanta Hip-Hop Summit is a special blessing," Simmons said in a statement. "This city is known for its great contributions to hip-hop, as well as being a center for social change in our nation and world." Get Your Money Right will make three additional stops on September 30 (Los Angeles), October 14 (Dallas) and October 28 (Toronto). ...

Guess will celebrate its 25th anniversary at New York's Capitale on Tuesday night with performances by K.T. Tunstall and Natasha Bedingfield. It is the first of many Fashion Week kickoff parties, which runs Friday through September 15. Black-and-white photos from Guess ads will be set up in an art-gallery setting, and models will be re-creating them in a live vignette. Expected guests include Dean Winters, Famke Janssen, Kristin Cavallari, Taryn Manning, Zoe Saldana and Nelly Furtado. ... It's a glamour-ific world: Former MAC Viva Glam spokesperson Pamela Anderson is handing over the reigns to Debbie Harry, Eve, Lisa Marie Presley and Dita Von Teese, who have been appointed the new spokespeople for the MAC Viva Glam VI campaign, which is helping fund the fight against HIV/AIDS. Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott are also former Viva Glam spokesmodels. ...

A judge sentenced R&B singer Ronald Isley, 65, to three years and one month in prison for tax evasion on Friday. The Isley Brother was also ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, The Associated Press reports. Isley was convicted last year of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return. The singer's lawyer argued for probation because of Isley's recent health problems and his attempts to pay down the IRS debt, but the judge in the case refused, saying, "the term 'serial tax avoider' has been used. I think that's appropriate." ...

An attorney for Academy Award-winning rappers Three 6 Mafia filed a motion last week in a Pennsylvania court asking for the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a fan who claimed he was severely beaten at one of their shows. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ramone Williams, who was 19 at the time, said he became concerned when the group started performing the song "Let's Start a Riot" at the August 26, 2003, show at a now-defunct Pittsburgh nightclub. By the time "Riot" ended, Williams claimed, he was thrown to the floor, hit with a chair, stomped on and kicked in the face, suffering injuries including a fractured jaw. The group's attorney asked for the dismissal based in part on First Amendment protections for the lyrics. ...

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the trial for one of the owners of the Station nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island, where a pyrotechnics stunt gone awry during a Great White show in 2003 killed 100 concertgoers. Michael Derderian's trial on 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter is expected to last several months and will be followed by a trial for his brother, Jeffrey, according to AP. ... Pete Doherty appeared before a London court Monday to face sentencing for drug violations, but a judge instead ordered him to continue his drug rehabilitation, AP reports. District Judge Jane McIvor deferred the sentencing to December 4 and explained to the Babyshambles singer — who has passed recently administered drug tests — that he could avoid jail if he sticks with his rehab program and commits no other offenses. The judge also said that the Babyshambles track "The Blinding" is a "good tune." ...

Expect to see Thrice walking in the Orange County Race for a Cure benefit in Newport Beach, California, on September 24. Proceeds from the 5K fundraiser go toward the Syrentha Savio Endowment and the Shirts for a Cure Project. Thrice are promising an exclusive "special thank you" the night of the event for those who join them in the walk. ... "Crocodile Hunter" host Steve Irwin was killed Monday in the waters off Australia's Great Barrier Reef when a stingray's barb stabbed him through the heart while he was snorkeling, AP reports. Irwin, who came under fire in 2004 for holding his infant son while feeding a crocodile, hosted several Animal Planet series, starred in the 2002 film "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" and was filming a new program titled "Ocean's Deadliest" before the accident. He is survived by his wife, Terri, and their two children.

• Nelly Furtado, KT Tunstall, More At Guess' 25th Anniversary Gala

• Nelly Furtado
• Xzibit
• 30 Seconds To Mars
• Gwen Stefani

Xzibit
Photo: David Livingston/ Getty Images

Xzibit has pimped his career.

With Full Circle, due October 17, the rapper is six records deep, but he feels brand new. "Not only because the audience is broader," X explained, referring to his "Pimp My Ride" fans, "but because of the energy. The way that I'm coming out on this record, it feels like a rebirth. A lot of the politics and bullsh-- that went behind making so many records in the past don't exist anymore."

In other words, Xzibit has cut ties with his former label and gone back to being an indie rapper (with Koch distributing Full Circle).

"I took a strong stand to get away from Sony Records," X explained, detailing how he believes the label failed to promote his two most recent releases. "I sold 2 million records on Loud, which was one-tenth of the size of Sony [2000's Loud release Restless has been certified platinum by the RIAA]. Going over to Sony, they can only push my records to gold [500,000 shipped]. And I'm not going to sit here and believe it was the music. It was the people behind the music.

"So I refused to put another record on there and that's where 'Pimp My Ride,' film and television and everything came from," he continued. "I'm going to show you that I can do something else. We had to pull some strings to get off of Sony ... so I'm taking this as an opportunity to not let music run me. I run the music. I reorganized, rearranged some things — and man, it is so much better."

A spokesperson for Columbia Records did not return a request for comment.

As an independent artist, X has never worked harder on an album, but he believes the reward will be much better, creatively and monetarily. "It's a difference between 15 cents a record or 7 dollars or 8 dollars a record," he said.

To assist in making Full Circle, Xzibit enlisted Keith Shocklee of the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy, Ice Cube) to co-executive produce, and friends like the Game, DJ Quik, T-Pain, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, King Tee, Donell Rawlings and Jelly Roll to contribute production or guest spots.

Longtime collaborator Rick Rock produced the first single, "Concentrate," which samples a Buddhist chant. "It has a lot to do with tranquility, with having peacefulness and everything coming together, moving in one motion," X said. "I think that was the feel to this whole album. Not to get religious on anybody, but it was a good element to provide for the first single."

Full Circle is full of classic Xzibit boast tracks, but it also goes in a few more serious directions. On "Black and Brown," for instance, he addresses the tension between Latinos and African-Americans in Los Angeles, much like Snoop Dogg's "Vato" does (see "Snoop Reclaims His Old Doggystyle, Goes Gangsta For 'Vato' Video").

"I come to this with some experience, because I had altercations with Latin dudes," he said. "I could have come with, 'Man, f--- this, we can perpetuate the cycle.' Or I can sit back and show a different perspective, show a different sign of something that is learned with maturity and learned with some kind of sense about yourself."

On "Rampart Division," Xzibit raps from the perspective of police officers working some of L.A.'s most dangerous neighborhoods. "We got to say, 'F--- the police,' but now we get to hear what the police have to say back to us," X said. "I actually didn't even have to do any research, because as crazy as the song sounds, I actually just took real things that happen in the news. It's not like I'm making it up.

"When the flak comes — 'cause I know you're all coming — when it actually falls on me, all I got to do is just point out places that it actually happened," he said.

• Xzibit
• Game
• DJ Quik

The Rock and Xzibit in "Gridiron Gang"
Photo: Columbia Pictures

MALIBU, California — It was F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote that "there are no second acts in American lives," and it was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who helped prove him wrong.

A juvenile-delinquent-turned-football-player-turned-pro-wrestler-turned-action-star, Johnson has made a career out of seizing second — and third, and fourth — chances. In "Gridiron Gang," opening September 15, the Rock finally gets the opportunity to give something back (see "The Rock Tackles Football Film About High-School Gangbangers").

Playing real-life coach and probation officer Sean Porter, Johnson leads a youth-football team typical in many respects — except for the fact that its roster is made up entirely of offenders from the juvenile detention center Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu. These kids are hard-nosed, and have been caught up in often gang-related crimes involving guns and store robbery. And the Rock is adamant that such real-life offenders, like him, deserve a shot at change.

"Every kid deserves a second chance," he said. "A lot of these kids, with their past, where they came from, they never even had a first chance. We've got to realize that. That's our responsibility as adults."

The children Johnson wants so badly to redeem are described by his "Gridiron Gang" character as having "trouble responding to authority, being a member of a team, and accepting criticism." The Rock himself describes them as "losers."

"They come from a word of neglect, of failure," he sighed. "They expect to fail, and they expect to either end up in jail or to die. It's that simple."

Porter believed early on that football would be the ideal vehicle to instill core values into the kids, hopefully reversing the effects of negative and selfish thinking.

			OUR NEWEST TRAILERS Check out Ne-Yo in the trailer premiere of "Stomp the Yard," plus the trailer for "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" and more, on Overdrive

"In baseball, if the pitcher throws a no-hitter, what's your left fielder doing all day?" asked the real-life Porter, who was spending the day alongside his Hollywood alter ego. "But in football, if your left guard doesn't block anybody all day, you're in trouble. Football takes 11 people; [it] forces the kids to make different choices, to work together."

Working together to succeed — what Porter called a sports "microcosm" for life in general — paradoxically gave many of his players a greater sense of self-worth, enabling them to overcome their own failures by fully committing to something larger than themselves.

Ironically, it was failure, not success, that Johnson believes most inspired the players to cooperate. Only in defeat, he says, were they compelled to re-evaluate their responses to frustration.

"They all banded together and said, 'We're not going to be losers anymore,' " he said. "They had no idea they could handle that type of failure. They had no idea they were going to cry on the football field because they couldn't kill or fight anybody. They had to accept that failure as men."

The story of Sean Porter and the Mustangs football team was first presented to worldwide audiences as a small-screen documentary. Directed by Lee Stanley, the made-for-TV flick, also titled "Gridiron Gang," won an Emmy in 1993. The Rock credits the documentary with inspiring him to star in the film version.

"The script had been around for a little while," the former WWE champion recalled. "I watched the documentary at 2 in the morning [the night I got the script]. I called my agent and said, 'I love it — I'm in.' As a matter of fact, I told them it would be an honor to make this movie."

Known for being a tough guy in his wrestling days, the Rock said the documentary — in particular the confessions of one former player — moved him to tears. "They asked him in the documentary, 'Why are you playing football?' " he recalled. "And he simply said, 'Well, I'm playing football because I think my mom would love me if I started to play.'

"All these kids had that same thought," he continued. "Which was, 'I've been a loser all my life. Everybody's been calling me a loser. I'm tired of it.' "

To become a champ, however, takes more than desire — it takes the dedicated tutelage of someone who cares. The Rock is certain the Mustangs had the best of all possible worlds in Sean Porter.

"Sean has that way which is admirable about him and makes him a great human being," the 34-year-old actor said. "He looks you in the eye when he talks to you. No bullsh-- whatsoever. These kids had a father figure in Sean."

Most admirable of all, the Rock argues, was that Porter was willing to give the detainees a second chance by refusing to be influenced by their past cruelty and poor judgment.

"When they come in, he doesn't read their rap sheets," Johnson said. "That's amazing to me, because their life starts right [then]."

For Porter, living by this code is absolute. He teaches his players to put their mistakes in the past, which, when the time comes, means Camp Kilpatrick as well.

"One of the things that we have talked about in the program is to move on, to make better decisions and put this behind you," the coach said. "Well, part of them putting that part of life behind them is putting Camp Kilpatrick behind them. So they don't keep knocking on the door, they don't keep calling us on the phone. That's part of putting it behind us."

Porter, who the Rock calls "a hero," hopes his philosophy inspires others to be "less skeptical."

"We pass judgment on people and don't always give them a chance. The more we give to these kids, the more we get out of these kids," he said. "And that makes the world a better place."

Take that, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

For a closer look at the Rock's inspirational film, don't miss "Your Movie Show: Gridiron Gang," airing Friday, September 8, at 9:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on MTV.

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• "Gridiron Gang" Photos
• On The Set Of "Gridiron Gang"

• Xzibit

Daz Dillinger (far left), Snoop Dogg (middle), Ice Cube (far right) and friends on the set of the "Cali Iz Active" video
Photo: MTV News

LOS ANGELES — MTV recently organized the Great Day in Atlanta, Source had its own Great Day in Houston, and on Saturday, it was a veritable Great Day in Los Angeles when Snoop Dogg called just about every artist on the West Coast to appear in Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta Clique's video for "Cali Iz Active."

"Snoop opened his little black book and called everybody up," Snoop's cousin Daz Dillinger said at the clip's Elysian Park set. "I'm asking who's coming up here."

"We're still wondering who's coming," Kurupt offered. "It's a mystery."

Shortly after the waiting and anticipation was over, cars started pulling up with the likes of Ice Cube, Too Short, Warren G, Xzibit and Strong Arm Steady, Evidence, Dilated Peoples, JT the Bigga Figga, WC, and DJ Quik.

"This reminds me of the ['Nuthin' but a] "G" Thang' video," Quik, standing next to Xzibit, said of the camaraderie, "and that video is like 12 years old."

Later, most of the guys in the video filmed a picnic scene together as well as some DPGC performance shots.

"This was how the West was one," Snoop said, surrounded by all his homies, referencing the title of his West Coast unity tour (see "Snoop And Game Beef Up Their How The West Was One Tour"). "We all love each other, we're all one movement. It's beautiful."

"We always had a lot of love for each other, but Los Angeles keeps it spread out," Cube observed. "So we coming together. We realized that it's all one coast, we need to galvanize the West Coast. Show we all need to support each other."

As to what "Cali Iz Active" means, Kurupt said, "The song represents the West Coast as a whole. We're pushing [it] as one positive thing."

"You getting busy, you in trouble, it's a lot of stuff going on," Daz added. "You've got the police situation in Cali, the race issue in California, Congress. It's time for us to step up and show what's really going on. We're letting you know it's active."

The vibe was so great during the video shoot, all the artists were talking about going on tour together. Ice Cube has started his own tour with Daz and Kurupt and the Clipse, and Snoop has been jumping on some dates.

Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta Clique's Cali Iz Active LP is due June 27. Kurupt's next solo LP, Same Day, Different Sh--, comes out June 20, and Daz's first solo LP on Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, So So Gangsta, drops July 18.

• Snoop, Cube, More On The Set Of The "Cali Iz Active" Video, 04.22.06

• Snoop Dogg
• Ice Cube
• Xzibit
• Kurupt
• Too Short

Xzibit at the Tinseltown To Gotham Pre-Oscar Event
Photo: Chrissy L. Nguyen/ MTV News

BEVERLY HILLS, California — After 10 years, nine films, five albums and one "Pimp"-ed out TV show, Xzibit has finally come Full Circle.

The 32-year-old rapper, who first blasted onto the scene with his lyrically charged Speed of Light in 1996, is about to drop his sixth studio album this summer.

"I've been making records [for so long], so to be able to do what I love and do it well, I gotta take it back to what I love to do," X said recently of his upcoming, aptly titled LP, Full Circle.

"My perspective has definitely changed [over the years]," he added. "The things I used to say when I was 18, 19 or 20 aren't the things I'm feeling now, you know? I've definitely grown a lot as an individual, as a man, and as a father, and that perspective needs to be shared and put out there.

"I think having powerful music that says something is a must for me [now]," explained X, who first tackled political issues on 2004's Weapons of Mass Destruction (see "Xzibit Joins The Anti-Bush Fray With New LP, Compares Iraq To Detroit"). "So that's what I plan to do with this record: shed some light on the growth that I've had so hopefully someone can relate and feel me."

X still won't divulge too many details about the disc — like which producers he's working with or who he might be teaming with in the recording booth — but he said there'll be 17 tracks on it when it drops in August (see "Xzibit Far From Done With Music").

As for his first single — well, let's just say you probably won't catch it on iTunes anytime soon. "Watch the mixtape circuit," X said. "There's so many ways for music to get out nowadays that the traditional way of just dropping a single before the record is out is obsolete."

The hardcore-MC-turned-actor was among a handful of performers, including Tyrese, Macy Gray and Lauryn Hill, honored earlier this month at the Tinseltown to Gotham event in Beverly Hills for accomplishing what few of their contemporaries could: successfully crossing over into a mix of entertainment genres, including film, television and music.

"It feels good to be able to go from music to film and have a good transition and be given the opportunities I've been given," Xzibit said backstage, donning a slick black tuxedo for the ceremony. "The roles I've had have worked out great for me, and tonight is just another stepping stone in the right direction."

Of course, X attributes much of his breakout success and crossover appeal to his tricked-out MTV show, "Pimp My Ride," which has been able to show a different, more personable side of him.

"That show really exposed a side of my personality you don't get to see on rap videos or read [about] in magazines," explained X, who helps kids transform their sad, weak wheels into pimped-out masterpieces on the show, now wrapping up its fifth season.

"There were decision-makers that watched that show, and the personality was there for them," he said. "They gave me different chances and it just worked."

• Xzibit

"Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover"
Photo: EA Sports Big

Through the course of hip-hop history, some rappers have settled beefs with lyrical battles. Others get physical. The announcement of another game in Electronic Arts' "Def Jam" fighting game series means that gamers are going to be able to settle a few more hip-hop rivalries with the press of a button.

The third in EA's series and the first to be available on a handheld game machine, "Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover" will allow players to use rap stars such as Busta Rhymes, Lil' Kim, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit to battle through a series of fights set in the Big Apple. The game, which will feature a story that serves as a prequel to 2003's "Def Jam Vendetta" and 2004's "Def Jam Fight for New York," will be available for Sony's PSP in late March.

As with the previous games, "Def Jam" for PSP is being co-developed by EA Canada and the Aki Corporation, a wrestling-game specialty house that created WWF and WCW games in the late '90s and early 2000s.

While the game will feature a new story, EA promises that the graphics and gameplay will be a close match to the 2004 PS2, Xbox and GameCube versions of "Def Jam: Fight for NY." The soundtrack is also set to be the same, once again featuring tracks such as "America's Most" from Method Man and Redman, "Mama Said Knock You Out" from LL Cool J, and "Poppa Large" from the Ultramagnetic MC's. The game will also be adorned with licensed clothing from outfits such as Reebok, Rocawear and Phat Farm's Def Jam University.

One new gameplay feature will enable Def Jam players to throw dirt in opposing fighters' faces. The game will also feature a wireless mode for one-on-one PSP vs. PSP fighting. It was unclear at press time if that mode would be limited to in-person wireless multiplayer or whether it would work with online play.

There's also no word on whether the game will restore a feature that EA toyed with but never got around to including in the very first "Def Jam" game. According to an EA executive interviewed in 2004, the developers of that game thought players preparing to brawl with hip-hop's baddest stars might need a suitable punching bag to train on. The training victim who never quite made it out of the planning stages? Carrot Top.

PSP may even get a chance to brawl with hip-hop stars a second time this year. Last year Vivendi Universal announced that the 50 Cent console game "Bulletproof" would lead into a 2006 PSP "Bulletproof" title featuring the entire G-Unit in a "Final Fight"-style brawling game. A Vivendi representative was not available to confirm release details at press time.

• Snoop Dogg
• Busta Rhymes
• Ludacris
• Xzibit
• Lil' Kim

Korn
Photo: Getty Images

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — Korn and rapper friends Snoop Dogg, Lil Jon, David Banner and Xzibit apparently had so much fun making the "Twisted Transistor" video that they want to expand the project into a movie.

"We're gonna try to do like a full-on new 'Spinal Tap,' but with hip-hop guys in a rock band," Korn singer Jonathan Davis said backstage at KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas on Saturday (see "Coldplay Salute System, Stripes, SoCal Torsos At Radio Fest"), referring to Rob Reiner's classic 1984 mockumentary, "This Is Spinal Tap."

The idea came up while shooting the record-label boardroom scene for the video and everyone agreed much more could be done with the concept, a spoof of Korn's metal lifestyle but with Jon as Davis, Snoop as guitarist Munky, Banner as drummer David Silveria and Xzibit as bassist Fieldy (see "Lil Jon, Snoop, Xzibit, David Banner Star In New Korn Video").

"We've got some crazy 'Spinal Tap' moments [that have really happened to Korn], so it's just gonna get in deeper and deeper and take it over the top," Davis said. "It should be an amazing film if we ever get it made."

Davis said all four rappers (who, coincidently, each have budding movie careers) as well as director Dave Meyers are on board. "Meyers was stoked on it. He was like, 'Let's do this, let's do it like this,' " Davis added. "You can shoot movies cheap now these days, so it's gonna be cool if we can do it."

In the meantime, Korn are preparing for the release of "Coming Undone," the second single from See You on the Other Side (see "Korn On New LP: 'Sadness,' 'Anger,' 'Darkness' ... 'Kind Of Perverted' "), the band's first album without founding guitarist Head (see "Korn On Head: Davis Hasn't Spoken To Him, Munky Still Sees Him As Inspiration").

"We like that song 'cause it's such a really anthem kind of song, it's got that cool, like, Queen 'We Will Rock You' beat in it, and we feel a lot of people are feeling that song," Davis said. "It just comes from a place when you seem like in life you can take all you can take and you're just basically gonna just lose it, go postal. So that's the gist of the song, it's just talking about times that's happened to me."

Coming undone, of course, has been a common theme in Korn's music since the beginning and Davis doesn't see that ever changing.

	"Twisted Transistor" Video

"I have a lot of happy things in my life that I love dearly, my family and my friends, but they don't inspire me to write lyrics," he explained. "If I was that, I'd be in some happy punk-rock band like Weezer. ... I've always been drawn towards darker things, it's what makes me wanna write."

Korn have yet to decide on a concept for the "Coming Undone" video, but should have it locked by the end of the year, now that the band finally "has some time to think."

"We've done lots of record launches, but it's been a long time since we've really went out and promoted one this hard," Davis said of Korn's hectic schedule. "We've been on a tour for the last month and a half, just doing promotion, taking over radio stations and playing little shows and doing in-stores and it's a very exciting time and we're really, really excited to be still doing this."

Korn are taking January off but will hit the road for a world tour beginning in February and lasting into 2007.

"It's gonna be a Korn headlining thing," Davis said. "We're starting off first here in the States for eight weeks and then we go over to Australia, Southeast Asia and then go to Europe, come back, probably do a summer tour here, go to South America and then start all over again. Keep doing just big circles, going all around the world. We're gonna be gone a long time but it's what we like to do, we really love playing live and it's really a new band with four of us and we just want to get out there. We're really hungry."

Davis had no word yet on who will open for Korn on the trek.

"I usually don't know who we're going out with until I show up ready to go," he said with a laugh. "Sometimes we take bands that we really like, but right now I'm not really feeling that many people or the people that we are feeling are out doing their own tours, so it's tricky, but I know we'll get somebody."

• Korn
• Snoop Dogg
• Lil Jon
• David Banner
• Xzibit

Lil' Jon, Big Boi, Rza And More At VH-1's 2006 Hip Hop Honors

• Lil Jon
• OutKast
• Salt-N-Pepa
• Wu-Tang Clan
• Remy Ma

Pimp My Ride: Lawanna's VW Bug (Episode 414)

• Xzibit

Pimp My Ride: Tyler's El Camino (Episode 413)

• Xzibit

Pimp My Ride: Xilomen's Probe (Episode 412)

• Xzibit

The Rock, Xzibit, Arielle Kebbel, More At "Gridiron Gang" Premiere

• Xzibit

Pimp My Ride: Ellen's Ford Contour (Episode 410)

• Xzibit

Pimp My Ride: John's Mercury Couger (Episode 411)

• Xzibit

"Gridiron Gang" Photos

• Xzibit

Pimp My Ride: Tad's Range Rover (Episode 408)

• Xzibit

Pimp My Ride: Joe's Caddy (Episode 406)

• Xzibit