Karen O
Photo: MTV News

Karen O is a busy woman. It's time-consuming enough being the singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but she is also responsible for the soundtrack to "Where the Wild Things Are," the highly anticipated Spike Jonze adaptation of the classic book.

Though she had never provided music for a film before, she told MTV News that Jonze was an ideal collaborator. "We're both like kids trapped in adult bodies," she said on the red carpet at Tuesday night's "Where the Wild Things Are" premiere in New York. "It was really playful. He just told me what the themes should sound like, and he let me do what I felt like doing."

The results of that process shine through, as the soundtrack to "Where the Wild Things Are" is a spacey, moody piece that blends seamlessly with the hazy magic of the film's visual style.

For the recording process, Karen recruited a number of indie-rock luminaries as collaborators, including members of Deerhunter, Liars and the Dead Weather. The process of making the soundtrack was not unlike jamming with a group of friends — a process Karen was quite comfortable with, especially considering the unusual nature of the process.

"The first film footage we got was roughs before they even assembled anything," she said. "I had friends of mine from rock bands with me, and we'd watch the footage and we came up with the music for a really rough version of the film. It was a fairly unconventional way to do that."

Check out everything we've got on "Where the Wild Things Are."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• 'Where The Wild Things Are' Clips

• Spike Jonze, Karen O, Blake Lively At The 'Where The Wild Things Are' Premiere

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell performs on Sunday
Photo: Gil Kaufman/ MTV News

CHICAGO — Perry Farrell left it to a couple of Lollapalooza veterans to close out day three of his annual party in the park. Of course, after two days of sets by everyone from Tool and Kings of Leon to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Asher Roth, one of those headliners was his own Jane's Addiction, who played the fest with their original lineup for the first time since they helped launch the touring juggernaut way back in 1991. The other topper, the Killers, have also been there before, serving the same honors back in 2005 at the first Chicago-based Lolla, and they brought an even bigger sound and vision this time around in a head-to-head with the reconstituted Jane's.

It's hard to beat the anticipation sowed by the doomy, slow build of Jane's titanic "Mountain Song," but Farrell, in typical fashion, brought things up a notch: As the band took the stage, a helicopter buzzed in circles overhead, scanning the crowd with a searchlight. What followed was a master class in the group's apocalyptic shaman rock, a hedonistic party that drew a smaller crowd than the uplifting glitter-rock anthems of the Killers at the other end of the park.

(Get caught up on the rest of Lollapalooza with MTV News' recaps of Friday and Saturday.)

It was a long journey to get to the Las Vegas band's rock-and-roll promised land. U.K. dance machines Friendly Fires had ripped open the triple-digit-degree day eight hours earlier with an ecstatic set of synth pop that got lunchtime feet moving at the Budweiser north stage thanks to high-energy singer Ed Macfarlane.

A seemingly mild-mannered chap in slightly too-tight trousers, Macfarlane came out grooving and never stopped — pogoing, spinning, shaking his head and punching the air during the bouncy New Order-at-a-rave opener "Lovesick." He was sweating through his shirt just minutes into the set of funk-edged dance music, as the noonday sun hit him full in the face. At one point, Macfarlane warned that he might pass out but punched through that danger to the double-drum-kit, Calypso-techno workout "Paris."

Wasilla, Alaska's Portugal. The Man (yeah, they know the former governor) brought things down a bit at the nearby PlayStation stage a short time later with a set of woozy '70s-inspired rock. Singer John Gourley — looking aggressively retro in dark slacks, old-man shoes, white button-down, Prince Valiant haircut and deer-head belt buckle — was the focal point of the band's mix of gospel-y, psychedelic freedom rock and folky reggae as a modest audience looked on, some in pleasant confusion.

Things were slow to get moving at Perry's dance area. Many of the moon-eyed club kids were seemingly raved-out from two days of nonstop raging, including a few glow-stick jugglers whose green twirlers dangled listlessly from the branches of the trees they'd climbed to escape the heat. Austin, Texas' Car Stereo (Wars) decided to give the hundreds crashed out in the shade a little motivation, inviting a dozen-plus scantily clad men and women onstage for his Girl Talk-esque mash-up dance party.

Things got out of hand pretty quickly for another dance act, Passion Pit, the Massachusetts indie-electronica band whose helium-vocal boogie tunes have become the soundtrack of hipster discos everywhere. "Sleepyhead" sounded as uplifting as ever and led to a steady stream of bikinied crowd surfers crashing over the security barrier. But you'd never have guessed from their vampire tans, retro eyeglasses and singer Michael Angelakos' frizzy 'fro that these guys had such smooth people-moving skills or that quirky songs like the bouncy "Let Your Love Grow Tall" would become audience sing-alongs.

One of the joys of Lollapalooza is juxtaposition, like when the soothing techno and harpsichord folk balladry of Bat for Lashes (a.k.a. Natasha Khan) gave way to the Stooges-inspired, rolling-around-in-glass punk blues of Kentucky's Cage the Elephant. Singer Matt Shultz jumped on, off and under the stage during the band's frenetic set. A perfect warm-up for the Killers, Los Angeles' the Airborne Toxic Event celebrated their Lollapalooza debut later in the day with arena-band-on-the-make anthem rock, including the radio-candy hit single "Sometime Around Midnight." Like the rest of his black-clad band, singer Mikel Jollett poured Killers-via-U2, big-idea attitude onto the main stage, serving notice that Event are a band to watch.

An act that's already (kind of) made it and is prepping some new material, Vampire Weekend took time out from their set to pay homage to the recently departed John Hughes. Singer Ezra Koenig dedicated "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" to the director early in another jaunt through the band's exuberant, Township Jive-style thinking-man's rock. They brought their upbeat faces to a polite crowd largely made up of people who seemed to be waiting for Snoop Dogg to take the stage a short time later.

	Vampire Weekend, Jane's Addiction, More At Lollapalooza 2009

Ah, Snoop. The D-O-double-G proved that he's hip-hop's Wooderson ("Dazed and Confused") — he gets older and his crowd stays the same age. Imagine a sea of thousands of bobbing heads rapping along to songs that came out when they were still in diapers and you'll understand why Snoop's popularity endures: Someone is always discovering him for the first time. Wearing a Lakers jersey and gripping a bedazzled microphone with his name on it, Snoop served up all the biggies — "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," "The Next Episode," "Gin and Juice" and "Drop It Like It's Hot."

Punk godfather Lou Reed also happens to be an O.G., but the legendary Velvet Underground leader tested a few nerves Sunday evening with an overlong set that was capped by a 20-plus-minute version of the lesser-known 2000 jazz skronk "Paranoia Key of E." Reed went well over his time with that meandering noise-blues rave-up, then tacked on an equally jammy version of the VU's "I'm Waiting for the Man" and finally, the long-awaited crowd-pleaser, "Walk on the Wild Side."

But by then, the sizable mass awaiting Seattle's Band of Horses had gotten ornery, with some shouting, "F--- Lou Reed" — as sure a sign as any that punk's generational torch was being passed. Though they took the stage more than 20 minutes late, BOH didn't disappoint, playing enthusiastic versions of their sensitive, tattooed Southern rock, including such grand, crunching laments as "The Great Salt Lake," "No One's Gonna Love You" and "The Funeral."

Then: Cue the helicopters, as Jane's came out swinging with "Mountain Song," which dove into the electric shock of "Ain't No Right" and then swooned through the psych-rock epic "Three Days." Punk-rock P.T. Barnum Farrell looked appropriately carnivalesque in a gold lamé flared-Elvis-pant tuxedo, accented by golden fingerless gloves and half a dozen swinging chains. With perennially shirtless guitarist Dave Navarro firing off picture-perfect renditions of his squealing metal solos on "Ocean Size," Farrell was left to work the crowd, pondering the virtues of loose women before gleefully playing "Whores." Long-estranged and recently rejoined original bassist Eric Avery brought a throbbing, bare-bones punk sound to classics like "Ted, Just Admit It...," and drummer Stephen Perkins aggressively played his signature chest-pulsing tribal drums despite a recent injury that Farrell said doctors advised needed more time to heal.

Farrell says that Lollapalooza lives and dies these days through a combination of the old and the new, and there was no better example on Sunday night than the massive throng gathered at the south end of the park to see the Killers. Kicking off the set with "Human," the Glitter City quartet set their sites way above Jane's beloved grimy alleys, moving the crowd with propulsive fist-pumping smashes like "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr. Brightside."

In the final moments of an exhausting weekend of punishing weather and musical overload, the giant words emblazoned on the back screen read "Hold On."

• The Lollapalooza 2009 Experience

• Vampire Weekend, Jane's Addiction, More At Lollapalooza 2009

• Jane's Addiction
• The Killers
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O performs at Lollapalooza 2009 on Saturday night
Photo: Rich Sancho/ MTV News

CHICAGO — First came the rain on Friday, then the heat on Saturday. But Lollapalooza breeds a hearty stock, so with slip 'n slides, togas and giant Chinese peasant hats in tow, out came the 70,000-plus for another day of music that was capped by fill-in headliners the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and doomy metal icons Tool.

Taking the place of the Beastie Boys, who had to drop out several weeks ago due to MC Adam Yauch's bout with cancer of the salivary gland, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought their always-colorful A-game, led, as usual, by fashion-forward singer Karen O, who took the stage in a kaleidoscopic, towering bird costume. Down on the south end, things couldn't have looked and sounded any more different, as Tool singer Maynard James Keenan stripped down to a pair of black workout shorts and moaned the lyrics to his band's turgid D&D metal as giant H.R. Giger-like images of giant bugs and morphing aliens were projected on the big screens.

Saturday dawned hot and steamy, with a chance of furnace blasts, as Friday's buckets of rain turned some parts of Grant Park into a fetid field of chocolate-colored slop that smelled like the elephant house at the zoo. English trio Band of Skulls had the honors of kicking off day two with a raucous set of dirty blues that included the stomper, "Death by Diamonds and Pearls." Also working early was nasal folkie Ezra Furman and his band, the Harpoons, who charmed with the quirky plea for personal space, "I Wanna Be Ignored," a sentiment lost on some of the golden-knee-high-gladiator-sandal-feather-mask-and-giant-sombrero-wearing masses.

It was hard to ignore the big crowd for the relatively unknown Thenewno2. The band is led by Dhani Harrison, who told us a bit later that his dad, late Beatle George Harrison, forbade him to attend Lollapalooza as a youth, and said he could go when he performed at it. Well, Harrison finally arrived, and his five piece band played a mind-expanding set of raga rock that swooped and swayed in psychedelic washes, mixing shoegazer noise with more contemporary glitch rock, and, of course, Harrison's eerily familiar voice.

The debut album by Miike Snow — which features the Swedish production duo known as Bloodshy & Avant (Britney Spears, Madonna) and American singer Andrew Wyatt — is full of catchy falsetto synth pop. But onstage, with the group wearing totally weather-inappropriate black satin jackets and black jeans, songs like "Silvia" and "Plastic Jungle" came off like throbbing techno rock brain teasers, ebbing and flowing with a hypnotic thrum.

Stomping around the stage like a petulant little girl, Norwegian rocker Ida Maria regaled the crowd with her many songs about drinking and its less appetizing aftermath ("Morning Light," "Louie"), bounding around in a shiny gold dress with what appeared to be a lengthy poem scrawled on one of her forearms. Minneapolis hip-hop crew Atmosphere drew a huge crowd on the south stage midday, with thousands of hands pumping in the air for "Puppets," and lots of knowing nods when lead rapper Slug threw in a lyrical reference to the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" in honor of the missing legendary crew.

In their Lollapalooza debut, England's Arctic Monkeys thrashed out of the gate with the trippy "This House Is a Circus" and pub-fueled bounce of "Fluorescent Adolescent," letting up a bit as they moved through a few too-slow songs before hitting their clattering stride again on the breakthrough hit, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor."

	Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santigold, More At Lollapalooza 2009

Seemingly recovered from previous vocal problems, Santigold looked regal in an animal-print jumper and bejeweled crown as she reworked "You'll Find a Way," "Shove It" and "Say Aha," with dub and mashed-up live beats in front of an audience packed with girls wearing animal feathers in their hair and glittery golden eye shadow.

They were also decked out for Sweden's answer to Lady Gaga, Lykke Li, whose entire body pulsed like a pint-size percussion instrument. Moving in frenzied blur as if possessed by the rhythm, Li smashed a tambourine, struck a crash cymbal and honked on a kazoo during "Dance, Dance, Dance," and thrummed on her chest during the slinky "Little Bit."

The thrum was mind-zapping when sonic amoeba Animal Collective abandoned the more poppy song structures of their most recent album, Merriweather Post Pavilion and moved a blissed-out crowd with a set of loose, trancy falsetto incantations, trippy visuals and dense, throbbing bass and synthesized clicks. Singer Avey Tare often looked as if he himself was lost himself in the sonic brainwash.

The day also featured the melodic hardcore rantings of Chicago's own Rise Against, the hippie friendly jamming of Gomez, Coheed and Cambria's ear-shredding prog metal arias and some rocking blues from Ben Harper and the Relentless7.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs didn't shy away from the unenviable task of filling in for the Beastie Boys. Guitarist Nick Zinner tossed in a few bars of the B Boys' "So Watcha Want" at the end of the grinding, Led Zeppelin-like dirge "Phenomena." Dressed, as usual, in a colorful ensemble, singer Karen O danced like an indie disco queen during "Gold Lion" and the spiky "Honeybear," ably working the big stage with her larger-than-life persona and eliciting some knowing nods from likely newbies with the burbling intro to the band's recent hit, "Zero."

A quick 9 p.m. stroll past Perry's dance area, where, as was the case all day, thousands were jumping and twirling to the sounds of party music emerging from what looked like a giant flashing spaceship, yielded an earful of some seriously tweaked dancehall reggae moving into hardcore hippie techno. On the other main stage, though, there were no such glow-stick-twirling vibes, as Tool helped close out the night with a grinding, visual overload set of prog/industrial metal that brought out the faithful, many proudly wearing their weathered black Tool shirts.

"Stinkfist" got the majority of the dirty and exhausted crowd to wake up, and "Forty Six & 2" built slowly to an anthemic chorus that had the masses raising their voices along with Mohawked Keenan's unmistakable growl. Guitarist Adam Jones' work shredded faces, and appropriately enough, the video playing behind the band was a digital face being destroyed, just one of the band's signature disturbing visuals, which ranged from babies being born inside brains to quite a bit more things piercing eyeballs than would seem totally necessary.

They swayed and jumped, predictably going ballistic by the time "Schism" came on, with drummer Danny Carey tearing up his kit on the bridge to the final build. Ending with the bleak, ominous "Vicarious," Tool left without an encore, which seemed fine for the spent masses shuffling off into the humid night air.

• The Lollapalooza 2009 Experience

• Vampire Weekend, Jane's Addiction, More At Lollapalooza 2009

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Tool
• Animal Collective
• Santigold

The Killers' Brandon Flowers performs at Coachella on Saturday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

INDIO, California — In a recession year, it was only fitting that Coachella would come to an end with a power outage.

And perhaps even more fitting that the Cure continued on for two more songs — with no speakers or lights, just the help of thousands of backup singers (a.k.a. the audience).

Yes, this will be remembered as the year Coachella soldiered on. As the pocket guide put it, "On this 10th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, take comfort in knowing that for at least 72 hours, we can put aside the woes of the world to revel in it. After all, there's a Beatle here."

There were 129 acts at this year's Coachella — a drop from the planned 131, after Glasvegas and the Clipse canceled at the last minute — but the one that mattered most was the 66-year-old music icon who lived and let die and let it be for a two-and-a-half-hour set that will go down in festival history.

(Check out photos from the Coachella festival here.)

Paul McCartney's show featured a dozen or so Beatles favorites, especially the encores (yes, there were many), along with songs from Wings, his solo material (the recent ukulele jam "Dance Tonight" was a highlight), dedications of fallen Beatles and even tracks from his side project, the Fireman.

Yes, Paul McCartney has a side project — maybe he even has a Twitter account too.

Speaking of micro-blogging artists ... Michael Franti closed his set on Saturday by telling the audience, "See you on Twitter."

It's a new world where bands are updating their fans on their every move, so the ability to make a connection through music has never been more important. McCartney and the Cure did that with ease, as did dozens of others, from the angelic-voiced Jenny Lewis to My Bloody Valentine, who connected via blistering guitar feedback.

And then there were some who struggled. M.I.A., in her first post-childbirth gig, phoned in a seven-song set full of annoying banter, an even more annoying horn sound every few seconds, and a big mess of music not unlike an earlier set from N.A.S.A.

	M.I.A., Killers, More At Coachella 2009

Girl Talk drew one of the dance tent's largest crowds, and as hard as he tried to entertain them with props and dancing on the table, all he really did was push "play" on a laptop.

Zane Lowe has a similar mash-up style and a lesser name, but the live elements (a few machines and scratching) in his show made a huge difference. And then along came DJ AM and Travis Barker, who took it to a whole 'nother level, with one of the most intense, awesome sets of the festival. Again, it was about soldiering on.

On Friday, keeping up with the lineup felt more like navigating a zoo, between Noah and the Whale, Dear and the Headlights, the Bug and Cage the Elephant. The latter band play hip-hop-infused blues rock (Kid Rock meets the White Stripes) and made their mark thanks to frontman Matt Shultz, a rock star-in-the-making.

The Ting Tings' set felt a bit slow, but they were still super fun to dance and sing along to. It was much of the same for Franz Ferdinand, thanks to their collection of party-starters, and Morrissey kept the party vibe in his following slot (as much as Morrissey parties, anyway).

Saturday was more serious, with challenging bands like TV on the Radio and Thievery Corporation (who brought out honorary Coachella mayor Perry Farrell for a song) rocking the Main Stage. Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses did the high-pitched-voice thing back-to-back on the Outdoor Theater.

The Killers wisely opened their headlining set with hits "Human" and "Somebody Told Me," reeling in fans before they could make an early run for the parking lot. It's not easy when Paul McCartney headlined the night before, but Brandon Flowers commands a stage no matter who he's competing with.

On Sunday, while the Cure worked through their catalog, Public Enemy saluted their 21-year-old landmark album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by playing it from beginning to end. Chuck D's "how low can you go" voice is still as powerful as ever, and it felt good to see Flava Flav on a stage instead of a reality show.

On the Main Stage, Peter Bjorn and John showed they are continuing to improve as a live band, especially on their latest singles, "Lay It Down" and "Nothing to Worry About," both candidates for Coachella anthems of the year.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs know a thing or two about anthems and they proved a perfect soundtrack to the beautiful Sunday sunset.

Audrina Patridge from "The Hills" was among those spotted dancing to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Paris and Nikki Hilton hung out during M.I.A.'s performance, and Zac Efron took pictures with fans while waiting for My Bloody Valentine. Emile Hirsch, Tara Reid, Dita Von Teese and Chloë Sevigny were also in attendance.

Outside of the Empire Polo Fields, Kanye West attended the ultra-exclusive Frank Sinatra house party, and Jared Leto was seen dancing onstage at the Music Loves Fashion event at Hotel Riviera. Kid Cudi performed at the URB Magazine pool party, while Doug E. Fresh got on the mic at Viceroy Hotel party.

• M.I.A., The Killers, Lupe Fiasco, More At Coachella 2009

• The Killers
• Public Enemy
• Travis Barker
• DJ AM
• Girl Talk

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Late last month, the Interwebs went berserk when the trailer for Spike Jonze's much-discussed "Where the Wild Things Are" premiered on Apple's Movie Trailer site.

For some, it offered assurance that — despite some rather frightening advance press — the film would remain true to author Maurice Sendak's whimsical-yet-dark tone. To others, the re-recorded version of the Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" provided a sneak peek into the indie-riffic score, which was rumored to have been crafted by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox.

It was confirmed in the trailer that O and musician Carter Burwell would be tackling the "Wild Things" score ... but the YYY mouthpiece has kept mum about just what that score would sound like, and her involvement with the film — until Tuesday, that is.

In London to promote the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' new album, It's Blitz, she was asked by MTV U.K. about the trailer, just how she came to be involved in the project, and the music she created for the "Wild Things" film.

"I guess I got involved because of Spike, because I guess there is a childlike innocence about my music or my persona or whatever that he always just kind of dialed into," O said. "So I guess he thought I should make music for 'Where the Wild Things Are,' and [so] I kind of assembled a group of mostly rock musicians to make the music, including [YYY's guitarist/keyboardist] Nick [Zinner] and [YYYs drummer] Brian [Chase] to play on it. It was a really amazing experience."

And just what will the "Wild Things" score sound like? Well, she wasn't about to divulge all her secrets. But she has seen the film, and she thinks long-suffering fans are going to love what Jonze has done with it — so long as they're prepared for the impossible.

"What Spike has accomplished with the film is basically the impossible. There's a lot of stuff that they told me he couldn't do that he did anyway," she said. "It was a really inspiring and exciting thing to be a part of."

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Coldplay's Chris Martin
Photo: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

The All Points West Music & Arts Festival will return for a second year with a lineup that includes the Beastie Boys, Coldplay and Tool as headliners. The festival, held at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, will take place July 31 to August 2, with tickets on sale Friday.

Put on by Goldenvoice, the same promoters behind next month's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, APW will again present a heady mix of alt-rock and rap superstars, new-wave legends, rock, current indie and comedy in the 80-acre Jersey park that's just across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan with a clear view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the New York skyline. Promoters said they are also transforming the Queen of the Valley stage into a Coachella-like tent to showcase DJs, electronic acts and comedy this year and are improving the site to be more accessible and comfortable for attendees.

And like Coachella, Stagecoach, Bonnaroo and Rothbury, APW will offer cash-strapped fans the option of buying three-day passes on a layaway plan.

Among the other acts on the bill are Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Neko Case, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, Echo & the Bunnymen, My Bloody Valentine, MSTRKRFT and Fleet Foxes.

APW will take place one weekend before this year's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, August 7-9, and the fests will reportedly share the Beastie Boys as a headliner (the Beasties are also scheduled to play Bonnaroo in June). Lollapalooza is expected to announce its lineup in several weeks.

The full lineup for APW:

Friday, July 31: Beastie Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, the National, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Q-Tip, the Pharcyde, Organized Konfusion, the Knux, Ra Ra Riot, Seasick Steve, Telepathe, Shearwater, Heartless Bastards, Flying Lotus, College Humor Live, Arj Barker, Eugene Mirman and Bo Burnham.

Saturday, August 1: Tool, My Bloody Valentine, Gogol Bordello, Arctic Monkeys, Neko Case, the Ting Tings, Yelle, Crystal Castles, St. Vincent, Tokyo Police Club, the Cool Kids, Kool Keith, Cage the Elephant, Chairlift, White Rabbits, Electric Touch, the Postelles, Black Gold, College Humor Live, Tim & Eric, Judah Friedlander and Jim Jeffries.

Sunday, August 2: Coldplay, Echo & the Bunnymen, MGMT, the Black Keys, Elbow, Silversun Pickups, Mogwai, We Are Scientists, Ghostland Observatory, the Gaslight Anthem, Etienne De Crecy, Lykke Li, Akron/Family, Steel Train, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, College Humor Live, Janeane Garofalo, Michael Showalter and Todd Barry.

• Coldplay
• Beastie Boys
• Tool
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• The Ting Tings

Deerhunter's Bradford Cox
Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

If there is a busier guy in the indie-rock fraternity (and it does at times feel like a fraternity, complete with hazing) than Bradford Cox, I'd like to know who it is. The Deerhunter frontman — whose band made a stunning, droning, blood-smeared, dress-wearing splash last year with the acclaimed Cryptograms album, Fluorescent Grey EP and explosive live shows — has begun '08 on a slightly more relaxed but just as busy note.

We caught up with Cox during the second week of a tour to support Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, the debut of Atlas Sound — a solo project that finds him in a dreamy, discordant, more electronic and less noisy place than Deerhunter. To go along with the new album, there is also something of a new Bradford. Having just recently kicked a dependence on the anti-anxiety medication Ativan, Cox seems more at ease both on- and offstage.

"My spirits are much better," he said. "One thing about Deerhunter is that it takes a lot out of you to perform that way. With Atlas Sound it's different, it's more relaxed. My goal on this tour was to maintain my sanity."

But as the year goes, his schedule only gets more insane. Atlas Sound will be on the road in America through mid-March, then will head to Europe to open for Animal Collective and play festival dates. In between, Bradford has penciled in a late-March trip to Morocco to spend a fortnight working on music with pals Ed Droste from Grizzly Bear and Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett.

"Ed's rented this villa where we would record," Cox explained. "We want to make, like, a pop album. We haven't come up with [a name for the project] yet. Ed just wants to call it 'Morocco,' but I think we ought to come up with some name. It should be a lot of fun. I feel like I might have to get some [immunization] shots though. I'm real sensitive to, like, unusual foreign places."

Closer to home, Cox also hopes to resume working on Ghetto Cross, his collaboration with fellow Atlantan Cole Alexander from the Black Lips. "I hope kids like it. Cole and I used to be the best of friends, and as both of our bands have been traveling more, we've kind of drifted apart. So as soon as I get off tour I am gonna call Cole up and say, 'Get your butt over here, we're gonna record some songs!' "

There is also the matter of a soundtrack he's reportedly been working on with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, which is reportedly for the film adaptation of director Spike Jonze's interpretation of "Where the Wild Things Are" (the uncertain status of that film has been the subject of much recent speculation in the movie world). Cox wouldn't comment on the project except to say that "Karen is a wonderful composer and she's just created some beautiful music."

Of course, there is also Bradford's main gig.

Plans call for Deerhunter to begin work on a new album this summer at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room studio, with an eye toward a Halloween release. While on their current hiatus, the members have been working on new music, and though it's still early, Cox said fans may be in for a surprise. "I think we're on a new page here with Deerhunter," he said. "We've all been listening to pop music, and I don't think any of us are quite as interested [as before] in ambient music right now. All the songs we've written, there's no weird effects, it's all just guitars plugged into amps, so it's very much like a '60s pop record or something. I'm really looking forward to it." He laughed. "I don't know how the [Deerhunter] audience will react to it, we might alienate a good portion of them."

Finally, there is the copious "unofficial" music Cox works on during downtime (although it's hard to imagine him having any), holed away hermit-like in his Atlanta bedroom. He creates several songs a day, both covers and new tracks, often unrefined and compiled into self-styled EPs posted on his well-trafficked blog. There, he also raves, rants, reminisces and even reaches out and offers "healing music" to kids with serious illnesses. Other artists may release more polished tracks online, but Bradford says that in terms of sheer volume, they can't touch his output.

He is so prolific, he said, partly because music is his life, that it "occupies the same part of my brain" that a romantic relationship would, and also because he hopes to inspire other kids to take advantage of technology and create bedroom music of their own. But there may be another, darker reason: a sense of his own mortality.

"I made the Atlas Sound record last summer when I was going through some stuff related to my physical condition, and I had this impression that I didn't have very much more time left." The condition Cox refers to is Marfan syndrome — a connective-tissue disorder that has plagued him since childhood, and which can have serious cardiovascular complications that worsen with age. The 26-year-old says he "doesn't really monitor" his health as much as he should, "so I really have no idea what's going on. But that's why I don't really care about anything but making as much music as I can — to be remembered by."

He's already accomplished that, but contrary to what some other indie types have suggested, Cox scoffs at the notion that he's "made it." "A lot of young bands, like 16- or 17-year-olds starting up bands, say, 'Hey man, all we need is a good Pitchfork review and we'll be set.' Well, we had the good Pitchfork review [three, actually: Cox's batting average on the much-ballyhooed site is currently 8.76] and I still make less money than I did putting vinyl on signs. It's hard, hard, hard work."

Still, he's not complaining. "It's been a fun, fun year. For the most part ..."

• Raising Hell In The ATL

• Deerhunter
• Atlas Sound
• Grizzly Bear
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

John Mayer
Photo: Mat Szwajkos/ Getty Images

In addition to adding the two most-nominated artists of the year to the performing roster for Sunday's Grammys — Kanye West and, via satellite, Amy Winehouse — the show will also feature live sets from John Mayer and gospel great BeBe Winans. Added as presenters are Usher, Will.I.Am, Dierks Bentley, Cuba Gooding Jr., Carole King and Roselyn Sanchez. ...

Common has come up with a title for his new LP: The Believer. The Chicago legend told MTV News he hopes it will be out by November. ... Timbaland has signed a deal to release a straight-to-mobile-phone album, one track at a time over the next year. The unusual scheme hatched with Verizon Wireless, which will give its V Cast subscribers an exclusive chance to access the songs each month, according to Billboard Biz. Tim, who is up for five Grammys, will work with a different artist on each track while touring the country on the Verizon Mobile Recording Studio Bus, which will spin off making-of footage for V Cast subscribers on a dedicated Timbaland channel. Each mobile track will be released just days after it is produced in full-length download, ringtone and ringback version, and will only be available through V Cast and Verizon for $1.99. At the end of the year, a compilation album will be released through Verizon. ...

Pitbull and Baby Bash likely ran into each other at last year's Wango Tango music festival in Southern California — they both performed there — and now the two are joining forces for MTV Trés' Sucker Free Latino spring tour. The two headliners will hit 13 cities starting March 15 in Orlando, Florida, and ending April 4 in San Diego. ... Family, friends and close music-industry associates of the late Big Pun gathered in a private ceremony Thursday night at New York's Studio 450 to honor the eight-year anniversary of the Latino rapper's untimely death. Donations were made both to Pun's family and his foundation, the Christopher Rios Memorial. An attendee told MTV News that the rapper's daughter, Vanessa, paid tribute to her father with a rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." ...

Teddy Geiger is still busy working on the follow-up to 2006's Underage Thinking — as well as his role in the upcoming flick "The Rocker" — but in the meantime the 19-year-old troubadour has launched a cell phone contest with Mozes. During the month of February, fans can leave messages for Geiger on Mozes.com, after which he'll pick one of the fans to chat with. ... Flyleaf and Seether will team up this spring for an eight-week U.S. tour that kicks off April 8 in Denver and runs through May 31 at a yet-to-be-announced city. A partial list of dates can be found at either band's Web site. ... Thrice have a busy May ahead — the SoCal rockers have a show booked for almost every night that month. The band will actually set out on tour the month before that, beginning April 16 in San Diego, and will bring it to a close May 29 in Hollywood. ...

Members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Saturday Night Live" castmembers Andy Samberg and Seth Meyers, and others turned up at New York's Webster Hall on Monday night for a party thrown by Chloë Sevigny. The actress invited legendary punks the Slits to play at the event, which celebrated Sevigny's new clothing line. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City — whose Businessmen and Ghosts album was a finalist for this year's Shortlist Music Prize — are hoping to capitalize on the success with a brief run. The Brits will hit the road February 29 in San Francisco and continue playing gigs through Austin, Texas' South by Southwest fest in mid-March. ... Still hooked on Phish? Fans can gobble up a bunch of rare items donated by the now-defunct jam heroes for an online charity auction being put on by the mother of the band's drummer, Jon Fishman. Posters signed by Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, as well as rare Phish shirts and additional items from Oysterhead, Moe. and the String Cheese Incident. Proceeds from the auction, which ends February 21, will go to the Mimi Fishman Foundation, which raises funds for various charities. ...

Now that his Rolling Stones movie, "Shine a Light," is about to hit the big screen, legendary director Martin Scorsese is set to begin work on a yet-untitled documentary about reggae icon Bob Marley. Variety reports that the movie will be authorized by Marley's family and will be released in February 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday. ... Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are creating a live-performance attraction based on "American Idol" at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida. The yet-unnamed attraction, which should open this year, will allow budding singers to "audition" on an "Idol"-like set in front of an audience of 1,000, with a daily winner getting a pass to the show's regional auditions. Visitors will be able to pick their song beforehand, rehearse in a sound booth and, if they pass the audition, work with a vocal coach before performing in front of the live audience and a panel of judges during one of the seven daily shows. ...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain might have a lot of independent-minded supporters, but heartland rocker John Mellencamp ain't one of 'em. The Arizona senator and Republican front-runner stopped playing the unabashedly liberal Indiana singer/songwriter's "Our Country" at his campaign events after Mellencamp's publicist sent a letter questioning the logic of using the tune, according to The Associated Press. "Are you sure you want to use his music to promote Senator McCain's efforts?" read a letter sent to the candidate's campaign on Monday. "Logic says that the facts might prove to be an embarrassment, were they to be circulated widely." The McCain camp said Thursday that the song, and a few others by Mellencamp, would no longer be played at events. Mellencamp publicist Bob Merlis told AP that the situation made Mellencamp uncomfortable and that he couldn't imagine McCain would want to be associated with him. "You know, here's a guy running around saying, 'I'm a true conservative,' " Merlis said. "Well, if you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?" ...

Billy Joel will be the last artist to play New York's Shea Stadium before it's torn down. The piano man will perform at "The Last Play at Shea, From the Beatles to Billy" on July 16, during the New York Mets' final season before moving to Citi Field in 2009. The show will make Joel the only artist to have played both Yankee and Shea Stadiums.

2.7.08

Lindsay Lohan just spoke publicly for the first time since leaving rehab in early October — she gave an interview to the U.K. edition of Glamour for its new cover story — but the starlet has more to say. She told Harper's Bazaar for its own LiLo cover story that she'd like to have a low-key relationship, that she's trying to smoke cigarettes less often and that she's "always been a homebody." She also spilled who she would like to make music with next — "I'd love to work with Timbaland. I'd love to work with Kanye West, 50 Cent if I could" — and admitted, "When I look back on this last year, it's like, what was I thinking?" Harper's Bazaar's March issue, in which the story appears, hits stands February 19. ...

Christina Aguilera just made her first public appearance this week since giving birth in January, and now comes news that the singer is already digging into her next album. "This whole incredible thing has taken place in my life," the new mom recently told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show, so there's "so much in me to write about. The next record, I want to have a lot of fun with it. [I've been] brainstorming for the last nine months. This next album will have a whole new me, a different me, so it's a lot to look forward to." She also spoke about her son, Max Liron Bratman — "he's constantly changing, and doing these incredibly cute things and stinky things" — and even touched on Paris Hilton spilling the beans about Aguilera's pregnancy during VMA weekend last year. "It was funny," Aguilera said, taking the high road. "We all looked at each and laughed it off. She did it in a sweet way. It wasn't a tattle-on-me sort of thing." ...

Britney Spears' father, Jamie, had previously been granted temporary conservatorship powers over the singer for a week, during which time it was expected when the powers were granted that she would be in the hospital. Now that she's out, some legal questions were raised in court Thursday (February 7) when Spears' co-conservator, Andrew Wallet, and the attorneys for the conservatorship appeared for an emergency ex parte hearing. Since the hearing was closed and the court documents were sealed, according to a court clerk, no one could say what happened in the hearing. But Adam Streisand, who tried to represent the singer at a previous hearing, only to be ejected from the court, was definitely not present on the singer's behalf, since prior to the hearing, his firm released a statement that he "has decided he will not represent her at this time." Streisand met with Britney Spears on Wednesday "to discuss her legal rights in connection with the conservatorship over her person and estate," but following the meeting, he learned that there was a court order preventing the singer from retaining counsel of her own choosing. ... Despite all Britney Spears' troubles, she still has Danjahandz on her side. The producer recently told MTV News that he'd like to hook up with the singer in the future. "I would work with her again. Hopefully she'll get better," he said, admitting that he hadn't heard of her recent hospitalization. "I definitely have ideas [of] what I would do with her." ...

As had been previously rumored, when Beyoncé takes the stage at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, she'll be joined by none other than reclusive rock legend Tina Turner, the Recording Academy has announced. Other additions to the show's lineup included Kid Rock, who will perform, as well as presenters Akon, Nelly Furtado, Prince, Jason Bateman, Tony Bennett, Cher, Tom Hanks, Quincy Jones, Joe Mantegna, Ringo Starr, Dave Stewart and Stevie Wonder. ...

Can't remember the last time you bought a CD single? Well, here's a reason to consider picking one up: Ashlee Simpson will meet fans and sign copies of her new "Outta My Head" single February 14 at a Walmart in Dallas. ... Sevendust have a friend in ... Chris Daughtry? Yup, it's true: The Daughtry frontman recently teamed with the hard-rockers to chip in a guest vocal for the band's new song "The Past." The track will be included on Sevendust's April 1 LP, Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow, which will also feature contributions from Alter Bridge's Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy. ... This year's South by Southwest festival just got a little more hip-hop-friendly. Ice Cube and N.E.R.D. have hopped onto the sprawling roster for the Austin, Texas, shindig, which will go down March 12-16. ... The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund — a group that helps career musicians in need — is putting up for auction an original Clash T-shirt printed by bassist Paul Simonon. The item will be up for bidding on eBay for 10 days starting Saturday. As MTV News reported late last year, Simonon originally gave the shirt to punk poet Patti Smith 30 years ago, and after she passed it to her drummer, Jay Dee Daughtery, he in turn donated it to Sweet Relief — but the group was not able to raffle the tee because of sweepstakes laws. ...

Don't believe those stories about how infighting and personal disputes are the reason the Spice Girls have canceled most of the remaining dates of their reunion tour. Trying to combat the rumors, the Girls posted a one-minute apology video to fans on their Web site on Wednesday, reiterating that the decision to cancel shows in China, South Africa, Australia and Argentina was due to "family and personal commitments." In the video, Mel C explains: "There has been a lot of rubbish in the media over the last few days, so we wanted you to hear it from the horse's mouth. We're very sorry not to be able to get to all the places we really, really wanted to get to." Several members say that the tour went a month longer than they had actually intended when they first announced the reunion last year. Victoria Beckham adds, "Our kids need to go back to school, and we always said our families are our priorities. So we want to thank all our fans. Sorry we haven't got to see everybody." The singers then get into a mock fight before Mel B screams, "We hate each other? Are you kidding? We love each other!" ...

A star-studded gala organized by Madonna at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday night to benefit sick and poor children around the world raised $3.7 million. Hosted by Chris Rock, the $2,500-to-$10,000-a-plate dinner and live auction attracted guests Drew Barrymore, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Dita Von Teese, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Amy Adams, Brooke Shields and Salma Hayek. But, according to The Associated Press, the event also made some officials, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, a bit uncomfortable with its mix of charity and commercial promotion. The event was paid for by luxury-goods maker Gucci, which used the occasion to promote the opening of its flagship store in New York's Manhattan borough on Friday and put its logo along with UNICEF's behind the walkway on the red carpet. Rihanna, Timbaland and Alicia Keys performed at the event. The night's most expensive auction item was a $600,000 bid to tour with Madonna and take a dance class with her and Gwyneth Paltrow. ...

Eva Mendes left rehab briefly on Thursday. "Eva is attending to some personal business in Los Angeles and intends to return to complete her treatment shortly," a representative for the actress who was not named told TMZ.com. ... Having conquered the reality-TV world, Public Enemy court jester Flavor Flav has signed on to try his hand at scripted comedy. The sometime rapper will star in a new half-hour comedy series on MyNetworkTV called "Under One Roof," which creators call a classic "fish-out-of-water" story. In the show, for which 13 episodes have been ordered, Flav will play Calvester Hill, a former convict who moves in with his wealthy, conservative brother and, predictably, wreaks havoc by parading his old prison cronies through the house, teaching his nephew to be a gangsta rapper and butting heads with Walter's uptight wife, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series is slated to launch in the spring.

• 2008 Grammy Awards Performers And Presenters
• 2008 Grammy Award Nominees: Akon, Fergie, T.I., More
• Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, More At The In Style And Grammy Salute To Fashion

• John Mayer
• Timbaland
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The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O
Photo: MTV News

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs had two very clear goals in mind when releasing their Is Is EP: Cut down on the sheen and pump up the sexy.

"We had these [old] songs lying around that we loved and [they] seemed to belong together, so we always wanted to put them out as their own release," frontwoman Karen O told MTV News backstage at the Virgin Festival in Baltimore. "And it just felt good to follow the second record with this really raw EP that beckons to our earlier music with a sexuality that sort of trumps all of our previous music. Taking some of the stuff we learned on Show Your Bones, we were able to up the ante. It seemed like we were able to articulate the music in a more mature way, but also let it be as raw as we are."."

(See the Yeah Yeah Yeahs shed light on their infamous in-the-dark shows, new EP and more.)

Culled from a handful of songs the band worked on while touring in support of 2003's Fever to Tell, the new EP strikes a perfect balance between that album's sweat-and-vomit-drenched rock and last year's more-polished Bones, with an added emphasis on heavy-breathing horndoggery.

The first single, "Down Boy," slithers along on a come-hither synth line and O's breathy delivery, "Kiss Kiss" is a chugging fist-pumper, and "Rockers to Swallow" is all slash-'n-trash guitar abuse. It's pretty excellent, especially when you consider that the band had left most of these songs for dead.

"The songs go back three years or so," guitarist Nick Zinner said. "Some of them we only played once or twice live and then put them to sleep. But this time we woke them up and put some new clothes on them — some hot new clothes — and sent them out into the world."

And since it's more backward-looking than forward-leaning, Is Is is already being heralded by many of the YYY's fans as a welcome move away from the shinier territory they mined on Bones (see "Are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Anxious About Bones? No No No",) which was received with less-than-stellar sales and some fairly middling reviews.

"There were definitely songs [on Bones] we hoped would hit harder or reach more people, but that's the way it goes," Zinner said. "I think for us it was, musically, a really bold and adventurous and difficult step in every way, and sometimes when you just totally switch things up, it confuses people. But this EP isn't a reaction to that."

"We went through a dark tunnel and came out the other side," O added. "You don't want to complain about being in a rock and roll band, because no one will sympathize with you. But we went through the harder times and came out stronger from it. [The EP] felt like a good thing to throw out there because ... the morale in the band was so strong after getting through the second record, so this was almost like a treat for us."

So while some YYY fans might consider Is Is a step backward (in the best possible way, of course), the band just see it as the next logical step in their ongoing musical journey, a much-needed cleaning out of their closets. And, of course, being the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you're never quite sure what you're going to find in there.

"We filmed two shows of us playing the EP [at Brooklyn's Glasslands Gallery] in complete darkness," O explained. "It just seemed appropriate for the music, to kind of strip away the self-consciousness of anyone in the club by making it dark. And also, to make it anonymous, we made everyone wear masks.

"We were hoping people would be having sex in the corner of the room," she continued. "And maybe people were, because I couldn't see anything."

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• Yeah Yeah Yeahs Talk About The Meaning Of Is Is

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Interpol's Paul Banks performs on Saturday at Lollapalooza
Photo: Jeff Gentner/Getty Images

CHICAGO — Perry Farrell's good luck ran out on Saturday (August 4) when the predicted rain finally fell from the sky to the tune of Karen O's manic wails. But the downpour surely didn't dampen the spirits of the Lollapalooza crowd, which grew significantly on this, the festival's second day.

(Get your Lollapalooza fill: Watch the Roots' ?uestlove, Perry Farrell, Cold War Kids, Stephen Marley and more chill in the shade with Tim Kash and see snaps of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daft Punk, M.I.A., the Rapture and more.)

Instead of bringing down the mood, the rain kind of cooled things off and made for a nice, humid vibe during Interpol's closing set, as lights were hit with rain, sending steam into the air. Taking the stage like a gang of new-wave Black Barts, Interpol closed out day two of Lollapalooza with style, a boatload of low-end and the velvet-rope-jumping swagger they've become famous for. The thudding bass of dressed-in-black Carlos D. and the molar-rattling kick-drum of Sam Fogarino set the crowd dancing (and doing other things) during the see-sawing "Slow Hands, " as the somber group kicked off a 70-plus-minute set that alternated between propulsive rockers and moody meditations.

It was hard to gauge just what inscrutable singer Paul Banks — also, of course, dressed in black pants, black shirt and sporting a black wristband — was thinking, since his blond mop of hair was hanging in his face for much of the set and he didn't speak except for a perfunctory hello to the rain-soaked crowd.

All the fans needed to hear was the group's string of midset narcotic lullabies building up to the stadium-size anthem "Evil, " which has "instant classic" written all over it. From the Pixies-like walking bass intro to the rat-a-tat drums, Banks' just-behind-the-beat singing and the slashing/watery guitar line from Daniel Kessler, the tune lived up to the band's rock and roll desperado look. And when Carlos D. held up his bass to play his part as if it were a giant Roman Candle, it almost made you wish some sparks would fly out of it.

The rain let up just in time for Muse's closing set, which was a visual stunner: 10-foot panels of pulsating lights, with blinding strobes, and gigantic screens, projecting strange sci-fi (think "Tron") and politically tinged imagery. Opening with "Take a Bow," a powerful commentary on both President Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to enter Iraq, Muse reinvigorated the soggy crowd. The band couldn't have been more on — every note was executed masterfully, making this the perfect ending to a day full of high points.

Next came "Hysteria, " followed by "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes." Frontman Matthew Bellamy's haunting vocals put an interesting spin on the band's only cover of the night, Nina Simone's "Feeling Good. " The anthemic performance continued with "Apocalypse Please," "Invincible," "Starlight" and "Time Is Running Out," all of which had the audience mesmerized — these guys put on a huge rock show, which ended with the triumphant "Knights of Cydonia." Muse set the bar pretty high and will be a tough act to best on Sunday.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs certainly brought the power as well. As we've learned from musical history, rock stars are born, not made. And whatever DNA contributed to the makeup of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O must have been one wicked batch. The dynamo lead singer of the indie champs stole the show Saturday with a fashion-forward set that had more costume changes than a Cher extravaganza and some rebel yells that threatened to rattle the windows of the skyscrapers on the Chicago skyline.

Strutting onto the stage in a giant silver cape with black Charlie Brown-style wavy stripes and silver tassels hanging off the neck, O took center stage and eyed the audience before dropping the cape to reveal an all-black leather outfit — bustier, shorts, fingerless gloves, some kind of skirt — accented by silver high-tops and black criss-cross leggings. As the band ripped into the monster-stomping "Sealings, " with O yelling, "Shoot, shoot out your mouth, " she exuded rock-star cool from the first moment, owning the audience.

The punk blues of "Honeybear" lurched around like a drunken, well, Lollapalooza fan, speeding up, slowing down and dropping into grinding dirges as the rain began to fall. O messed with her stage getup throughout the set, putting on a feathered mask with silver tassels, draping her face in a silver shawl, ripping her gloves off with her teeth and smearing her red lipstick around so it looked like she'd been punched in the mouth.

The day started off way more mellow, but no less ominous, with a disco-dance-of-death set from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, whose singer, Alec Ounsworth, sounded less like former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne — whom he is often compared to — and more like a helium-voice preacher. The jangly sounds of "Yankee Go Home" (with the unforgettable refrain "Yankee go, Yankee go, Yankee go home") morphed into a spooky waltz that sounded way too creepy to play in broad daylight — and the day had plenty of creepiness.

After opening by singing a cappella, accompanying herself on percussion by tapping on the microphone rhythmically, oddball singer/songwriter Regina Spektor paid tribute to a legendary artist who would take the stage a few hours later, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith, by playing her song "Poor Little Rich Boy," which, in turn, references Smith's version of the Who's "My Generation." Again improvising for percussion, Spektor banged on a chair with a drumstick while playing piano with her left hand during the spare tune. Spektor also stopped her set midway into the second song, "On the Radio," when she spotted a fan who had passed out in the middle of the crowd, urging security to get her some help. "I think there's someone sick," she said in her kewpie-doll voice.

Snow Patrol also reached out to a fellow Lolla act during their set with a duet with Silversun Pickups bassist Nikki Monninger, who filled in for Martha Wainwright on the track "Set the Fire to the Third Bar." The overly polite Scots (frontman Gary Lightbody thanked the audience after every song the band performed and even dedicated each track — to the crowd, to the other bands on the bill, to Monninger "for being so sweet") performed a veritable best-of from their growing catalog, including songs like "Run," "Chasing Cars" (the closing chorus of which the singer left to the audience), "How to Be Dead" and "Spitting Games," which Lightbody dedicated to a man in the front row, who was dressed, from head to toe, in a Spider-Man costume and waving an Irish flag to catch the singer's attention.

About 20 seconds into the song, the Spider-Man wannabe made a beeline for the stairs leading up to the stage but was tackled by a team of security guards before he could make it past the third step. As the final notes of "Spitting Games" reverberated across the open field, echoing off the trees, Lightbody, disappointment in his voice, muttered, "Well, I guess he wasn't the real Spider-Man."

One of the warmest receptions of the day was bestowed upon the Cold War Kids, whose set was impassioned, flawless, and, at times, soulful. There wasn't a person in the fist-pumping audience who wasn't singing along with frontman Nathan Willett — doing his best Joe Cocker impersonation — during "Hang Me Up to Dry."

Next up was this generation's answer to P-Funk, the Roots, arguably the tightest band here at Lollapalooza. The band turned up the funk with a genre-spanning medley filled with chunky bass, virtuoso guitar (that inspired some rapturous hyperbole from our blogger), mind-boggling drum solos and a complete horn section. The Roots shifted effortlessly, and without skipping a beat, from Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" to Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," then to the Gang's "Apache" and Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." Next came ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" and MIMS' "This Is Why I'm Hot."

The band's performance even attracted the likes of Geico's Caveman, who made his way through the sea of sweaty flesh in front of the stage, giving high-fives and posing for pictures with the hippies that saturated the crowd. The Roots ended things with a cover of the New Birth's "I Can Understand It," which then faded into a captivating James Brown medley. Still, all the folks here had to contend with was a slight drizzle, but the clouds above Chicago are getting darker, and more and more engorged with rain.

Meanwhile, over on the MySpace stage, the Hold Steady geared up and turned out perhaps the most entertaining performance thus far — if only because of how much fun these guys obviously have when they're in their element. The blood rushed to Steady frontman Craig Finn's face as he spit out the lyrics to fan faves like "Chips Ahoy!," "First Night" and "You Can Make Him Like You." And appearances aren't deceiving in this band's case — these dudes absolutely love being onstage.

"We played here last summer, and I said it was the most fun I'd ever had before 3 p.m.," Finn, who was sporting a Ron Gardenhire jersey, explained. "This is shaping up to be the most fun I've had in my life."

Sherwood started off the day on the MySpace stage with a feel-good, feedback-filled set that included a confession. "We've never been to a Lollapalooza before," said frontman Nate Henry. "I'm sorta confused as to how this happened."

The first act to hit the main stage was Ontario, Canada's Tokyo Police Club, a young indie/ garage-rock outfit whose every song seemed to end on a dime. The band woke the crowd up with a heaping helping of bombastic drum blasts, tinny guitar squeals and thick, syrupy bass lines. And despite the early hour, the turnout for the Club was strong. "It's shocking to see so many of you here," noted frontman Josh Hook before the band launched into the explosive "Box." The crowd showed their appreciation, applauding loudly for the Lolla virgins.

Later on, Minneapolis rockers Tapes n' Tapes churned out a driving set that was so loud it nearly blew the MySpace stage's amps — but not loud enough to scare away at least three dads in attendance, who traipsed through the crowd with infants strapped to their chests. The highlight of the band's volatile performance was "Beach Girls," during which drummer Greg Alsop hammered the skins as if the fate of the free world depended on it.

I'm From Barcelona also warmed up the already-warm crowd with a memorable pre-noon set. The 20-plus-member Swedish band (which included everything from a tuba player to a percussionist with banana-shaped maracas) nearly topped the Polyphonic Spree's Friday set when it came to stage-filling energy and enthusiasm. With songs about chicken pox ("You can't have it once you've had it") and cassettes, lead singer Emanuel Lundgren led the wacky pop/polka powerhouse through a set that had crowd members' hands waving in the air and included a kazoo solo from a fan who claimed he'd never had the pox.

The pre-lunch hours also brought a rare bit of soul to the proceedings, with a funky set from sets from Georgia's Ryan Shaw, a dreadlocked Sam Cooke-alike who had to raise the roof even higher to with the sound bleeding over from dour rocker Pete Yorn on an adjacent stage.

And if you haven't heard of R&B singer Kevin Michael yet, there's a good chance you will soon. Though he played to a sparse crowd, the young singer with the towering afro and a voice that mixes the soulful side of Michael Jackson with a hip-hop edge, played (tellingly) to a mostly female audience during his short set. Unfortunately, hometown hero Lupe Fiasco didn't show up to reprise his cameo on the hand-clapping banger "We All Want the Same Thing," but Michael's keyboard and guitarist/beatboxer band held it down ably as the buff crooner jumped down off of the stage to get some face time with his adoring female fans.

Make sure to stick with MTVNews.com for your Lollapalooza news all weekend.

Seen a great show? MTV News wants your photos, videos and reports from all the latest concerts, including Lollapalooza, for our new You R Here community site. Check out the site to read, rate and comment on reviews from around the globe. We'll put the best stuff on our You R Here blog, and even in on-air news!

[This story was originally published on 8.4.07 at 6:11 p.m. ET.]

• A Look Back At Lollapalooza 2007

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Spike Jonze, Karen O, Blake Lively At The 'Where The Wild Things Are' Premiere

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Jay-Z, Coldplay, More At All Points West 2009

• Jay-Z
• Coldplay
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• MGMT
• Vampire Weekend

Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Many More At Bonnaroo 2009

• Nine Inch Nails
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Erykah Badu
• Snoop Dogg
• MGMT

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Travis Barker, DJ AM, More At KROQ's Weenie Roast 2009

• Kings Of Leon
• Rancid
• Weezer
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Travis Barker

M.I.A., The Killers, Lupe Fiasco, More At Coachella 2009

• The Killers
• M.I.A.
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Franz Ferdinand
• Public Enemy

Lollapalooza 2007

• Amy Winehouse
• Ben Harper
• Cold War Kids
• Motion City Soundtrack
• Muse

Pearl Jam, Amy Winehouse, Lupe Fiasco, M.I.A., More At Lollapalooza 2007

• Pearl Jam
• M.I.A.
• Daft Punk
• Perry Farrell
• Against Me!