Sugar Ray's follow-up to last year's 14:59 will have "a lot more extremes of hip-hop and rock, yet with the pop appeal in the melodies," according to the group's DJ Homicide. The band is about half done writing the album and hopes to have it out in February. Homicide said the LP will likely feature some "cool collaborations" but declined to elaborate. ...

Costumed metal band Slipknot were named Best Band in the World by readers of British magazine Kerrang! on Tuesday (Aug. 29); they also won honors for Best International Live Act and Best Single. Other winners at the annual awards event included Queens of the Stone Age, the Deftones, Napalm Death, Marilyn Manson and Foo Fighters. ... Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft will play a three-song acoustic set and answer fan questions during a live webcast and chat Sept. 11 on nme.com. Originally scheduled for Aug. 18 but rescheduled because of illness, the event will be webcast simultaneously on the singer's official Web site, richardashcroft.co.uk and at virtuetv.com. ...

Rapper Xzibit will join Limp Bizkit, Eminem and Papa Roach on their joint tour this fall, according to a spokesperson. Dates have not been announced for the outing, which is expected to kick off in early October. Xzibit will release The Restless LP on Nov. 7. ... "Pretty Little Things" by Nashville pop-rock band Hangman's Daughter is the first winner of MP3.com's "Who Wants To Be on a Movie Soundtrack" contest, the company announced Wednesday (Aug. 30). Karen Rachtman, who served as music supervisor on films such as "Pulp Fiction" and "Boogie Nights," chose the song from more than 800 entries and will choose as many as five more tracks by MP3.com artists for inclusion in an unnamed film. The deadline to enter the contest's second phase is Sept. 11. ...

"Broken Home," the second single from Papa Roach's sophomore album, Infest, will hit radio Sept. 6. It follows the band's breakthrough hit "Last Resort." The video will premiere on MTV the following day. (Sonicnet.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns MTV.) ... Blink-182 will post a song from their upcoming live album, Blink-182 Live: The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back), on Sept. 1 at www.blink182.com, a band spokesperson said. The song, "Man Overboard," is the sole studio track scheduled to appear on the disc. ...

The Posies are auctioning off two acoustic guitars in hopes of making back some of what they lost when more than $4,000 was stolen from their dressing room. The theft occurred last week at New York's Knitting Factory club, the band said in a letter to fans. The Posies are selling $40 raffle tickets; the winners will be drawn Oct. 1 or after 100 tickets have been sold. ... Hard-rockers AC/DC will be inducted Sept. 15 to Hollywood's Rockwalk, the sidewalk gallery on Sunset Boulevard that honors artists who have made significant contributions to rock 'n' roll. The bandmembers will place their signatures and handprints alongside those of such artists as B.B. King, Johnny Cash, James Brown, Bonnie Raitt and former Beach Boy Brian Wilson. ...

Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar is planning an Oct. 24 release for his latest solo album, Ten 13, according to Beyond Records. The singer said that the LP, the follow-up to last year's Red Voodoo, is his hardest-rocking album since before his involvement with Van Halen. ... Reggae funk-rockers 311 are suing their label, Capricorn Records, for allegedly failing to sufficiently market and promote the band. 311 will begin a six-week tour Oct. 7 at the Smoke Out Festival in San Bernardino, Calif., running through Nov. 22 at a venue yet to be determined. Opening throughout the tour will be pop-rockers Zebrahead, who released Playmate of the Year on Aug. 22. Tour dates are available at www.311music.com. ...

Thursday's birthdays (Aug. 31): Jerry Allison (Buddy Holly and the Crickets), 61; Wilton Felder (Crusaders), 60; Van Morrison, 55; Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions), 52; Andy Stein (Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen), 52; Gina Schock (Go-Go's), 43; Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), 43; Chris Whitley, 40; Reb Beach (Winger), 37; and Jeff Russo (Tonic), 31.

— sonicnet.com staff report