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For The Record: Quick News On The Olsen Twins, Usher, Britney Spears, The Pixies, Avril Lavigne, Modest Mouse & More

Happy birthday to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen! The teen twins turned a long-awaited 18 on Sunday, which means they can now do a whole assortment of things with grown-ups without any legal repercussions ... like vote and play Lotto! ...

Usher vs. R. Kelly: It's going down at the 2004 BET Awards on June 29 in Los Angeles. The two are up for Best Male R&B Artist, along with Anthony Hamilton, Ruben Studdard and Luther Vandross. Usher and the R. will also square off in the Viewers Choice category -- "Step in the Name of Love" and "Yeah!" are up against Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love," Lil Jon's "Get Low," Kanye West's "All Falls Down" and Outkast's "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move." ... After announcing her plans to develop a perfume in March, Britney Spears is getting closer to releasing her own line via Elizabeth Arden. She's calling the scent Curious, and it has a white floral overtone accented with Louisiana magnolia with an underlying vanilla musk. It'll come in an azure-blue glass bottle with heart-shaped charms. The line, which will hit stores in September, will also include a body soufflé, a shower gel and a perfumed shimmer stick. ...

The Pixies have recorded a new song, "Bam Thwok," their first original track in 13 years. The song is being released exclusively through Apple's iTunes Music Store starting Tuesday at midnight. The song features Kim Deal singing lyrics from a discarded children's art book she found on the street many years ago: "Bosses in offices on automatic drip/ They got the keys to the city/ But we got a lotta shaking in our hips." The Pixies recorded "Bam Thwok" in Los Angeles in March while the band was practicing for its recent reunion tour. ... Nothing says "Happy Father's Day!" like getting your old man a lunch date with Avril Lavigne or Nick Lachey -- at least that's the thinking by the folks organizing a charity auction to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Winning bidders on "Because You Love Him," a special eBay auction, can also purchase slightly more appropriate gifts, like an afternoon with golf pro Arnold Palmer, lunch with boxing promoter Don King, and two hours with Magic Johnson. ...

Michael Jackson will not be getting any money back from the court system anytime soon. A California judge ruled on Friday that the singer will not be allowed to reduce his $3 million bail, since he originally posted it "without objection or apparent difficulty." Without evidence to prove financial hardship, the financial incentive to make his court dates remains in place, Judge Rodney Melville wrote in his decision. ... Modest Mouse's longtime drummer Jeremiah Green, who left 14 months ago because of conflicts in the studio, has returned and will tour with the band this summer. Green had been temporarily replaced by Helio Sequence's Benjamin Weikel, who played on the latest Modest Mouse disc, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and has also toured with the group. ...

P. Diddy was forced to leave the Saturday afternoon performance of the Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun" in the middle of the show. According to his spokesperson, the rapper/actor, who plays Walter Lee Younger in the production, arrived at the theater feeling ill but insisted on going on. By intermission, however, he was so sick that his stage manager instructed him to go home. Diddy's understudy, Billy Eugene Jones, filled in for him for the remainder of the Saturday matinee show, and went on in his place for the Saturday evening and Sunday performances. Diddy will return to the stage on Tuesday. ... Former Saves the Day bassist Sean McGrath lost his two-year battle with intestinal cancer on Friday. He was 28. A veteran of the New York hardcore scene, McGrath played on STD's 1998 debut, Can't Slow Down, as well as in bands Hands Tied, Mouthpiece and the Alps. He was at home with friends and family when he died. ...

DMX has been sued by pet-goods manufacturer Amusing Diversions for breach of contract and fraud because he agreed to promote a line of designer wear for dogs even though he was found guilty of animal cruelty. Amusing Diversions is concerned that the rapper's 2002 conviction for caging and neglecting 13 pit-bull terriers at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey, will cause chain stores such as PETCO to boycott his products. The DMX line includes animal bubble jackets, raincoats and jerseys. ... Smokey Robinson, who uses the slogan "The soul is in the bowl" for his Louisiana line of foods, is being sued by a Louisiana chef who claims he trademarked the expression "Soul in Yo Bowl" in 1997, a decade after he started using it. Johnny "Jambalaya" Percle filed suit last week in federal court, claiming Robinson has infringed on his trademark, causing confusion among his customers. ...

Sleepy Brown's upcoming solo album, which he recently re-titled Only for the Grown and Sexy, has been pushed back from June to a fall release. The Outkast affiliate has also changed the first single from the Big Boi-produced "Dooley Wop" to the Pharrell Williams collaboration "Margarita." ... Meanwhile, Outkast have pushed back the shooting of their HBO musical to late summer. "We're trying to finish up some of the songs that we have to shoot scenes for," Big Boi explained. ... Boyz II Men, minus the recently retired Michael McCary, are putting the finishing touches on Throwback, a collection of R&B covers. Due August 24, the album will feature Michael Jackson's "Human Nature," Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" and Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love" featuring MC Lyte, which will be the first single. ...

06.11.2004

Good Charlotte fans will have to wait a couple of weeks longer for the group's third album, Chronicles of Life and Death.The follow-up to 2002's The Young and the Hopeless is now due October 5, after previously being slated for September. ... Papa Roach will release their Getting Away With Murder in September. The disc was produced by Howard Benson (P.O.D., Blindside) and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge (Bad Religion, Green Day). The band will play a five-week tour to preview songs from the new disc, starting June 25 in Spokane, Washington. Dates are scheduled through July 17 in Orlando, Florida. ...

The battery trial of Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has been pushed to September 13, following a defense motion. Lifeson and his son were arrested after they got rowdy with police after a New Year's Eve party at a Florida hotel. ... A limited-edition version of Switchfoot's latest album, The Beautiful Letdown, due June 22, will include a bonus DVD that features behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the "Dare You to Move" video, an acoustic version of "On Fire," the previously unreleased "Monday Comes Around" and a live version of "Meant to Live." ...

When tickets for the Curiosa Festival, featuring the Cure, Interpol, the Rapture and Mogwai, go on sale this weekend, fans will be given the option to preorder the Cure's new, self-titled album through ticketmaster.com. The band's 13th album drops June 29. ... Brian Wilson's upcoming Getting in Over My Head, due June 22, will feature a collaboration with Paul McCartney called "A Friend Like You." ... Omaha, Nebraska, electro-rockers the Faint will drop their fourth LP, Wet From Birth, September 14. The album follows 2001'sa breakthrough Danse Macabre, and last year's Danse Macabre Remixes, which featured contributions from Paul Oakenfold and Photek, among others. ...

Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale has recorded 14 songs for his solo debut with Helmet's Page Hamilton as producer. A release date has yet to be set, but the still-untitled LP may be ready before the end of the year. Helmet's Size Matters, meanwhile, is due September 14. A tour is expected to commence the following week. ... Guster singer/guitarist Adam Gardner and his wife, Lauren Sullivan, have launched Reverb, a nonprofit environmental action group that will spread awareness through music tours. The group will erect an eco-village at venues on the Alanis Morissette/Barenaked Ladies' Au Naturale Tour beginning July 16 in Wantagh, New York. ...

Two years after debuting at the 2002 Bonnaroo festival, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, featuring Primus bassist Les Claypool, Guns N' Roses drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia, Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and former GN'R guitarist Buckethead, are preparing to release their debut album, The Big Eyeball in the Sky, September 7. The group is planning a tour for October. ... 2 Live Crew's Luther "Luke" Campbell will be honored at the Free Speech Coalition's Night of the Stars on July 24. Actress Susan Sarandon and two California legislators (Assemblyman Paul Koretz and Senator John Vasconcellos), are the honorary co-chairpersons for the event. Porn star Jenna Jameson will also be honored. ...

Boston Red Sox players Johnny Damon, Bronson Arroyo and Lenny DiNardo provided backing vocals to the Dropkick Murphys' version of "Tessie," a 1903 waltz that Red Sox fans used to sing. The song has been absent from Fenway Park since the "Curse of the Bambino" was born when Babe Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees prior to the start of the 1920 season, but legend has it that when it was sung, the Sox were unbeatable in the postseason. ...

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