It's time to kick back with a little Chicken-N-Beer this week as Ludacris serves up his latest fare, featuring the single "Stand Up," whose accompanying video portrays Cris as a pimped-out baby. The album that Ludacris calls his most versatile includes "Hip-Hop Quotables," produced by Erick Sermon, as well as his notorious "Hoes in My Room" with Snoop and "Teamwork," an ode to three-way sex.

Stereolab release their first album since the death of Mary Hansen. The five-track EP, Instant 0 in the Universe, hits shelves this week alongside Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism; Portishead's Beth Gibbons' stripped-down acoustic set, Out of Season; Ladytron's Softcore Jukebox, featuring songs by My Bloody Valentine, Fannypack and !!!; and Belle & Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress.

And in what we're sure is just a happy coincidence, former B&S member Isobel Campbell releases a solo disc, Amorino, this week as well.

In hard rock news, Motörhead release their box set, Stone Deaf Forever, while Sevendust's Seasons features the single "Enemy," a bitter diatribe to ex-Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara. Fireball Ministry have their Second Great Awakening with the single "Flatline," and the two-disc Headbangers Ball CD from MTV features Marilyn Manson, Godsmack, Stone Sour, Rob Zombie and the aforementioned Sevendust.

Static-X step into the Shadow Zone on their latest disc while the Boo-Yaa Tribe round up Eminem and B-Real for "9-1-1," a song on West Koasta Nostra about the state of hip-hop. Also, Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan's side project, To My Surprise, release their self-titled debut, produced by Rick Rubin.

Out Tuesday, October 7:

  • Agents of the Sun - Aurora (DCide)
  • Anjali - The World of Lady A (Wiija/Beggars Banquet)
  • Apollo Sunshine - Katonah (spinART)
  • Armsbendback - The Waiting Room (Trustkill)
  • Azure Ray - Hold on Love (Saddle Creek)
  • The Band of Blacky Ranchette - Still Lookin' Good to Me (Thrill Jockey)
  • Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
  • Martyn Bennett - Grit (Real World)
  • Tim Berne's Science Friction Band - The Sublime And (Thirsty Ear)
  • Big Collapse - Prototype (The Militia Group)
  • Boo-Yaa Tribe - West Koasta Nostra (Oglio/Sarinjay)
  • The Books - The Lemon of Pink (Tomlab)
  • Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy - When the Spirit Returns (Dreyfus/Birdology)
  • Boxhead Ensemble - Quartets (Atavistic)
  • The Brian Jonestown Massacre - And This Is Our Music (Tee Pee)
  • Harold Budd - La Bella Vista(Shout! Factory)
  • Alex Bugnon - Southern Living (Narada Jazz)
  • Isobel Campbell - Amorino (Instinct)
  • Kenny Chesney - All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan (BNA)
  • Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (Equal Vision)
  • Cracker - Countrysides (iMUSIC)
  • Culture Club - Kissing to be Clever (Virgin)
  • Jason Darling - Night Like My Head (Yep Roc)
  • Howie Day - Stop All the World Now (Epic)
    Buy Now: Stop All the World Now (Epic)
  • Dead Low Tide - Dead Low Tide (Tiger Style)
  • Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism (Barsuk)
    Buy Now: Transatlanticism (Barsuk)
  • Christine Dente - Becoming (Rocketown)
  • Dixie Hummingbirds - Diamond Jubilation (Rounder)
  • DJ Nelson and Rafy Mercenario - Kakoteo Mix (Cutting)
  • DJ Nightshade - The Sound of Arabia (E-magine)
  • Early November - The Room's Too Cold (Geffen)
  • Electric Music AKA - The Resurrection Show (Sanctuary)
  • Mark Farina - Air Farina (Om)
  • Michael Feinstein - Only One Life (Concord)
  • Fireball Ministry - The Second Great Awakening (Nuclear Blast)
  • Flick - Iron Bottom Sound (Red Ink/Columbia)
  • Robben Ford - Keep on Running (Concord)
  • Nnenna Freelon - Live (Concord Jazz)
  • Fun Lovin' Criminals - Welcome to Poppy's (Sanctuary)
  • Galactic - Ruckus (Sanctuary)
  • Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out of Season (Sanctuary)
  • Glamour Puss - Wire & Wood (NorthernBlues)
  • Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Sleep Holiday (Sanctuary)
  • Russell Gunn - Mood Swings (HighNote)
  • The Handsome Family - Singing Bones (Carrot Top)
  • Howard Hello - Don't Drink His Blood (Temporary Residence Limited)
  • Hey Mercedes - Loses Control (Vagrant)
  • Hi & Mighty - The Highlite Zone (Eastern Conference)
  • Hieroglyphics - Full Circle (Hiero/Imperium)
  • High Llamas - Beet, Maize and Corn (Drag City)
  • Hospital Food - Medicate (New School)
  • Greg Howe - Extraction (Tone Center)
  • Hum Machine - Theorems and Compositions of the Last Action Rocker (Cancer)
  • Impossible Shapes - We Like It Wild (Secretly Canadian)
  • Jag Panzer - Decade of a Nail-Spiked Bat (Century Media)
  • Jet - Get Born (Elektra)
  • Kacey Jones - The Sweet Potato Queens (IGO)
  • Rickie Lee Jones - The Evening of My Best Day (V2)
  • Robert Earl Keen - Farm Fresh Onions (Audium/Koch)
  • Kinski/Acid Mothers Temple - Kinski/Acid Mothers Temple (Sub Pop)
  • Kiss - Symphony (single CD version, Sanctuary/Kiss)
  • Dave Koz - Saxophonic (Capitol)
  • Kreisor - Graveyard of Your Mind (Rubric)
  • Krisiun - Works of Carnage (Century Media)
  • The Ladybug Transistor - The Ladybug Transistor (Merge)
  • Ladytron - Softcore Jukebox (Emperor Norton)
  • Robert Lamm - Subtlety&Passion (Blue Infinity)
  • Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead (Lookout!)
  • Living Colour - Collidescope (Sanctuary)
  • P.W. Long - Remembered (Touch and Go)
  • Oscar Lopez - My Destiny (Narada)
  • Lucky Luciano - You Already Know (Dope House)
  • Ludacris - Chicken -N- Beer (Def Jam)
    Read: "Ludacris Reveals Release Date Of Chicken & Beer, Picks Party Single"
    Buy Now: Chicken -N- Beer (Def Jam)
  • Lungfish - Love Is Love (Dischord)
  • Lyrics Born - Later That Day ... (Quannum)
  • Manishevitz - City Life (Jagjaguwar)
  • Julian Marley - A Time and Place (Tuff Gong/Lightyear)
  • Pat Martino - Think Tank (Blue Note)
  • Maserati/The Mercury Program - Confines of Heat (Kindercore)
  • Keiko Matsui - White Owl (Narada Jazz)
  • Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?(Everloving)
  • Melotron - Sternenstraub (Metropolis)
  • Midwest Product - World Series of Love (Ghostly)
  • Militia All-Stars - Coming at Cha (Entity/3citsyM)
  • John Michael Montgomery - Mr. Snowman (Warner Bros. Nashville)
  • Motörhead - Stone Deaf Forever (Box Set, Sanctuary)
  • Motorpsycho & Jaga Jazzist Horns - In the Fishtank 10 (EP, Fishtank)
  • Murk - Murk(Tommy Boy)
  • Najee - Embrace (N-Coded)
  • Orange Island - Orange Island (Triple Crown/Razor & Tie)
  • Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham - Sonic Souvenirs (Jetset)
  • Astor Piazzolla - Unmixed (Milan)
  • The Planet The - Physical Angel (54°40' or Fight!)
  • The Neal Pollack Invasion - Never Mind the Pollacks (The Telegraph Company)
  • Portastatic - Autumn Was a Lark (Merge)
  • The Post - Hasten the Homecoming (Jalisco)
  • Elvis Presley - 2nd to None (BMG)
    Buy Now: 2nd to None (BMG)
  • Rachel's - Systems/Layers (Quarterstick)
  • Ranaldo/Miller/Hooker - Out Trios Volume 1: Monsoon (Atavistic)
  • Andre Rieu - Live From Dublin (Denon)
  • The RZA - The Birth of a Prince (Sanctuary)
  • Randy Savage - Be a Man (Big3)
    Read: " 'Macho Man' Savage Cuts Rap P, Tells Hulk Hogan To Be A Man"
  • Paul Schwartz - State of Grace II: Turning to Peace(Windham Hill)
  • Peggy Seeger - Heading for Home (Appleseed)
  • Sevendust - Seasons (TVT)
    Read: "Sevendust To Road-Test New Songs On Summer Trek"
    Buy Now: Seasons (TVT)
  • Sleeping at Last - Ghosts (Interscope)
  • Snatches of Pink - Hyena (MoRisen)
  • Michael Snow - Never Say No to a Jar (IGO)
  • Soul Position - 8 Million Stories (Fatbeats)
  • Soulive - Turn It Out Remixed (Velour)
  • Spiders - Glitzkrieg (Acetate)
  • Static X - Shadow Zone (Warner Bros.)
  • Stereolab - Instant 0 in the Universe (EP. Elektra)
  • T.H.E.M. - Bang (Electrovenus)
  • Teada - Teada (Green Linnet)
  • To My Surprise - To My Surprise (Roadrunner)
  • Toto - 25th Anniversary: Live in Amsterdam (Eagle)
  • Paul Van Dyk - Reflections (Mute)
  • Watch Them Die - Watch Them Die (Century Media)
  • Dave Weckl - Live and Very Plugged In (Stretch)
  • William Elliott Whitmore - Hymns for the Hopeless (Southern)
  • Wilshire - New Universe (Columbia)
  • Cassandra Wilson - Glamoured (Blue Note)
  • Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland (Rykodisc)
  • Rachael Yamagata - EP (EP, Private Music/AAL)
  • Dan Zanes and Friends - House Party (Festival Five)
  • Various artists - Astor Piazzolla Remixed (Milan)
  • Various artists - "Avenue Q" soundtrack (RCA Victor)
  • Various artists - Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot (NorthernBlues/Borealis)
  • Various artists - "Gypsy 83" soundtrack (Metropolis)
  • Various artists - "Intolerable Cruelty" soundtrack (Hip-O/UME)
  • Various artists - Jpop (Tofu)
  • Various artists - MTV2 Headbangers Ball (Roadrunner)
  • Various artists - "My Life With Albertine — A New Musical" soundtrack (PS Classics)
  • Various artists - "Prey for Rock & Roll" soundtrack (Hybrid)
  • Various artists - Rough Trade 25th Anniversary: Stop Me If You've Heard This Before (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
  • Various artists - "Seventh Heaven" soundtrack (Decca)
  • Various artists - Totally Hits 2003 (BMG Heritage/Warner)
  • Various artists - A Trip in Trance (Water Music)
  • Various artists - V3: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (Violator/Jive)
    Read: "G-Unit, Missy, Busta, Others Lined Up For New Violator LP"
  • Various artists - Windham Hill Christmas II (Windham Hill)
  • Various artists - "Zanna, Don't! — A Musical Fairy Tale" soundtrack (PS Classics)
  • DVD: King Crimson - "Eyes Wide Open" (Sanctuary)
  • DVD: Ian Moore - "Live From the Cactus Café" (Music Video Distributors)
  • DVD: Mr. Capone-E - "A Day 'N' the Life" (Thump)
  • DVD: Primus - "Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People" (Universal)
  • DVD: Quiet Riot - "Live! In the 21st Century — 20 Years of Metal Health' (Music Video Distributors)
  • DVD: Snoop Dogg - "Bossa Playa: A Day in the Life of Big Snoop Dogg" (Priority)
  • DVD: Sting - "Inside" (A&M)
  • DVD: Tower of Power - "In Concert — Ohne Filter" (Music Video Distributors)
  • DVD: Voodoo Glow Skulls - "Holmes Movies" (Music Video Distributors)

October 14:

October 21:

  • Barenaked Ladies - Everything to Everyone (Warner Bros.)
  • Mandy Moore - Coverage (Sony)
    Buy Now: Coverage (Sony)
  • Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Streetcore (Epitaph)
  • Yo La Tengo - Today Is the Day (EP, Matador)

October 28:

November 4:

November 11:

November 18:

November 28: