Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell will spend this Thursday not on the grounds of his famous festival, but rather in Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Park, opposite the White House. Farrell will be joined by his band Porno For Pyros, folkie Michelle Shocked and British popsters James for a rally to protest the toxin dioxin. Dubbed "Be a Voice, Not a Victim," the event aims to not only educate the public about dioxin poisoning, but also to censure the Clinton administration for its support of dioxin polluters. Dioxin is an invisible byproduct of industrial processes that can cause cancer, male and female reproductive disorders, skin disorders, neurological damage and other problems...

Although the name Rainer Ptacek probably doesn't ring a bell with most music fans, the Tucson, Ariz.-based blues guitarist has enough big-name fans in the business to guarantee an impressive guest list on The Inner Flame, a tribute to the Czechoslovakian-born guitarist out today. The 14-track album features contributions from Emmylou Harris ("The Good Book"), Evan Dando ("Rudy with a Flashlight"), Victoria Williams and ex-Jayhawks' singer Mark Olson ("Something's Gotta Be Done"), Vic and Tina Chesnutt ("Where's That At"), PJ Harvey and John Parish ("Losin' Ground"), The Drovers ("Worried Spirits"), Jonathan Richman ("Broken Promises") and a pair of tracks that feature ex-Led Zeppelin wailer Robert Plant, "Rude World," with fellow ex-Led head Jimmy Page and "21 Years," a duet between Plant and Rainer. It was Plant who initiated the participation of his label, Atlantic Records, when he heard that his friend (and collaborator, Ptacek played on some b-sides from Plant's 1993 album Fate of Nations), was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. Although his cancer is currently in remission, Ptacek, a father of three, accrued considerable medical bills, some of which will be paid off with proceeds from the album. Other artists on the collection include: Ptacek with his old band mates in Giant Sand on the title track, Kris McKay ("One Man Crusade"), Madeleine Peyroux ("Life is Fine") and Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz with Giant Sand on "Powder Keg"...

More oddball artist collaborations on the Spawn soundtrack (July 29): Orbital and Kirk Hammett (Metallica) ("Satan"), Butthole Surfers and Moby ("Tiny Rubberband"), Metallica and DJ Spooky ("For Whom The Bell Tolls (The Irony of It All Remix)"), Prodigy and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) ("One Man Army"), Soul Coughing with Roni Size ("A Plane Scraped Its Belly On a Sooty Yellow Moon") and Silverchair with Vitro on the title track, "Spawn." Previously, ATN reported that the first single, "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do," features Filter and Crystal Method, and that Mansun and 808 State pair up on "Skin Up, Pin Up." The movie, which stars newcomer Michael Jai White, Martin Sheen and John Leguizamo, will hit theaters on Aug. 1...

Hearing the tell-tale signs of fat wallets ripe for emptying, RCA Records will re-issue early albums by the Dave Matthews Band and the Verve Pipe, no doubt cashing-in on their current popularity. The Matthew Band's live 1993 album, Remember Two Things and their 1994 five-song EP Recently, both previously only available at the group's gigs and through mail-order, are already on shelves. Two Verve Pipe albums, issued on their own LMNO Pop! label, will also be revived. 1992's I've Suffered A Head Injury and 1993's Pop Smear, are currently available for consumption...

Volume 2 of the Kahanek Incident, a series of 12" remixes from King Coffey's (Butthole Surfers) Trance Syndicate label is now available. The a-side features the Electric Company reconstructing the Furry Things' entire Hedfones EP with the jungly tracks "Porno Queen's Love Bivalve" and "Porno Queen's Love Polemic." The flip-side has the Furry Things adding souped-up beats to the unreleased Electric Company track "Furmented Omens Part One"...

Finally, the best line heard at a weekend concert was from a sunburnt male teen-ager at the Vans Warped Tour on San Francisco's Pier 32 on Sunday during the Social Distortion set. "How old are these guys?"

(ATN's Senior Writer Gil Kaufman and Staff Writer Chris Nelson compiled this report.)