Method Man has found the inspiration he needs for his next solo LP. He's writing songs for the album and hopes to put the project out in October. ... Korn fans looking for a legal way to hear Untouchables before it is released June 11 can view footage of the band recording the album on their Korn Kountdown Web site (www.korntv.com). This week the band is offering footage of "Thoughtlessness" and interview segments about drummer David Silveria's recent surgery. ... The Clipse have recorded a remix to their street-corner anthem "Grindin'." The new track features Noreaga and Cash Money's Lil' Wayne and Baby. ...

Ashanti, Musiq and Brian McKnight will perform at the annual T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research Gala on June 11 at the Hilton Towers in New York City. This year's event will recognize BET founder Robert Johnson. ... Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has composed five songs for the score of "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," due in theaters June 14 and starring Jodie Foster. Queens bassist Nick Oliveri and Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk joined Homme in recording his tracks, which are included on the soundtrack, due June 11, next to material by film scorer Marco Beltrami ("Blade II") and songs from Canned Heat and Stephen Stills. ...

Chad Kroeger received a pack-leading 12 nominations — eight with his band Nickelback and four for his collaboration with Saliva's Josey Scott on "Hero" — in the 13th annual MuchMusic Video Awards, set for a live broadcast June 16 from the music network's Toronto headquarters. Default and Sum41 each scored three nominations for "Deny" and "What We're All About," respectively, while facing off in the category of Favourite Canadian Group. ... Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas, 3 Doors Down's Brad Arnold and Lifehouse's Jason Wade scored three of the four top trophies at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards, which honor songwriters and publishers, on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Thomas picked up Pop Song of the Year for "If You're Gone," Arnold received Pop Songwriter of the Year, and Wade collected College Song of the Year for "Hanging by a Moment." ...

The inaugural Bonnaroo music festival, which takes place June 21-23 in Manchester, Tennessee, just got even more Bonnarooffic with the addition of Phil Lesh & Friends with Bob Weir, Norah Jones, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Ween, the Disco Biscuits and DJs Cut Chemist, Amon Tobin and Z-Trip, among others. The added artists join an already jam-packed bill of jam acts that includes Trey Anastasio, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Ben Harper and Galactic. ... Piano man Ben Folds is packing up his baby grand to hit the road for a month of tour dates to support his solo album, Rockin' The Suburbs, released in September. Accompanying him on the trek, which kicks off June 1 in Pittsburgh, will be the Divine Comedy, on the heels of Regeneration. ...

Santana have announced the dates for their summer tour, which will kick off July 31 in Virginia Beach and wrap up August 25 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Soulful jam band Rusted Root will open on the outing. ... Thrash metal pioneers Anthrax are in the studio wrapping up vocal tracks for their next album, We've Come for You All, which is tentatively scheduled for release this fall. Song titles include "Black Dahlia," "Refuse to Be Denied," "What Doesn't Die" and "Taking the Music Back." ... Buckcherry will appear in the upcoming film "The Banger Sisters," which stars Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon as former rock groupies looking back at their lives. Buckcherry singer Josh Todd also appears in the movies "The Salton Sea" and "The New Guy." ... Cracker kick off a string of tour dates Thursday (May 16) in Baltimore that will keep the quirky pop band on the road until August in support of their fifth album, Forever. Fans of Cracker frontman David Lowery's previous band, Camper Van Beethoven, are in for a treat when the members reunite for a pair of New York shows July 19-20. ...

Gold Stars 1992-2002, a Juliana Hatfield compilation due June 25, will feature four new songs, two tracks from her unreleased God's Foot album, and covers of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" and Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," along with favorites such as "My Sister" and "Universal Heartbeat." Hatfield, with help from Blake Babies bandmate Freda and Heidi Gluck, will promote the album on a summer tour. ... Frank Black & the Catholics have recorded two new albums live to two-track that will be released August 20 on SpinART, which is also releasing a collection of early Pixies recordings on July 9. Black Letter Day and Devil's Workshop follow-up Black's 2001 release Dog in the Sand. ...

05.15.02

Rap's reigning king of overweight lovers, Fat Joe, has a recorded a remix of "Full Moon" with labelmate Brandy. Their record company, Atlantic, had no word on whether or not the song will be released as a single. ... Cam'ron celebrated the release of his third LP, Come Home With Me, Tuesday night at Club Ohm in New York. Loon, Memphis Bleek, Special Ed and the Big Tymers were among those who came through to help Cam pop the 80 bottles of Cristal he bought for the fiesta. ...

Even if Metallica don't release anything soon, Lars Ulrich should have no trouble paying the electric bills. The drummer sold five paintings by late graffiti-inspired artist Jean-Michel Basquiat on Tuesday night, one of which netted the Metallicat a cool $5.5 million. ... Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay was assaulted in central London last week, a few hours before the band was scheduled to appear onstage. Kay suffered cuts to the face and nose after being head-butted by an assailant. ...

The Afternoon Delights' "General Hospi-tale" and Martin Briley's "The Salt in My Tears" are just two of the 142 tracks to appear on the seven-CD box set Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally), which comes out July 2. ... The Rolling Stones have moved forward the kick-off date for their 2002/2003 tour from September 5 at CMGI Field in Foxboro, Massachusetts, to September 3 at FleetCenter in Boston. The band has also added a show on September 20 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. ...

The Strokes recently spent time in Los Angeles filming the video for "Hard To Explain," the latest single from their debut, Is This It. B-sides on the single include "New York City Cops" (which had been pulled from their album) and live versions of "Trying Your Luck" and "Take It or Leave It." ... Underworld are nearly finished recording the follow-up to 1999's Beaucoup Fish and have set a September 20 release date for the material. In the fall of 2000, they released Everything, Everything, a live album that included their breakthrough hit, "Born Slippy."