Linkin Park are slated to release the follow-up to their 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, in March. The rap rockers, who retooled their debut for this summer's Reanimation, are also in the process of lining up a world tour to support the as-yet-untitled album. ...

Redman will premiere his D*kazi clothing line in the pages of Playboy. The rapper-turned-actor will model his own gear in a fashion spread for the mag's March issue, which streets February 11. ...

In the 1984 Rob Reiner rockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap," vocalist and guitarist David St. Hubbins, guitarist Nigel Tufnel and bassist Derek Smalls, collectively known as Spinal Tap, vowed to go down in history. Now they will. The side-splitting rock spoof movie was recently nominated, along with 22 other films, to be preserved by the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Also selected for the honor was the 1991 John Singleton gangster film "Boyz N the Hood," which co-starred then-novice-thespian Ice Cube. ...

On the heels of their Irony Is a Dead Scene EP collaboration, onetime System of a Down tourmates Dillinger Escape Plan will perform with ex-Faith No More singer Mike Patton as part of the eccentric vocalist's Ipecac Records New Year's festival. The event will take place in San Francisco over December 30th and 31st and is also scheduled to include performances by Queens of the Stone Age man Nick Oliveri's group Mondo Generator, the Melvins, Isis and more. ... Reformed thrash titans Celtic Frost are currently hard at work in Switzerland on a new album called Probe, their first LP of all new material since 1989. The band has described the new material, for which bassist Martin Ain will handle some vocals, as "dark, risky, adventurous, strange and heavy in a variety of ways." ...

12.17.2002

Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Nelly, Creed and Mya are among the artists scheduled to present trophies at the 30th annual American Music Awards live on ABC on January 13. Sheryl Crow, Shaggy, Common, 3 Doors Down, Paula Abdul, Jakob Dylan, Mekhi Phifer, Tyrese, Carmen Electra and Daryl Hall and John Oates are also among those presenting. ...

R. Kelly has announced the track list for his seventh album, Chocolate Factory, due January 28. The LP will feature "Showdown" with Ron Isley, the single "Ignition" and a remix of the track, and 11 other songs. A bonus CD containing six tracks, including the single "Heaven I Need a Hug," the title track and other material from the unreleased Loveland, will accompany the album. ... Roc-A-Fella Films' "Paid in Full" and its director, Charles Stone III, have been nominated in the Best First Feature category for the 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards. The urban drama, based on the true story of three Harlem drug lords, stars Roc rapper Cam'ron, and was produced by the hip-hop label's co-CEOs Jay-Z and Damon Dash, along with director Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour"). The Spirit Awards, which serve as an independent alternative to Hollywood's Academy Awards, will take place on March 22 in Santa Monica, California, with director John Waters ("Hairspray") performing emcee duties. ...

Influential Manchester punks the Buzzcocks, whose 1979 singles compilation Singles Going Steady, featuring the classic "Orgasm Addict," is among the best punk offerings of the era, will release their seventh studio album March 18 on indie label Merge Records. The eponymous LP, the band's first since 1999's Modern, will be followed by a tour in the spring. ... Pulp may have performed their last gig together Saturday in the U.K. at Rotherham's Magna Centre, though no one from the band's camp has given any official indication as such. Following an encore of "Common People," the band's biggest Stateside hit, singer Jarvis Cocker told the crowd that it would be the last time they would see the band for a while, though hinted that they may meet again. Pulp's last album, We Love Life, their seventh since 1983, was released in October 2001. ...

Industrial metal band Pitchshifter had to shift their rehearsal schedule after drummer Jason Bowld broke his wrist playing soccer over the weekend. The drummer, who sustained the injury in a fall, is currently wearing a cast, and expects to be fully recovered when the plaster comes off in early January. ... New York garage rockers the Mooney Suzuki were signed to Columbia Records on Friday. ...

R.E.M. took a break from recording in Vancouver on Sunday to play a three-song set during the intermission of a show by Minus 5, a side-project band featuring guitarist Peter Buck. The mini-show at Richard's on Richards was comprised of "She Just Wants to Be" from Reveal, the previously unreleased '80s song "Bad Day" and the new tune "Weatherman." ...

In the latest round in its war against piracy, the Recording Industry

Association of America (RIAA) issued letters to 78 small music retailers

(convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, etc.), warning them of the

consequences of selling pirated CDs and tapes, and threatening litigation.

The first phase will target stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and parts of Texas

and Florida before expanding to the rest of the country. Retailers will pay

$150,000 per artist pirated if sued, as part of a comprehensive anti-piracy campaign that

began months ago. ...