Columbus, Ohio's Gaunt, who, over the course of several albums on Chicago indie Thrill Jockey, have grown from frenzied punkers to soulful, songwriterly frenzied punkers, have made the big leap to the majors. The band have been signed to Warner Bros. records and will enter a Minnesota studio in September to record their first major-label album with big-time producer Brian Paulson (Wilco, Beck, Slint), expected for release in mid-1998. The group, who formed in 1991, are part of a Columbus scene that also gave birth to the New Bomb Turks and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. Their last album, Kryptonite, was released in 1995 by Thrill Jockey. [Wed., Aug. 20, 1997, 2 p.m. PST]

High Times Takes To The Airwaves

As if college kids needed any more tips on how to smoke weed, the bible of potheads, High Times magazine, is about to take to the air with a syndicated radio hour called High on the Air: The HIGH TIMES Radio Hour. The dopey show, which a press release announced would give "updates from the world of marijuana and hemp within a setting of humor," as well as lessons on pot etiquette is... um... wait... uh... right. Anyway, upcoming guests include Cheap Trick, Motley Crue, Deborah Gibson and, surprise, surprise, former Cheech and Chong member Tommy Chong. [Wed., Aug. 20, 1997, 2 p.m. PST]

U.S. Debut From Fateh Ali Khan's Cousin

In a strange coincidence, Badar Ali Khan, the cousin of recently deceased Qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who died over the weekend in England, will release his U.S. debut Lost in Qawwali on Aug. 25. The four-track album of traditional Qawwali music, with each song clocking-in at 14-plus minutes, features many of the same hypnotic, improvisational type of Pakistani trance grooves made famous by the Khan family. Badar Ali Khan will take his place beside Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephew and musical heir, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at an Aug. 30 concert at the Berkeley Community Theater in California dedicated to Nusrat's memory that's been dubbed the "Good Karma Festival." [Wed., Aug. 20, 1997, 2 p.m. PST]

Green Day Put Finishing Touches On Nimrod

Green Day are about to wrap-up mastering their upcoming album, Nimrod (Oct. 14), after which they will once again team with director Mark Kohr next week to shoot the video for the album's first single, "Hitchin' A Ride." More song titles from the album, the follow-up to 1995's Insomniac: "The Grouch," "Redundant," "Scattered," "Platypus," "Walking Alone," "Jinx/Hausinka," "Uptight," "King for a Day" (which features the No Doubt horn section), "All Around," "Good Riddance," "Prosthetic Head," a surf instrumental entitled "Last Ride In" and "Nice Guys Finish Last."

The single, which features violin from That Dog's Petra Haden, will be released around Labor Day and the band will hit the road beginning on the West Coast around the time of the album's release. The album will likely contain 19 of the 29 tracks recorded by the pop-punk trio, although the two covers they worked-up during the sessions, the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown" and Elvis Costello's "Alison," won't make the cut. Those songs will likely be used as b-sides or on Japanese releases. Beck's dad, composer David Campbell arranged strings on the song "Good Riddance." [Wed., Aug. 20, 1997, 8:30 a.m. PST]

Grohl , Novoselic Mulled Post-Nirvana Teaming

What many people might not know is that before former-Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic hooked up with singer Yva Las Vegas to form his new band, Sweet 75, he and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl jammed and briefly considered working together. "I just didn't know anything else," Novoselic told ATN on the eve of Sweet 75's self-titled debut (Aug. 26). "It just happened and was really organic." Novoselic even played bass on some early Foo Fighters demos. But despite the fact that the two wanted to work together, it just "didn't happen." Novoselic said he's grateful things worked out the way they did and thankful that Grohl blazed the trail for his own return to the spotlight. "Dave really jumped in with both feet and proved that there's life outside the shadow of Nirvana. It's great that he's doing his own thing," Novoselic said. And despite the fact that both are so busy now that Novoselic only talks to Grohl occasionally on the phone, he said, "life does go on and I still love the guy." [Wed., Aug. 20, 1997, 8:30 a.m. PST]

Pizzicato Five To Offer 12" Remixes

Japanese pop superstars Pizzicato Five, whose new album, Happy End of the World (Sept. 9) finds them exploring more electronic/drum & bass sounds, will also release a string of remix white label DJ 12"'s later this year. Among the remixers are: Daniel Miller/Gareth Jones, Gus Gus, Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, 808 State, DJ Dara, Dimitri From Paris, Daddy-O, Momus Oval and St. Etienne. Matador expects to release at least six of the limited-edition 12"'s through early 1998. The band will launch a 13-date U.S. tour beginning Sept. 5 at Los Angeles' El Rey theater. [Wed., Aug. 20, 1997, 8:30 a.m. PST]

QUOTE (UNQUOTE): "It's good for kids to see a band with an attitude

of 'We don't give a fuck what you think.' We like what we're doing, and we

don't mind saying it. 'You're here for a reason: you're here to see us, and

we know it.'"--Dann Gallucci, guitarist for the Murder City Devils

A Turn Of The Web Page For Oasis Fan

Derek Gorman, the 17-year-old London-based Webmaster threatened by Sony for posting Oasis sound clips -- which he copied from Sony's own Brazilian homepage -- has had his OasisWorld page (http://www.gorman.org.uk/) reinstated today, minus the song samples of course. You'll recall from the Aug. 19 edition of Music News of the World that Sony pressured Easynet, Gorman's service provider, to discontinue his account, saying they had exclusive rights to publish the material. Gorman's site remained disabled for several days even after he removed the offending files. [Tues., Aug. 19, 1997, 4 p.m. PST]

Recording Studio Silenced By Volcano

Beatles producer George Martin's Air Studio is one of many buildings on the Caribbean island of Montserrat that has been destroyed by recent activity from the Soufriere Hills volcano, according to Reuters. Built in 1979, the recording room played host to ex-Beatles Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Dire Straits and the Police, who laid down their Synchronicity album at Air. Martin has organized a London concert with Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, McCartney and Sting to raise money for the ravaged island. [Tues., Aug. 19, 1997, 4 p.m. PST]

R.E.M. Prepare To Work On Next Album

R.E.M. have begun preliminary pre-production work on the follow-up to 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. The members of the group have already gotten together for one pre-production session, and are expected to meet for a second before the end of the year. They'll wrap-up their various side projects by February of next year, at which time they plan to enter a Northern California studio, one of several locations where they expect to work on their next album. Don't plan on seeing that album in record stores before the end of 1998; an early 1999 release seems more likely. In the meantime, singer Michael Stipe is busy overseeing work on Velvet Goldmine the glam-era film being co-produced by his Single Cell pictures. Guitarist Peter Buck recently wrapped-up a whirlwind writing session with Mark Eitzel for the sequel to Eitzel's West album. Bassist Mike Mills is overseeing the soundtrack to A Cool, Dry Place, a film currently shooting in Canada, for which R.E.M. will record a new song, marking the first time the band has produced a song specifically for a movie soundtrack. Drummer Bill Berry appears to be the only band member in touch with the word "vacation." [Tues., Aug. 19, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]

G Love's New LP With Special Sauce

Philly's finest, G Love, will finally release his long-delayed third album on Oct. 28, Yeah...It's That Easy. The new 13-track disc, credited just to Love, will feature the hip-hop folk blues of his backing band, Special Sauce, as well as contributions from the Philly All-Stars and production on some tracks by Stiff Johnson, who produced Love's 1994 debut, G. Love and Special Sauce. The first single is "Stepping Stones." The album also contains a song called "I-76," about Love's beloved hometown b-ball team, the Philadelphia 76ers. [Tues., Aug. 19, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]

Fogerty Loses CCR Revisited Case

Creedence Clearwater Revival, a band whose post-break-up litigation has now lasted nearly three times as long as their career, reached a new legal plateau recently when a San Francisco judge ruled that the remaining members can continue to use the revamped name Creedence Clearwater Revisited. The Revisited members, which include bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford, but not founder, singer and primary songwriter John Fogerty, won the decision from a U.S. Court of Appeals judge on Friday, over Fogerty's objection according to an Associated Press report. Fogerty had been granted an injunction against the duo using the Revisited tag last October, fearing that the name would create confusion about his participation in the band, which broke up in 1972. The appeals court lifted the injunction citing little evidence that the name would cause confusion, paving the way for Clifford and Cook to continue using the name while the case continued.[Tues., Aug. 19, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]

QUOTE (UNQUOTE): "Every time I write a song, I'm trying to write a single, because all a single is is a really good song. Right? 'Try' is sort of funny to me also, in a weird way, since it's my third album, you know?" -- singer/songwriter Michael Penn talking about the first single from his new album Resigned.

Foo Fighters Opening For Rolling Stones

As if enlisting the help of the Dust Brothers (Beck, Hanson) and Danny Saber (Black Grape) wasn't enough to boost their hip quotient, the Rolling Stones have tapped the Foo Fighters and Blues Traveler to open some dates on their upcoming tour. The specifics were announced Monday at a press conference under New York's Brooklyn Bridge (Get it? the album's called Bridges to Babylon). The Foos will open the Oct. 16-17 dates at New Jersey's Meadowlands, while the Blues Traveler dates have not yet been announced. According to a source at the Traveler's label, A&M, "it will be more than two and less than 99 dates." In other Foos news, the Dave Grohl-led quartet will join the Rage Against the Machine/Wu-Tang Clan tour on Sept. 19 for a show at L.A's Irvine Meadows. [Mon., Aug. 18, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]

Ice Cube Joins Hoops Great On Soundtrack

Although various producers have been threatening to bring Bill Cosby's Fat Albert cartoon to the big screen for years, it took hard-court millionaire Shaquille O'Neal to bring the coolest Fat Albert kid, Mushmouth, to life. Shaq, an aspiring marble-mouthed rapper about to release his latest hip-hop CD, will soon hit the big screen in a costume that looks like a Batman reject made out of a garbage can, complete with a helmet that's one-part Mighty Mouse and one-part Mushmouth headgear. Shaq has been tapped to play the lead character in Steel, based on the Marvel comic of the same name. The soundtrack album to the film features contributions from Mobb Deep, Tevin Campbell, Jai, BLACKstreet and O'Neal teamed with Ice Cube, B Real of Cypress Hill, Peter Gunz and KRS-One on the song "Men of Steel." [Mon., Aug. 18, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]

QUOTE (UNQUOTE): "All the songs are about sex, which I think is what

good rock 'n' roll should always be about. Anything else is a little bit

less important." -- Lux Interior, singer for The Cramps, on

the band's upcoming release Big Beat from Badsville.

QUOTE (UNQUOTE): "When someone like Bowie starts taking in these new influences, it reeks of desperation. I want somebody to be honest. I was a huge Bowie fan when I was a kid and I'd love to see him do another great album like Hunky Dory, or a really great acoustic album." -- Richard Butler, of Love Spit Love, formerly Psychedelic Furs, on the Thin White Duke's jumping on the electronica bandwagon.