• Let There Be Rock: AC/DC Return
• The 25 Funniest Web Videos
• Grateful Dead To Play Another Obama Show
• 50 Cent: “I Have to Reinvent the Wheel”
• Heart Lash Out at McCain Campaign
• Random Notes: Springsteen, Rage
• Weekend Rock List: ’80s Videos
• VMA News: Slash, Kid Rock, Kanye West
• Bling From Diddy, Lil Jon Going to Auction
• News Ticker: Alice in Chains, Michael Moore

Top stories from the last three days:

• RATM Rant Against “Fascist” Agenda at RNC
• In the Studio: Fall Out Boy
• Rage Show at RNC Ends in Protest, Arrests
• TV On the Radio Talk New Album, Pot Smoke
• Britney Spears Opening VMAs, Won’t Sing
• Peter Travers on Oscar-Worthy Comedies
• The New Issue: What’s So Funny?
• On the Charts: The Game, Slipknot
• All American Rejects Pick Album Title
• Bono Talks New U2 Album, Pushed to 2009
• Ben Folds Five Reuniting For MySpace Show
• Breaking: Sharon Little

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Photo: Getty

• The RNC could easily have stood for Rage’s National Convention, as Rage Against the Machine brought their trademark chaos to the Republican gathering with a convention-opening near-riot, an impromptu march, a facist-fighting concert and wrapped it up all with a pepper spray-inducing post-show protest. In other words, it was like Lollapalooza all over again. Heart was also raging against the Palin after the VP candidate used their “Barracuda” as a theme song.
• MTV’s VMAs are this weekend. To bring you up to date: Kanye West and Christina Aguilera were added as performers, Lil Wayne and Kid Rock will play together and Britney Spears will open the show, but won’t sing at it. We also chatted with the show’s host, British comedian Russell Brand. We’ll have reports from the event, a live blog and photos so check back here this Sunday night.
• New albums were in the news, as the prolific U2 pushed their record to early 2009 and Coldplay scheduled their new disc for late next year (with an EP of Viva leftovers out in December.) Kanye West and Jay-Z might have some surprises in store for year’s end, while All-American Rejects gave their new album a title.
• The new issue of Rolling Stone made us LOL with an interview with late night king David Letterman, our list of the 25 funniest web videos, behind-the-cover-shoot footage with Sarah Silverman, Billy Crystal and Tracy Morgan, a list of the five comics to watch and resident movie critic Peter Travers picked the comedies he thought deserved to win Oscars.

As a compendium to the current issue, RollingStone.com presents the “25 Funniest Videos on the Web,” a collection of the most hilarious and outrageous Internet video creations currently available on this series of tubes. Click below for classics like “Fat Kid on a Rollercoaster,” “Dramatic Lemur” and of course, the above Bill O’Reilly freak out megamix.

• The 25 Funniest Videos on the Web (No, Really!)

Related Stories:

• Behind the New Rolling Stone Cover: What’s So Funny? The New Golden Age of Comedy

• The Rolling Stone Interview: David Letterman

• Table of Contents: Inside The Comedy Issue

It’s official. Sources tell Rock Daily that the Grateful Dead will play a fundraiser for Barack Obama on October 13 at Penn State. The band, including Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart, are planning to rehearse next week to prep for the show in one of the more hotly contested presidential swing states with Warren Haynes on lead guitar. Phil Lesh’s son, an Obama volunteer, lined up the gig. “They are all totally committed to the show,” said a friend of Jerry Garcia.

Photo: Brad Fedie for RollingStone.Com

This week was all about rallying the troops, as Bruce Springsteen lead a bunch of biker types on a run through “Wooly Bully” during his set at the Harley-Davidson Festival in Milwaukee last weekend. A few hundred miles west in Minneapolis, Rage Against the Machine whipped up some opposition to the Republican National Convention, while New Kids on the Block brought people together in the name of their comeback album in New York. Click below for the rest of the week’s music news, brought to you in handy gallery form.

• Random Notes: Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine and the Week in Rock

This week’s bizarre collision of talk TV and rock & roll comes to us from Australia, where Sonic Youth visited a morning show hosted by a woman who looks like a methed-up Gwen Stefani on a set that might have been vomited by Timothy Leary. Watching Thurston Moore try to explain “No Wave” and nonchalantly talk about the rap videos that have been shot in the alley behind their apartment is pretty surreal, but it’s mostly fun to watch the drably-dressed Youth juxtaposed with that leopard print desk.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the MTV Video Music Awards, and to celebrate the occasion, the week’s Rock List features our favorite music videos from the decade where it all began: the 1980s. We’ve spent the last hour digging through YouTube to find our favorites, so now tell us yours. On Monday, if we’re not burned out by the VMA live-blogging, we’ll count the votes and reveal your picks. Now, for your viewing pleasure, our five favorites:

A-ha – “Take On Me”
(above)

Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”



Paula Abdul – “Opposites Attract”

Metallica – “One”

Peter Gabriel – “Sledgehammer”

Photo: Vasquez/Getty

Jewelry owned by 50 Cent, Notorious B.I.G., Alicia Keys, Tupac Shakur, Diddy, Pharrell and many more will go to auction in what’s being called “Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels.” The auction will feature over 70 pieces of custom-made bling, worth an estimated $3 million and worn by hip-hop’s finest. The Phillips de Pury Company will host the auction, with three non-profit organizations run by Russell Simmons’ the benefactor. Among the prized items is Tupac’s “Diamond and Ruby Crown ring,” Slick Rick’s multicolor diamond eye patch, Lil Jon’s “Guinness World Record Diamond Pendant” and Diddy’s “Important Diamond Bracelet.” The bling hits the gavel October 1st.

Related Stories:

• Diddy, 50 Cent Added to MTV Program Schedule

• Lil Jon Frees Crunk Rock From TVT

• Lil Jon Launches Winery

Photo: Getty

This week’s Republican National Convention ruffled all sorts of feathers this week, as Rage Against the Machine stirred the pot and the McCain campaign used Heart’s “Barracuda” as a theme song for VP candidate Sarah Palin, much to the chagrin of Nancy Wilson. What Palin should have done was consult the readers of Rock Daily, who are always quick to provide useful, practical advice. For example, reader CRS2265 offered up this idea: They should use artists that support Republican views. One comes to mind being Ted Nugent. They could have used “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” for her entrance!” We’ll be waiting for the comment from the Nuge’s camp, though it’s unsure even he supports shooting wolves from planes.

There are only a few sure things in life: Death. Taxes. AC/DC. This fall, the band will drop Black Ice, an album that returns them to their hard rocking roots after flirtations with their bluesier side on their previous two albums. “I was hoping the songs would lend themselves to more of a — ‘pop’ is the wrong word, but hooky sort of treatment. Like, ‘Back in Black’ or ‘Highway to Hell’ and even ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,’” says producer Brendan O’Brien. “I was trying to just make people remember, ‘This is the same band. I have missed this band. I love this band. Where have they been?’” Click below for more on the return of rock’s most consistent, hardest-rocking bands.

• Let There Be Rock: AC/DC Plan Big Comeback

Related Stories:

• Listen to AC/DC’s “Rock & Roll Train”

• AC/DC Announce Three Album Cover Colors For Black Ice

• AC/DC’s Black Ice Gets Track List, Release Date, Preorder Info

Photo: Getty

T.I. featuring Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne, “Swagger Like Us” [Immukization Remix]
Kanye, Weezy, Jigga and T.I. get crammed inside what sounds like some odd outtake from the TRON soundtrack. Fittingly, this is the only musical environment in which using that aggravating vocoder effect actually makes sense.

Dr. Dre, “85 Live!” [Mixtape]
An hour-long timewarp, this classic set from DJ Dr. Dre (the Yo! MTV Raps one, not the N.W.A one) combines all the hi-top party jams you’d forgotten you loved into one sweet, sweltering mix.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard, “Broken Language Freestyle” [Live]
More evidence of ODB’s unhinged genius, this freestyle from ‘96 finds the late Russell Jones backstroking in his own stream-of-consciousness, varying his vocal tone and delivering Mad Lib rhymes with manic intensity. He even manages to make his screw-ups rhyme.

The Walkmen, “In The New Year” [Live]
In the new year, perhaps indie bands will find more glamorous places to record. In the meantime, this live clip from a basement will suffice.

Nick Catchdubs, “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” [Mix]
It’s sort of remarkable to see a DJ getting accolades for doing what every bad commercial radio station in the ’90s did 24 hours a day (Tripping Daisy? Really?), but, hey, we’re as nostalgic as the next blog.

Photo: Getty

50 Cent digs Lil Wayne, but he can’t help but notice the similarities between Weezy’s summer smash “Lollipop” and his own 2005 hit “Candy Shop.” “‘Lollipop’” is ‘lick lick lick lick it like a lollipop,’” 50 told Rolling Stone, singing the verse to prove his point. “And ‘Candy Shop’ is ‘I’ll take you to the Candy Shop/ I’ll let you lick the lollipop.’”

Rip-off or not, 50 is no longer spinning Wayne’s track — or any other rappers’, for that matter. “”I’m not really listening to anyone else’s records,” he says, adding that his new album, Before I Self-Destruct, will drop by the end of the year. “Now I’m in another space where I gotta make what I’m excited about.”

50 is mum on the details of his new disc — the last on his contract with Interscope Records — but he promises to shake things up. “[Other rappers] can take what I’ve done for the last five years and do their version of it and be successful with momentum,” he says. “Meanwhile, I have to reinvent the wheel.”

Related Stories:

• 50 Cent Meets With Officials About House Fire

• 50 Cent Sues Taco Bell

• 50 Cent Brings the Massacre to the Middle East in New Video Game

Photo: Getty

Kid Rock and Lil Wayne had both been announced as performers at this Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, but as it turns out, the two will will perform together. Rock will reportedly play his “All Summer Long” while sharing the stage with Weezy. More details: Depending on which MTV article you read, new addition Christina Aguilera will either be performing a new version of her hit “Genie in a Bottle” or her new track “Keeps Getting Better,” the title song of her upcoming Target-only greatest hits album. Aguilera also promises that the VMAs will be the first place to showcase “my new image and my new sound,” with Christina making the transition from “vintage glam” to “the future.” T.I. also has a duet planned, as he’ll hook up with Rihanna on stage to debut a new song from Paper Trail. Slash will also make an appearance as a presenter. And then there’s Kanye West. Last year, West stated he’d never return to MTV after being given a less-favorable performance slot at last year’s VMAs. This year, West will not only perform from the main stage, he’ll close out the entire event with an unspecified — and possibly new — song. As for us, we’ll be all over the VMAs this Sunday night, live-blogging the show as you watch at home. Plus, we’ll have a special edition of the Smoking Section, video from the red carpet and much more, so keep it at Rock Daily this weekend.

Related Stories:

• Kanye West, Christina Aguilera Will Perform at VMAs

• Britney Spears To Open MTV’s VMAs In Non-Performance Role

• Kid Rock To Perform At VMAs Despite Last Year’s Fisticuffs

• More VMA News at Rock Daily

Photo: Getty

• Alice In Chains plan to enter the studio in October to begin work on their first album of new material with vocalist William DuVall, who replaced the late Layne Staley.
• Inspired by how Radiohead’s In Rainbows changed the traditional business model, Sicko director Michael Moore will make his new film Slacker Uprising available as a free download starting September 23rd.
• The Mars Volta, N.E.R.D, TV On The Radio and the Butthole Surfers have been added to this year’s Voodoo Experience, taking place October 24-26 in New Orleans. R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots will headline.
• Metallica is now streaming six songs from their upcoming Death Magnetic, out one week from today.

Photo: Getty

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has the nickname “Barracuda,” which inspired the use of the Heart song of the same name during Palin’s speech at the RNC on Wednesday night. Heart sent out a statement Thursday afternoon announcing they had sent a cease-and-desist letter asking the campaign to stop using the song. “The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission. We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.” Their wishes were not honored, as after John McCain’s RNC-ending speech last night, Palin joined him onstage to the sound of “Barracuda.” This set off Nancy Wilson, who told EW.com “I think it’s completely unfair to be so misrepresented. I feel completely fucked over.” Soon after, they issued another, more scathing statement:

“Sarah Palin’s views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image. The song ‘Barracuda’ was written in the late ’70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The ‘barracuda’ represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there.”

Heart are the latest rockers to butt heads with whoever chooses John McCain’s musical selections. Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp and members of Boston have all lashed out at GOP candidates for using their music without permission.

Related Stories:

• Jackson Browne Sues John McCain Over Campaign Commercial

• John Mellencamp Asks McCain to Stop Using Tunes

• “More Than a Feeling” Writer Says Mike Huckabee Has Caused Him “Damage”

Photo: Getty

Last year, after given what he considered a second-rate slot by performing in a Palms’ suite instead of the VMA stage, Kanye West pledged never to return to the MTV VMAs. It turns out West will perform at the VMAs again, as MTV announced today that both West and Christina Aguilera were added to the award show’s performer roster. In the case of Aguilera, she’ll perform her old-school hit “Genie In A Bottle” in honor of the show’s 25th anniversary. The “Genie” will likely be the refurbished, rerecorded version of the song that will appear on Xtina’s upcoming Target-only greatest hits. As for West, if rumors of the rapper releasing a new song this weekend are true, it’s a safe bet that he’ll perform the rumored new track “Love Lockdown.” Kanye and Christina join Rihanna, Paramore, the Jonas Brothers, Pink, Kid Rock, T.I. and show opener Britney Spears. The Russell Brand-hosted ceremony, which we’ll be live-blogging, airs this Sunday night.

Related Stories:

• MTV Adds Rihanna, Pink and Paramore As VMA Performers

• VMAs Wrap-Up: Kanye’s Tantrum, Kid Rock’s Punch, Timberlake’s Pleas

• 2007 VMAs Live Blog: Britney and Loathing in Las Vegas

• More VMA News at Rock Daily

As a compendium to the current issue of Rolling Stone devoted to comedy, Peter Travers takes a look at the funny films he thinks were most overlooked by the Academy at Oscar time. Click below for his thoughts on gems like This is Spinal Tap, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Borat.

• Peter Travers Video Review: Underrated Comedies

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• Go Behind the New Issue: What’s So Funny?

• Russell Brand on VMAs, Smoking Crack

• More Peter Travers at the Travers Take

Hawthorne Heights schedule an autumn jaunt, Secret Machines go on tour to promote their new album Secret Machines and Wolf Parade continue to climb Mount Zoomer. Follow the jump for the full set of dates for each trek.

Hawthorne Heights
October 17 - St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre
October 19 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
October 20 - Tallahassee, FL @ Floyds Music Store
October 21 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
October 23 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
October 24 - Little Rock, AR @ Village Theater
October 25 - Frisco, TX @ Pizza Hut Park
October 26 - The Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pav
November 1 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
November 3 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Martini Ranch
November 6 - Bakersfield, CA @ The Dome
November 7 - Pomona, CA @ The Glasshouse Concert Hall
November 8 - House of Blues, West Hollywood, CA
November 9 - San Francisco, CA @ The Regency
November 10 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
November 11 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
November 13 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
November 15 - Des Moines, IA @ People’s Court
November 16 - St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
November 17 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
November 18 - Chicago, IL @ The Metro
November 20 - Detroit, MI @ St Andrews Hall
November 21 - Newport, KY @ The Southgate House
November 22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
November 23 - Hartford, CT @ Webster Theatre
November 24 - Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre
November 25 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
November 26 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance
November 28 - Towson, MD @ Recher Theatre
November 29 - Richmond, VA @ The National
November 30 - Norfolk, VA @ Norva

Secret Machines
October 16 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
October 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
October 18 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
October 20 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
October 21 - Montreal, QC @ Les Saints
October 22 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
October 24 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
October 25 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
October 27 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
October 28 - Aspen, CO @ Belly Up
October 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
November 1 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
November 3 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
November 5 - Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan
November 6 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
November 7 - Vancouver, BC @ Richards on Richards
November 9 – Calgary, AB @ SAIT Polytechnic
November 10 - Saskatoon, SK@ Louis’ Pub
November 11 – Winnipeg @ Pyramid Cabaret
November 14 - London, ON @ Call The Office
November 15 - Ottawa, ON @ Babylon

Wolf Parade
November 1 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
November 2 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
November 3 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
November 5 - Tulsa, OH @ Marquee
November 6 - Little Rock, AR @ Revolution Music Room
November 7 - Columbia, MO @ Blue Note
November 8 - St. Louis, MO @ Gargoyle
November 10 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
November 11 - Indianapolis, IN @ Vogue
November 12 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House
November 13 - State College, PA @ State Theatre
November 14 - Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theater

Photo: Buckner/Getty

Is Kanye West releasing a new album in December? That’s the buzz on the blogosphere today. According to a few sources, Kanye West is planning on dropping the album’s first single, dubbed “Love Lockdown,” on iTunes on Monday, September 8th. Speculation has West releasing his new album at some point in December. West’s follow-up to 2007’s Graduation wasn’t expected until next year. Rumors of West’s sneaky release have also spread among the hip-hop blog community. The same sources MTV’s UK branch that Jay-Z is planning a similar maneuver, with the proper release of the already-leaked “Swagger Like Us” hitting iTunes this coming Saturday and the album, most likely Blueprint 3 coming in December as well. As of right now, iTunes hasn’t listed either song by Kanye or Jay-Z.

Relatd Stories:

• Jay-Z Previews New Oasis-Inspired Track at Kanye West’s MSG Show

• Even Without Obama, Kanye West Reclaims Chicago and Lollapalooza

• Jay-Z, U2, Metallica Lead Big Fall Album Release Slate

On September 23rd, TV On the Radio will return with Dear Science, the group’s follow-up to their breakthrough record Return To Cookie Mountain. Rolling Stone caught up with the band to talk about the making of the new disc, why the group set out to make a more dancier, upbeat album than the doom-and-gloom mood of Cookie Mountain and some of the ridiculous alternate titles that the group batted around.

Your new record Dear Science has a much cleaner vibe than the industrial mood of Return to Cookie Mountain. What ideas did you guys have when you set out to make this record?
Tunde Adebimpe: Well, I think going into it, we always try to come to recording pretty fresh and the time that we have off from touring, everybody kind of goes back into their cave and makes some demos. This time the only thing that got tossed around loosely was that everybody wanted to make a dance record, or at least our version of a dance record. The songs that got brought in kind of ended up being that way. We’re not as murky as we had been before. I like it when I go to a concert and I get lost in a group of people who are just dancing as if they were in a club. It’s more about a collective experience instead of a passive observational thing.
Dave Sitek: These songs are just cleaner and punchier. With this record, we faded out the question mark and faded in the exclamation point.

How many songs did you prepare?
TA: When we started this record we probably had about 32 or 33 songs in demo form that were brought in, and then we kept whittling that down to fourteen or so that ended up on the record.

Any plans to release the leftover demos?
DS: We have hard drives full of stuff. We recorded 26 songs for the record and we only really finished 13. We’ll put them out when we’re all in tax trouble. Who knows?

What’s the title refer to?
TA: Dave had written this letter addressed to science in kind of a kid’s handwriting and it said, “Dear Science, please fix all the things you keep talking about or shut the fuck up.” And that ended up in the washer when we were picking titles. I think we’re going to post all of the titles, because while we were recording the record, everyone would give their two cents as to what the title should be. There’s a long, long list of horrible titles. Dear Science is probably the most tasteful of all of those.

What other titles were kicked around?
TA: Black Versus French Fries in the Battle For The Delicious Universe and Thick as Chicken Feed. There were several food related ones and they were just horrible. When you open the floodgates for ridiculousness, you get a little bit too ridiculous.

One of the best songs on the record is “Lover’s Day,” which explicity deals with having sex. Who is the lucky recipient?
Kyp Malone: I wrote it specifically to be a gender-neutral, sex-positive love song so anyone can apply it any aspect of life. But any time my daughter hears it, she says, “That’s for Jessie.” She’s my girlfriend. Sex is the spice of life, you know. It’s how we all got here. A lot of songs that are sex positive are very predatory — it’s within the binary of gender politics. That’s boring to me. It’s not reflective of the world we live in.

Did your decision to move away from the gloomy atmospheric jams on Return To Cookie Mountain towards more dancier, upbeat tracks have anything to do with the impending end of the Bush regime?
TA: I personally think it’s a cause for celebration. If anyone would like to use the soundtrack for that, please blast it on 11.

Dave, you are known for using unconventional recording techniques as a producer. What did you experiment with this time around?
DS: There were times when I set up a shitty 1980s Sharp home stereo out in the hallway and then a microphone clear at the other end, and I blasted the song out of the shitty home stereo and recorded it through the home stereo. There was a lot of that kind of tomfoolery.

For your last record, you smoked copious amounts of weed for inspiration. How many bowls a day for Dear, Science?
DS: I’d say probably slightly less than Return to Cookie Mountain. I’m in my thirties, you know. I’m slowing down.

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• First Listen: TV on the Radio’s Dear Science

• TV On the Radio Team Up With The Roots For Civil Rights Doc Soundtrack

• Album Review: TV On the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain