By Cara Alwill

Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has been enlisted by director and ex-boyfriend Spike Jonze to craft the soundtrack for the upcoming movie adaptation of the mysteriously whimsical book "Where the Wild Things Are."

With the help of her YYYs band mates Brian Chase and Nick Zinner, the singer has teamed up with fellow indie rockers from bands like the Raconteurs, Queens of the Stone Age and Deerhunter to deliver the album under the moniker Karen O and the Kids.

Karen O talked to MTV News UK last spring and discussed Jonze's desire to get her involved in the project. "I got involved because of Spike. I guess there is a childlike innocence about my music or my persona that he always just kind of dialed into," she said.

As for the sound, the Brooklyn native promises that the songs are raw and filled with heart. "I didn't want to make music that was hammering you over the head or go for some kind of pushbutton emotion," O says. "What I initially wanted to do was close to Cat Stevens in 'Harold & Maude' — really simple, but memorably and seamlessly woven into the movie." She's clearly enthusiastic about Jonze's work. "I think what he has accomplished with the film is basically the impossible," O said of the hotly-anticipated movie.

The first single, "All is Love," is scheduled for release on Tuesday. Fans can hear the album when it gets released on September 29, and the film hits theaters on October 16.

This place needs its own zip code. Really. It’s been a few years since I was at Lollapalooza, but this place qualifies as a small town within one of America’s biggest cities. Took a full half hour to walk the length of Grant Park this afternoon. Began the day with two sets from very different places, geographically and musically – conscience and hip-hop from Somali musician K’naan, followed by my brothers from the ATL, The Black Lips, delivering plenty of flower punk, and some gobs of spit.

(Watch our video interviews from Chicago, including chats with the Cool Kids and the Black Lips, and check back for more all weekend!)

Speaking of expectorate, you can’t spit at this place without hitting a beer stand. Bud Light everywhere you turn, plus there’s a beer garden this year with a ton of microbrews. Food is another matter. No, really. I hiked half a mile until I came across any food vendors. Very odd. Not sure if they are trying to keep the garbage in one place, but not a good move.

On my walk, I passed Perry’s – Perry Farrell’s dance tent in a grove. Very cool atmosphere – though this early in the day, and without the benefit of, you know, the state of mind that makes dance tents fly, it was a bit subdued. DJ Wally Joy on the ones and twos, and hanging from the trees there were day glo fabrics and spheres, from the man who gave you Porno for Pyros and ENIT. Once a trippy dude, always a trippy dude.

Did someone say trippy? Next on my journey, I encountered “Eat Your Own Spaceship,” a circus tent seemingly operated by none other than those creatures from another galaxy called Oklahoma, the Flaming Lips, who are screening their long-discussed film “Christmas on Mars” here at Lolla. The tent is surrounded by pics of the Lips, and written in Russian, a call to make weed weegal.

Finally, I found a vegan burrito (they are gonna starve these people) and now it’s off to an afternoon and evening chatting with Grizzly Bear, Duffy, CSS, the Raconteurs and more. No Radiohead interview, alas. Thom: If you are reading this, I will be on site till about 11 if you change your mind.

(Watch our video interviews from Chicago, including chats with the Cool Kids and the Black Lips, and check back for more all weekend!)

Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis is set to curate a new summer fest in...Pittsburgh?

The two-day New American Music Union will give attention to 15 new college bands -- and other little-known acts such as the Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley. The college acts taking part will also be judged (like "American Idol"!), with the winner given a full day of recording in a top LA studio for free. American Eagle, which is sponsoring the fest, will also promote the band's record in their stores.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

The lineup thus far -- including the college acts in competition -- after the jump. Read more...

This in from MTV News super-shooter Akshay Bhansali:

I just spent a rather bizarre weekend down in New Orleans. My dad serves on the board of directors of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the final weekend wrapped yesterday. It all started with a party at the family house, which involved consuming copious amounts duck po-boy, boudin balls, and soft-shell crawfish (yes, you can apparently soften more than just crab), and fixing Gwyneth Paltrow's mom’s cellphone(??). Blythe Danner is an incredibly cool woman!

After the party I cruised over to Frenchman Street in the Marigny to catch M.I.A. perform in a crazy steamy warehouse. The crowd hardly seemed to care about the heat -- when she opened her epic show with "Bamboo Banger," the room became pure, awesome chaos. Maya had Cherry, always at her side, onstage with her, and even her brother Sugu was hyping up the crowd! She ended with the album closer "Paper Planes," which not only puts a new spin on a Clash classic but works shockingly well in the “Pineapple Express” trailer, correct??

Pics from JazzFest -- and what M.I.A. reveals to Akshay backstage -- after the jump. Read more...

Trent Reznor is like a kid in a candy store -- one that only sells black licorice, sour-patch gummy razorblades, and bleeding eyeball bubblegum, but still. The Nine Inch Nails leader is once again celebrating his freedom from major-label shackles by following up the surprise release of his many-pronged Ghosts I-IV instrumental album with a new song, “Discipline."

The track was sent to radio stations around the world on Tuesday afternoon. And according to reports, the classic slab of NIN angst was mastered just one day before, further accelerating the musical arms race -- between acts like The Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley -- to get their music out while the master tapes are still warm.

A message posted this past Monday (which is now seemingly purged from the site) also hinted ominously at another surprise in “2 weeks.” This is similar to the message Reznor posted in February preceding the release of Ghost.

Oh, how does the song sound? Not bad. Could have been a Year Zero outtake.

It starts out with those robot drums and buzzing keyboards, and grows from a spare dirge into what threatens to be a full-on techno rocker -- before pulling back into a restrained boil as Reznor sings lyrics like “I’m losing touch/ Nothing matters to me/ Nothing matters as much.” Best line? “I need your discipline/ Because once I start, I cannot stop myself.” Which, if you’re a NIN fan (or maybe into S&M) sounds like seriously good news.

We’re not going to lie to you. We were kind of holding our breath when an early peek at the lineup for the seventh annual Austin City Limits Festival (September 26-28) mysteriously appeared in our inbox. Please don’t let it be Radiohead and Jack Johnson again -- please, please!

Prayers answered. The headliners for the way-diverse fest include:

Gnarls Barkley
N.E.R.D.
Beck
The Raconteurs
Foo Fighters
The Mars Volta
Erykah Badu
Against Me!
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Vampire Weekend
Yeasayer

Other highlights from the lineup after the jump. Read more...

The Raconteurs (i.e. Jack White with an actual band) kick off their tour esta noche in Nashville. Go watch them play. In case you haven't seen it, that's the video for "Salute Your Solution" up above -- it's the first single off their suddenly-dropped Consolers of the Lonely album.

Also, we’re into the band's totally lo-fi, Logo-era website. (Websites are places where you can find virtual information that you used to have to look for in zines.)

Dates -- some with the Black Lips and the Fiery Furnaces, who we also like -- after the jump. Read more...

So on Friday night, the folks at Lollapalooza were good enough to give us a sneak peek at their lineup for 2008. They even included the Totalitarian Art-y poster you see accompanying this blog entry. The basic understanding was that we were to wait on releasing the full lineup until we received the okay from them (that's called an "embargo" in the news business … or whatever it is we do). And that is where things got completely effed.

See, this morning we published an interview with Lollapalooza mastermind Perry Farrell, who was none too happy with Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis for leaking the Lolla headliners in a story he wrote on Friday. So during the course of our chat, Farrell called the famously cantankerous scribe "a stinker … a skunk at the party … Pepe LePew." This so angered DeRogatis that he decided to retaliate and post the entire festival lineup on his blog this morning (so much for that embargo).

Which means that our hand was pretty much forced. So, with all decorum thrown out the window, here's the full list of artists performing at Lollapalooza 2008 after the jump....

Read more...

The summer music festival circuit in the US is definitely hitting a fatigue moment, what with every little town organizing their own festivals and a handful of artists that seem to slut it up and play every single one. Which makes Lollapalooza, at least at this point, somewhat the victor. They seemed to have aggregated ALL the festival sluts into one place.

The lineup for the festival, to take place August 1-3 in Chicago, was supposed to be released to the media on Monday morning, but the headliners leaked last night, courtesy the Chicago Sun-Times. Even our cynical selves are impressed by the headliners: Radiohead, Kanye West, Rage Against The Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco and Gnarls Barkley.

Also on the bill for the three-day fest: The Raconteurs, Broken Social Scene, Blues Traveler, Mates of State, Bloc Party, Cat Power, Stephen Malkmus, the Black Keys, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, Kid Sister, the Cool Kids, the Office, and the Go! Team.

We can confirm all of these acts.

Advance tickets are still available for $190 at www.lollapalooza.com

The full lineup is still sequestered, and we'll have that for you on Monday, and over the weekend, we might possibly have festival organizer Perry Farrell weighing in on the whole thing.

Stay tuned.

The Raconteurs are going on tour in support of their new album, Consolers of the Lonely. Dates courtesy of our friends at Brooklyn Vegan:

April 14-15 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
April 20 Vancouver. BC @ Commodore Ballroom
April 21 Seattle, WA @ Neumo's
April 22 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
April 23 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
April 25 Indio, CA @ Coachella
April 26 Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
April 28 Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
April 29 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre
May 1 Dallas, Texas @ House of Blues
May 2-3 Austin, Texas @ Stubb's BBQ
May 4 New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
May 13 Manchester, Tennessee @ Bonnaroo (with Black Lips)
May 27 Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club (with Black Lips)
May 28 Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club (with Black Lips)
May 30 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (with Black Lips)
June 3 Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion (with Black Lips)
June 4 Montreal, QUE @ Metropolis (with Black Lips)
June 5 Toronto, ONT @ Ricoh Coliseum (with Black Lips)
June 7 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore (with Black Lips)
June 9 Columbus, OH @ LC Amphitheater (with Black Lips)
June 10 Cincinnati, OH @ National City Pavilion (with Black Lips)
June 12 St. Louis, MO @ Pageant (with Fiery Furnaces)
June 13 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival