Music news, album reviews and release dates, updated frequently

Singer/actress Charlotte Gainsbourg is recovering after undergoing emergency brain surgery to fix a small hemorrhage.

Rappers 50 Cent and Kanye West are not just doing battle in record stores this week (each with much-hyped new albums). The pair will also face off in a presidential-style debate on cable network BET on Tuesday night.

R&B singer R. Kelly’s trial on charges related to child pornography has been delayed once again, from September 17th until the spring of 2008. Foxy Brown, on the other hand, had no such luck: she’s headed to jail for a year on a probation violation after fighting with two New York manicurists. And Kid Rock faces up to six months in jail for fighting rocker Tommy Lee behind the scenes at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards.

Speaking of justice, and the VMA’s, electronic duo Justice did not take home any awards at last night’s VMA ceremony. Neither did Kanye West, despite being nominated five times. He wasn’t too happy about that. Justin Timberlake and Rihanna each won twice.

It’s the prize that really pays off: The Klaxons‘ Mercury Music Prize win last week has driven sales of their album (”Myths of the Near Future”) up close to 500% in the UK. The band is about to begin writing their second album.

The on-again, off-again reunion of all four Blur members in the recording studio is apparently on again, with bassist Alex James telling NME that guitarist Graham Coxon will rejoin the other three members in the studio next month. If they do, the band will be working on their first album since 2003’s “Think Tank” (which did not include Coxon).

Also headed back to the studio this fall: No Doubt, who reportedly will be returning to a ska-flavored sound.

With the royalty rate for internet radio set to increase on Sunday, the future looked grim for internet broadcasters, especially when a federal appeals court blocked a last-minute request for a postponement. But then came word that SoundExchange, the organization responsible for setting rates and collecting royalties, would not enforce the higher rates and would instead negotiate with internet broadcasters to set a lower, fairer rate. It looks like your lobbying worked.

Rolling Stone has a preview of “Rock Band,” one of the more popular games previewed at this year’s scaled-down E3 videogame conference. Unlike “Guitar Hero,” the new game requires players to handle multiple “instruments” in the form of special controllers, which are used to play along with real songs from real bands. IGN also has a full roundup of Rock Band news for those who have some spare time.

As previously reported, Live Earth performed poorly as a television event, but it turns out that was misleading: people are simply watching the performances online.

Fresh off his performance as the voice of Lil’ Donald Rumsfeld in Comedy Central’s “Lil’ Bush,” rocker Iggy Pop is set to lend his throat to another animated project: a big-screen adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir “Persepolis.”

Britney Spears has apparently interviewed for a position as a cocktail waitress at the Hollywood club Les Deux. Even she must think that her upcoming album (reportedly coming at Christmastime) will be a flop.

Warner Music Group was given additional time to make a bid for rival EMI when Terra Firma, the private equity firm bidding to buy EMI, extended its offer from today to July 19th. EMI shareholders so far have been reluctant to approve the existing bid.

NME reports that Britpop legends Blur may be heading into a studio together as a four-piece once again in September, with guitarist Graham Coxon returning to the fold. Then again, maybe they won’t.

Janet Jackson has signed a new contract with Island Def Jam (also home to her boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri), and may have an album for them ready to go as soon as late 2007. She was formerly with Virgin.

Los Angeles filmmakers Eric Green and Sarah Ogletree are nearing completion of a documentary about the shoegaze movement, reports Pitchfork. The film will include interviews with Kevin Shields, Robin Guthrie, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Neil Halstead, and just about anyone even remotely connected to the genre.

What songs do radio listeners want to hear? Probably the same ones they are illegally downloading. That’s just one of several legitimate uses the music industry is finding for illegal file-sharing, says a report in today’s Wall Street Journal.