Random news bites from the last several days (excluding anything about Michael Jackson … well, mostly).

Regina Spektor’s new album, far, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 this week and the lovely Russian-born songstress is scheduled to perform on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Thursday, July 30. Slipping to the No. 2 spot this week are the Jonas Brothers with Vines And Trying Times, which held last week’s No. 1 position. Black Eyed Peas have moved to the top of the charts with The E.N.D. And in case you BEP fans were worried, the title doesn’t foreshadow the band’s immenint break-up, but stands for “The Energy Never Dies.” Clever.

Seattle grunge metal makers Alice in Chains have confirmed the dates of their upcoming world tour, sans lead voice Layne Staley, who, if you recall, faded away into reclusivity before he speedballed to his death in 2002. The tour supports the band’s first new studio release in more than 10 years, Black Gives Way to Blue (in stores September 29). The first single, “A Looking View,” is currently streaming on their MySpace page and definitely has the feel of classic Alice in Chains, complete with the hard-meets-soft harmonies by vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrel and Staley replacement, vocalist/guitarist William Duvall. Here’s a statement the band released about the new song: “The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger world. I think this is common to us all. It’s funny how hard we fight to hang on to a bone we can’t pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to put down the bag of bricks and move on.” Current confirmed U.S. stops include Detroit, DC, Chicago, NYC, Milwaukee, Portland and San Francisco. No telling whether the tour will bring them to Florida.

San Francisco indie rock duo The Dodos (pictured) are set to release their third album, Time To Die, via Frenchkiss on September 15. Produced by Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Fleet Foxes, The Shins), the album is marked by the band’s key instrumental elements — the energetic percussion of Logan Kroeber and the finger-picking acoustic guitar work of frontman Meric Long — with extra texture created by Keaton Snyder on vibraphone. The Dodos will embark hit the road this September and October, making stops in Tallahassee on Tuesday, October 6 at the Club Downunder, and in Atlanta Wednesday, October 7 at The Earl.

American-Australian multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter John Butler has returned with an all-new trio and a forthcoming album featuring the fresh lineup, which includes two Aussie natives: drummer/percusionist Nicky Bomba and bass player Byron Luiters. The John Butler Trio is not coming to a venue anywhere near you, but watch out for the new album. Butler’s a pretty great songsmith.

Jeff Tweedy has always gotten under my skin. As much as I like Wilco’s music, the frontman makes headlines far too often for some asshole maneuver — like when he punched an over-rowdy fans in the face when a simple “Get the fuck off my stage” would’ve sufficed — and he oftentimes comes off as a total dick and says mean things he can’t take back. The latest was the sort of stereotypical ugliness you’d expect towards the hippies of San Francisco. After his son Spencer went shopping in Berkeley and returned dressed head-to-toe in tie-dye, Tweedy reportedly cried, “Look what you’ve done to my son, you dirty hippies!” Then, to his son, he yelled, “Now go take a bath.” What a classy guy!

All right, I know I promised no Michael Jackson news, but I just had to share this little tidbit: Jermaine Jackson, Michael’s far less successful older bro, has followed the path of the rest of the family and made a statement. “”He went too soon. I don’t know how people are going to take this, but I wish it was me.” What I want to know is, when did Jermaine lose his sense of self-worth? Poor guy.

Oklahoma is cooler than Florida! At least as far as official state rock songs are concerned. Residents declared The Flaming Lips‘ “Do You Realize?” the rock anthem of Oklahoma via an online vote. However, the Oklahoma state House rejected the resolution. Some representatives, inclined against all things cool, protested the vote, citing the band’s profanity and provocative wardrobe. A bandmember once wore a hammer & sickle t-shirt? Say it ain’t so! When all was thought lost, Gov. Brad Henry, part-time rock savior, overruled the legislature via executive order and threw his support behind the people’s choice. Oklahoma is now cool despite the best efforts of certain politicians. As for the Lips (pictured right), they are currently prepping a double album.

Joey Ramone passed away back in 2001, but his family still throws the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash to raise money for the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research. In addition to sets by Fishbone and Supersuckers, this year’s show will feature a listening party of previously unheard Joey Ramone demos and rough mixes.

(Nick Cave’s Gladiator sequel, reissues from R.E.M. and Stone Roses, and more after the jump!)

True story: The Guardian reveals Russell Crowe asked Nick Cave to write a sequel to Gladiator.  But Hollywood would never make a film this ridiculous awesome.

One of Radiohead’s managers admits to advising the band to split prior to In Rainbows, because “two years after leaving EMI Radiohead were still no closer to recording an album.” Thank fuck bands don’t always listen to management.

R.E.M. fans should scoop up the Reckoning deluxe reissue on June 23. The set features re-mastered audio and a full-length concert from 1984 aired on a Chicago radio station; 180g vinyl of both Reckoning and the already available Murmur hit stores the same day.

More reissue goodness: The Stone Roses‘ debut gets 20th anniversary treatment on August 11. Much like the recent Pearl Jam Ten set, there are a variety of choices ranging from just the remastered album to a 3-LP “Collectors Edition” that also features a lemon-shaped USB drive.

Alice In Chains signed a record deal with Virgin/EMI. No, this is not a repeat from 1988. Unless zombie Layne Staley stops them, expect a new album with their new singer (pictured left) this fall.

So Apple will sell explicit Nine Inch Nails albums on iTunes, but they won’t update the NIN Access iPhone app due to objectional material? Trent Reznor called out Apple, and they relented.

Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell tore a calf muscle in Atlanta on Sunday. Thankfully, he was at 100 percent for last Saturday’s show at the Ford Amphitheatre.  Doctors want him to rest, but he’ll keep the tour going as scheduled.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones reunion started with sporadic concerts and picked up steam from there. Shows led to tours, writing songs led to a new 7″, and now the band will hit the studio this summer for their first new full-length since 2002.

If you bought any of the Sonic Youth gear stolen back in ‘99 and return it, maybe you’ll get lifetime guestlist privileges for their concerts … just like this guy.

Scary consequences of the current music business climate: when pressing plants like 33 1/3 go bankrupt, venerable indie labels like Matador come thisclose to losing tons of masters! Thankfully, everything turned out okay.

In response to Leilani’s “Top 10 Stupid Band Names,” I’d like to point out that, yes, not only are some band names stupid, or bad - sometimes they’re downright stolen.

We’ve all sat around stoned, drunk (even sober) and thought up – or accidentally stumbled upon - the next greatest band name EVER. There’s got to be a list of those names somewhere, right? I seem to remember someone saying, “We’ve got to write that one down!” 

There are plenty of band names inspired by literate source material or that just make sense (Steely Dan, named after a dildo in William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch or The L.A. Guns and Hollywood Roses combining to form Guns and Roses). But to lift the name of your group straight out of another artist’s catalog instead of establishing a new identity for your sound, your band, your business? It’s like starting up a fast food chain and calling it “Big Mac’s.”

As my wife pointed out, the only time a tribute should be paid to a band’s song is when you’re actually paying tribute to that band – as is the case with “Paradise City: The Guns N Roses Tribute” or ”Strutter: The Ultimate Tribute to Kiss.”

Here’s my list of offenders (in order of offense taken):

1. Radiohead - (Radio Head, Talking Heads)

2. Uh Huh Her – (PJ Harvey, the name of an album – the title track was actually cut)

3. The Brief Candles – (The Zombies)

4. Boris – (Melvins)

5. Sisters of Mercy – (Leonard Cohen)

6. Rolling Stone(s) – (Muddy Waters)

7. Godsmack – (Alice in Chains)

8. Funeral for a Friend – (a multi-layered offense here - after Planes Mistaken for Stars’ song ”Funeral for a Friend” jacked from Elton John’s “Love Lies Bleeding/Funeral for a Friend.”)

9. Turns out I’m unwittingly guilty as well. My most recent group, Auditorium, could be accused of taking our name from the Guided by Voices song.

10. I want to hear from you – there have got to be more out there.