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.

Jeff Tweedy doesn’t sound any happier. I’ve always found the Wilco leader’s apparent discomfort in his own skin to be one of the reasons the band was capable of compelling music (although by no means always).

On “Solitaire,” one of the many somber, introspective tunes on Wilco’s self-titled seventh studio album, Tweedy sings in his trademark laconic style, “Once I thought without a doubt/ I had it all figured out/ The universe with hands unseen/ I was cold as gasoline/ Took too long, to see, I was wrong, to believe, in me/ Only.”

Does that suggest that Tweedy is now playing well with others? Or has he finally found the others that are willing to follow his vision. I’m guessing it’s the latter.

In any case, Wilco’s approach on the new album hews more closely to standard song structures than some of the avant-garde-leaning work of the past. Only a handful of songs really stick to your ribs, though, and only one will have you singing it in your head later. That would be “You Never Know,” the disc’s most energetic, uptempo tune, with swelling background vocals, a choppy piano part and a swooping guitar lick that calls to mind George Harrison’s breezier solo songs.

While the material comes up short on the catchiness scale, the guitar interplay between Tweedy and Nels Cline is full of imagination and beguiling texture: the theremin-like whistle on “Deeper Down,” the push into Neil Young-esque noise on “Bull Black Nova,” the razory slide on “Sonny Feeling” (the albums’ other sort-of-uptempo rocker), the pedal steel-style slurs that pop up throughout.

Tweedy surrounds the guitars with a mostly pastel backdrop that at turns includes tubular bells, organ, and the slightest splashes of strings and horns (to give the closer, “Everlasting Everything,” an epic crescendo).

In the end, Wilco is a worthy entry into their canon, but certainly not a classic. (Nonesuch)

“You and I” featuring Feist