· This Tuesday brings the soundtrack from Holes, one of the season's most anticipated films, with new music from The Eels and a disco-ball salute to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" by Stephanie Bentley. While aimed at the teen market, the 1999 Newbery Award-winning novel by Louis Sachar might be one of the freshest plots to knock on Hollywood's door in ages. What's not to love about Sigourney Weaver with long red fingernails dipped in snake venom? The Walt Disney Records release also features tracks from Moby, Little Axe, Eagle-Eye Cherry, and Dr. John.

· Also in soundtrack news, both Sting and Elvis Costello are contributing new tracks to the upcoming Cold Mountain, starring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and - dig this - Jack White of White Stripes. The CD will bear the artist-friendly DMZ/Columbia Records imprint helmed by producer T Bone Burnett and features music from the Civil War era.

· Arty guitar grinders The Dandy Warhols are tipping their literary hats next month with the release of the new album Welcome to the Monkey House. With guests Nile Rodgers of Chic and Duran Duran's Simon LeBon, the CD's title comes from a 1968 short-story collection by Kurt Vonnegut. Look for the band to tour in July.

· Fans of the Flaming Lips can start smackin' their own puckers in anticipation of Flight Test, a new EP featuring a rare CD-ROM video and must-hear covers. As the next single from the group's latest album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the CD's bonus materials include the "Flight Test" video, the theatrical preview trailer for the work-in-progress film Christmas on Mars, and two new songs. The cover selections are just as tasty, with their Oklahoma-dust-and-glue twists on Beck's "The Golden Age," Radiohead's "Knives Out," and Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head." Look for the Warner Bros. release to hit store shelves April 22. The Flaming Lips are also on board for this summer's most anticipated outdoor experience, the weekend-long Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee. If you can still score a ticket for the June 13-15 event, bring your tent to this 600-acre farm south of Nashville and experience the magic. Other headliners include Neil Young & Crazy Horse, James Brown, Ben Harper, G. Love & Special Sauce, Galactic, Spearhead, Widespread Panic, Mike Gordon of Phish, Leo Kottke, and Emmylou Harris.

· One of the most wonderful compilations to cross my desk recently is Normal/QDK Media's release of Love, Peace & Poetry: Brazilian Psychedelic Music, a 19-track collection of outrageously rare outlaw music from the 1960s. When Brazil's repressive military dictatorship was capping the lid on the culture, from the other end of the tube squeezed out a psychedelic renaissance in the Sao Paula region. These recordings are fresh, sizzling, and soulful, proof positive that the psychedelic wanderings of the era channeled a worldwide brotherhood of man. Do I know what Os Lobos (The Wolves) and O Bando (The Flock) are singing about? No, but it's kind of neat to let the vocal become just one more instrument rising and climbing, lost in the funky haze of pharmaceuticals, rock, tropicalia, jazz, and Eastern influences. Highly recommended.

Television Alert:

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Boomkat on Friday, Kelly Clarkson on Monday, and Maria McKee on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Lisa Marie Presley tonight and Pete Yorn on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features Sahara Hotnights on Thursday overnight, Joe Jackson on Friday overnight, and Coldplay on Tuesday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly gets moody with Sigur Ros on Monday overnight and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on Tuesday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is Zwan.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, April 15:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change

Ryan Adams - Music in High Places: Live in Jamaica! (Image) combining travel, island history, and acoustic jamming

Janet Bean & The Concertina Wire - Dragging Wonder Lake (Thrill Jockey) featuring smoky steel guitarist Jon Speigel, this excellent laid-back and melodic songcraft from the Freakwater and Eleventh Dream Day founder is reminiscent of the classic Laurel Canyon, California, sound of the 1970s

Black Eyes - Black Eyes (Dischord) full-length debut of adventurous noise built by two drummers, two bass players, and hyper-squawk guitar

Cobra Verde - Easy Listening (Muscle Tone)

The Cramps - Fiends of Dope Island (Vengeance)

El Guapo - Fake French (Dischord) perky electronica influenced by the Gang of Four, DEVO, and Kraftwerk

Elvish Presley - Black Elf Speaks (Bulb) can you say Hobbit rock?

Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will (Reprise) with guest Sheryl Crow

Flipper - Live At CBGB's 1983 (Overground)

Lisa Germano - Lullaby for Liquid Pig (iMUSIC/Artist Direct) with guests Wendy Melvoin, Neil Finn and Johnny Marr

I Mother Earth - The Quicksilver Meat Dream (Universal Canada)

The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Songs (Lost Highway) new acoustic studio album with guests Jakob Dylan and Matthew Sweet

The Marlboro Chorus - Good Luck (Future Appletree)

MC Lyte - Da Underground: Heat Volume 1 (Artist Direct)

Mellowdrone - A Demonstration of Intellectual Property (iMUSIC)

Mott the Hoople - The Best of Mott the Hoople (Columbia Legacy) new collection featuring two bonus tracks, one a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane"

Plus/Minus - Holding Pattern (Teenbeat) new from James Baluyet and Patrick Ramos of Versus

Spirit - The Best of Spirit (Epic Legacy) 16-track retrospective

Sterling - Sterling (File 13) instrumental rock from Chicago

Uncle Tupelo - No Depression, Still Feel Gone, and March 16-20, 1992 (Columbia Legacy) CD re-issues with bonus tracks

Whirlwind Heat - Do Rabbits Wonder? (Third Man/V2) produced by Jack White of the White Stripes

Danny Wood - Second Face (Empire/BMG) new solo album from the former New Kid on the Block

ZZ Top - Mescalero (RCA)

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