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Controversy magnet and infrequent musician Courtney Love is being sued again, this time to the tune of a almost a million dollars. According to an Associated Press report, the management and accounting firm London & Co. is alleging that Love broke an oral contract promising the firm 5% of her earnings and those of her company, The End of Music. (The End of Music was established in order to manage the intellectual property of Love's late husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.)

The AP reports that London & Co. claim the 2007 sale of a portion Nirvana's publishing catalog that netted Love $19.5 million dollars would've earned the firm $975,000.

Reminds me of that time in college I sold my copy of From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah for beerbook money. And I didn't get enough back then, either!

In a related story, when two magnets of the same pole come together, things like this always happen.

Way the hell back in November 2006, you may recall us running an item about Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand laying an exclusive song called "Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow" on the soundtrack to David Mackenzie's film Hallam Foe.

Well hey, that jam and the soundtrack it's featured on-- which also includes tunes from a ton of Franz's fellow Domino artists-- will finally be released via Domino in the States on September 9. Woo!

However, something to note: in every other country in the world, the film is called Hallam Foe, seeing as it's based on Peter Jinks' novel of the same title, and Hallam is the main character's first name. In the U.S., however, where the film will be released September 5? They're calling it Mister Foe. Makes you proud, don't it?

Bouncy Wilmington, Delaware popsters the Spinto Band have signed on with Park the Van Records for the release of their first album in three years, Moonwink.

The follow-up to their 2005 breakthrough Nice and Nicely Done, the disc is due October 7 in CD, vinyl, and digital download formats. In a helpful move, the vinyl will come with a CD, and the digital release will come with bonus tracks. And, if you happen upon one of the select indie retailers offering up a free 7" along with the purchase of Moonwink, you'd be awfully lucky, wouldn't you?

The Spintos are currently in the middle of a Thursday night residency at Brooklyn's Union Hall, which continues through August 7. A full-on tour is currently in the works.

Not to be outdone by Axl Rose's hints at releasing Chinese Democracy this fall, Dr. Dre recently told USA Today [via Rollingstone.com] that he is "shooting for a November or December release" for his own oft-delayed masterwork, Detox. However, he preceded the statement by saying "in a perfect world," so let's not hold our breath here, people.

"I'm just now-- over the last couple of months-- starting to feel that it's going to be right and it's something I can be proud of, and everybody is going to love it," Dre said to USA Today.

Dre also said Detox's beats consist of a lot of live drums and that "usual suspects" such as Nas, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne will make guest appearances.

Whenever it happens, Detox will come out on Dre's own Aftermath/Interscope label.

After the record is released (if ever), the rapper/producer told USA Today that he'd like to find the next artist he can launch into the pop stratosphere, as he did with Eminem and 50 Cent (and kind of Snoop Dogg). "All I want to do is sit in the studio with that person for a year and try to create another masterpiece," he said.

In more definite Dr. Dre release news, the producer has teamed with Interscope/Geffen/A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine and a/v company Monster to release his own brand of "high definition powered isolation headphones," according to a press release.

The phones [pictured below] are called "Beats by Dr. Dre" and will be sold exclusively via Apple, Best Buy, and online starting July 25.

The price tag on the headphones is just shy of $350, but um...maybe Dr. Dre can sell you:

"Artists and producers work hard in the studio perfecting their sound, but people can't really hear it with normal headphones. Most headphones can't handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line: the music doesn't move you. With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear and listen to the music the way they should-- the way I do."

If all his lyrical ruminations on the subject weren't evidence enough, Mark Kozelek doesn't mind the open road too terribly much. The travel-happy troubadour's got dates aplenty lined up both under his own name, and with Sun Kil Moon. He embarks on a solo trip Down Under later this week.

And, should your procilivity for wandering not necessarily match ol' Mark's, you could grab yourself a play-at-home copy of 7 Songs Belfast, recorded at a solo stop last October in you-know-where. The disc is available for free, should you order some stuff from the webshop of Mark's label Caldo Verde (provided that stuff isn't the recent Night of Passed Over lyric book or any tour posters). If you don't mind holding out, the set will be available for purchase digitally through the label website starting September 1.

Finally, Kozelek is currently auctioning off five of his guitars to benefit the American Red Cross' disaster relief efforts for those affected by the recent Midwest flooding. Go here to place your bids, but act fast! The auctions close on July 27.

Though Wolf Parade may march on through the early August, Spencer Krug will soldier forth in late summer and early fall with his other band, Sunset Rubdown. Krug and company have a couple mid-September dates, with things really picking up toward the end of the month. Supporting acts will be announced later, but, hey, who wouldn't want to lend a hand to something called Sunset Rubdown? (Sorry.)

Is It the Sea? No sir. It's the new live album from Bonnie "Prince" Billy, captured at an Edinburgh, Scotland gig in spring 2006. The set features Mr. Billy-- or is it Mr. Oldham?-- backed by local musicians Harem Scarem and Alex Neilson, and finds him rolling over many highlights of his sizable back catalog.

Is It the Sea? is due in the UK October 20 on CD, double LP and digital download from Domino. Bonnie "Prince" Billy's North American label Drag City has no definite plans to release Is It the Sea? on our side of the pond just yet, though.

Oldham will bring himself to a field in Jeffersontown, Kentucky on July 26. For a performance, we're assured. Then in October, he has a brief Spanish tour scheduled with the Oldham Brothers.

Looking for an opera album to wedge between your mom's Josh Groban collection and your dad's Andrea Bocelli discography on the family CD shelf? Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have got you covered. The Gorillaz masterminds will release the soundtrack to "Monkey: Journey to the West"-- Albarn's "circus opera" collaboration with visual artist Jamie Hewlett-- via XL this summer in the UK and this fall in North America.

The album will be released under the title Journey to the West, with the artist's name listed as Monkey. According to a press release, the opera tells the story of "the Monkey King's journey to enlightenment as it takes him undersea, to decadent banquets in heaven, through encounters with Spider Maidens and Skeleton Demons, and eventually to paradise." Albarn produced the album, and its lyrics are entirely in Mandarin.

XL's release of the album will be digital and on CD. Vinyl Factory Ltd. is handling the release of a vinyl box set via the "Monkey: Journey to the West" website. It features etched heavyweight vinyl, a poster by Hewlett, a 60-page booklet, and comes housed in a handmade box.

The live version of "Monkey: Journey to the West" will make its London debut at the Royal Opera House tonight, July 23. It runs through Saturday, July 26.

Albarn and Hewlett are already hard at work on their next collaboration, a project for film and stage called "Carousel", according to an Observer interview with Hewlett [via NME.com].

Hewlett spilled the following to The Observer about "Carousel":

"I can't say much about it yet, but it's sort of like a film, but not with one narrative story. There's many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles... Originally it was a film, but now we think it's a film and it's a stage thing as well... It's basically us doing what the fuck we want without worrying about whether it's for a record company or a film company or whatever. So I'm not sure how it'll pan out, or even if it will happen. But Damon's written around 70 songs for it, and I've got great plans for the visuals, but right now, at this moment, it's still just a really good idea."

And if you're watching the BBC's coverage of the Olympics this August, you're going to be seeing a lot of Gorillaz.

Fun fact about the Dead Sea: it has a lot of salt and stuff.

Fun fact about the Dead C: the Earth has circled the Sun some five times since the long-running experimental New Zealand combo last toured the U.S., and 13 times since their most recent visit to the East Coast.

That all changes this October, as the Dead C have announced a brief Stateside visit, kicking off in Philly on the 12th and wrapping just a few days later in the Chi. All kinds of noiseniks and other weirdos are coming out of the woodwork to support the Dead C on this trek, including Thurston Moore's Northampton Wools project, Wolf Eyes, Six Organs of Admittance, and Sightings.

So what's the occasion for this rare overseas voyage? Why, a new Dead C record, naturally. Secret Earth packs in four presumably long tracks and arrives October 14 on CD and vinyl thanks to Ba Da Bing.

But that's not all! Ba Da Bing is also teaming with Jagjaguwar to reissue on vinyl a pair of Dead C classics originally released by New Zealand's legendary Flying Nun label (the Clean, the Chills, the Bats, the Verlaines, etc). Eusa Kills and DR503 are due to hit shelves in mid-fall in double-LP form, and each packs in the extras. The former boasts a pair of cuts from the "Helen Said This" 12", while the latter crams in six jams off the The Sun Stabbed EP.

But wait, there's more! When the Dead C barnstorm the States this fall, they'll have with them a new, limited edition, tour-only 12". Take that, giant pool of brackish water.

Photo by Chrissy Piper

A quick search of the archives of Mountain Goats songwriter John Darnielle's exquisite Last Plane to Jakarta blog turns up four separate morsels of praise for songsmithing guitar whiz Kaki King. And, in an announcement of the Goats/Kaki "The Last Happy Night of Your Life" tour on the Mountain Goats website, John waxes ecstatic again, calling King "one of the most gifted artists alive," before noting "when I try to talk about Kaki my usually reliable fund of superlatives seems insufficient." I dunno, seems like you've nailed it already, dude.

The Mountain Goats and Kaki King will embark on a monthlong U.S. tour this fall, which kicks off October 13 in Chicago. Before setting off with Ms. King, the Mountain Goats have a few gigs beforehand, including a Darnielle solo set in Durham, North Carolina early next month, and a pair of UK dates in the middle of September.