May 12, 2006 5:53 PM

Ozzy, a New Outkast Album, Bono and More

OZZY OSBOURNE -- who has helmed the main stage at his namesake festival each summer for a decade -- will make his second-stage headlining debut in San Bernadino, California on July 8th and will take the main stage only at nine of the festival's twenty-six shows. In a post on his Web site the notorious rocker said, "I think it's time for a change. I haven't had a chance to play this close to an audience in years, and I'm looking forward to it." Ozzy will grace the main stage for the last time this summer on August 8th in Bristow, Virginia . . . In other Ozzfest news, outspoken metal rockers SYSTEM OF A DOWN will go on hiatus after this summer's headlining stint. "We've done System for over 10 years, and I think it's healthy for us to get away from it for a while and come back to it later on," frontman DARON MALAKIAN said in a statement last week. "It's not a farewell tour, but it's going to be a little while before we go out again."

Bono Plans a Different Tour

BONO departs on a ten-day trip to Africa next Tuesday, where he will see first-hand the effects of his debt relief campaign for the continent. The U2 frontman will assess poverty and disease in Lesotho, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Mali and Ghana. Bono's philanthropic campaign -- including the spearheading of last summer's worldwide Live 8 concerts and the ONE campaign -- paid off last June when G8 finance ministers agreed to cancel the debts of eighteen economically-stagnant countries, including among them all but Lesotho on Bono's forthcoming African itinerary.

Outkast Announce Another Release Date of "Idlewild"

OUTKAST's long-awaited Idlewild soundtrack -- the follow-up to the Grammy-winning blockbuster Speakerboxxx/The Love Below -- drops on August 22nd. But the hip-hop duo -- Andre 3000 and Big Boi -- will also grace the big screen in the Bryan Barber-directed film of the same name, which is slated to hit theaters on August 25th. The flick, set in the Depression-era South, follows the story of a struggling musician (played by Andre 3000) and a lovable Lothario (Big Boi) and will feature background music like "The Train," "Idlewild Blues," "Foot on the Gas," "Cock-A-Doodle Do" and the recently leaked first single "Mighty O."

Bjork, Miles Reissued and Remastered

Remastered versions of BJORK's six studio albums and soundtrack for the Matthew Barney-directed fantasy flick Drawing Restraint 9 will be released in a dual-disc box set collection, dubbed Surrounded, on June 27th. Each album will feature surround sound remixing and videos for songs off each Bjork release. Surrounded will, however, put a fan back $129.98 . . . In other reissues, The MILES DAVIS QUINTET: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions, a three-disc box set of vintage material from the jazz ensemble -- trumpeter Davis, pianist RED GARLAND, bassist PAUL CHAMBERS, drummer PHILLY JOE JONES and saxophonist JOHN COLTRANE -- will be released on May 23rd.

Bloc Party Is Coming to America

BLOC PARTY -- set to headline both Toronto's Olympic Island festival and Chicago's Intonation Festival in June -- will return to the U.S. for a short late-summer run. Kicking off the run July 28th at Boston's Bank Pavilion with the London hipsters -- who are currently working on the follow-up to their 2005 debut Silent Alarm with producer JACKKNIFE LEE -- on select dates will be joined by psychedelic rockers SECRET MACHINES (July 28th in Boston and July 29th in Brooklyn, New York) and Canadian collective BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (August 3rd in Los Angeles and August 4th in Berkeley, California). Denmark's MEW are also on board for the entire two-week jaunt. Tickets go on sale beginning May 20th, while pre-sale tickets become available to the band's fan club, Marshals, on May 15th.

Former Destiny's Child Delays Album Release

KELLY ROWLAND's sophomore solo effort, originally pegged for a July release, will be held until early 2007. The move is reportedly a result of the marketing strategy for My Story: Kelly Rowland, the follow-up to 2002's Simply Deep. Keeping busy in the meantime, Rowland will head for Atlanta on May 13th to kick off the five-city Soft-Sheen-Carson/Vixen Model Search for women of color.

Hot Hot Heat Steam Up Web Site

HOT HOT HEAT are heading back to the studio this week in their Vancouver, British Columbia hometown to finish work on their new studio album and follow-up to 2005's Elevator, with new guitarist LUKE PAQUIN. The band will preview their new material, some fifteen plus songs, via videotaped studio sessions appearing on their Web site (www.hothotheat.com) at the end of each week.

More and More and More Festivals

TREY ANASTASIO and MIKE GORDON have been added to the line-up of the 10th annual All Good Music Festival, set for July 14th through the 16th in Masontown, West Virginia. The former PHISH bandmates join a line-up that includes the BLACK CROWES, WEEN, LES CLAYPOOL, ROBERT RANDOLPH and the DISCO BISCUITS . . . In other Disco Biscuits news, the Philly-based jam band will host their fifth Camp Bisco. The annual weekend-long summer festival will be held this year for the first time at Hunter Mountain in New York's Catskills, on August 25th and 26th. This year's Camp Bisco will sport nearly twenty bands (to be announced in the coming weeks) on two stages, with the Disco Biscuits headlining two sets per night, as well as a late-night dance hall that will bump until 4 a.m.

Jeezy, Wall Perform for Community Service Volunteers

Southern-bred rappers YOUNG JEEZY and PAUL WALL will bring their rhymes back home this summer when they headline a concert for young community service volunteers on June 16th at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. ATL native Jeezy and Houston homeboy Wall -- who performed at a volunteer-only Radio City Music Hall show last year -- will perform for local Samaritans who volunteered four hours of community service through Boost Mobile Rock Corps -- a national volunteerism movement -- in exchange for tickets.

Paul Simon Throws a Summer "Surprise"

PAUL SIMON will embark on a month-long summer tour in support of his latest BRIAN ENO-produced album, Surprise, released earlier this week. Simon hit the road in the summer of 2001 with BEACH BOYS mastermind BRIAN WILSON and reunited on the road with his Sixties songwriting partner ART GARFUNKEL in 2003 and 2004. The Surprise tour, which launches July 1st at Milwaukee's annual Summerfest music marathon, will be Simon's first solo tour in North America since his 2001 jaunt in support of You're the One.

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