DOWNLOADS

Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Hour
XM Satellite Radio (Leaked)
Call him a shock jock: It's downright stunning how perfect Bob Dylan is as a radio personality on this XM show (which has also been bootlegged on the Net). His speaking voice -- hoarse, scratchy and nasal but completely intelligible -- is as warm and atmospheric as the mostly old records he plays. Each episode has a theme -- the first is "weather" -- and Dylan's selections are impeccable, from a crazed, bongo-driven Judy Garland version of "Come Rain or Come Shine" to Dean Martin's swinging "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine." In each case, Dylan provides informative and amusing introductions, whether explaining Elvis Presley's love of Martin, or noting that "Judy Garland is just like Prince. She's from Minneapolis." Episode Two gem: Bob recites the first verse of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." Really. (BRIAN HIATT)

SINGLES

Tool
"Vicarious"
Leaked
With its seven-minutes-plus length and Neal Peart-ian lyric denouncing the TV-addled public ("Vicariously I live while the whole world dies"), the debut single from Tool's first CD in five years isn't exactly begging for pop-radio play. Still, hesher-friendly chug-a-chug riffing and a surprisingly conventional vocal melody add up to a slightly more accessible, less scary version of the proggy, self-mythologizing foursome. (BRIAN HIATT)

Brightblack Morning Light
"Everybody Daylight"
matadorrecords.com
Twenty-first-century hippies Rachael Hughes and Nathan Shineywater have a simple message on the intro page of their Web site: "We still get stoned." If this track, from their forthcoming Matador debut, doesn't get you high, you're beyond help: Shineywater's and Hughes' vocal harmonies float up through a whispery blues melody like psychedelic angel voices, and the muted organ bass line lends the song an eerie church-music quality. Turn on, tune in and rock out. (LAUREN GITLIN)

Rick Ross
"Hustlin' "
Leaked
Like his labelmate Young Jeezy, rising Miami rapper Ross is more interested in playing with the rhythms of his drawled, slo-mo flow than in showing off Jigga-level lyrical skills: He hardly bothers coming up with words that rhyme. But that only helps show off the track's other rising stars, production team the Runnerz, who provide a fat, atmospheric beat, pimped out with Vincent Price-movie organ swells and spliffed-out stereo-panning effects. (BRIAN HIATT)

Ashley Parker Angel
"Let U Go"
iTunes
Is that fake rock? Turn it up! The songwriting and production team of Max Martin and Dr. L, who gave us Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," are the culprits behind this perniciously catchy comeback from blond O-Town survivor Angel -- which sounds like the product of an illegal gene-splicing experiment involving Bryan Adams and Panic! At the Disco. (BRIAN HIATT)

Kanye West Featuring Twista and Keyshia Cole
"Impossible"
Leaked
Kanye goes Hollywood with a glossy, Philly-soul-sampling contribution to the Mission: Impossible III soundtrack (he also delivered a bombastic take on the franchise's theme music), featuring speed rapper Twista, hip-hop soul princess Keyshia Cole and a mind-numbing number of repetitions of the word "impossible." It doesn't quite work: The skittering beat never settles into a groove, and the rhymes never explain what, exactly, is supposed to be so impossible. This is one mission Mr. West probably shouldn't have chosen to accept. (JONATHAN RINGEN)

VIDEOS

The Rolling Stones With Eddie Vedder
"Wild Horses"
September 28th, 2005, Pittsburgh
Youtube.com
Vedder looks like he's having an absolute blast as he sings "Wild Horses" onstage with the Rolling Stones, whom Pearl Jam opened up for last September in Pittsburgh. This clip -- which appears to have been nicked from the members-only section of the Stones' official Web site -- begins with a surprisingly vocal Vedder talking about his love for the Stones and sharing his thoughts on his own band twenty years down the line. (ANDY GREENE)

PODCASTS

Diplo
Mad Decent: Radio #2
iTunes, maddecent.com
M.I.A. producer Diplo has put some of his renowned mix tapes onto the Internet as free podcasts, available on iTunes and the Web site of his new label, Mad Decent. The best installment is "Radio #2," where Yeah Yeah Yeahs remixes and Nirvana licks rub shoulders with Young Jeezy, Dee-Lite samples, otherworldly reggaeton and Afro-pop snippets. (KEVIN O'DONNELL)

@U2 Podcast
Edition 1-14
atu2.com
U2's number-one fan site re-cently began a podcast series that features hard-core devotees debating the band's future, announcing U2 news and, best of all, playing archival audio clips of the group. Check out the forgotten Florida radio appearance by the Edge and Adam Clayton in May 1981 where the duo, on tour with the J. Geils Band, spins records by the Who and Gary US Bonds. (ANDY GREENE)