THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN are entering the studio to record their first album of all-new material in nine years, presumably including "All Things Must Pass," which they played for Dave on The Late Show.

RYAN ADAMS talks addiction with the Sydney Morning Herald: "People had an idea of me as a walking chemistry experiment."  You can watch a ten-song set, plus two fan Q&A segments at Yahoo! Music.

BACK TO SCHOOL ALBUMS:  LAist makes a Top Five list.  You could do worse.

THE HIVES have put the lead single for The Black and White Album, "Tick Tick Boom," on the soundtrack to the Madden ‘08 video game.

NEIL YOUNG'S next album is a sequel to one he never released.  The original Chrome Dreams LP was scrapped in 1977 for unknown reasons, but a number of the songs pegged to appear on it become Young classics after being released on later albums, including "Pocahontas," "Sedan Delivery," "Powderfinger," "Look Out for My Love" and "Like a Hurricane."

THE RED BUTTON:  Like those classic British Invasion bands?  This L.A. duo certainly does, recently topping the chart for Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show with "Cruel Girl."  You can stream a few more at TheirSpace.

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS frontman A.C. Newman is fairly inscrutable about his inscrutable lyrics with the Boston Phoenix.

THE ROLLING STONES:  The trailer for Shine a Light -- their Martin Scorsese-directed concert film -- is posted at ETOnline.

R.E.M. is releasing their first ever live CD/DVD combo on October 16th; among the tracks is the previously unreleased "I'm Gonna DJ."

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE:  The Daily Mail claims that the troubled singer and the supposedly sober supermodel have been secretly living it up in a £1,500-a-night suite at the Mayfair hotel for the past five days.  And Doherty's pet cat has been found to have traces of cocaine in its blood stream after being taken in for observation by vets, sys the uber-reliable Daily Star.

BILL MURRAY could face a drunken driving charge in Sweden after cruising through downtown Stockholm in a golf cart and refusing a breath test.  He agreed to let a police officer plead guilty for him if the case goes to court.  It is not illegal to drive a golf cart in city traffic in Sweden, but it is very unusual.  Of course, on his deathbed, he will receive total consciousness, so he's got that going for him.  Which is nice.

BRITNEY SPEARS backed out at the last minute from recording a duet with her old flame, Justin Timberlake - and the inexplicable decision last month has suits at her record label very worried, according to Page Six.

BRIDGET MOYNIHAN & TOM BRADY are the parents of a baby boy.

MADONNA is selling her Maverick records label to Warner Bros., which agreed to buy out her contract.  Presumably this could pave the way for Madge's previously rumored plan to leave Warner Music Group in favor of an all-encompassing music deal with touring giant Live Nation that could be worth more than 100 million dollars.

THE FRENCH HOTEL has settled the lawsuit brought against her by diamond heiress/arch-enemy Zeta Graff, who claimed the heirhead slandered her in the New York Post by planting a story that Zeta ripped a necklace off of Paris' body as she allegedly danced to Barry Manilow's "Copacabana."

BEYONCE seems to be having a rough month on tour, what with the falling down the stairs and the wardrobe malfunction captured on video and all.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON tells USA Today she would like to adopt a child and that she plans to travel to Iraq to visit US servicemen later this year, but doesn't know if she will sing for them: "I'll probably just take to the stage and ooze sex appeal and hang around."

TOM-KAT are moving to a bigger house and will keep separate bedrooms, according to the ever-reliable Star magazine.  NTTAWWT.

BRADGELINA, who just got new tattoos in Chicago, are heading for the Hamptons this weekend to host a dinner of about 50 people to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Pitt recently sat down with the Today show's Ann Curry to discuss his involvement with the Global Green USA project, which is building zero energy, affordable housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

THE ULTIMATE HIGH SCHOOL FLICK CLIQUE:  Ten favorite high school archetypes from the movies, via VH1.

JENNA JAMESON is retiring from adult filmmaking and had her implants removed.

IRAN denies US accusations that a unit of its Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, was working inside Iraq to foment more unrest in Iraq.  Separately, Tehran announced that it is set for full production of an Iranian-developed 2,000-pound smart bomb.  And be sure to check out Iranian TV coverage of The Devil's Music in Tehran Rock City.

IRAQ:  Prime Minister al-Maliki lashed out at American criticism, causing Pres. Bush to say he supports the embattled PM, while reiterating that whether al-Maliki stays PM is up to the Iraqis.  Notable was al-Maliki's comment that "We care for our people and our constitution and can find friends elsewhere" -- a not-so-veiled threat to cozy up with Iran and Syria (and why US pols should weigh their comments, at least absent a clear alternative to al-Maliki).  The Iraqi government has issued a new "most-wanted" list, topped by the leader of Iraq's banned Baath party, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who has suddenly decided to join efforts by the Iraqi authorities to fight al-Qaeda, according to a report in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat.  France now believes it may hold the key to peace in Iraq.  An Iraqi man sacrificed his life to save the lives of four US Soldiers and eight civilians when he intercepted a suicide bomber during a Concerned Citizens meeting in the town of al-Arafia Aug. 18.

IRAQ II:  Military documentarian Joe Talley covers the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, currently stationed at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in eastern Baghdad.  And Michael Yon's latest dispatch from Anbar province is realistic: "The sheiks of Anbar turned against al Qaeda because the sheiks are businessmen, and al Qaeda is bad for business. But they didn't suddenly trust Americans just because they no longer trusted al Qaeda. They are not suddenly blood allies. This is business, and that's fine, because if there is one thing America is good at, it's business."

DRAG-RACING means Summer for bus-drivers in Sydney.

FLAMING PENIS VENGEANCE!  A woman set fire to her ex-husband's penis as he sat naked watching television and drinking vodka, following three-years of acrimonious enforced co-habitation.

A RESCUED BABY SEA OTTER at the Alaska Sealife Center.  Putting the Awww... in awesome snce June 2006.

GASSY NORDIC MOOSE blamed for global warming.  Nothing up my sleeve... Presto!

DAISY the POODLE is a punk rocker, now.

PET HOARDING:  Mexican environmental protection officials found 98 crocodiles that were being kept in the backyard of a home in the Gulf state of Veracruz, authorities said.

TWO CAMPERS were arrested in Maryland over the weekend for trying to ride the wild ponies and tackle sika deer.  Alcohol was involved.