Monday Morning Newsletter (4-27-09)

Being dead never stopped a rapper from putting out a record. Rap producer J. Dilla died in 2006 of Lupus, but he’s still putting out a record this year. Like Tupac and Biggie, Dilla left behind a veritable library of unreleased material. On June 2, Nature Sounds will release Jay $tay Paid, which compiles 25 select cuts from that collection. His own mother, Maureen Yancey is executive producer and Pete Rock arranged and mixed.

Ferret Music has pushed back release date of Poison the Well's new album The Tropic Rot to July 7th. The international date is still July 6th. The band wrote on their blog “We're all incredibly happy with how this record has turned out. It doesn't sound like any other Poison the Well record.” But isn’t that what every band says?

Emulating Jonah Matranga, Billy Corgan has decided to go the music subscription route. Smashing Pumpkins are now offering a subscription service via the bands website. A 12-week subscription will go for $40. It will include access to video and photographs revealing the band in the studio.

Thursday a member of the Japanese boy-band SMAP (Sports Music Assemble People) was arrested following an alcohol fueled debacle. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was apprehended naked in Tokyo park. He was charged with public indecency. Local reports state that five hours after he was arrested, he still blew a he blew 0.8 BAC. That’s Tucker Max territory.

Gossip Girl Leighton Meester is currently recording tracks for her debut album at an LA studio. Previously, Meester did a duet with Tony Bennett and sang in the 2007 movie 'Drive Thru. Universal records have the album slated for a tentative fall release.

Art Brut released its third studio album Art Brut vs Satan last week. The album is available as a CD and as a digital download. The work was produced by Frank Black and is their first outing since the 2004 single Formed A Band.

The Killers are working on an album of all covers. The list of song will include numbers by Murray Head and Cyndi Lauper. Drummer Ronnie Vannucci said "We have a couple in the can but I don't know when the hell we'll get it off the ground to release it. It's going to be one of those things that will be more fun for us than anybody else.”