• Pearl Jam Working on New Album
• The Police and Elvis Costello Live in Ottawa
• Video: Stone Temple Pilots Return on Kimmel
• Summer Movie Preview ‘08
• Meet The Hills‘ Music Gurus
• News Ticker: American Idol, Snoop Dogg
• Video: Kanye West Debuts Justice’s “Stress”
• Weekend Rock List: Prince Songs
• Random Notes: Raconteurs, Madonna and More
• On Tour: George Thorogood, Buddy Guy
• Alicia Keys Seeks Backup Singers Via MySpace
• News Ticker: The Cure, Beyoncé

Top stories from the last three days:

• Interview Paramore at RollingStone.com
• Madonna Plays NYC Club Show; Photos
• Weiland Talks Axl Rose, STP Reunion
• Common Previews Invincible Summer
• Win a Limited Edition “Iron Man” Phone
• In the Studio: Queen
• Video: The Hills Cover Shoot
• Breaking Artist: Black Tide
• Photo Gallery: The Hills Universe
• Photo Gallery: Roger Waters’ Pig’s Journey
• The Roots Talk New Album, Growing Up Hard
• On the Charts: Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis
• Radiohead News: TV Special, Video

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

• It was a busy week in the life of Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland: he found out he had to go to jail, talked to us about wearing tight pants, his split with Velvet Revolver and upcoming solo work and played two stellar songs on late-night TV.
• We did no shortage of Coachella reporting, as well as tracked the fate of Roger Waters’ pig, who clearly got around before ultimately deflating.
• Coachella wasn’t the only big live event, as Rock Daily also checked in on Madonna in a New York club and the Police and Elvis Costello north of the border. We also got some interesting news about the current Disturbed tour.
• Video was big this week, as Prince covered Radiohead, Kanye West pimped an ultra-violent Justice clip, Cobra Starship and Black Tide both took us behind the scenes and Madonna’s Hard Candy got the New Music Report treatment.

[Photo: Getty]

Jack White and the Raconteurs, like thousands of rock fans (and a few intrepid Rolling Stone writers), sweated it out in the desert heat for Coachella, while Madonna danced her way into midtown Manhattan to debut Hard Candy and John Mayer tended to his coif while shopping in NYC. For photos of Steve Tyler, Feist and more, check out this week’s Random Notes photo roundup.

This week’s Rock List is dedicated to the MVP of this year’s Coachella festival: Prince. After re-watching Prince’s explosive version of Radiohead’s “Creep” for the hundredth time, we’re asking our Rock Daily readers to tell us their favorite songs by the Purple One. On Monday, we’ll count up the picks and reveal your Rock List. Before you pop Purple Rain into the VCR or peruse Rolling Stone’s list of his diamonds (and pearls) in the rough, here are our jams:

• “The Beautiful Ones”
• “Gett Off”
• “Raspberry Beret”
• “D.M.S.R.”
• “Paisley Park”

[Photo: Getty]

George Thorogood and the Destroyers hit the road for two months before linking up with Buddy Guy in July for a joint tour, the Butthole Surfers play four shows and Steve Earle uses the time he has now that The Wire is off the air to play concerts. Full tour dates after the jump. (more…)

Iron Man officially kicks off the summer blockbuster season today, and Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers has you covered in his Summer Movie Preview. Rolling Stone’s critic takes a look at the good, the bad and the far-too-expensive among this summer’s offerings, including the latest Batman flick The Dark Knight, the return of action hero Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the latest Pixar romp WALL-E. Click here for the complete guide, including trailers for all the biggest titles.

Wondering who decided Frente’s cover of “Bizarre Love Triangle” should accompany the moment on The Hills when Audrina finally broke up with Justin Bobby? Or who decreed that Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” become the can-do anthem of teen girls everywhere? Rolling Stone spoke with Joe Cuello and Jon Ernst, the music genuises who painstakingly combine footage of Lauren, Heidi and Co. with tracks from Carolina Liar, Ashlee Simpson and a thousand other bands you’ve probably never even heard of yet, and make The Hills one of the best canvasses for new music on MTV today. Read the interview here.

[Photo: Getty]

• American Idol executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz says that despite Paula Abdul’s judging gaffe on Tuesday’s program, the show will not “get rid of Paula.” Meanwhile, AI’s ratings took a 1.2 million viewer dive this week, marking it the lowest rating the show has had in five years.
• The British government is once again seeking to ban Snoop Dogg from entering the country.
• Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley remarked that the band’s current lineup is “getting embarrassing.” “What KISS is doing right now reminds me of like what some great fighters have done in the past when they come out of retirement.”
• Ticketmaster, hoping to keep stride with Live Nation (who also plan to launch their own ticketing service), has acquired the assets of SLO Limited, a company that specializes in VIP ticketing services.

[Photo: Getty]

Pearl Jam have begun work on early demos for their ninth studio album ­— which will be their first with producer Brendan O’Brien since 1998’s Yield, according to guitarist Mike McCready. “It’s really in its infant stages right now,” McCready tells Rolling Stone. “We have about five ideas that have been worked on.” The band, whose last album was 2006’s well-received Pearl Jam, isn’t sure yet about the direction of the new release. “Brendan is another set of ears that we respect, and he’s going to give us a different way to go but I don’t know what that is yet,” McCready says. The band has already had one session with O’Brien, and will probably resume work on the album in July after finishing their June U.S. tour. (more…)

It’s Brand Spankin’ New Week over at Kanye West’s blog, as the rapper took time from his busy touring and Connect Four-ing schedule to post “Stress,” the new video by dance duo Justice. The video is kind of like a real life Grand Theft Auto: random people are harassed, cars are vandalized, street musicians are beat up, cops are fought and Molotov cocktails are thrown by five or six young derelicts wearing jackets donning Justice’s crucifix logo. That pretty much sums it up. Watch above.

Each week on MTV’s Rock the Cradle, the sons and daughters of musical icons compete for the sort of exposure they would have received anyway on the basis of their DNA. Rock Daily sorts through the nepotistic wreckage.

Children’s Story: After getting record scores last week, Crosby Loggins doled out some dull trash talk about getting an automatic bye to the finale next week. This frustrated both Jesse Snider and Lucy Walsh, despite the fact that both seemed pretty confident they were also in the clear. Lara Johnston and Chloe Lattanzi panicked, probably because they weren’t very good. In the performance portion of the show, each remaining hopeful got to sing two songs, save for the two who were eliminated. Lara Johnston was sent packing, and in what could be considered a minor upset, Lucy Walsh was also shown the door. There were no tears in either of their exits; they probably remembered that even though they lost, they’re still both rich and able to score record deals.

Baby Geniuses: In a week where everybody stunk, the highlights were few and far between. (more…)

It will be a shame if this is indeed the final North American swing for the Police, as the reunited group showed itself to be a joyous arena rock machine that enthralled a sold out Scotiabank Place in Ottawa last night, their first visit to Canada’s capitol since 1979.

Clad in a black suit and restrained specs, opener Elvis Costello unleashed a mixture of classics and cuts from the recent Momufuku, his lively new album. “I Don’t Want To Go To Chelsea” grew anthemetic with gristly bass lines and a haunting keyboard drone, while “Alison” oozed kitschy charm as Costello held a quivering high note. Along with Momofuku’s gorgeous acoustic ballad “My Three Sons” — an ode to his own children, not the Fred MacMurray vehicle — Costello’s set defined how well-worked neurosis can be channeled into transcendent pop moments. (more…)

Stone Temple Pilots made their triumphant return last night by playing Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s Pontiac Garage. A non-imprisoned Scott Weiland and his STP mates played two songs, Purple’s “Vasoline” (above) and Tiny Music…’s “Trippin’ On a Hole in a Paper Heart” (after the jump). The band are set to kick off their massive reunion tour May 17th at Columbus, Ohio’s Rock on the Range festival, but not before Weiland serves those eight days in jail. Rolling Stone talked to Weiland for his most comprehensive post-Velvet Revolver interview, which you can read here. (more…)

T.I., “No Matter What” [Advance Track]
After the botched confessional T.I. vs. T.I.P., Clifford Harris makes another run at autobiography in this moody track, recorded while he was under house arrest. The results best his last outing effortlessly.

Various Artists, Analog Africa, Selection 1 [Mixtape]
This heart-racer of a mixtape distills the exhilarating African Scream Contest to its essentials: off-the-rails percussion, darting brass and heavenly vocals. A must.

Panic at the Disco, “Nine in the Afternoon” [Live Acoustic]
Apparently, unplugging is still what a rock band does to signal that they want to be taken seriously. Fortunately, Panic has a song strong enough to support such goofy contrivances. (more…)

Alicia Keys has joined the many others before her by recruiting talent off MySpace, as the songstress now seeks a backup singer via the social networking site. Keys is asking candidates ages twenty-one to thirty to submit a thirty-second or longer video of themselves singing by May 5th, which is Monday, so you probably should stop reading this if you’re interested in competing and go to her MySpace page for full details. To be honest, we didn’t go to Alicia’s MySpace page, partially because we’re still traumatized by that time she gave us a computer virus, but ideal candidates are asked to be “physically fit and able to dance.”

Related Stories:

• On The Charts: Keys Edges “Juno” To Reclaim Top Spot
• Alicia Keys, Melissa Etheridge Celebrate Al Gore at Nobel Peace Prize Concert
• Alicia Keys Spreads a Virus To Her Friends, Via MySpace

[Photo: Getty]