• Q&A: Lil Wayne on Weed, Jay-Z and More
• Beck Releases Modern Guilt Teaser
• Smashing Pumpkins Plot Gish Box Set, Tour
• Axl Rose’s Chinese Democracy Tirade
• George Carlin’s First RS Feature
• Beatles Heading to Guitar Hero or Rock Band?
• My Bloody Valentine Return to the Stage
• Brian Wilson to Headline Newport Folk
• Readers’ Rock List: Hidden Tracks
• Shins to Self-Release Next LP
• Jill Scott Debuts New Song in NYC
• News Ticker: Winehouse, Carlin, VMAs
• Key Tracks: Coldplay, Wolf Parade
• Fricke’s Picks: Marky Ramone/Teenage Head

Top stories from the last three days:

• First Listen to New Slipknot LP
• Britney Spears Returns to the Studio
• New Guitar Hero Adds Drums, Vocals
• Oscars Change “Original Song” Rules
• Random Notes: Kiedis, Springsteen and More
• Oasis Ink Deal for Three More LPs
• Weekend Rock List: Hidden Tracks
• Jimmy Buffett’s Expanding Empire
• Fricke’s Picks: Midnight Oil
• Summer Cable TV Preview
• Pearl Jam, MMJ Jaw Backstage at Bonnaroo
• In the Studio: T.I.
• Movie Reviews: The Love Guru, Get Smart
• Chinese Democracy May Have Leaked
• George Michael Opens U.S. Tour
• Breaking Artist: Fleet Foxes
• Amazon Offering Variably Priced MP3s
• The Coldplay Video Guide

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

On the day Lil Wayne’s already-platinum Tha Carter III came out, Weezy talked to Rolling Stone about his unique sales strategy, Barack Obama, tattoos and the drawbacks of being high all the time. Click here to check out Wayne reacting to Jay-Z calling him “my heir” and why he used to leave rhymes on Baby’s answering machine.

Beck’s Modern Guilt isn’t due until July 8th, but if you can’t wait that long — or hold out until the album leaks — Amazon is showcasing clips from the new LP (see video, above). In the black-and-white Warhol-esque montage, excerpts of songs like “Walls,” “Youthless” and the album’s title track are artfully previewed. If the two-minute Modern Guilt trailer doesn’t satiate you, Play.com is also streaming 30-second appetizers from each of the album’s 10 songs, letting you hear the cross-section of the genres Beck is playing with this time around. This wasn’t the only Beck news today: The troubadour will perform prior to Radiohead’s set on the first night of San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival, to be held the weekend of August 22nd. To read more about the Danger Mouse-produced Modern Guilt, check out Rolling Stone’s exclusive album preview here.

On Teenage Head with Marky Ramone (Sonic Unyon), Canadian punks Teenage Head recut their best turn-of-the-Eighties songs with guest drummer Marky Ramone. It’s great fun if you know the original wax — “Let’s Shake,” “Picture My Face” and “You’re Tearin’ Me Apart” are among my top fuzz-pop singles of all time. If you don’t know it, you’ll want to get acquainted.

[Photo: S. Bell / Emerging]

Coldplay, “Lost!”
With soaring church organs and a kick-drum stomp, the band reaches the heights of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
[Listen] [Review]

Lil Wayne, “3Peat”
Alien synths and a drum-machine beat showcase Weezy’s genius couplets: Who else can rhyme “Viagra” with “Adam Sandler”?
[Listen] [Review]

Wolf Parade, “Kissing the Beehive”
An epic 11-minute jam built on pounding prog rhythms, angry guitar lines and pure animal magnetism.
[Listen] [Review]

The Virgins, “Love Is Colder Than Death”
It rocks like the Strokes’ best party tunes, but its jittery bass line captures all the anxiety of the morning after.
[Listen] [Review]

Martha Wainwright, “Comin’ Tonight”
Pete Townshend guests on this Stevie Nicks-style tune, and Wainwright conjures more drama than her brother, Rufus.
[Listen] [Review]

The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson has added a pair of U.S. live dates as he gears up for the September 2nd release of That Lucky Old Sun (A Narrative). First, Wilson will visit New York’s Coney Island on July 17th for the 30th Annual Seaside Summer Concert Series. Two weeks later, the singer will join Trey Anastasio, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and many more at this year’s Newport Folk Festival on August 1st, where he’ll headline the fest’s opening night. Wilson’s U.S. visit will also find him performing at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom in June and doing a three-night run at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl. That Lucky Old Sun, a collaboration between Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, first made its debut in September 2007 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The album also reunites Wilson with Capitol Records, the original home of the Beach Boys.

[Photo: Getty]

Last week, inspired by Coldplay’s Viva La Vida and its unlisted songs, we asked our readers for their favorite hidden tracks. Thanks to a printing mishap on the original pressings of London Calling, the Clash’s “Train in Vain (Stand by Me)” was voted Number One, slightly edging Beck’s “Diamond Bollocks” off Mutations:

1. The Clash – “Train in Vain (Stand by Me)” on London Calling
2. Beck – “Diamond Bollocks” on Mutations
3. Alanis Morissette – “Your House” on Jagged Little Pill
4. Nine Inch Nails – “Physical”/”Suck” on Broken
5. The Beatles – “Her Majesty” on Abbey Road (more…)

As reported earlier today, comedian George Carlin died of heart failure over the weekend at age 71. The often risque Carlin spoke with Rolling Stone in 1972 about his start in Vegas and subsequent rise to fame. Click below to read the story.

• How George Carlin Showed His Hair

Head over to the Breaking Blog for the premiere of the Duke Spirit’s new video for “Lassoo,” which was shot live in November 2007 in London. As a bonus, Rolling Stone has the band performing two live tunes in a New York City park.

To celebrate the 17th anniversary of Gish, the Smashing Pumpkins are planning to release a box set of their debut album complete with material preceding Gish’s release, according to the Pumpkin’s Website. Plans are already underway for the box set, and while the exact contents of the release are currently unknown, the Pumpkins expect to embark on a Gish tour to coincide with the special edition — both of which are scheduled to happen later this year, according to the site. The Gish reissue will likely be the first move in the master plan Corgan has schemed since becoming a record label free agent following the release of Zeitgeist. The band is also rumored to be playing 20th anniversary concerts at some point this year as well.

[Photo: Getty]

For her first-ever performance at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall (as part of the JVC Jazz Festival) Philly soul diva Jill Scott belted heartfelt verses all the way to the back of the third balcony. “I’m the real thing, in stereo/gotta little highs, gotta little lows” her alto rang to the rafters on the rocked-out title track from her latest album The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. With each song, Scott dramatically carried the audience through a relationship rollercoaster: there was softness, passion, tension, rage, and rousing climaxes that had the packed crowd swaying, snapping, and longing for more.

On “Insomnia” she was up all night wishing her man would come back home, feeling crazy and alone. She started the song off pining, but soon her vocals were aching, and after the third verse she was defiant: “After being chased, I’ve been dismissed… You have managed to turn me from a woman of substance into this.” The mood turned sweet when Scott’s drummer emerged with a bouquet of yellow roses and kissed her — Scott then announced that they’re engaged (the crowd cheered its approval). (more…)

Keeping pace with the changing atmosphere of the music industry, the Shins revealed that they would likely self-release their fourth album through frontman James Mercer’s Aural Apothecary label. While the band is looking to make a deal that will allow them to keep their masters, they’re also hoping to partner with a label to help assist with the marketing costs, the Shins’ manager said. That partnering label may be Sub Pop, who released the band’s first three albums. “The Shins have been a huge part of Sub Pop’s story. We’d love to continue working with them,” the label’s general manager Megan Jasper told Billboard. The Shins’ next album isn’t due out until at least 2009.

[Photo: Getty]

Over the weekend My Bloody Valentine made their long-awaited return to the stage with a deafening performance that cemented their reputation as the loudest band on Earth. Aside from two tiny rehearsal gigs last week, the five-night stand that began on Friday at London’s legendary Roundhouse marked the first live performances from the revered noise-pop band in more than 16 years.

My Bloody Valentine opened with a relatively tame take of “Only Shallow,” but quickly showed why earplugs were complimentary. Playing in front of a psychedelic video slide show and flashing strobe lights, MBV raised the volume to an ear-splitting level while working through a single 90-minute set heavy with tunes from their seminal 1991 album Loveless, but void of any new, unreleased material. Apart from vocals that were overwhelmed by battering drums and over-amplified guitars frontman Kevin Shields was silent throughout the evening. The band ended the show with their trademark 15-minute-plus tidal wave of white noise at the conclusion of “You Made Me Realize.” (more…)

• Amy Winehouse has been diagnosed with emphysema, the singer’s father confirms. Doctors have warned Winehouse that if she continues to smoke drugs, she’d not only lose her voice, but “it will kill her,” as only 70 percent of her lung capacity remains.

• Comedian George Carlin died of heart failure yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 71. Over the course of his career, Carlin released 23 comedy albums, appeared on 14 HBO specials and won four Grammys for Best Spoken Word Comedy Album.
• After a decade of bouncing around between New York, Miami and Las Vegas, the MTV Video Music Awards are returning to Los Angeles. This year’s award show will air September 7th from the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood. The host, artist appearances and nominees are expected to be announced soon.

[Photo: Getty]

Following the success of two weeks of the Beatles‘ music on American Idol, the Fab Four’s catalog may be branching out again: Reps for the band are reportedly talking to both Activision and MTV Games about possibly releasing a Guitar Hero or Rock Band based around Beatles’ tunes. According to a source close to the negotiations, the final deal could be worth millions, but first must get the approval of both Apple Corps. and EMI. Apple Corps’ tight grip on the Beatles catalog has loosened since Jeff Jones became the company’s chief executive, as evidenced by the band’s music appearing in American Idol, Cirque du Soleil Love show and the film Across the Universe. “To my view, it’s only a matter of time before we see Beatles songs that are the original recordings in motion pictures, in television work, and yes, maybe even one day in a commercial,” said Sony/ATV chief executive Martin Bandier, who holds more than 200 Beatles copyrights. Whichever video game company wins the battle to release a Beatles-themed game, a source says a deal “could be reached in a matter of weeks.”