50 Cent, Fall Out Boy and the Backstreet Boys are the latest artists confirmed to perform on next month’s “Total Finale Live,” joining Beyoncé on the two-hour special. And when you’ve got a lineup that big, there’s only one man you can call to host it all: Carson Daly. On Thursday (October 23), it was announced that Daly — the show’s original host — would serve as co-emcee for the big finale, alongside current host Damien Fahey. Daly appeared on the first episode of “TRL” in September, 1998, and helmed the show until 2003, when he stepped down to host his own talk show, NBC’s “Last Call With Carson Daly.” “Total Finale Live” will air Sunday, November 16 at 8 p.m. ET. In addition to the performances, fans can expect in-studio appearances from a host of “TRL” faves, including Ludacris, Mariah Carey, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Taylor Swift, Fred Durst and members of Good Charlotte and Korn. Former “TRL” VJs Dave Holmes, Jesse Camp, La La Vasquez and Hilarie Burton will also be on hand for the festivities (a show this big needs lots of hosts, after all). Though the “TRL” finale is still weeks away, the celebration of the show’s history is already revving up. Throughout the course of the month, MTV.com and MTV News will feature special retrospective countdowns and give fans a look back at the best moments from the show’s decade-long run. And on the show’s official site, TRL.MTV.com, viewers can check out video highlights, photo galleries of past guests and a decade’s worth of pictures taken in the famed “TRL” photo booth. On November 16, the site will also feature behind-the-scenes coverage of the event, plus red-carpet photos from the “Total Finale Live” preshow.

Funny what an early end does to a legacy. Doomed geniuses are always better off, accolade-wise. They make their mark, even if it is ever so fleeting, and that moment is examined by fans-turned-archaeologists for generations. Pity the poor soul, then, who keeps at it. Who remains vital, unparalleled and upright. Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is that man. Rollins, still out there playing, has kept at it — touring incessantly, looking for that perfect note, neatly blending the concepts of show and seance. Yet, until this week, precious few of his more contemporary moments had drifted out beyond the walls of those concert halls. Until now. Seems Rollins had been dragging along some recording equipment. As many as one third of the approximately 600 shows he’d done since the late 1980s were suitable for release, free of either legal entanglements or unforeseen technical issues. This 2006 set in Toulouse, for instance, stuck in Rollins’ mind — after all, he’d thought to include “More Than You Know” for the first time since recording it with Thelonious Monk in the 1950s. There was also that stuff from a year later with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Roy Haynes, done at Carnegie Hall as part of his 50th anniversary concert, from which Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Some Enchanted Evening” is culled. Together, they make up the cornerstones for “Road Shows Vol. 1,” a new compilation of rare Rollins sides put together by the tenor man for his Doxy label. A notable trio of cuts also come from collector Carl Smith’s archives, including 1980’s “Blossom,” a little known original, and a 1986 version of “Best Wishes” from Tokyo. Rollins also unveils an hour-long 2006 festival performance, captured by a French television crew, that nicely highlights both his searing on-stage brilliance but also some revealing behind-the-scenes moments. That became the “In Vienne” DVD, issued simultaneously with “Road Shows Vol. 1″ on Oct. 28. These releases, the first in what promises to be a series of dusted-off gems, underscore not only the dominance of Rollins as jazz’s most important living saxophonist — but also of the music’s ability to transform itself concert after concert after concert in the hands of a peerless innovator: “A different sunset every night,” Rollins once said, “that’s what jazz is about.”page 1 | 2

With heavy influences of Krautrock seeping into the electronic music, Brighton’s Fujiya & Miyagi are darlings of the Pitchfork/NME set. For those on the cutting edge or for those wanting to be on the cutting edge, F&M ought to be on the playlist. First, a bit of housekeeping. Fujiya & Miyagi are not Japanese, they are not a duo, and they aren’t German masters of bleak techno. They’re English and they’re almost ironic in their ridiculous deadpan approach. Indeed, F&M might be quite at home as guests on SNL’s DJ Dynasty Handbag-hosted Deep House Dish. Like many bands, Fujiya & Miyagi spent their first few years in relative obscurity. They toiled away, releasing their debut Electro Karaoke in the Negative Style in 2002 (it was reissued in 2008) and their follow-up, Transparent Things, in 2006. Pitchfork, pretentious trend-setters that they are, mounted Transparent Things with a whopping 8.3/10. How F&M missed the coveted 8.4/10 rating, I’ll never know. With popularity on the rise among kids who are cooler than you, Fujiya & Miyagi got set for 2008’s Lightbulbs. David Best’s vocals are perhaps the most striking thing about this record. Half-whispering, half-bored, Best comes across disinterested in his own material. And yet he’s enthralling in the role, punching out his featureless textures over a minimalistic thump and adding a sense of disconnection that actually works with the music. Where he was robotic on past releases, now David Best is almost apathetic. The rest of F&M sound almost as uninterested (Steve Lewis on synth and programming, Matt Hainsby on bass, and Lee Adams on drums) and disconnected, but there is still a sense of clarity here. The music is gauzy, light, and flowing. Tunes feel like clouds heaving with moisture but too jaded to rain. Take the breathy “Goosebumps” as an example. The song almost oozes into existence, seeping through the speakers with effortless minimalistic consistency. Canned drums, easy synth, and Best’s vocals wash over the haze, adding multiple dimensions. And yet the track never takes off, never goes anywhere, and simply sits as though a vapour waiting to dissolve. Album opener “Knickerbocker” aims right at the unresponsive jugular, as Best pumps out “Vanilla, strawberry, Knickerbocker glory” with such befuddled indifference that it is almost hilarious. The song’s beat overtakes him and he drowns in it. “Uh” finds F&M’s musical textures continuing along the same path, accented by a funky beat but once again never really reaching energetic levels. “Rook to Queen’s Pawn Six” offers a terrific light funkiness and more of Best’s breathy vocals, while “Pussyfooting” is so simple it’s funny. Indeed, Lightbulbs is probably best categorized as dance music for wallflowers. It is a clever, deeply ironic record that actually gains from its aloofness. Fujiya & Miyagi take elements of Krautrock and splice them with modern dance rhythms, creating a sort of Hot Chip-meets-Can vibe. Whether these waterless setups and bland breakdowns will work in a long-term setting remains to be seen, of course, but there is something dryly merry about what this quartet is on about.

Written by Fumo Verde I’ve always liked Sonny Rollins so when I had the chance to Live in ’65 & ’68 I was all over it. As much as I like jazz I always feel that I don’t know enough. Pictures on album covers and bios on the Internet shed some light on the artist and how they act and react to their own tunes, but seeing them live or even on DVD as it is here, truly opens the portal between the musician and their music. This DVD contains two shows both recorded in Denmark, the first at Tivoli Halls, Copenhagen on October 31, 1965. Rollins appears with Alan Dawson on drums and Denmark’s own Niels-Henning Orsted Pendersen on bass. “There Will Never Be Another You” is the opening number and the camera enters from behind Rollins and Dawson. This jam plays for a while and as I was reading the extensive liner notes, 23 pages worth, I learned there were three microphones set up, one in the center, then one to the left side of the stage and one on the right. Rollins likes to travel when he plays and moves about the stage walking each note to its destination. “St. Thomas” is the second jam, one of my favorites and one of Rollins’ most recognized. To me it has a carefree happy beat to it which lends my mind to daydreams of warm Caribbean seas and white sandy beaches. I found it interesting to watch as Rollins move about the stage, his face relaxed and eyes closed, as if he was dreaming up each note before he played it. “Olea/Sonny Moon for Two” follows and then flows into “Darn That Dream.”  I sat and read the liner notes while listening and if it weren’t for the crowd clapping, I wouldn’t have noticed the change in songs because I was so into the groove. This show finished out with Rollins’ tribute to his idol Lester Young. Rollins says “this song has a simple melody but it’s profound. There is so much room to do whatever you want but still come back to the melody. So it’s the abstract and the normal altogether.” Abstract it is and Rollins plays it beautifully along with Dawson and Pendersen. Did I mention that Sonny likes to move around the stage? During this jam, he actually is behind the drums and bass out of the range of the microphones, still playing; I wish I could hear what was being played. page 1 | 2

Joel Harrison's CD, The Wheel, is a melange of philosophy and intriguing music. According to Harrison, he "wanted to assemble a body of work that contained the intimacy, complexity, and beauty of acoustic concert music and merge it with the raw, grooving spontaneity of jazz." I'm going to say he accomplished that; it seems to me that the piece leans more towards the classical, acoustic concert music than jazz. Whichever you prefer, it's an outstanding composition. By August of this year, there had been three performances of this piece live; however, he lamented that there were no more than 20 attending the shows. Despite the very positive response of those attending, Harrison fears for the future of the piece. Hopefully, more people will respond well to The Wheel and he'll find more places to book concerts, because this music is worthy of an audience. It's engaging. You can hear more about Harrison and The Wheel at the Jazz Session. The music oscillates between somber and lively, so it keeps your attention. The song titles are evocative of political tumult, so that keeps your attention, too. However, Harrison doesn't intentionally write these political themes. He says he sees his meaning after writing the piece. His initial focus, then, is the music. Interpretation can be left up to the listener. Here are a couple of things he noted about his songs in a recent interview. It gives you an idea of what the philosophy of the record is like."American Farewell" - This is the first "movement" and its melody recurs through the track. Harrison describes it as two friends parting or America departing as world power. "We Have Been the Victims of a Broken Promise" - The title is taken from an essay by Martin Luther King, Jr., and Harrison says it could mean many things. He feels America has lost its ability to be a leader and it also relates to some personal tragedies in the artists life. Harrison's music is shaped by the styles of music he appreciates; these include jazz, of course, and contemporary classical. However, much more interesting is the African and Indian influences on his songs, not to mention blues and even Appalachian - which, I'm sorry, is very disturbing. I thought I was having a nightmare when I heard echoes of banjo in some of these songs, but no, it's true. The echoes are there. Despite that, it's an exceptionally intelligent composition, with a focus on improvisation. So, it feels masterfully structured yet alive and buoyant. It will take some time to fully absorb the CD, but it is worth the effort.

Tickets for Jarvis Cocker’s UK tour are available now. As was reported on NME.COM, the former Pulp frontman will embark on a handful of dates this November, which will feature several of Cocker’s labelmates at Rough Trade in support. The tour will call at Sheffield Carling Academy on November 25, London Shepherds Bush Empire (26), Manchester University (30) and Birmingham Carling Academy on December 2. For more tickets and information, head over to NME.COM/tickets. Seminal lo-fi rock band Built To Spill will also be heading out on tour this winter. Dough Martsch and his fellow bandmates will play Bristol Thekla on November 5, Oxford Carling Academy (6) and Leeds Brudenell Social Club (7). For your chance to grab tickets, go to NME.COM/tickets. Meanwhile, tickets for NME Radar star Florence And The Machine’s UK tour are also available. Florence will call at Lancaster Library on November 2, Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire (5), Bristol Louisiana (10) and Nottingham Bodega Social Club (11). For tickets, visit NME.Com/tickets.

In a new autobiography The Way I Am, once-ubiquitous rapper Eminem documents the depression that’s kept him out of the public eye for over three years. The stories surrounding his hiatus have mostly been malicious, painting him as a housebound junk food guzzler. Which, it turns out, was more or less true. Those dark days stemmed from the death of Eminem’s friend and collaborator Proof in 2006, as he details in The Way I Am. “After [Proof] passed, it was a year before I could really do anything normally again,” Eminem writes. “It was tough for me to even get out of bed, and I had days when I couldn’t walk, let alone write a rhyme. I have never felt so much pain in my life. It’s a pain that is with me to this day. A pain that has become a part of who I am.” The book covers a lot of drama – the early years of bullying, the tumultuous family life and the very public custody battle over his daughter. However, there are entertaining anecdotes scattered throughout. For example, Eminem reveals that his signature blond buzz-cut came about after an all-night bender on ecstasy. Suitably sideways, he wandered into a pharmacy and bought some peroxide on a whim. “I wasn’t thinking that the peroxide thing was going to be my look,” he remarks. “I was just being stupid on drugs.” The things you learn, kids… RSS del.ici.ous Digg Facebook

In 1980, a new wall went up between two worlds, and although it wasn't a physical barrier like the one splitting Berlin in half, over the years it has just as successfully cut the West off from Iran as if it were an actual presence. The fall of the American backed Shah of Iran, the takeover of the American Embassy in that country, and the subsequent severing of all relations between the new regime and North American governments has resulted in turning those on either side of the wall into a one-dimensional enemy whose every work and deed are to be denounced. Mistrust between the Muslim world and the West is nothing new of course, but in the past there has at least been times when there has been mutual recognition and appreciation of cultural achievements. Now, however, we live in a culture of such absolutes that, for the majority of us, the other is nothing more than a faceless enemy incapable of doing anything of value. While it's true that the poetry of Rumi, the great Sufi mystic of the Middle Ages, enjoyed a burst of popularity in the West in the nineties, little or nothing is known of poetry from the last hundred years. It's like we have tarred all of modern Iran with the same brush, and even those who predate the current theocracy can't escape that censorship. But even the tightest seal can develop leaks and thanks largely to the efforts of expatriate Iranians, occasional glimpses are to be had of some truly unique talents. A new offering from Iranian-American composer Shahrokah Yadegari, Green Memories, on the Lila Sound label, does just that by offering American audiences an introduction to the poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad. Combining the structure of classical Iranian music with computer software that transforms acoustic instruments into melodies and textures, Yadegari has collaborated with fellow expatriates, vocalist Azam Ali and violinist Keyavash Nourai, to create a series of ambient soundscapes that reflect the emotional texture of one of Farrokhzad's most powerful poems, "I Pity The Garden (Green Memories)." Forugh Farrokhzad was born in 1935 and was well on her way to establishing herself as a major poet when a car accident cut her life short in 1967. During her short life she published five collections of poetry, produced a documentary film about a leper colony, and was the subject of two documentary films. Yadegari sees her poem, "I Pity The Garden (Green Memories)," as an example of the difference between Western and Islamic thought when it comes to our relationship with the environment around us. Whereas ever since the 19th century the West has steered a path that preaches the separation of man and nature, Islamic thought has expressed the interconnection and interweaving of the two. To that end he, along with his two collaborators, have taken for their inspiration lines such as, "No one thinks of the flowers/No one thinks of the fish/No one wants to believe that the garden is dying/Its heart swollen under the sun…" from Farrokhzad's poem in trying to convey the emotions of desperation and hope expressed in it. Although the poem's original intent was not to describe our current global environmental conditions - it was after all written in the 1950s - the fact that Farrokhzad often used personal images to express universal concerns lends legitimacy to Yadegari, Ali, and Nourai's interpretation. page 1 | 2

Laura Vecchione, Girl in the Band Laura Vecchione’s second disc is a consummately crafted and craftily written set of tunes that straddle the borders between commercial country, country-rock, and alt/Americana. My colleague Michael Bialas detailed Laura’s devotion to and work on behalf of post-Katrina New Orleans. Notably, on this CD, she covers the traditional “Indian Red” a capella and flows it into her own “Fly Home Flag Boy.” “Magnolia” too evokes the “Crescent City moon” and “wrought iron lace and Spanish roofs.” It’s the same moon, of course, that shines over her Boston and New York City roots in “This Town” and the pillowy but catchy title track. My favorite, though, might just be the sneaky “Don’t Come Creepin’.” Laura tried out some different styles on her previous disc; here she stretches a bit in her nicely subtle rendition of the Etta James ballad “A Lover is Forever,” while the closing number, the beautiful original “Stone By Stone,” also has a bluesy-jazz tilt to its folky bedrock. If you haven’t met Laura Vecchione, this is a great place to start. Links to listen and purchase are at her website. G Tom Mac, Though Shalt Not Fall G Tom Mac is the strange moniker for the pairing of Gerard McMann, known for the goth track “Cry Little Sister” from the film The Lost Boys, and collaborator/producer Tony Silver. Perhaps because the duo has concentrated on creating music for TV and movies, there’s a variety of moods on their new disc, but a strong thread is their appealing fusion of industrial sounds with a skilled songwriter’s feel for pop music, along with a bit of gothic bite. A good listen altogether. The Simple Things, The Simple Things I’m glad I didn’t read The Simple Things’ press kit before listening to their music. “Imagine McCoy Tyner, Rickie Lee Jones, and James Jamerson coming together…” Sure, imagine those people…and then think about their opposites, and you might get something like The Simple Things. What we have here is a collection of spacious chamber pieces, feather-light yet highly focused. Singer Kaitlin McGaw alternates between a controlled wail (”Eyes For Me”) and an affectless Liz Phair delivery (”The Moon Is Torn”), both effective in their own ways. The music behind her is subtle piano and organ from Michael Gallant and tasteful, precise electric bass from Raymond Ruiz, who has a penchant for bass chords. The result is a very modern but accessible sound, contemplative and easeful but rewarding careful listening as well. page 1 | 2

Morrissey has revealed that he is set to write his autobiography. The former Smiths singer told Janice Long on BBC Radio 2 that the book would span his career in the music industry, although he did not reveal how far through writing it he was or when he hoped to release it. “So much crap is written about me, it’s hard to live with sometimes,” he said. “It all gets burned down in history and becomes a part of your legacy.” Morrissey went on to claim that his forthcoming new album, ‘Year Of Refusal’, was his best album yet. “It’s fantastically strong,” he said. “It’s very, very strong and it’s interesting for me after all these years, but it’s the strongest.” The album is set to be released in February. To receive the latest news updates every week - plus free MP3s, videos and more - sign up to the NME Newsletter.