Music Notes: Beck interviews Tom Waits, Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval returns

- Beck interviewed Tom Waits. Check it here. The interview is a part of a new section on Beck's site. The section, titled Irrelevant Topics, will continue to feature more interviews (or "conversations") between Beck and other artists. [Beck.com]

- Hope Sandoval, previously of Mazzy Star, is back after an eight-year absence. Her second album with The Warm Inventions (a band she formed in 2001 with My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig) will be out Sept. 15. The album is titled Through The Devil Softly. You can listen to/download the first single, "Blanchard," here. It's a pretty lovely, haunting tune. So if you're a fan in any capacity, check it out. [SPIN]

- Pandora lives on! Internet radio companies and major record labels have reached a royalty agreement that will allow web radio sites like Pandora to survive from a financial standpoint. [Rolling Stone]

- The Beastie Boys' 1994 album, Ill Communication, will be reissued July 14 by Capitol Records. [Pitchfork]

- Dead Man's Bones, a collaboration featuring actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields, will come out with their self-titled debut album on Oct. 6. [Pitchfork]

- Stream The Dead Weather's upcoming album (due July 14) here. [Fader]

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Music Notes: Many Michael Jackson updates, Blur triumph at Glastonbury

- Michael Jackson's final tour rehearsals could see the light of day in a CD/DVD release. The last rehearsal held before the icon's death was filmed in HD video and multi-track audio. [MTV]

- AEG Live, the organization promoting Jackson's now-canceled 50 gigs at London's O2 Arena, has announced that fans who purchased tickets through authorized agents will receive full refunds. These refunds include service fee charges. President/CEO Randy Phillips said the following in a statement: "The world lost a kind soul who just happened to be the greatest entertainer the world has ever known. Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death." [Billboard]

- Jackson was remembered during a heavily revamped BET Awards last night, where an emotional Janet Jackson took the stage and told the audience, "To you, Michael is an icon, to us, Michael is family. And he will forever live in all of our hearts. On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love, thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much. Thank you so much." [Rolling Stone]

- As of right now, Katherine Jackson — Michael and Janet's mother — has been granted temporary guardianship of his three children. An Aug. 3 hearing is set to determine whether or not she can become the children's permanent guardian. She has not been granted permission to become administrator of the children's estates. [NME]

- Despite some "interesting" reports that were coming out earlier, it looks like Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Jackson's two eldest children, hasn't really been in touch with anyone. Though her lawyer released a statement on her behalf this weekend, Rowe's whereabouts were listed as "unknown" on court documents. [BBC]

- Naturally, Jackson's music is in heavy rotation everywhere... radio play is up by 1735 percent. Seriously. [NME]

- In some happier music news, Blur played their first major gig last night at UK's Glastonbury Festival, playing some of their most energetic hits, as well as sadder, well-loved tunes like "This is a Low," "The Universal," and "To The End." The general consensus? The band's still got it. [Guardian, SPIN]

- Global licensing issues have shut Pandora (the internet radio site) outside the U.S. [Slashdot]

- You can see the Pixies on an European tour in October. The tour, titled "Doolittle" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their album of the same name, will go through cities like Dublin, Glasgow and Frankfurt. The band intends to play songs from Doolittle and all its related b-sides. [NME]

- New Jay-Z vid for "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)." [Pitchfork]

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Music Notes: Jay-Z leaves Def Jam, Massive Attack plan major world tour

- Jay-Z has left Def Jam, despite never actually recording the final album he owed them according to his contract. The rapper bought himself out of his own contract for $5 million, telling RapRadar.com, "I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely. I've been in the family for almost my entire career.... I thank [Morris] for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music." [MTV News]

- Massive Attack are back! A fifth album is due out in October, and the act has a huge world tour planned. More than forty dates are already planned for the UK and Europe, and it is likely that the full tour — which will include dates in the United States — could top 150 dates. [Billboard]

- Internet radio station-of-sorts/"music genome project" Pandora is launching a paid premium service. For $36 a year, users can get: all video and audio ads eliminated, 192 kbps streaming, five hours before timeout, a desktop app that allows play without a browser, mini web-based player, and custom player skins. [Hypebot]

- Cat Power will tour with The Pretenders and Juliette Lewis. [Pitchfork]

- And you won't find the latest Green Day album at Wal-Mart. Long story short? The chain wanted to sell "clean" versions of the album, which meant that some of the language and content would have been removed. Green Day said no. [Associated Press]

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