Yesterday as Kirty South and I drove back from Olympia WA, HANDS DOWN THE WORST PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES (with a few notable exceptions), I got to select the playlist on his iPod. Between The Shaggs and Deerhoof songs, there was plenty of ’80s pop, with no fewer than three Michael Jackson songs strewn in there. Man, that dude could write and perform a song. Despite child-touching allegations and a two-decade long decline in productivity and popularity, you still gotta give it up for Michael as an artist.

This led me to wonder: so when’s Wacko Jacko gonna release a new album? Apparently, it’s in the works. According to Billboard, songwriter Claude Kelly penned a song for the new Akon album. When Akon played Kelly the track, it featured none other than Michael Jackson. The track “Hold My Hand” will reportedly be released on both Akon’s album, and Jackson’s upcoming release (no release date yet). I for one can’t wait. No, seriously.

Claude Kelly, who can write a hit song, but apparently has no eye for design, is understandably way stoked.

“I wrote the song and gave it to Akon with the intention of it going to maybe Whitney Houston, but Akon said he wanted to cut it himself. I thought, ‘It doesn’t get any bigger than this’,” the 27-year-old New York native tells Billboard.com. “A few months after, Akon plays the song for me and all of a sudden I hear Michael Jackson’s voice. I was literally shaking by the time the song was over.”

And they have the boring, self congratulatory press release to prove it!!!!!111:

New York, NY – On July 1, Slipknot, the Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum nine man hard rock enigma, will unveil its new imagery in an exclusive partnership with AOL Music, the web’s most trafficked online music destination*. This highly anticipated debut kicks-starts the launch of Slipknot’s new album, All Hope Is Gone, which is set for release on Roadrunner Records on August 26th. Masks are an integral part of the band’s identity and to reflect this point, AOL Music’s Spinner.com will host a retrospective photo gallery of Slipknot masks throughout their career, spanning all three previous albums and including the most recent controversial “Purgatory Masks.” The Slipknot mask unveiling will be featured on the main page of Spinner.com worldwide for 24 hours.

Slipknot is a groundbreaking nine-piece machine born out of Des Moines, IA. The band has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. Their last studio album VOL. 3: (THE SUBLIMINAL VERSES) was released in May 2004, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, selling over 240,000 copies its first week and 1.5 million copies in the U.S. to date. The album broke new ground for the band and spawned the hit singles “Duality,” “Vermilion” and “Before I Forget.” In November 2005 the band released SLIPKNOT 9.0: LIVE, a gold-certified double live album. December 2006 saw the release of the DVD Voliminal: Inside the 9. Certified platinum, it is a vivid, brutally honest glimpse of the world inside the band.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to clown (OMG PUN) on Slipknot. In fact, the couple of times I’ve seen them live they were pretty badass. It’s just that, when it comes to masks, and metal, you can’t fuck with GWAR. Seriously:

Jean Grae is from South Africa and used to be in the rap crew Natural Resources until she went her own way when they split. This will be her first album in FOUR years, titled Jeanius, and it drops on July 8th. It’s coming out on Blacksmith Music and they’re hoping this anticipated album will be the one to bring her out from the underground scene and make the move to mainstream. The album was produced by “9th Wonder” which includes Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Destiny’s Child. If you think you’ve never heard of her, she was on the Rock The Bells tour, toured with Talib Kweli, and coached on the “I Wanna Be A Rapper” MTV show.

Bottom line: Jean Grae has mad rapping skills. She can flow like no other and spit lyrics with them best of them plus she’s hard as eff.

Oasis is putting out a new album titled Dig Out Your Soul and will be released on October 7th. It is their first album since last year’s Lord Don’t Swallow Me Down. It is being mixed and recorded at Abbey Road in Los Angeles. The band wants the new songs not to follow a traditional pattern and want a more hypnotic feel that people can personally connect with.

Dig Out Your Soul is going to be the first album to be released on Big Brother label, the band’s own.

Check the Oasis tour dates with special guest Ryan Adams!

8/26/08: Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater

8/27/08: Vancouver, BC - GM Place

8/29/08: Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place

8/30/08: Calgary, AB - Pengrowth Saddledome

9/1/08: Winnipeg, MB - MTS Center

9/4/08: Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place

9/5/08: Montreal, QC - Bell Centre

9/7/08: Virgin Festival Toronto, ON

9/9/08: London, Ontario - John LaBatt Centre

Coldplay’s new album, Viva La Vida, is available in all stores today. Go get it! Check out a full first review of the album here. For Coldplay tour dates read this.

Journey’s brand spanking new album, Revelation, has landed itself the #5 slot on the Billboard Top 200 list. This proves once again that by in large, the older you get, the less your musical taste expands.