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.”

Weezer’s third self-titled record (known as the “red” album, following suit with 1994’s “blue” and 2001’s “green” albums) was set to be released this July, but has been pushed up a month, most likely to thwart pirates. Here’s the release:

The streets can’t wait any longer: Buoyed by a single which reached #1 at Modern Rock radio a mere eleven days after its release to the format, and a tidal wave of buzz, Weezer’s new, self-titled album on DGC/Interscope Records has had its release date moved up three weeks to June 3.

The latest single “Pork and Beans” produced by Jacknife Lee (U2, R.E.M.)  has been embraced by Modern Rock radio making it the quickest journey to #1 that any Weezer single has found in its illustrious history. The single has earned rave reviews in the UK’s NME  and Rolling Stone.

The new album which is the third eponymous in the band’s catalogue and is being referred as “The Red Album,” was produced by the band, Rick Rubin, and the aforementioned Lee.