Rock News: Music's high and low notes

PUFFY PARTY

Sean "Puffy" Combs is planning a five-day party to celebrate his 33rd birthday, The New York Post reports. Puffy, who turns 33 Nov. 4, plans to charter jet his partymates to Marrakech, Morocco, for the fete. "A friend of Puffy's is paying for it all," the Post's spy reports. "He is renting out two jumbo jets, one from Paris, one from New York, that will bring everyone to Marrakech. It will be just a wild, wild week."

AUDIOSLAVE CUTS WITH DMX

Audioslave, the new configuration of Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk, Tom Morello, and Tim Commerford and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell, has written and recorded a pair of songs with rapper DMX, Billboard.com reports.

Commerford says one of the two collaborations with DMX is a pairing of the rapper and all four band members, while the other is a leftover track for which Cornell has not yet written lyrics. A DMX spokesperson says one of the songs is slated to show up in the forthcoming DMX/Jet Li film "Cradle to the Grave," the soundtrack for which should arrive in January or February on DMX's Bloodline label.

Commerford said one cut was slated to appear on the Island soundtrack for the upcoming "Jackass" movie but was pulled from the project. "It's so good," the bassist said, noting he's not sure where and when it eventually will show up. "It's such a great song that we can't put it out now because it'll get too much attention."

TORI AMOS ONLINE CHAT AND PREMIERE

Tori Amoss will chat live online with fans at 7 p.m. Eastern Friday about "Scarlet's Walk," her sonic novel and debut on Epic Records. The official release date is Tuesday. The chat will take place during the world premiere of selections from "Scarlet's Walk" that will stream for 24 hours, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern that same day, accessible at toriamos.com/virtualinstore, a special page at Tori's official Web site, toriamos.com.

Online retailers from around the world will pre-sell the album during the event, culminating in a global virtual in-store where fans can preview "Scarlet's Walk," chat with Amos, and purchase the album.

"Scarlet's Walk" is a chronicle of Amos' love affair with America, its people, history and future. The CD also acts as the key to "Scarlet's Web," an online bonus at toriamos.com only accessible when the disc is in a user's CD-ROM drive. Sony Proprietary ConnecteD technology is used to recognize the disc that then allows the fan to unlock the exclusive content. Once inside, "Scarlet's Web" fans will find three maps to help them navigate through photos, songs not found on the album, lyrics, a track-by-track commentary from Amos, behind-the-scenes video, mini movies, stories, contests to win front-row concert tickets, and souvenirs to collect along the way.

Because ConnecteD technology functions independently of the CD, the content can be changed on the fly. A special highlight of "Scarlet's Web" will be exclusive live tracks recorded along Tori's On Scarlet's Walk tour that embarks on Nov. 7.

"I wanted people to be able to discover for themselves the journey that Scarlet and I are taking," Tori said. "In Scarlet's Web you will be able to unlock the inner most details of this fantastic voyage, as well as a few special surprises along the way."

TODD BOOTS TO COME

Todd Rundgren and Sanctuary Records have a long-term arrangement to release a number of albums culled from the legendary musician's personal bootleg collection, beginning with "Live At The Forum '94," which arrived in stores Sept. 24. Under this deal, Rundgren will supply Sanctuary Records with audio and video recordings that reflect 35 years of his career, including his solo work, as well as his years spent in the rock groups Nazz and Utopia.

Sanctuary will then compile the material into a series of albums and concert DVDs to be released throughout the next year, including Utopia's "KSAN '79" and Nazz' "Anthology."

"Live At The Forum '94" was recorded in England in North London's famous venue, The Forum. Rundgren runs through a set list that includes his legendary 1988 hit "Bang The Drum All Day," "Love of the Common Man" and selections from his 1994 album "No World Order," the world's first audio-only interactive CD-ROM. Through his partnership with Sanctuary Records, Rundgren will personally approve and endorse all albums and longform concert videos by both Rundgren and Utopia.