Cartoon band Gorillaz will have a busy autumn, as it plans to release a series of EPs, a book and a DVD. "Rise of the Ogres," the group's literary premiere, will be released Nov. 2 through Penguin Books. The biography is revealed through interviews, as well as a number of "photos" from the past and present from visuals creator Jamie Hewlett.

"It starts right back from our childhoods, and how I put this band together piece by piece. It basically tells the story of how we, Gorillaz, came to rule the world," frontman Murdoc Nicalls tells Billboard.com via e-mail.

The group (an amalgamation of personalities from Blur's Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori, Hewlett and a smattering of musical collaborators) managed to round up anecdotes and cameos by De La soul, Ike Turner, Dennis Hopper, Madonna and Shaun Ryder, but failed to secure a blurb from non-collaborator Keith Richards.

"Here's a funny thing, right," says Murdoc. "We tried to get a quote off the man for a TV advert a while back but, when asked, he kind just went, 'Er... Who the f*ck are Gorillaz?' So this time round we asked if we could use that quote for the book. [But] we never got any of his team to sign off on it, so we missed out."

The EPs, "DARE," "Dirty Harry," "Feel Good Inc." and "El Manana" will be released exclusively via iTunes on Oct. 24, Nov. 7, Dec. 2 and Dec. 5, respectively. Each contains live and video versions of their songs, as well as previously unreleased material.

As for the DVD "Phase Two -- Slowboat to Hades," due Oct. 31 via Virgin, it rounds up videos, short films and live performances. "I think we work well in any medium. I mean, the really obvious thing would for us to do the Gorillaz-type film. We've talked about it for so long," Murdoc says. "Or we might skip that and just appear in people's head, as kind of digital dreamy holograms -- a whole new telepathic technology. Sexy, huh?"

Gorillaz are also kicking around new music, despite Murdoc's desire for personnel changes. "Well, it'd be great to kick 2-D out of this band, but I just can't find anyone to better his vocal abilities," he admits. "Obviously it's plain to see he's a complete moron, but he sounds great on record so I guess the freak gets to keep his job. Regarding future collaborations? Ooh baby, have we got something special lined up for you. I can't let you in on it just yet, but needless to say it makes the Gorillaz 'Demon Days' period look like a warm up act. You hear it here first too, kids!"

Source Billboard

Twenty Johnny Cash favorites will be found on the compilation "The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II," due Nov. 21 via Universal Music Enterprises. The first volume of the album has spent an astonishing 51 weeks on The Billboard 200 and has sold 2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Running in chronological order, "Vol. II" begins with Cash's 1956 Sun Records smash "There You Go" and also features the June Carter duet "It Ain't Me Babe," the 1969 Bob Dylan collaboration "Girl From the North Country" and covers of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" and Sting's "I Hung My Head."

An orchestral version of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire," first released on the boxed set "Unearthed," also appears.

As previously reported , there will be another piece of Cash product arriving next month. Columbia/Legacy will on Nov. 14 release a two-CD/one-DVD edition of "Johnny Cash at San Quentin," originally released in 1969 as a 10-song LP. The new package includes 13 previously unissued tracks as well as the 1969 documentary "Johnny Cash in San Quentin," produced for British television.

Here is the track list for "The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. II"

"There You Go"
"Home of the Blues"
"Ballad of a Teenage Queen"
"The Ways of a Woman in Love"
"I Still Miss Someone"
"Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
"The Long Black Veil"
"The Ballad of Ira Hayes"
"It Ain't Me Babe"
"Girl From the North Country"
"Daddy Sang Bass"
"Flesh and Blood"
"The Night Hank Williams Came to Town"
"That Old Wheel"
"The Beast in Me"
"Unchained"
"I Won't Back Down"
"I Hung My Head"
"Bird on a Wire"
"In the Sweet By and By"

Source Billboard

Sarah McLachlan fans better enjoy the Canadian singer/songwriter's new Christmas album, "Wintersong," because it may be awhile before they hear anything more from her. A laughing McLachlan tells Billboard.com that she's "really not anywhere yet" in regards to a follow-up to 2003's Grammy-winning "Afterglow."

"I've got one song written," McLachlan says, "and since the spring I've been focusing on this Christmas record. I'm gonna be promoting it up until the first week of December, and then come the new year I'll definitely start focusing on a new record."

But fans should not panic; McLachlan, who took six years between "Afterglow" and its predecessor, "Surfacing," certainly isn't.

"Basically, I've been through it every single time," she says of the long gap between albums. "It always happens, and it does seem to get a little worse the older I get. I have to really focus and spend good chunks of time doing it, and that becomes harder and harder the older I get, and the fact that I have a four-and-a-half year old [daughter, India].

"I don't want to miss any of it, and I'm selfish that way. Sure, maybe the career will suffer a little bit, but I'm doing just fine. I'm really happy, and I'm ridiculously ecstatic because of how far I've gotten in my career. I never imagined I would get this far, so I'm really just enjoying life and taking my time."

The just-released "Wintersong" features one new McLachlan song, the title track, as well as versions of holiday standards ("I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Silent Night," "O Little Town of Bethlehem") and covers of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," Joni Mitchell's "River," Gordon Lightfoot's "Song For a Winter's Night" and "Christmas Time is Here" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." McLachlan will make some TV appearances to promote "Wintersong" but isn't planning any live shows.

Source Billboard