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· Go on with your ''izzle'' jokes — Snoop Dogg is writing a novel, according to Billboard.com. Reportedly due this October, the rapper's first work of literary fiction, titled Love Don't Live Here Anymore, follows the not-admittedly-autobiographical story of a young black man coming up on the mean streets of Southern California and looking to break into the hip-hop world. According to a company rep, it's only the first in a whole urban-lit series Snoop will be heading up for Atria Books. Would you expect any less from the man who, in addition to being a multiplatinum recording star and an accomplished actor (he was on The L Word!), also has his own line of hot dogs? You would not.
· Lava lamps, rejoice. Your dearest friend, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, is returned to you — live! This fall, Pink Floyd principal Roger Waters will tour North America, performing the band's classic 1973 album in its entirety. Starting the tour Sept. 6 in Holmdel, N.J., and wrapping up Oct. 12 in Seattle, the band — including longtime sidemen Andy Fairweather Low and Snowy White on guitar, drummer Graham Broad, and Waters' own son Harry on Hammond organ — will hit mostly stadiums, outdoor arenas, and wherever else bearded dudes with cannabis-leaf-print underpants tend to congregate.
· Enjoy the Silence? Not when you can snag a copy of 50 exclusive live recordings Depeche Mode will release to celebrate their current world tour. A series of limited-edition CDs and digital downloads will be available to fans, who can order copies either online or at the venue on the night of every show. The albums — each concert will be available as part of a two-disc set — will feature artwork by famed rock photographer Anton Corbijn. See Pollstar or the Depeche Mode website for complete tour dates.
· It's been five years too many since the release of Sparklehorse's 2001 opus It's a Wonderful Life; thankfully, the spooky, textured indie rockers (essentially, frontman Mark Linkous) are back with a sequel, tentatively due this September. Guests include Tom Waits, Stephen Drozd from the Flaming Lips, and that bastion of sad-core compositions, Danger Mouse.
· Bad news for fans of the Subways. The British upstarts, scheduled to tour the U.S. in support of their spunky, punk-pop bag-of-fun debut, Young for Eternity, have been forced to cancel due to nodules on singer Billy Lunn's vocal cords; doctors ordered him to rest up and stay put in the U.K. Also not to be seen anytime soon: much-hyped dance-punk trio the Test-Icicles (the subject of a fierce major-label bidding war less than a year ago), who played their last-ever gig this week in London; according to NME magazine, friends and fans — including Ozzy spawn Kelly Osborne — joined the band onstage for their final song, ''Catch It,'' and, fittingly, promptly trashed the bulk of their equipment.
