Michael Jackson was very in volved with...

Michael Jackson was very in volved with the second release from his MJJ Records, the album “From the Bottom Up” by the female vocal trio Brownstone, due in late October. He’s the executive producer and was in the studio during some of the recording. Another MJJ release will come about the same time: a rap album by Quo, consisting of two pre-teen boys, one Australian and one African American. The first MJJ album, “Nathan,” by the 12-year-old Australian blues-guitar wiz Nathan Cavaleri, just came out.

The Breeders’ Kim Deal did a version of the old Everly Brothers song “Love Hurts” with Bob Pollard of the band Guided by Voices for the soundtrack of the upcoming movie “Love and a .45.” Rev. Horton Heat appears in the movie and is also on the soundtrack album, due Oct. 4. . . .

Look for Luther Vandross to begin touring around the end of the year in support of his new album of covers, “Songs,” due in stores Tuesday. . . . While the trend is to stick new songs on a “greatest hits” collection to help sell it, a collection due from Sade next month will be all previously released material. . . .

Besides having his own “I Love Everybody” album due in stores Sept. 27, Lyle Lovett has been producing demos for Kelly Willis in preparation for her next album, as well as sessions for longtime Texas singer-songwriter Eric Taylor. . . .

The latest from Weird Al Yankovic: “Headline News,” a song parodying media feeding frenzies to the tune of Crash Test Dummies’ “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.” The song will be on “Permanent Record: Al in a Box,” a four-CD (!) anthology that’s due Sept. 27. A “Headline News” video is coming soon. . . .

We’ve heard of independent bands, but the German industrial group Laibach has taken it a step further: Along with fellow members of a utopian artists collective, the group has declared itself an independent state , called Neus Slowenische Kunst (NSK). A Laibach album, “NATO,” is due Oct. 11. . . .

Nick Cave’s first four albums, which have been out of print in the United States for several years, are being released on CD by Mute Records. The first album, “From Her to Eternity,” will feature two bonus tracks: a version of the Elvis Presley hit “In the Ghetto” and a 1987 revision of the album’s title song that was used in Wim Wenders’ movie “Wings of Desire.” . . .

A box set of early and rare Lemonheads material is in the works from the band’s first label, the Boston-based Taang! Records. Among the tracks being considered are recordings of the band’s first-ever concert and rehearsals from group leader Evan Dando’s basement. Original member Corey Loog Brennan is writing extensive liner notes. . . .

Taang! Records will soon release CD versions of four early albums by seminal British techno band Spaceman 3. Spaceman founder Sonic Boom is working with the group E.A.R., which has an album coming soon from the L.A.-based Sympathy for the Record Industry label, and shows at the Troubadour next Sunday and the Foothill Club in Long Beach on Sept. 29.