SMALL FACES

Current rap-rock kingpins Limp Bizkit have tapped a rap-rock pioneer to produce the group’s next album. Rick Rubin, the man behind the breakthrough Aerosmith/Run-DMC teaming on “Walk This Way” and producer of such hybrid bands as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, will start recording new Bizkit material this week, with eyes on a summer release. No word on whether there will be any guests a la Method Man’s appearance on the last Limp Bizkit album. . . .

For the 10th year, Michael Stipe has donated a signed, single-edition photograph to be auctioned as part of a series of fund-raising events for the Mental Health Assn. of Georgia. Past photos have brought in as much as $1,000, but for the first time this auction will be on the Internet, and the price could go much higher. To see the picture and/or bid, log on to https://www.ArtAllDay.com. . . .

New tracks by Steve Earle, a duet of Jackson Browne and Joan Osborne (produced by Earle) and an Ani DiFranco version of “When I’m Gone” will be featured on the soundtrack of “Steal This Movie,” the story of Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman. An album will be released in late April by Danny Goldberg’s new Artemis Records, with the movie to premiere in May.