NOISE

Do you still feel pressure every night to prove yourself musically after the Saturday Night Live incident?

It's really not about that for me. I've been touring for the past year and a half. For me now, it's about performing and having a good time, and bringing people to your show and making sure that they leave saying, "Wow, that was so much fun." That's what's important to me.

With the bigger production and more dancing on this tour, is it tough for you to coordinate all that while actually singing the songs?

There will be absolutely no lip-synching for me, ever. I can promise you that. I've learned that one. There's just a few songs where I'll be dancing. At all my shows, I always dance around. It's not like a full choreographed thing.

Have you ever considered returning to reality TV?

Never say "Never," right? But definitely not right now, I wouldn't revisit it. But there's a lot of people that are doing it now, so it's kind of like I get to watch them. I feel like it's getting played out.

Will you go out to clubs when you're in Vegas?

Probably not. I'll be in my hotel room. On tour, I can't really go out or anything. I have to be a very good girl.

Does that frustrate you?

No, I like it. I like it a lot. I'm at a place in my life right now where I'm pretty chill, so it works for me.

Thom Yorke


The Eraser

Sometimes music leaks onto the Web long before its commercial release. The Anonymous Downloader gives us a sneak preview: Who can wait four years between Radiohead albums? Or even until July 11 for the official release of Yorke's first solo effort? Not us—we've been listening to this one for days, and it's a definite grower. Melodious but musically sparse tracks like "Analyse" and "Black Swan" practically beg for a few guitar bursts from Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien, but the more lavish "And it Rained All Night" and "Harrowdown Hill" prove that Yorke's fascination with glitchy electronics can indeed produce results that have everything in its right place.

Because summer sun and reggae go so well together, here are 10 tunes to get you buzzed for Saturday's festival.

1. Desmond Dekker: "007 (Shanty Town)"

2. Bob Marley & The Wailers: "Crazy Baldhead"

If this doesn't make you want to sip wine from a plastic bottle, nothing will.

3. Burning Spear: "Marcus Garvey"

4. The Melodians: "Rivers of Babylon"

5. Toots & The Maytals: "Funky Kingston"

6. The Congos: "Children Crying"

7. Lee "Scratch" Perry: "Soul Fire"

8. The Specials: "Message to You Rudy"

Okay, so it's ska, but the Toasters have played Reggae in the Desert, so fair is fair.

9. Dennis Alcapone & Prince Jazzbo: "Lorna Banana"

10. Peter Tosh: "Them a Fe Get a Beatin' "

REGGAE IN THE DESERT FEATURING YELLOWMAN, MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD, GREGORY ISAACS, FORTWENTYDAZE, DA VERSE
Where: Clark County Amphitheater.
When: June 10, 3 p.m.
Price: $20-$25.
Info: 455-8200.

OK GO


Oh No (2 stars)

The Chicago pop-rockers schelped to Sweden to record this sophomore album with producer Tore Johansson, best known for sculpting Franz Ferdinand's debut disc. A better course of action might have been hunkering down at home and writing a few songs listeners might recall 10 seconds after Oh No times out.

IGNITE


Our Darkest Days (3 stars)

Ignite's first album in six years is a firecracker, separating the Orange County, California, outfit from the melodic-hardcore pack with a series of focused, politically and socially charged lyrical strikes.

If only frontman Zoltan Teglas' voice sounded as exotic as his name.

THE SLOW POISONER


Fatal Floral Phonograph (2 stars)

Self-described "one man surrealistic rock and roll band" Andrew Goldfarb toes the line between comedy and musicianship on this four-song EP, deadpanning silly lines like "you'll see through my glass eye tonight" but also managing moments of (Bohemian) sonic possibility. Performance art buffs will want to witness the live version.