mySimon Music Shopping Picks

High School Musical 3: Senior Year - which conveniently reduces to "HSM3" for texting! - comes out Friday, but you can get the HSM3 soundtrack right now, so you can rehearse the songs and then annoy everyone else in the theater. The soundtrack has all new music by the original songwriters and performances by the original cast, and it comes with a ring tone, fold-out poster, and "unlock more rock" content. We're not entirely sure what that means, but we assume it's an access code to more music on the HSM3 website.

This week is OutKast week. Their new album, Idlewild, just hit stores. The follow-up to the Grammy-winning Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the 25-track album is a musical companion piece (not a soundtrack) for the Idlewild movie, which opens tomorrow. Idlewild is a musical set in the Prohibition-era South, starring Big Boi and Andre 3000 as speakeasy performer/club manager and piano player/business partner, respectively.

We saw The Aggrolites perform in San Francisco last weekend, and have been listening to their latest album ever since. If you like reggae (Toots, the Upsetters, Jackie Mittoo, Derrick Morgan) then you will love The Aggrolites. The best reggae band you've never heard of, these southern California musicians effortlessly blend the authentic sound of reggae's mid-1960s glory days with their own brand of raw James Brown intensity and grit. More reggae music.

Yesterday we heard the coolest version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in a local store. It was mellow, with a dance beat, and such a welcome relief from the cloying Christmas music we hear everywhere this time of year. The sales guy told us it was from Christmas Remixed, 2 CDs of Christmas classics that have been remixed by some of the world's best modern dance, hip-hop, and electronic producers. Suddenly we're not sick of Christmas carols anymore. More Christmas music.

Eminem is supposedly retiring, leaving us with his greatest hits CD, Curtain Call, which comes out this week. In addition to "Real Slim Shady," "Lose Yourself," "My Name Is," and other chart-toppers, Curtain Call includes three new songs: "Fack," "Shake That" (featuring Nate Dogg), and "When I'm Gone," as well as the controversial Eminem-Elton John live duet of "Stan" from the 2001 Grammy Awards. More Eminem albums.

There's a Duran Duran tribute album coming out tomorrow that we cannot wait to hear. It's got Less Than Jake doing "The Reflex," Reel Big Fish doing "Hungry Like the Wolf," Jimmy Eat World doing "New Religion," and more. But the best track will surely be Wesley Willis' rendition of "Girls on Film."

Bruce Springsteen's new album, Devils & Dust, is #1 on the Billboard charts and the top seller on Amazon. It's a DualDisc release, with the full album on one side, and a DVD on the other, with new, acoustic renditions of several songs, and footage of the Boss himself.

Attention NIN fans: Trent Reznor's back with a brand-new album. It's called With Teeth, and it comes out today on Interscope. Rolling Stone calls the record "vintage Nine Inch Nails: New Wave with a heart of darkness." We're excited because it's got Dave Grohl on drums.

This is what we call an easy way to keep up with Top 40 music. Volume 18 of Now That's What I Call Music, featuring songs by U2, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Good Charlotte, Frickin' A, and more, is in stores and in the number two position on the Billboard album charts.

Good news for Beck fans who have been waiting almost 3 years for a new record: Beck's new album, called "Guero," hits stores March 29th (but you can preorder it now from many online stores). One of our coworkers got an advance copy and says it's amazing.

Tori Amos' new album, The Beekeeper, debuted at #5 on the Billboard charts this week. The album contains 19 tracks, organized into 6 themed "gardens" (see her web site for details). Listen to the CD while you browse through her new book, Piece By Piece, where Ms. Amos describes how she makes her music.

Meet the Fockers has been a big hit at the box office for several weeks, and the soundtrack - featuring Randy Newman, Tim Hardin, HeadBone, and more artists - comes out this week. Get Meet the Parents on DVD.

Hip hop at its best! R. Kelly and Jay-Z put out a new album last week called Unfinished Business. It's already #1 on the Billboard charts, and will probably be even more popular than 2002's Best of Both Worlds. Attention, old schoolers: There's a Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick track on this album!

Start "Roctober" right with a good punk rock opera. Green Day's first new record since 2000, American Idiot, hit stores last week and is already number one on the Billboard Charts. Green Day will go on tour in a few weeks to promote the new record, which takes the Bush administration and its policies to task.

It's getting very hot in here: Grammy award-winning Nelly has two full albums coming out today. The first one is called Sweat, featuring the single "Flap Your Wings," and the second is called Suit, featuring the single "My Place." Although we haven't heard the albums yet, we like how the cover art fits together to form one image of Nelly's face.

Number one on the Amazon music charts right now is a brand-new Ray Charles CD called Genius Loves Company. The "company" on this 12-song album includes Norah Jones, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, and more.

Volume 16 of "Now That's What I Call Music!" comes out on Tuesday. This compilation features 20 more chart-topping hits, including tracks from Beyonce, Outkast, Hoobastank, JoJo, Britney, and more.

Nothing makes us happy like having a legitimate excuse to use a rock 'n' roll cliche on mySimon. Not only is Dokken still going, they have a new album. Hell to Pay comes out today, and we're digging the cover art. We hear the singer can still hit those high notes too.

Velvet Revolver is the new supergroup featuring former members of Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots. Their debut album "Contraband" comes out this week, and promises 13 tracks of full-on, irony-free rock and roll.