Wilco [ tickets ] has been at work in Chicago on the follow-up to its critically acclaimed fourth album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." The band hopes to have a new album in stores this spring.

According to a posting on the group's official website, the new release is being co-produced by the band and Jim O'Rourke, who engineered "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot."

The U.S. Secret Service may interview rapper Eminem [ tickets ] after an unpublished song surfaced on the Internet that contains the line "I'd rather see the president dead."

In a verse of the song "We As Americans," a very rough cut of which recently surfaced on the Internet, Eminem raps: "F--- money. I don't rap for dead presidents. I'd rather see the president dead. It's never been said, but I set precedents and the standards and they can't stand it."

The Secret Service, in a statement, said, "We are aware of the lyrics and are in the process of determining what action, if any, will be taken."

Bob Dylan [ tickets ], Willie Nelson, Norah Jones [ tickets ] and Bonnie Raitt are among the artists who have contributed tracks to a new benefit CD titled "Where We Live--Stand for What You Stand On." Proceeds from the CD will support Earthjustice's Where We Live Campaign to "promote the universal right to clean air and clean water," according to a press release.

More information about the disc is available at the Where We Live website.

Antonio "L.A." Reid, president & CEO of Arista Records, will deliver the keynote speech at the 2004 South by Southwest music conference, SXSW announced on Monday (12/8).

A conversation with Reid, to be conducted by Blender magazine editor Craig Marks, will kick off SXSW's three days of panels and workshops on March 18 at the Austin (TX) Convention Center.

More information is available at the SXSW website.