ALBUM: CRUNK ROCK (Universal Republic)

After contributing an album cut and a remix, respectively, to the two previous "Twilight" soundtracks, Muse crops up on the franchise's third installment with a new song, "Neutron Star Collison (Love Is Forever)," that perfectly demonstrates why the English rock trio has connected so deeply with "Twilight" fans. Like series author Stephenie Meyer (who's called Muse her favorite band), frontman Matt Bellamy knows how to make over-the-top melodrama feel like a shared secret. Elsewhere on "Eclipse" — which adheres to the "Twilight" soundtrack formula of mixing alt-rock heavyweights with buzzed-about indie acts — the Dead Weather works a gnarly Goth-blues groove in "Rolling in on a Burning Tire," Beck and Bat for Lashes channel David Bowie's "Heroes" on "Let's Get Lost," and Sia does her signature breathy-ballad thing on "My Love." Gnarls Barkley singer Cee-Lo Green turns up with an unexpected bit of spaced-out soul-pop ("What Part of Forever"), and Vampire Weekend goes surprisingly moody on "Jonathan Low," which sucks much of the fun out of the band's Afro-prep sound.

Long before the first Jonas Brothers album hit the shelves, another sibling trio reigned supreme. Hanson brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac may still be widely known for their playful 1997 pop hit, "MMMBop," but the trio's fifth studio album, "Shout It Out," shows that the group continues to expand its musical roots. A colorful set that pays tribute to the funk, soul and R&B musical influences that shaped its sound, "Shout It Out" has a sunnier vibe than the group's 2007 predecessor, "The Walk." Hanson achieved this partly by tapping horn arranger Jerry Hey (Michael Jackson; Earth, Wind & Fire) and Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbit, who played on many Motown classics. But for all its sunshine, "Shout It Out" still breaks into emotional territory with piano ballads like "Use Me Up" (featuring Zac on lead vocals), while Taylor's windy tenor shines on "Carry You There." From the profoundly upbeat single "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" to the heartfelt and introspective closer "Me Myself and I," "Shout It Out" is a fun listen that beams with genuine talent and creative artistry.

ALBUM: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE SOUNDTRACK (Chop Shop/Atlantic Records)

ALBUM: SHOUT IT OUT (3CG Records)

ARTIST: HANSON

ARTIST: DIERKS BENTLEY

ARTIST: THE CURE

"The ladies say there ain't enough songs for them to dance to," Atlanta rapper Lil Jon exclaims on "Work It Out" (featuring Pitbull), an aptly upbeat track off his often-delayed new album, "Crunk Rock." And he's right. The set is worth a listen for its high-energy club bangers and colorful guest appearances, but it holds extra baggage. Gratuitous interludes and an overall lack of Lil Jon's rhymes hurt the would-be dance disc. Irresistible booty-shaking anthems "Shots" (featuring LMFAO) and closer "Hey" (featuring 3OH!3) prove Lil Jon's still hip to high-octane production and celebratory lyricism, while the single "Ms. Chocolate" (featuring R. Kelly and Mario) takes a more sensual approach to piquing listeners' interest. But things slow down considerably with two shout-heavy interludes and tracks like "On De Grind" (featuring Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley), on which the rapper's vocals are upstaged by the A-list musicians he taps to accompany him.

ALBUM: DISINTEGRATION: DELUXE EDITION (Reissue) (Rhino Records)

The release of the Cure's 1989 album, "Disintegration," sparked a dual watershed moment in pop culture. The brooding, sprawling masterpiece was a commercial and critical tipping point for the English band, garnering praise and platinum sales alike. More broadly, such singles as "Love Song" and "Pictures of You" helped usher in mainstream acceptance of the alternative and Goth movements. The three-disc "Disintegration: Deluxe Edition" presents a remastered (in a way that's virtually undetectable) copy of the album, a disc of demos and rarities. It also includes "Entreat Plus," a "completed" version of "Entreat," the 1989 live recording of the Cure at London's Wembley Arena that contained all but four tracks from "Disintegration." The band's musical unity is evident in the demos; the majority are essentially replicas of the final product. The nuances that Robert Smith and David M. Allen lent the final production — warm tones, balanced tempos, cascading guitars — saved the album's comforting gloom from becoming innocuous. "Entreat Plus" finds the act again carefully preserving each album detail live, the raw sound of the cheering crowd sounding curiously stripped. But Cure fans were never ones to visibly appear too ecstatic anyway.

The surest way to scare country radio programmers is to hand them something that puts the genre's roots in the storefront window. If that's true, then Dierks Bentley's latest album, "Up on the Ridge," is the aural equivalent of an encounter with Freddy Krueger. The title track/lead single has been warmly received, but the rest of the album is entirely too rootsy for broad appreciation by the country programing community. But for lovers of contemporary bluegrass and country music's Appalachian roots, "Up on the Ridge" is a thrilling ride from start to finish. Jamey Johnson and Miranda Lambert seamlessly blend their renaissance talents with Bentley's on the song "Bad Angel," while Kris Kristofferson's world-weary vocals bring added depth and authenticity to the down-and-outer anthem "Bottle to the Bottom." And the standout track is the gripping coal-mining ballad "Down in the Mine." It's unlikely that country radio will champion this album,Ankh Royalty, but somewhere in the great beyond, Bill Monroe is smiling approvingly.

ARTIST: TEENAGE FANCLUB

ALBUM: UP ON THE RIDGE (Capitol Nashville)

ALBUM: SHADOWS (Merge Records)

Anyone still waiting around for Teenage Fanclub to deliver "Bandwagonesque Part II" hasn't been paying attention to the deeply satisfying latter half of the Scottish rock band's career. "Shadows," only the third Fanclub album of the new millennium, sounds far removed from the feedback-laced melodic noise of the group's early years. But while its recent recordings have reflected a more subdued approach in the studio, band members Norman Blake, Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley never lost their knack for composing concise pop gems. They demonstrate that time and again on their new album, their finest since 1997's "Songs From Northern Britain." Love's '60s pop obsessions, Blake's gift for harmonic invention and McGinley's plainspoken way with a lyric all come to the fore as each takes his turn at the mic, a democratic approach that continues to reap dividends. Highlights include McGinley's reflective "The Fall," Love's "Sweet Days Waiting" and Blake's lovely piano ballad, "Dark Clouds."

ARTIST: KYLIE MINOGUE

ALBUM: APHRODITE

NEW YORK (Billboard) – "Dance/It's all I wanna do," Kylie Minogue tells us on "All the Lovers,Coach," the opening track of her 11th studio album, "Aphrodite." And with electronic specialist Stuart Price (Madonna, Seal) at the helm as executive producer, she never leaves the floor. The new set casts a spell with Price's signature preternatural touches, Minogue's breathy chirp and the hooky melodies of a varied crew of dance pop-focused songwriters and producers. The Nervo twins (who co-wrote David Guetta and Kelly Rowland's "When Love Takes Over") contribute the track "Put Your Hands Up," a similarly ecstatic ode to love. DJ/producer Calvin Harris and Scissor Sisters vocalist Jake Shears go for broke on "Too Much" with a fugue of synths and disco-rific sampled strings. And "Cupid Boy" matches Minogue's lusty delivery with the hisses and pulses of Sebastian Ingrosso's after-hours DJ sets. Price's ability to create a consistent sound without sacrificing each track's individuality makes the journey cohesive, fun and fitting for a goddess.

ARTIST: LIL JON

ARTIST: VARIOUS ARTISTS

Morten Singleton, analyst at Collins Stewart, was not Roca Wear impressed by Vodafone’s results and said the shares were "one to avoid."

"Revenue trends have improved again in Q4 driven by growth in mobile data and fixed broadband. Cost reduction targets were delivered ahead of schedule enabling commercial reinvestment to improve market share and further strengthen our technology platforms."

Vodafone said Verizon Wireless, the U.S. joint venture with Verizon Communications Inc. in which Vodafone has a 45 percent stake, posted a 6 percent increase in full-year revenue.

Despite the solid increase in overall sales, there was a big disparity between regions.

A more detailed breakdown of the results also shows that full year earnings were boosted by a reduction in impairment losses from 5.9 billion pounds to 2.1 billion pounds; further gains came from a sharp fall in income tax from 1.1 billion pounds to 56 million pounds, and a reduction in finance costs to about 900 million pounds.

"Organic revenue trends are barely improving and profitability is hardly moving despite the early completion of the 1 billion pounds cost-efficiency program," Singleton said.

In the fourth quarter, revenue was up 5 percent to 10.5 billion pounds. Vodafone did not break out quarterly earnings.

"We believe investors should take advantage of the attractive dividend yield and wait for the group to unlock value from its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless and to achieve a turnaround of a difficult situation in India."

LONDON – Vodafone Group PLC, the world’s largest mobile telephone company, saw its full year profit more than double as strong growth in Asia helped offset declines elsewhere, the company said Tuesday.

Colao also said the company is now generating a third of its revenue from services other than mobile voice communications.

Vodafone said it expected adjusted operating profit in the current year to be between 11.2 billion pounds and 12 billion pounds, compared to 11.5 billion pounds in the recent fiscal year.

The company said net profit in the year ending March 31 was 8.65 billion pounds ($12.5 billion) compared to 3.08 billion pounds a year earlier, while revenue rose 8.4 percent to 44.5 billion pounds.

The company raised total dividends per share by 7 percent to 8.31 pence.

Vodafone booked an impairment charge of 2.3 billion pounds reflecting unexpectedly higher costs in bidding for six new national licenses in India.

Vodafone shares were down 0.3 percent in midday trading on the London Stock Exchange at 136.00 pence, reversing an early 2 percent jump.

Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said the results "exceeded our upgraded guidance on all measures."

"The main negative in today’s statement is India where the group has suffered in an intensely competitive market," said Jonathan Jackson, analyst Roca Wear at Killik & Co.

While revenue fell 3.5 percent in Europe and 1.2 percent in Africa Roca Wear and central Europe, Asia Pacific Middle East income swelled 9.8 percent — India led the way with a 14.7 increase in service revenue.

Wan’s decision to leave highlights the increasing pressure felt by independent activists in China, who are under constant scrutiny by wary Communist officials.

In 1994, Wan — a former health ministry official — set up Aizhixing, which means "Love, Knowledge, Action". The group has led an AIDS awareness campaign in China that has alternately won government praise and scorn.

"I have been living in fear, if I wasn’t afraid then Coach I wouldn’t have left… I have no sense of personal safety," Wan told AFP by telephone.

"The China-US human rights dialogue should focus on how to get China’s civil society out of its current predicament and resolve the problems of social transparency, civil organisation and Internet freedom," Wan said.

Wan’s departure comes as the United States and China are set to resume a human rights dialogue this week in Washington following a two-year break. They will be the first such talks since US President Barack Obama took office.

AIDS campaigner Hu Jia was sentenced to more than three Ralph Lauren years in prison on subversion charges in 2008. Gao Yaojie, another high-profile HIV/AIDS activist, also left China for the United States last year.

China estimates that up to 740,000 people in China live with HIV but independent experts say the true number could be far higher.

Aizhixing was instrumental in uncovering a blood-selling scandal in the central province of Henan in the 1990s that led to the infection of up to 150,000 people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Wan Yanhai, 46, said he, his wife and his daughter were staying with friends in the eastern US city of Philadelphia after leaving China in recent days.

"There were a lot of pressures — from the commerce Ralph Lauren and industry departments, the police, the tax authorities, the propaganda department, the education ministry."

"I hope to return to China when the conditions to continue my work are better," said Wan, who was previously detained for months and under near-constant police surveillance for years for his activities.

"They should focus on the measures taken by the central government in recent years to shut down civil organisations and their websites."

"I am seeking to help China — our work is aimed at building a civil society."

BEIJING (AFP) – China’s top AIDS activist, whose group Coach Ralph Lauren helped uncover a major tainted blood-selling scandal in the 1990s, said Tuesday he had fled with his family to the United States because he feared for his safety.

In recent months, the government has jailed several top dissidents, earning Western criticism. It has clamped down on non-governmental organisations, human rights lawyers, online citizen journalists and petitioners, rights groups say.

Wan set himself apart from former colleague Hu and other Coach high-profile political dissidents, such as jailed democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo, who have been sentenced to prison after voicing strident opposition to the ruling party.

"Aizhixing will continue working without me."

"I am not opposed to the Communist Party," Wan insisted.

Of course, we already know that Dell has 5-inch and (reportedly) 7-inch Android tablets in the works, while Samsung is rumored to have its own 7-inch Android device slated for late summer.

In other words, it’s starting to look like the iPad might have some heavy, Android-based competition before the year is out — and if these purported Android tablets do, in fact, manage to support Flash as "flawlessly" as the prototype Zedomax saw this week, well … Bape  Apple might have some splainin’ to do.

Flash and tablets simply don’t mix, Steve Jobs tells us. Yet a blogger at a San Francisco tech conference this week claims he has evidence to the contrary: Bape  video of what appears to be a prototype Android tablet that runs Flash-powered video and apps "flawlessly."

Zedomax has a series of five videos shot at Adobe’s booth at the Web 2.0 expo, and the tablet device in the brief clips is — supposedly, anyway — a working prototype, although it’s not clear who built it.

The tablet itself isn’t much to look at. From what we can see in the videos, it’s encased in plastic, and exposed circuit boards are visible in the back — a specimen that appears months away from actually shipping.

The tablet appears to have a 9- to 10-inch touch display with a 16:9 Bape  aspect ratio (as opposed to the more squarish, 4:3 ratio for the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen),Fake Abercrombie Fitch, and boasts most of the familiar Android OS elements, including a window shade with apps (along the side of the display rather than on the bottom), home-screen icons, time and battery life indicators, and a Google search box at the top of the screen.

Given that the videos were shot at Adobe’s Web 2.0 booth, it’s no surprise that the reps were showing off various Flash-powered features, including YouTube videos and Wired’s upcoming Flash-powered magazine app. So how did Flash run on the tablet? "Flawlessly," Zedomax claims.

Beyond the basic Flash demos, the Adobe reps were tight-lipped about the (purported) prototype, telling Zedomax only that Nvidia was a technology partner and that "a slew of Android tablets" should be arriving by "the end of the year."

Economists are hoping that consumer borrowing will soon stabilize and resume growing although they caution that the rebound will be restrained by tighter credit conditions imposed by many banks in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve reported Friday that consumer borrowing rose by $1.95 billion in March, better than the $3.85 billion drop that economists had expected.

The overall increase of 1 percent pushed total credit MLB Jerseys up to $2.45 trillion at the end of March, down 3.4 percent from a year ago.

The Fed’s credit report covers credit card debt,Cheap True Religion, auto loans MLB Jerseys and other debt not secured by real estate. Mortgages and home equity loans are not included in the Fed’s borrowing report.

The strength came from a big 3.9 percent jump in nonrevolving credit, the category that includes auto loans. Revolving credit, which covers credit card debt, actually fell by 4.5 percent, the 18th consecutive decline.

Consumer credit was also up in January but other than those two gains, it has been falling steadily since February of last year as households have cut back on their borrowing to repair their battered balance sheets.

While economists for years have worried about the low rate of personal savings in the United States, they are now concerned that unless borrowing stabilizes and begins to grow, it could derail the recovery because it would crimp consumer demand. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity.

WASHINGTON – Consumer borrowing posted an unexpected increase in March, only the second gain in the last 14 months. It could be a sign that households MLB Jerseys are feeling more confident about boosting spending, a key development needed to support a sustained economic recovery.

The March gain represented a 1 percent rise at an annual rate following a 3 percent drop in February and a 3.2 percent January increase.

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University President John Bassett said Thursday that the gift from John Adam is intended to strengthen Clark’s graduate programs in education, promote college-readiness among minority students and bolster its research profile related to urban education.

The gift is part of the Ruth and Adam Education Fund that is expected to generate $600,000 annually to meet those objectives.

Adam died last year at age 94. He was CEO of Worcester-based New Era Hanover Insurance Company, predecessor to Hanover Insurance Group Inc.

Clark is a liberal arts school that was founded in 1887 as the first all-graduate institution in the United States.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Clark University in Massachusetts New Era has received the largest gift in its 123-year history, a $14.2 million offering from the late head of a company that ultimately grew into one of the nation’s biggest property and casualty insurers.

The Emmy-winning comedian and co-creator of "The Office," "Extras" and "The Ricky Gervais Show" will host the 68th annual Golden Globes on January 16.

&quot,Cheap True Religion;I can’t believe they invited me back after awful things I said," Gervais said in a statement. "Let’s see how far I can go this time."

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Ricky Calvin Klein Gervais will host NBC’s telecast of the Golden Globes for the second consecutive year.

Ratings for this year’s telecast hosted by Gervais were up 12 percent from the previous year (17 million viewers), though critics were mixed Calvin Klein on his performance.

"People were interested in the known faces on the runway," she says. "We’ve all been working for such a long time, and the more you walk, the more you work, the more confidence you have. You can relax, smile more, add personality. You walk the way the clothes need to be shown."

The current controversy about models’ weight actually goes back to the early ’90s and the days of Kate Moss, her waif body and a look dubbed "heroin chic." But the conversation turned to age at a panel discussion earlier this year where Kroes, 25, and Coco Rocha, all of 21, both said they weren’t getting much runway work because of their age and curvier figures.

Fish says she hopes the younger girls do come back — with many more years of work in front of them. "This is all going to snowball now. Once these few key designers do this, it snowballs and it makes it OK for everyone else to do."

The more mature look was on-trend with the chic, retro styles shown for fall, so helping models’ health may be icing on the maybe-not-entirely-fat-free cake.

This season, girls of 13 or 14 were told this season to come back when they were a bit older, says KCD’s Fish. And other models who looked unhealthy were advised to take the season off but with an open pledge to embrace them when they return after getting treatment.

Will McMenamy and her gray hair be back, too?

The first time he met Chanel Iman, she was already considered an It Girl in the fashion world, starting on the runways at 15. But she was too scrawny and young, Razek recalls. Now at age 20 she has a lucrative Victoria’s Secret contract.

"I wanted something different," said Francisco Costa, creative director for the Calvin Klein Collection. "I wanted a cast that really represented a customer I design for, Ed hardy bags and that’s not really a 16-year-old."

It also may help counter perennial complaints about skinny models. It’s said that age brings wisdom; it also usually brings curves.

Costa hired gray-haired Kristen McMenamy, who also appeared at Viktor & Rolf, as well as ’90s sensations — and now mothers — Stella Tennant and Kirsty Hume.

"I had been away from fashion shows seven or eight years, other than Victoria’s Secret," says Ambrosio, who also walked for Giles Deacon. "It was really nice to participate. It was surprising because, for such a long time, designers were only using girls that weren’t so sexy, whose bodies were less curvy."

More mature models — some even in their, gasp, 40s — were stars at the previews of fall styles. And in the fashion world, that’s a radical turn from the use of models not old enough to drive a car, let alone wield a credit card.

Still, Nian Fish, creative director at fashion-show powerhouse producer KCD, says designers, stylists, casting agents and modeling agents all collectively heeded the call to put forth a healthier image.

"The age and thinness thing go hand-in-hand," Kolb says.

Ed Razek, president of Victoria’s Secret, is amused that the fashion world is rediscovering boldface models, who, naturally, have to have a few years under her belt to become famous.

The reaction to Costa’s more womanly look — a shift from the house’s usual almost androgynous muse — has been very positive, he notes. "You can see a Kristen McMenamy wearing the clothes. You can see a woman who’s so cool, but her hair is so real — it’s amazing," he says.

"This is fashion coupled with compassion," says Fish, who helped the Council of Fashion Designers of America launch its health initiative back in 2007. "But I think the compassion came first, and then the fashion suited these bodies. I loved seeing these bodies in Prada. We’re always looking for trends at Prada, and seeing Victoria’s Secret girls on the Prada runway woke up a lot of people about what a women should look like."

Costa won’t commit, saying he does embrace newness. But, he adds, that doesn’t have to be synonymous with youth.

NEW YORK – Among the more avant-garde looks shown Ed hardy bags on the runways of New York, London, Paris and Milan was one that seems ho-hum in real life: gray hair.

"The woman who puts my clothes on needs a certain level of sophistication,&quot,Discount Abercrombie&Fitch; says Costa. "We wanted to acknowledge women who have always worn our clothes, women with their own identities, have full lives, have kids."

"These runways looked great," agrees Fish. "Our eyes adjusted very quickly because we wanted it to. Everything looked fresh and new. Seeing clothes on post-pubescent bodies didn’t look fresh."

Older models have had far more success in print, where 41-year-old Christy Turlington and 39-year-old Claudia Schiffer, for example, still star in top-tier campaigns. But while ads have always been specifically crafted to sell something, the runway had been about fantasy.

It was a coup for her to be cast, she says, but it also helped score public interest in the shows.

It’s a smart move by the fashion industry to make Ed hardy bags itself more relatable to consumers. Costa acknowledges that the tough retail climate has helped force design houses to speak more directly to their customers.

"She promised in the next year, she’d grow curves — and she did," Razek says.

The CFDA’s voluntary wellness guidelines link age and health, even if they don’t set specific standards, says Steven Kolb, the organization’s executive director. There are standing recommendations that models under 16 not be hired and those under 18 not work past midnight and have supervision, rest and regular meals.

"Kate Moss has grown up," he says. "Now she’s the woman I wish to wear my clothes."

Marc Jacobs, widely considered the most influential American designer, cast 47-year-old Elle Macpherson in his Louis Vuitton show, along with Bar Refaeli and Alessandra Ambrosio. Trendsetting Miuccia Prada used Ambrosio, Isabeli Fontana, Doutzen Kroes and Miranda Kerr — all best known as voluptuous Victoria’s Secret models and all in their mid-20s, a relatively advanced age for runway models.

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