This week in solo albums: Travis Barker?!?

* New this week: ex-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft has a new solo album, recorded with several hip-hop producers. This probably isn't as terrible a move as Chris Cornell's album with Timbaland, just because Ashcroft's other solo work has been so soporific.

* Speaking of Chris Cornell, Soundgarden just put out a live album and are supposedly working in the studio, but Cornell is taking a break this spring to do some solo acoustic shows.  The one in my area sold out very quickly.

* Also new and in stores this week: Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker's solo album. Based on the performance I saw on Conan and the clips available online, Barker is just drumming and producing, not singing.

* Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis has a new solo album. It's supposed to be a bit "folky."

* While not a solo album per se, erstwhile Blur / Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn is working on a new opera about an Elizabethan-era astrologer which will premiere this summer in Manchester. That Damon, always out-Britishing everybody else.

*And my favorite solo album news of the week comes from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, whose second solo album will come out this summer and was recorded exclusively using ukuleles. Ukulele Songs comes out May 31. Check out the sounds of Hawaii on Vedder's solo tour; get dates here.

This week in break-ups... the Verve (again)

* The Verve, who got back together in 2007, have broken up, again. This makes the third time, and once again, the problem is that everybody else in the band apparently hates Richard Ashcroft. The guitarist and bass player have started a new band with the lead singer of Goldfrapp, and Ashcroft is presumably returning to his milquetoast solo career. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure how big a loss this is; last year's reunion album, Forth, didn't exactly set the world on fire.

* Noel Gallagher quit Oasis after a screaming row with brother Liam in Paris; this conveniently came at the end of a year-long world tour and just before a scheduled hiatus. Apparently, Noel smashed up Liam's acoustic guitar during the fight, Liam didn't invite any of his band members to his wedding, and Noel is angry about Liam's clothing line. Liam appears to want Oasis to continue, and semi-hired guns Andy Bell and Gem Archer (all the non-Gallagher original members of Oasis have been gone since 2000 or so) are supposedly willing to carry on. The Times of London predicts the band will turn into Britpop's first heritage act, touring around festivals and state fairs playing the old hits.

* That Red Hot Chili Peppers hiatus just keeps on stretching out. Fresh off his supergroup Chickenfoot, drummer Chad Smith now has a solo project called Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. Their new album is all prog-rock instrumentals (get an autographed copy here, or if you'd rather, try to win a copy here). Here's an interview with Smith where no mention of the Chili Peppers is even made. That can't be a good sign. Meanwhile, Flea played bass for Thom Yorke's solo shows in Los Angeles recently.

Links roundup

* The Smashing Pumpkins are putting out a DVD (OK, interesting...) But it's a compilation of footage from an 11-night residency on their 2007 tour. (and... no longer interested).

* Simon Jones of the reunited Verve gives us a guide to Manchester. I lived in Manchester in 1998-99, right after the Verve broke up and Oasis moved to London, when the biggest musical act in town was the still-relatively-unknown Badly Drawn Boy (and maybe the Space Monkeys). It's a cool city with a truly amazing musical history, from New Order to the Smiths to the Stone Roses to James to Oasis and beyond, including great newer bands like Doves.

* Early reviews of the Chris Cornell / Timbaland collaboration are... not positive. The phrase "career suicide" is bantered around a bit.

* The L.A. Times gets into the early-'90s controversy over Juliana Hatfield's virginity (I previously discussed this here). Her memoir is finally out; you can get it here (or her new CD, How to Walk Away, here).

* And finally, check this blog out. Forgotten Treasures specializes in out-of-print '90s albums. They've got stuff I never even heard of; some of it's surprisingly great for being so obscure.

This week in reunions...

* According to the New York Times, Stone Temple Pilots' current tour isn't going so well. Idolator (via shock-radio hosts Opie and Anthony) says that one of the DeLeo brothers engaged in a screaming match with Weiland's closed bus door, then attempted to have Weiland's assistant fired. The tour (maybe) goes through the end of August.

* The reunited Verve are offering a free single, "Mover," on their website until July 7. Their reunion album, entitled Forth, comes out August 19. The first single, "Love Is Noise," can be heard on their Myspace page. And it's tons better than Richard Ashcroft's execrable solo slop.

* Marky Mark says he's not getting back together with the Funky Bunch. This is not stopping members of the Funky Bunch from sitting by their phones, just in case.

* Limp Bizkit may be ripe for a comeback, given that Chris Martin of Coldplay recently declared himself a fan. But that's probably not going to happen, given that Fred Durst is acting (did you see him on the House season finale?) and directing Ice Cube movies and Wes Borland is putting out covers albums with his new band Black Light Burns (hear them do "Hungry Like the Wolf"!)