Briefly: Mudvayne leaves Pledge of Allegiance tour

plus: Springsteen videotapes song for funeral service. John Leckie producing Los Lobos. Best-of from Green Day. Another Clear Channel acquisition. Nobukazu Takemura gives voice to a robot dog.

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Mudvayne has pulled out of the Pledge of Allegiance tour for personal reasons, according to its spokesman. The group is scheduled to kick off the Merry Mayhem tour with Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie on Oct. 31.

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Bruce Springsteen recorded an acoustic rendition of "Thunder Road" for the memorial service of a victim of the World Trade Center attacks. According to the Associated Press, the videotape was played during the service of James P. "Jim" Berger, 44, a senior vice president of the insurance company AON Consulting Group. Berger reportedly died after helping many people to escape the 101st floor AON office.

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Los Lobos will release their first album for Mammoth Records--and 11th album overall--in the spring of 2002, the label announced. The band began recording the album with producer John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, XTC) this month.

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Green Day will release "International Superhits" (Reprise), a 21-track best-of album, on Nov. 13. The album will include two previously unreleased songs, "Poprocks & Coke" and "Maria."

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The Associated Press reported that Clear Channel Communications has purchased the Ackerley Group, "a leader in outdoor displays [that] also owns radio and television stations."

The deal reportedly will allow Clear Channel "to enter Boston, Seattle and Portland, Ore., which have three of the top 25 U.S. outdoor advertising markets."

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Japanese electronic musician Nobukazu Takemura played a central role in the creation of Sony's newest robot dog, according to Takemura's U.S. record label. The toy dog, named AIBO, produces a range of sounds, most of which were designed by Takemura. The dog was designed by Japanese animator Katsura Moshino. More information is available on the Sony promotional website.

Takemura's next full-length album, "Sign," is due on Jan. 15 on Thrill Jockey Records. The CD will contain a 10-minute video collaboration between Takemura and Moshino. "Sign" includes musical contributions by members of Tortoise, with whom Takemura toured the U.S. earlier this year.