It appears Kurt Cobain may return to Forbes' Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list next year after all; Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to Nirvana's catalogue, marking the first time any Cobain-focused film will feature the band's tunes. The forthcoming biopic, based on the much-read biography by Charles R. Cross, Heavier than Heaven, will be executive produced by Cobain's widow and owner of Nirvana's musical rights, Courtney Love. "Courtney Love has packaged my book rights with Nirvana's music," Cross told NME.com, "It's important, as for it to be a definitive Kurt biopic, you need the music."

White Stripes Record Video, Tunes

Though Meg White, drummer of Detroit-bred rock duo the White Stripes, may have "acute anxiety" resulting in the band's defunct U.S. tour, it appears at least the stickswoman isn't camera shy, for the White Stripes have filmed a new video, plus tracked a few tunes. According to a band website post, the Stripes have filmed "an exciting new video" for a yet-to-be revealed song, and have "recorded three never-before-heard original songs (with a special collaboration) and one unique new version of a song" from this year's LP Icky Thump. No further details have been announced regarding a release date for the songs or video.

Mars Volta Channel Ouija Board On 'Bedlam'

Taking a page out of Pete Wentz's otherworldly book, spazz rockers the Mars Volta have employed a Ouija board to conjure lyrics for the band's forthcoming set, Bedlam in Goliath, due Jan. 28. Frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala, speaking to MTV.com, reveals much of the new album's lyrical content stems from a trip guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez took to Jerusalem. "He brought me back... what you'd call an Ouija board in the States and we started playing with it," said Bixler-Zavala. "We used to get the band to play it a lot after we'd play shows in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do."

Naming the board "The Soothsayer," Bixler-Zavala claims the game, "serves the same function as a Ouija board but it's just a little more archaic... This version of it had a sort of love triangle that was attached to it - the poems we found with it sort of described a mother-daughter-and-other-man love triangle, and what I came up with from it was we were being contacted by at least three people on the board that would come up as one person." Continuing he adds: "We wrote down a lot of messages they gave us, and we used it in the lyrics and we also tried to fasten the lyrics into sort of like a good luck charm, by putting positive elements into it."

But just as Wentz said, the good is balanced by the bad, and soon the Mars Volta had to rid of the board after a streak of "bad luck," burying it in an undisclosed location while on the road. "Because such a strange impact was left by using the board, we decided to make a record based on... the stories we were getting from the things or spirits we were contacting," said Bixler Zavala. "The album is basically... like the Ghostbusters when they want to catch a ghost, they throw out this little trap on the floor, and they open it."

Did you expect something less from the Mars Volta?

Kristeen Young Plots Tour with Ted Leo

Though Morrissey surely can't, maybe Ted Leo can hack rocker Kristeen Young's sensuous, onstage jokes? Apparently, for Mr. Leo and his crew of instrument-wielding Pharmacists have tapped frontwoman Young and her drummer Jeff White for a fall/winter tour. The outing, set to kick off Nov. 30 in Providence, RI, will hit cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, before capping with a pair of shows in Leo's hometown, Washington, DC.

Kristeen Young/Ted Leo and Pharmacists tour dates:

11/30, Providence, RI (Lupo's at the Strand)
12/1, Boston, MA (Roxy)
12/2, Portland, ME (SPACE)
12/4, Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
12/5, New York, NY (Webster Hall)
12/6, Philadelphia, PA (Starlight Ballroom)
12/7, Washington DC (9:30 Club)
12/8, Washington DC (9:30 Club)