Next Tuesday he'll be releasing "Internet Leaks," a downloadable mini-album of the five songs he's produced since his last album: his T.I. parody “Whatever You Like,” his Doors pastiche “Craigslist,” his Jungle Cruise homage “Skipper Dan,” his Charles Nelson Reilly tribute “CNR” and "Ringtone." Look for it at iTunes, Amazon, and the usual places. And they'll be on a physical CD when his next album comes out:

The songs on “Internet Leaks” will all show up again on my next full album release, whenever that is (I’m assuming next year sometime, but there’s no way to  be sure). Some people may say, “Why should I buy the ‘Internet Leaks’ tracks now when they’re going to be on your next album anyway?” Well, if all you’re interested in is the physical CD, and you don’t mind waiting a year or so… you probably SHOULDN’T buy the tracks now. Nobody’s forcing you to buy the songs twice – I just wanted to make the tracks available so everybody could enjoy them as early as possible.

By the way, if you DO purchase “Internet Leaks” now, you’ll be able to take advantage of iTunes’ “Complete My Album” function when the full album becomes available. You’ll be able to painlessly add the missing tracks, and the full purchase price of “Internet Leaks” will be deducted from the cost of the album.

Available on iTunes, Amazon and other fine MP3 retailers. Video is also at iTunes.

The latest in his "Internet Leaks" collection, it's an original this time. Available for download from iTunes and Amazon (DRM-free).

It's about time for a new Weird Al song, and he doesn't disappoint. Already available at various online outlets like  iTunes and Rhapsody, but I favor Amazon since there's no DRM on it. You can also buy the video you just saw.

This drove me nuts trying to identify the specific Doors song he's doing, but it's actually one of the style parodies he does sometimes, aided by original Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Nicely done, sir. Just how much hootch did you have to suck down to get the mannerisms right?

INTERNET LEAKS
…is NOT the name of the next Weird Al album (we have no idea yet when that’s coming out)… but Al will be “leaking” new tracks to the Internet over the summer, and for bookkeeping reasons we had to call them SOMETHING, so “Internet Leaks” it is! Al’s T.I. parody “Whatever You Like” retroactively becomes the first song in the collection, and there will be 4 new original songs released digitally over the next few months. The first new song (and video!) will be out on June 16, and will be available wherever mp3s are sold or stolen.

Usually his albums come out every 2 years or so, but these days amateur parodists are whipping out new joke songs on YouTube before the echos of the original event have faded, so he's speeding things up. His last song, "Whatever You Like," was released directly to iTunes last year (get it at iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Zune, and Walmart).

His latest CD, "Straight Outta Lynwood," entered the Billboard charts at #10, making that his highest charting yet. Good reviews, although everyone seems to have their own favorite and most-hated songs. And starting sometime today you can submit your own fan-created "White and nerdy" video for Yahoo Music's "Get Your Freak On":

"Beginning October 11th, users will have the opportunity to submit video clips of themselves showing off the special characteristics that have gotten them shoved in lockers or dunked in toilets…from D&D and Star Trek to pocket protectors and calculator watches. The best performances will be selected and featured in the special fans-only video for the new track, premiering on Yahoo! Music October 30."

Right now the page features Beyonce, so unless this Weird Al video is weirder than usual, I'm guessing it's not up yet. But, to help you kill time till then, check out his interviews at Yahoo Music and IGN, his iTunes picks at The Onion, and, pretty much for the heck of it here's an interview I did with the Weird One a few years back for his "Poodle Hat" tour.

(ringing)

AL: Hello?

CB: Hi, this is Chris Bridges, Daytona Beach News-Journal.

AL: Hey Chris, how you doing?

CB: Great, I'm calling for an interview.

AL: Oh, well, then let's give you one.

CB: Cool. Well, that was pretty much it. (laughter) First, congratulations
on the Grammy.

AL: Oh, thanks, so much!

CB: That's your third, does the thrill go away after
the first two?

AL: No, it really doesn't, this Grammy meant as much to me as the
first one, 'cause, you know, it's been fifteen years since my last
Grammy and I was beginning to think (finishes in a wildly dramatic,
sobbing voice) they didn't care anymore! Actually it was nice to
get that kind of validation. I don't know if you know or not, but
for the last ten years I wasn't even eligible for a Grammy because,
for some bizarre reason, they limited the comedy category to Spoken
Word which was, you know, basically the "Yankovic Exclusionary
Rule."

CB: Jealousy, I'm assuming.

AL: (laughs) They changed it back this year and I got nominated
and I won. I was thrilled.

CB: So, how many comebacks does this make now?

AL: Let's see, I've got like, 11 studio albums, so 11.

CB: This is gonna be kinda… I'll be jumping around here and
filling in the basic stuff later.

AL: OK.

CB: At this point, after all these years, capable
of listening to music for enjoyment?

AL: Yeah, absolutely. I don't always listen to the radio with the
sole purpose of thinking, you know, figuring out how I can screw
up whatever song was playing. You know, I'm a big music fan and
certainly I can listen for my own enjoyment. There's a certain kind
of mindset that I have to get into when I'm writing an album.

CB: I know you get permission beforehand, but what kind of feedback
have you gotten from artists after they hear your version?

AL: It's, almost without exception, very positive. They're usually
very flattered, they really enjoy the attention to detail that we
pay when we produce an album. You know, 'cause we try to emulate
their sound as closely as possible…

CB: Right.

AL: They'll marvel that we'll hear, really, almost subliminal guitar
line in the third verse and just duplicate it exactly, they say
just, how did you do that?

CB: One of the reasons I asked, I know that Eminem let you do his
song but turned you down for the video. I was curious if you've
heard from him after the video interview you made of him.

AL: No, I…

CB: Is there like a rapper feud going on now?

AL: Oh, you mean like, the bogus interview thing?

CB: Right.

AL: I haven't heard from him directly, but I heard through my manager,
who heard from the head of our record label who heard from Eminem's
manager… um, I can't repeat exactly what he said… (laughs)

CB: We're a family newspaper, so I assume I'd have to put a lot
of asterisks in?

AL: Yeah.

CB: Have any of the artists you've parodied, especially when you
do older songs, have they seen a resurgence?

AL: I'm sorry, say that again?

CB: Have any… like I know that after they mentioned Styx on South
Park and in the movie "Big Daddy" Styx suddenly had a
resurgence of interest, new generations of kids who hadn't known
about them. Have you ever done older artists and seen their sales
go up?

AL: I'm sure they have, we never really track that. I know that
when we do current parodies I've definitely heard from those artists
and record labels that their sales went up. I don't know about classic
artists. You know, I would have to assume so, you know, because
it's publicity. So I would like to hope that, you know, I helped
Don McLean's catalog sales a little bit when my "American Pie"
parody came out.

CB: Probably more than Madonna did.

AL: (laughs) Yeah, well… Hers was a little funnier than mine.

CB: I know that my kids have been loving your songs and they have
no clue where the originals are from. Has anyone ever asked you
to parody them?

AL: Every now and then. I'm not sure how serious they are, but
I've definitely been at parties or award shows and had artists come
up to me and they're almost offended that I haven't, like, done
a parody of them, like "What's wrong? How come you haven't
done one my songs? When are you gonna do one of my songs?"

CB: About the "Poodle Hat" CD. The cover of it, was that
just like a random candid shot? What was the inspiration?

AL: We tried that, Mark Selinger is possibly my favorite photographer
and it was a real thrill for me to get to work with him. We tried
a few shots where we put everyone in there at the same time and
it looked okay, but it didn't have the degree of tweaking that we
wanted to have. We wanted to make sure that every single person
was in the exact, best position for the composition so we wound
up shooting an empty subway and then we shot every single person
individually and everybody was Photoshopped in.

CB: Just like "The Matrix."

AL: Yeah.

CB: I was wondering if you all happened to be on the subway and
you were wearing your poodle at the time and they went ahead and
got a shot.

AL: (laughs)

CB: Last year you toured when "Poodle Hat" came out,
great tour by the way.

AL: Thanks!

CB: Now you're touring again, and you've released a DVD with all
your videos. Is this tour going to be different from last year,
are you going to focus more on the span of your career, or is this..?

AL: It is really not different at all.

CB: OK.

AL: This is a continuation of the "Poodle Hat" tour,
we basically just took half a year off to live our lives, and…

CB: You have lives?

AL: See, we do that every now and then. (laughs)

CB: Wow.

AL: Now we're back and it's basically the same tour. So if you
saw it last year, you're more than welcome to see it again but (laughs)
don't expect any major changes.

CB: We'll be there. People don't always realize how many original
songs you do. Do you ever sneak off by yourself and write something
serious?

AL: No, I really don't have any desire to do that. I think there's
enough people in the world already that do serious music. I enjoy
my niche, it's not like… There's a lot of people, over the years,
who have achieved some kind of success doing novelty music or comedy
music, and then they turn around quick and go, "Oh, that was
just to get attention. Now I can show my true art." That's
not me, this is what I do for a living

CB: After about 25 years, I think you've gotten the attention.

AL: Yeah, yeah. There's no "Serious Al" album waiting
in the wings, you know, for the right moment.

CB: When I heard "Hardware Store" the first thought I had was the
same as when I heard "Albuquerque": You did this to annoy your fans.

AL: (laughs)

CB: Because it didn't work, we memorized all those pages of lyrics anyway. I'm just
curious, did you have that in mind?

AL: Well… (laughs)

CB: "Ha! Take that!"

AL: I just wanted to see people try to sing along and just passing
out.

CB: (laughs) Will you be touring in France any time soon?

AL: Most likely not.

CB: OK.

AL: I felt I was pretty safe writing that song because I've never
had a big fan base in France, so…

CB: You could write them off.

AL: Yeah.

CB: You're a nice guy. You've kept the same band members for decades,
you don't drink or smoke or eat meat or have wild parties, and now
you're married with a new daughter. When are you going to crash
and burn?

AL: Well, you know, VH1 is waiting, so they can have the whole,
"Behind the Music Part II." The first one was boring,
I have no drama in my life, so they just had nothing to talk about.

CB: But they played the tragic violin music anyway.

AL: Right, right. "Well, my fourth album didn't do quite as
well as my third album…"

CB: After years of love songs that (with maybe one exception) have
been, let's go with bitter and maniacal, now you release a song about
a sleazy make-out artist and suddenly you're married. Is there a
connection?

AL: (laughs) Well, in a way I felt like I had more license to do
a song like that now because when I was single people might, you
know, think, "oh, was this autobiographical, is he really like
that?"

CB: (laughs)

AL: And in a way, and this is kind of an odd comparison, but I
kinda feel like Howard Stern when he was married, he kind of had
license to be really creepy on the air because people knew that
deep down, "oh, he's a family man, he loves his wife, he's
got kids, you know, this is just kinda like, his schtick."
So I kinda felt like, you know, now that I'm happily married, and
all that, that I can be creepier. (laughs)

CB: Well, good for you!

AL: (laughs) Yeah, it won't be so offensive to people.

CB: So does your daughter have her own accordion yet?

AL: Ah, not yet. I don't know if I want to place that on her.

CB: You've made over a dozen Gold and Platinum albums and videos,
received nine Grammy nominations and won three, made a cult-favorite
movie, the Simpsons episode you appeared on won an Emmy, and you
have the key to the city of Wausau, Wisconsin. What's left?

AL: (laughs) I want to see if I can go for the key to Waukisha.

CB: As far as I can tell, you've yet to make fun of opera, Celtic
ballads, Jim Morrison, show tunes, or Pink Floyd. Are there any
types of music you avoid, or just haven't gotten to?

AL: I haven't gotten to Gregorian chants or Viking music yet. That's
on the list.

CB: Are you disappointed that more musical artists haven't picked
up on the accordion despite the proven track record?

AL: I think I've been trying to bring the accordion into the forefront
of Western civilization and American pop culture. It's been a long
time coming, and it's been a slow curve. I didn't expect it to happen
overnight, but maybe after another 25 years it'll start to catch
on.

It's been three years since his last CD, and he hasn't slowed down any. 12 songs, including parodies of Chamillioniare, Green Day, The Beach Boys, Usher, Cake, Taylor Hicks, R. Kelly, and more. After this you'll wonder why 50 Cent doesn't record all of his work with polka-style accordion. My favorites were "White and Nerdy" (a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'"), "Virus Alert," which has a sort of 80's rock opera feel (Queenish, Styxish), "I'll Sue Ya" (a Rage Against the Machine style parody) (Why the Affleck hate, Al? You ripped on him twice this album…), "Confessions Part III" (a parody of Usher's "Confessions Part II" that will make it impossible to ever take the original seriously again, assuming you could) and "Don't Download This Song," a We-Are-The-World type parody that slams music pirates, the RIAA, and the artists more or less equally. That one, interestingly enough, is available for free download from his MySpace page or from www.dontdownloadthissong.com .

Even if you do pirate "Lynwood" you'll still need to buy the dual-disc CD for the 6 music videos –all animated pieces by some of today's best animators including Bill Plympton, John Krickalusi, Thomas Lee, and the folks at Robot Chicken. There's also a "making of" feature that shows how Al's songs get made, and a karoake version of every song so you can try and keep up with him. And good luck with that. Besides, you need to see the band photo of Al and his stable. His live-action video for "White and Nerdy" didn't make it in time, I guess, but you can see it here.

(Don't miss the missing track, "You're Pitiful," a parody of James Blunt's unavoidable hit. It was made with permission but dropped after Blunt's label protested, so Al released it for free on his site. The CD is not complete without it.)

Making up for that is Chamillionaire's refreshing attitude towards Al's parody of their hit. "The Weird Al parody definitely gives 'Ridin' the mega-record status," Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. "Weird Al has done parodies for the biggest mega-stars in the game, and to put me in that category is crazy when you think about the fact that, less than a year ago, I was a new artist to the mainstream."

Overall a very strong album that displays his incredible range and attention to detail, as well as his continuing immersion into the latest music sounds. As with all of his CDs, Al rescues several songs for me I had dismissed because I liked the tunes but didn't like the lyrics. I probably missed some of the impact that fans of the originals will feel — his 11-minute parody of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" is funnier if you know the source — but the new lyrics make them worth it anyway. More than usual, this time, in fact. And I can't wait to hear this in concert. You know he'll come out in full nerd regalia, possibly on a Segway…

I've been listening to "Lynwood" for a couple of days now, determined to memorize the thing. It takes longer now that he's doing so much rhyme-heavy gangsta rap, but it'll help me look less nerdy when I'm pounding that bass in my Tercel. Won't it?

www.myspace.com/weirdal – The song, and the place it'll be premiered tonight at 6 PM Pacific, 9 PM Eastern.
DontDownloadThisSong.com – Send the song as an e-card
ddts.mp3 – direct download.

As someone who only vaguely liked the original song the first 300 times I heard it, I am now doing a happy dance.

Al's site is getting hit pretty hard so downloading may be slow. There's a mirror link at the WeirdAlForum.

Ten songs have been recorded for his new album so far (not counting this one, which may or may not be on it depending on which rumors you like). C'mon, Al, it's been too long.