The White Stripes [ tickets ] have postponed their planned tour of Japan so that frontman Jack White can rest his strained vocal cords. According to the band's website, doctors have advised White to avoid speaking or singing for the next two weeks.

Queensryche [ tickets ] has set an April 4 release date for "Operation: Mindcrime II," the 17-track sequel to the band's 1988 concept album.

Frontman and chief songwriter Geoff Tate, in a statement, said the current political and social climate inspired him to revisit the "Operation Mindcrime" storyline.

"I left the original open-ended with the intent to come back with a sequel to finish the story up," he said. "Considering where we are today and how little things have changed, it was too ironic not to continue the story."

In the winter of 2004, the band began previewing material from the new album in concert.

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Alejandro Escovedo [ tickets ] will release "The Boxing Mirror," his first studio album in five years, sometime this spring. Velvet Underground alumnus John Cale produced the set.

Escovedo is returning to the scene after a serious health scare. In 2003, he collapsed after a show and was diagnosed with advanced cirrhosis of the liver, a complication of Hepatitis C.

Tres Chicas [ tickets ]--the chance union of Caitlin Cary, Tonya Lamm and Lynn Blakey that turned out the 2004 album "Sweetwater"--will release their second album, "Bloom, Red & The Ordinary Girl," on March 7.