Franz Ferdinand, Wolfmother, Avril Lavigne, Owl City, and Pete Wentz and Mark Hoppus, among others, have re-imagined songs from the 1951 movie classic Alice in Wonderland for Tim Burton's psychedelic remake of the Disney film, in theatres March 5. The star-studded soundtrack drops March 2 -- but you can preview most songs right now!

French actress Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for her performance as singer Édith Piaf in 2007's La Vie en Rose. Now Cotillard is taking her role to reality, singing with Franz Ferdinand on "The Eyes of Mars," a dark, moody ballad with plenty of twists and turns.

Here's some of the strangest music news the Internet had to offer this week:

Pope Benedict XVI has signed up with Snoop Dogg and Ashlee Simpson's record label to release an album called Alma Mater -- beating Kanye West to the punch, perhaps? [USA Today]

In a week when the big news was the death of Michael Jackson, some of music's biggest stars were still making headlines: Chris Brown pled guilty to assaulting Rihanna, Marilyn Manson discussed $200K drug budgets, and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.Am's entourage exchanged words -- and, allegedly, fists -- with gossip b

Good news for penny pinchers: this year's installment of the Virgin Mobile Festival is completely free -- and the lineup kicks ass!