While there’s no new Public Enemy album...

While there’s no new Public Enemy album on the horizon, leader Chuck D. has been in L.A. producing tracks for PE turntable beatmaster Terminator X. The album, due in late October or early November, is slated to feature an all-star guest lineup, including Ice Cube and Ice-T. Meanwhile, the Flavor Flav solo album that was talked about so much a few months ago and was supposed to come this summer won’t even be out this year. The, um, eccentric PE jester is progressing v - e - e - r-r-r-y slowly. . . .

Color Me Badd’s long-awaited sophomore album is set for Oct. 19 release. . . . Reggae group the Wailing Souls has recorded a version of Talking Heads’ “Wild Wild Life” for the soundtrack to “Cold Runnings,” the film based on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Also on the reggae-heavy soundtrack album will be Jimmy Cliff (doing Johnny Nash’s early-’70s hit “I Can See Clearly Now”), Tiger, Tony Rebel and Supercat. . . .

The latest in a series of alternative signings to Atlantic Records is L.A.’s Bad Religion, making its first move to a major after 13 years as an indie. Atlantic will take over distribution of the band’s current “Recipe for Hate” album, which has already sold 160,000 copies on the band’s Epitaph label. . . . Jean Smith, the singer of the Vancouver-based duo Mecca Normal who is often cited as an inspiration for the “riot grrrl” rockers, has published her first novel, “I Can Hear Me Fine.” . . .

The first album in three years from promising rap group A Tribe Called Quest is now scheduled for late October. . . . Expletive-prone female rap group Bytches With Problems’ second album, also due in late October, is reportedly full of material that once again hits hard on the male gender. . . .

England’s highly respected Q music and culture magazine is launching a spin-off publication called Mojo, set to debut in October. Editors say the new monthly’s coverage will be more select and in-depth than Q’s wide-ranging fare. . . . Wisconsin band the BoDeans has finished its first album in three years. T Bone Burnett, who produced the group’s 1986 debut, served as executive producer for the still-untitled collection, due on Oct. 12.