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Flea, the oft-shirtless bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and one-time member of Atoms For Peace, has released a solo Ep for charity. Helen Burns benefits the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music, and is available online until August 9 for whatever price the buyer wants to pay. The record is, according to Flea, absolutely not a Chili Peppers record. It’s “mostly instrumental, weird and arty,” and includes “soundscapes that are very emotional for” the bassist, “but certainly not for everyone! Just me tripping out at home.” Later this summer, it will be released on limited edition 180-gram LP signed ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is known for his diverse playing style, which ranges from melodic to aggressive slap-bass, but he's also a philanthropist.

On Tuesday, the L.A.-based rocker tweeted the details about an upcoming Ep, "Helen Burns," the proceeds from which will benefit the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a a non-profit music education organization that Flea co-founded in 2001.

According to Flea, whose real name is Michael Peter Balzary, the Ep is of "obscure, arty mostly instrumental music" and features guest vocals by punk-rock legend Patti Smith. The Ep will be released in digital, pay-what-you-wish format, and as an autographed $75 collectors' edition vinyl.

"Helen Burns" was recorded after the Red Hot Chili Peppers 2006-2007 tour for their album "Stadium Arcadium."

"It is not [Red Hot Chili Peppers] music or even close to it," Flea tweeted. "It is a trippy freakout."

Details on ordering will be released in the next few days.

After his suitably magnetic performance in Matthew Vaughn's brilliant mutant prequel X-Men: First Class, rising star Michael Fassbender will next be seen in a new adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's literary classic Jane Eyre.

Mia Wasikowska, who recently starred in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, plays the title role in this new movie, released in cinemas on September 9. Also in the cast of the period drama are Jamie Bell and Judi Dench.

A UK trailer (below) and poster (above) have been released, along with a synopsis and cast and crew details.

Official synopsis:

In a bold new feature version of Jane Eyre, director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe) infuse a contemporary immediacy into Charlotte Brontë's timeless, classic story.

Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) star in the iconic lead roles of the romantic drama, the heroine of which...

“Jane Eyre” mania is in full swing. Even though the new film adaptation is only open in a few theaters, it’s already the top-grossing per-theater film of the year. As fans ponder which of the dozens of” Jane Eyre” adaptations is truest to Charlotte Bronte’s complex vision, a group of enterprising writers and artists launched “Eyresses: A Journal for ‘Jane Eyre’ Enthusiasts”, a new zine devoted wholly to riffing off of themes and characters from “Jane Eyre.”

Tonight...

Michael Langham, prominent director of North American theater, died Jan. 15 in Cranbrook, England. He contracted a chest infection before Christmas and never recovered, passing away at 91. Langham was born Aug. 22, 1919, in Bridgewater, England. Son of Seymour and Muriel Andrews, he studied law at the University of London and enlisted in the British Army in 1939, spending five years as a prisoner of war. After leading several U.K. repertory theaters, he became the second artistic director in the history of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, serving in that role from 1956 to 1967. "Love's Labour's Lost" became his signature production, and he directed the play for several theaters and three times at Stratford, most recently in 2008, his final production.From 1979 to1982, and again from 1987 to 1992, Langham was the director of the Juilliard School's drama division. Shortly after, he worked as an artistic adviser for Tony Randall's National Actors Theatre. He directed...

The young cast of director Cary Fukunaga's big screen production of Charlotte Bronte's romantic novel Jane Eyre (starring Mia Wasikowska in the title role) which shot for 9 weeks in Derbyshire earlier this year is rounding out, with a number of up and coming young actors and newcomers joining the already announced cast.

13 year old Freya Parks plays Helen Burns, young Jane's (Amelia Clarkson) school friend. Freya made her feature film debut in Jon Amiel’s Creation, with Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly. She will soon be starring in the lead role of Jenny Wilkes’ adventure drama Bliss!

She has twice been cast by Mark Rylance at the Globe Theatre, in his stagings of Euripides and Sonnet Walk.

Freya attends a school specializing in the arts, where she is a dance scholar specializing in ballet.

10 year old newcomer Romy Settbon Moore’s plays Adele Varens, Mr Rochester's young ward. Romy's...