SMALL FACES

Family members of Brian Epstein are upset over repeated references to the late Beatles manager’s 1967 death as a suicide, as has been stated in connection with promotion and coverage of A&E;’s airing of a documentary on him. The death was ruled an accidental overdose of prescription medication. . . .

Dead Can Dance’s airy music, influenced by medieval and world sounds, seems an odd match for a story about investigations of the tobacco industry. But with DCD having broken up, singer-composer Lisa Gerrard and collaborator Peter Bourke were picked by director Michael Mann to compose the score for “The Insider.” Columbia Records will release a soundtrack album on Oct. 26. . . .

Deejays Doc Martin, Q-Burns Abstract Message, DJ Dan and a performance by Spacetime Continuum will be featured at the L.A. outpost of Earthdance ‘99, a fund-raiser for Tibetan freedom efforts involving simultaneous dance music events in more than 70 locales around the world on Oct. 2. This event will be held from noon to 9 p.m. at the Hansen Dam facility. To boost the cause, a benefit album will be released online the same day, with tracks contributed by Fatboy Slim, Orbital, GusGus and Underworld, among others. . . .

Following a wide-ranging large-ensemble revamping of the Grateful Dead’s “Blues for Allah,” New York composer-arranger Joe Gallant and his group Illuminati have given similar treatment to material from the Dead’s “Terrapin Station” for an album due in mid-October. *