May 31, 2000

Groove Armada have yet to record their second album, but their guest list is already receiving attention. Slated to appear on the follow-up to last year's Vertigo are Brooklyn rapper Jeru the Damaja and MeShell Ndegeocello. Jeru's dense rhymes and playful sense of timing make him a longtime usounds internacional fave, and should compliment the Armada nicely.

On Sunday Belle and Sebastian reached a milestone: their first top 20 single in the U.K. To celebrate, Jeepster records announced this week that the group would perform 'Legal Man' on Top of the Pops this week. The real question is what will the band do with their biggest national exposure ever? Any guesses?

Johann from Munich wants to know why we haven't been covering the big Oasis flap. The simple answer is that it's not that interesting-- just like the band's last album. Anyway, Noel will be back for the UK dates in July, and he'll have Johnny Marr and the Healers with him.

May 25, 2000

Talvin Singh has recorded his latest project in Morocco with the legendary Master Musicians of Jajouka. The group was last recorded in the West by former Rolling Stone Brian Jones a year before he died in 1969. Singh tells Allstar that the group keeps evolving, and that "the beats of the new electronic music, its spirit and feeling, fit with Jajouka." The record is to be released in the UK in July.

The word from Radiohead is that they will play 2 major shows in Paris this fall. The concerts will be Sept. 19-20 at the enormous Stade de France in St. Denis. According to Billboard, the set list for this summer-fall tour will include several favorite tracks from OK Computer such as "How To Disappear Completely And Never Be Found" and "Motion Picture Soundtrack".

In June, Bungalow will release Bertrand Burgalat - The genius of. A collection of the best tracks from the owner of influential French label Tricatel, and one of France´s finest songwriter, producer, arranger. who has worked with Nick Cave, Air, Mick Harvey, Eggstone, UFO. Not to be missed!

May 22, 2000

Just a few days (see 05.18 news) after having her talents dissed in print by her director, Bjork has triumphed. The Icelandic temptress has won the prestigious best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Her film debut was called "astonishing" by one jury member, who went on to praise the singer for her range of talents. Bjork also sings the majority of songs in the film, Dancer in the Dark, which is being described as an incredibly bleak picture. The film won Cannes' Grand Jury prize, the second such honor for director Lars Von Trier.

DJ Krush is preparing to launch a full scale break beat assault on the UK. Pimping his new record, ZEN, the Japanese master will do live DJ sets all over Britain, including Manchester and London. Dates are available here.

May 18, 2000

Bjork's acting performance in her first film is getting slammed by an unlikely source: the man who put her in his movie. Lars Van Trier, director of Dancer in the Dark, confirmed on-set reports that the Icelandic island-dwelling chanteuse was difficult to work with, but went one step further-- he says she can't act for shit. Well not in those words exactly. The Danish Dogme director instead told the AP that "'Bjork is not an actor, which was a surprise for me because she seems so professional and really she is not. She is not acting anything in this film, she is feeling everything, which is very hard on her and very hard on everyone. It's like being with a dying person." Perhaps he was a bit annoyed that the singer failed to materialize in Cannes for the film's premiere.

Fans of epic rock can rejoice this fall: the new Spiritualized album is to be released in October. After sacking his entire band, frontman Jason Pierce is producing record himself with an entirely new set of musicians. The NME reports that the singer and guitarist is in the final stages of recording. For Ric Befara's Spritualized review, click here.

May 16, 2000

Kei reports from Japan: Beck fans of Japan can celebrate this June as his B sides album is released with all the unused tracks from Midnite Vultures. It is also available around the world from BeckDirect.com, but I hear the price is very steep...

Apparently sick of publicists, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth has put out his own press release regarding the band's new record, NYC Ghosts & Flowers. Thurston writes that album's songs "are based on visions of shared color and greyscale meditation."

Internacional rap star Mos Def is popping up all over on both sides of the Atlantic. One of hip-hop's only active poets (and sometime mainstream actor) will star in Spike Lee's next film, Bamboozled. On the music tip, you can hear him on Radio 1 in the UK rapping on the DJ Premier remix for Macy Gray's 'Murderous.' Bye the way, did you miss our Macy live review?

Sunny Day Real Estate have announced 18 new tour dates across North America this summer, starting June 30. The full listing is here.

North of America (mp3 here) are currently on the road in Europe. You can catch up with your favorite Canadian indie rockers via their tour diary on the Matlock Records site.

 

May 15, 2000

The Nick Drake renaissance marches on. Island Records has announced that his entire three album back catalogue will be remastered for a June 19 release. 'Five Leaves Left', 'Bryter Layter' and 'Pink Moon' will come with the original album art, as well as lengthy notes on the life and times of the posthumously influential songwriter.

Badly Drawn Boy (AKA Damon Gough) will release the first single from his debut LP on June 5. The single, entitled 'Another Pearl' is the first from the coming album 'The Hour Of Bewilderbeast' which is out June 26.

May 12, 2000

Gene's live show in LA on June 1 will be broadcast around the world for pop fans everywhere. Gene's first stateside performance in nearly three years will also be available in varied audio and video formats following the live webcast including a live album. The LP, "Rising for Sunset," will be released internationally via the band's self-owned label, Sub Rosa on June 26. The live webcast is available on WorldwideTribe.com.

Emperor Norton Records' upcoming release is the bizarre yet promising "Logan's Sanctuary." The project is a soundtrack to an imagined sequel to the inventive 70's sci-fi epic Logan's Run (a fave during late nites in the usounds office). Creators Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Brian Reitzell (both of whom have worked with Air) used vintage 70's instruments and the voice of Jellyfish's Jason Falkner to re-create a past version of the future. The cover art, above, was done by Mike Mills.

As soon as Macy Gray finishes her latest tour, she's off again around the world with Carlos Santana for a 2 month summer jaunt. Check out our Macy live review here.

 

May 11, 2000

Blockbuster news from Berlin: Seminal German act Kraftwerk will release their first album in 9 years. The record is not new material per se, but rather seven previously unreleased versions of the group's early classics. The collection will be accompanied with an 88 page historical book and is titled: A Short Introduction to Kraftwerk. Among the album's tracks are a demo recording of UK #1 hit 'Model,' as well as an alternate take of 'Radioactivity.'

May 9, 2000

Radiohead's summer tour partners have been announced. The NME is reporting that Thom Yorke and co. will be joined by Clinic and Laika for their European jaunt. Singer Yorke also told the UK music rag that he's exhausted from finishing the band's new record and rehearsing the new songs for this summer's tour.

May 8, 2000

Can't wait for Björk's new movie? Looking forward to a long career in flicks for the Icelandic pop princess from beyond? Don't hold your breath. The Daily Mail newspaper is reporting the the elliptical chanteuse has vowed to never make another film again. The news comes on the heels of admissions from people close to Dancer in the Dark (Björk's film debut directed by Lars Van Trier) that clashes between the star and her director were incredible battles of the will. One story has the singer ripping up her costume and eating bits of it, then spitting them on Von Trier. However, sources from both sides say that the final result was worth the on set travails. The world will find out in a month at the Cannes Film Festival. The soundtrack, composed by Björk, is due this September.

Missed the Belle and Sebastian press conference? Thanks to our bumbling man in London, so did we. Oh well... NME, DotMusic, and the Beeb, have the write-ups. The band's new single (cover art above) is due May 22 around the world.

May 4, 2000

Boards of Canada are hard at work on the follow-up to the brilliant Music Has a Right to Children record. According to their US label Matador, the duo is working "feverish-like in Scotland’s Pentland Hills" even as we speak.

Also from Matador, who have a snazzy new website, comes word that Cornelius is taking a break from the madness this year, with just an occasional remix and live show while he works on his next album and a book about his last one. The man simply lives, breathes and eats music...

 

May 3, 2000

Kindercore is moving out of its "shoebox" in Brooklyn and back into roomier digs in Athens, Georgia. To celebrate they'll be kicking off a label showcase kind of deal called Expo 2000 this August. On the bill are the allstars of the label, including Of Montreal, Essex Green, Dressy Bessy, as well as their newest band, C.A.R.

Flashy sassman Beck's new record hasn't been the commercial hit he thought it would be, despite selling just over 1,000,000 copies. Speaking with Wall of Sound, the kickstarted funkfreak said that perhaps all the downloading has hurt his sales. Another problem, according to the musician, is that Americans simply don't get him, whereas "In Japan and in Europe, they accept what I do. They get the whole thing — the width of cultures and influences. Where in the States, they still make me out to be the 'slacker beat boy,' watching TV and mixing sounds up in a blender." Still, the beat-loving dancemonkey isn't worried: "I'm not complaining. Sometimes it takes people a while to get it." Beck didn't give a prediction on how long it would take for people to get it, but did say that he's usually about 6 months ahead of his time.

 

May 2, 2000

Internacional DC-based robopop act Barcelona are set for a very busy summer. First up, two remix EPs featuring Baxendale, hollAnd, and Autumn Teen Sound. The first, Robot Trouble, will be available next week from March Records. The next one is out in July as a precursor to the next full length album due in August. The band will also tour California for the first time in May, so all you SoCal underground pop lovers, time to come out of the woodwork and get down to the funky new wave sounds.

Radiohead's OK Computer, which has topped innumerable best-of lists, has just been voted the second best British album of all time by Q Magazine. The top spot went to the Beatles' Revolver. Others high on the list were the usual suspects: Floyd, Bowie, and the Stones as well as Massive Attack, Blur, and Oasis.

 

May Day, 2000

Art imitates Life imitates art this month for the Beta Band. Sales of the group's 3 EPs record have quadrupled since being featured in a dead-on scene in the recent film version of High Fidelity. Playing one of the record's catchier tunes, John Cusak's character bets he can sell 5 of them in a few minutes, and promptly does. Apparently the same dynamic works in theatres as well.

Darren Emerson has left Underworld after ten years with the group. According to the NME, the electronic artist plans to get back to his DJ roots, and record some solo material. Despite the loss of such an important member, the band plans to honor their remaining festival shows, and will probably record again next year.

Blur's Graham Coxon has not left the band, but his second solo album is being readied for a June release. According to a rep. speaking with music365, the album is "very metal." Need proof? Two of the record's twelve tracks are Mission to Burma covers.

Smooth intellectual rapper Common will release the video to his latest single exclusively online. The vid will play on the Roots' amazing website, Okayplayer, and was made with the net in mind. Despite virtually no mainstream airplay, Common's latest record sold 70,000 copies in its first week, and Okayplayer.com's strong online community surely deserves some of the credit for spreading the word. Common also announced this week that he will join a tour with fellow underground stars Talib Kweli and Pharaohe Monch.

Oh yeah, any Ali G fans in da house? The sample record is being blocked by Channel 4...

April 28, 2000

Groove Armada will sail into the North America this summer, playing 11 major cities in the USA and Canada. Doing their bombastically British best, the core pair behind the group boasted in the NME that someone called their new 9 piece set up "like Sly and the Family Stone once, which is obviously a great compliment." The duo did mention who paid them the complement. Don't miss Groove Armada samples and mp3s from Stardot Music.

Outraged by the world's refusal to remember them as originators of the word "yo," Italians are holding a hip hop conference on the "Italian HipHop Diaspora."