As if Adam Schlesinger didn't have enough going on with Fountains of Wayne continually on a global tour, he's apparently been in the studio with Andy Chase and Dominique Durand laying down new material for a new IVY record. The trio has been putting the finishing touches on seven tracks in their NY studio with the help of James Iha (ex... oh do I need to spell it out?) and Scott McCloud (of Girls Against Boys). It has been several years since the world has heard original Ivy material (obviously not counting the brilliant, yet still covers record 'Guestroom'). Although there hasn't been any new 'Ivy' material in quite awhile, Chase and Durand have not been sitting by idly. They just released a new album under the moniker of 'Paco' with composer Michael Hampton and last year Chase released a record with his other, other side project 'Brookville'. Can't keep it all straight? Well just resolve yourself to the fact that we should see new material from Ivy not far into the new year.

I know you're thinking, 'that's great and all Liz but what's this new material sound like?' Well the band has gone back to the basics as Durand told Rolling Stone in a recent interview, "On this one, everything is played live - we have no loops, no drum machines, and there's not many keyboards. It's mostly going back to our roots, which is much more pop, light drums and lot of guitars, voice and bass."

Yes, strange combination but it's true. ABC is premiering a new Stephen King series next week called "Kingdom Hospital" to the theme of "Worry About You" from Ivy's 2001 album Long Distance. As if that combination isn't weird enough Ivy member Adam Schlesinger actually received a phonecall from Mr King requesting that he write a new tune sorta like "Stacy's Mom". Adam (also in Fountains of Wayne) thought it was a joke as apparently bandmate Andy Chase is quite the prankster. No joke... the show's producers and Stephen King agreed to using "Worry About You". You can tune into ABC March 3 to hear it.

Taking into account the new ELF POWER CD that debuts next week and the recent release of IVY's "Guestroom", the US has seen a rash of cover albums this month.

You can sample the IVY album courtesy of Minty Fresh here.
Real Player Required.

A bit belated, here, but congratulations are in order to Dominique Durand and Andy Chase of IVY on the birth last month of their first child, Justine Chase Goldberg.

Some American news today to tide you over. IVY's second album, "Apartment Life" has just been reissued on Sony's 550 Records label. Some tracks on the rereleased version have been remixed and there was a bit of new recording involved in the project as well. KRISTIN HERSH is releasing her third solo album via the internet only. Entitled "Murder, Misery and then Goodnight", the album is a collection of songs played to her by her parents when she was a child.