My first post-Coachella update.  Looking back it was a pretty damn good festival, probably one of the best ones as far as how well it was organized.  The best year for music is too hard to determine.  It might be my last one as I'm just tired of the allergies and now with the two weekends of Coachella and all the local shows, it's not worth the hassle.  In anycase, here are this week's updates.  Enjoy!

The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Killers, Iggy and the Stooges and Gang Of Four are among the bands that will headline the US Download Festival this summer. - Source

The Jesus and Mary Chain have recorded their first new material in more than a decade, and you can listen to it on NME.COM now. - Source

Heroes doesn't normally give us a lot of reasons to mention it, as pop music is rarely incorporated into their scenes about staving off the apocalypse. There was that one time where some girls were double-dutching to M.I.A.'s "Boyz" (before Kala became the Reminder of dance music) but that hardly seemed worth a post. Usually the deepest we go with the show here is when Peter Patrelli turns up in Fergie videos.

But apparently none of that really matters when it comes to compiling the show's soundtrack, because it's hella cool and hella full of stuff that has absolutely no connection to the narrative (okay, Bowie's "Heroes" is a logical inclusion). The key question for OST compilers these days seems to be "what will make us appear cooler" -- and in Heroes' case, they've succeeded here, most notably scoring the Jesus & Mary Chain's first studio recording in a decade ("All Things Must Pass") and a new and exclusive tune from Wilco, "Glad It's Over." That's in addition to previously unreleased tunes from Imogen Heap, Brighton Port Authority (feat. Iggy Pop), and Panic At The Disco, as reported by Billboard. To throw more coolness at you: there's a tune from the Chemical Brothers (feat. Spank Rock) and oldies from Dylan, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab, the New Pornographers, do you really need us to go on? It's out 3/18 on, what else, NBC Records. Check the tracklist: - Source

That's right, it's official. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN are reforming for Coachella (and a European fest or two) this spring. What you didn't know is that playing drums on these gigs will be none other than LOZ COLBERT (ex-Ride). Jim Reid confirmed it to Tripwire today. Holy wow. It just gets better & better...

With the announcement of the Coachella line-up comes the annual Intriguing Reunion Rumors. Yes, HAPPY MONDAYS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN are reuniting to play the fest... but right now, there is nothing to indicate that those gigs will be anything other than one-off reunions (but what a reunion it'll be!)

On the OTHER hand, though, one of the bands that drew our attention on the Coachella line-up was CROWDED HOUSE, who split up several years ago, and, with the death of drummer Paul Hester, seemed unlikely to regroup. Well, we can confirm via official press release that the House is BACK. They're NOT just reuniting for Coachella. The band will embark on a year-long reunion world tour in 2007... and that's not all. Sources are now cofirming that the Neil Finn album that's being recorded now is, in fact, a full-on Crowded House reunion record. Auditions will be held for a replacement for Hester, but it's official that Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, and Mark Hart will all be participating in the reunion album AND tour. THAT's some good news.

An era is INDEED about to pass, as news reaches us today that CREATION RECORDS may soon cease to exist, and if it DOES continue on, it will do so without its founder, ALAN McGEE. McGee announced today that he is to step down as founder and president effective June 2000, to explore other business ventures. Under McGee's helm, Creation went from a bedroom-based operation to become one of the premier independent labels in the world.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN have split. Music365 reports that it's finally official and the Reid brothers are now working on solo projects. William Reid will be releasing a mini-LP, 'Taster' on November 8th and brother Jim is working in a new band called T.V.6.9.

The NME is reporting today that William Reid has walked out on the JESUS AND MARY CHAIN following an onstage row during their US tour this weekend. According to NME, the band are continuing their American tour unabated without the tempermental guitarist. A replacement, or even an official press statement, has yet to be announced. We DO know that Excellent member and staff contributor Mia Welch saw the band last night in Denver, and proclaimed it to be "maybe the greatest show I've seen all year."