I can't think of odder music news of late than a story that appeared in The Guardian some weeks ago regarding Easter plans in Manchester...

"The BBC plans to mark the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ this Easter with an hour-long live procession through the streets of Manchester featuring pop stars from The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and featuring songs by The Smiths and New Order.

In the programme, called Manchester Passion, a character representing Jesus will sing the legendary Joy Division anthem Love Will Tear Us Apart before dueting his arch-betrayer Judas on the New Order hit Blue Monday, according to senior church sources involved in the production.
..."

No, I am not making this up. The Guardian is not playing a practical joke on the interweb. I'm not sure I could make up a story this bizarre. The Church of England, BBC and Bez celebrating Easter in the street of Manchester with an actor dressed up as Jesus singing "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." Uhhhhh....

On the list today Christopher overheard something about a super group featuring some of the great bass players of our time. Sam confirmed it and the members include PETER HOOK from NEW ORDER, MANI from the STONE ROSES (...more recently PRIMAL SCREAM) and ANDY ROURKE from the SMITHS. I found an interview from NewOrderOnline.net with Peter Hook where he confirms that he's recording new New Order material as well as writing music for this side project. We'll keep you posted.

If your looking to hear an interesting live show you can pop over to Bethan and Huw on BBC Wales on Thursday (March 4) at 8 PM GMT (that's 3PM East Coasters) and give a listen to a set from American Indie veterans YO LA TENGO with Welsh fiddlers GORKY'S ZYGOTIC MYNCI celebrating St. David's Day in Cardiff this past weekend. You can also stream a number of interesting tracks from the site including exclusive live material from HYBRID (with Peter Hook of NEW ORDER), MC MABON, and BRAVE CAPTAIN.

We've got your reissue of NEXT year right here kids... REVENGE - One True Passion. Remember when New Order took a break after the release of Technique? Well Peter Hook wasn't just hangin around doin nothing. Hook formed Revenge with what would eventually become the members of Monaco and released 'One True Passion' on Factory in 1990. Revenge were chastity belts, synths and industrial intensity and this new 2-cd set on LTM contains over two hours of music digitally remastered, retooled and reconfigured by Hook and David Potts. The second disc contains unreleased demos and rare remixes... and it's all wrapped up in sleek Peter Saville style.

The next single from New Order is a collaboration with the Chemical Brothers and will be released on March 25th, or early April. It will be featured on the soundtrack for 24 Hour Party People and promo copies will include other New Order tracks from the Get Ready sessions.

According to Radio Undercover, New Order will be putting a live version of the Joy Division classic, "Atmosphere", on their upcoming single, "Crystal". Recently New Order have added "Heart and Soul" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" to their live show. You can see them at the Area One Festival this summer.

New Order are putting the finishing touches on their new album, NEWORDERGETREADY, according to Allstar. It's their first album since 1993's Republic and features collaborations with Billy Corgan, Primal Scream and the Chemical Brothers. The album is due in October.
The tentative track listing is:

Orbital, Leftfield, and Asian Dub Foundation will be contributing new music to The Beach sountrack. Moby will include a remix of Blur's 'On Your Own' and as reported earlier, New Order will include their first new track in over six years, 'Brutal'. The soundtrack will be released February 8th on London Records.

NEW ORDER have recorded their first new song since 1993! The material will be used in the soundtrack to The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is created by the same team that brought us TRAINSPOTTING and SHALLOW GRAVE.

The working title of the track is, 'Brutal' and it remains unclear if it will be released as a single. A spokesperson for New Order did confirm that the band has gone back into the studio to record a full album which is due out next year.

It seems that all that we've been reporting on lately is sad news. Unfortunately, we're not done: the UK music world has lost two important figures over the weekend.

JEAN EAVIS, the wife of Michael, passed away from cancer over the weekend. The Eavis' are the founders and organizers of the Glastonbury Festival, whose 1999 date looms less than a month away. The Eavis' had previously stated that they would turn over control of the festival in the New Millenium -- there is no word yet whether the loss of Jean Eavis will alter this year's agenda.