Robert Smith and HIS LOVE FOR THE CAPSLOCK KEY WHEN HE POSTS ON THE CURE'S OFFICIAL SITE has released the tracklist for the next set of Cure remastered CDs due in August. In addition to the Cure's studio albums, this next round of remasters will include The Glove's "Blue Sunshine," his psychedelic collaboration with Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Each set features the original album remastered on the first CD, with a second CD of rarities, demos, outtakes and live tracks.

Keane's website and MySpace page have an announcement about a short US tour next month.

Hello!

Some exciting news for those of you who live in the US of A - Keane have (or 'has' as you folks would say) confirmed some American dates! They're next month! And you can buy the very best tickets through our exclusive presale! Tomorrow!

We'll be selling the presale tickets through Keane's online shop, Rag And Bone, for all shows except San Francisco, where the venue have arranged their own presale. For seated gigs, the presale will enable you to buy the best available seats. For standing shows, Rag And Bone will be attempting to arrange wristbands that allow you early entry into the venue so that you can get the best possible view.

The info is as follows...

June 20 - San Francisco, Great American Music Hall. Presale from 10am on May 16 from www.virtuous.com. Full onsale from 10am on May 21 from www.tickets.com

June 21 - Los Angeles, Henry Fonda Theatre. Presale from 10am on May 16 through www.rag-and-bone-com. Full onsale from 10am on May 20 from www.ticketweb.com

June 23 - New York, Bowery Ballroom. Presale from 1pm on May 16 from www.rag-and-bone-com. Full onsale from 10am on May 19 from www.ticketweb.com

June 24 - Boston, Axis. Presale from 1pm on May 16 from www.rag-and-bone-com. Full onsale from 10am on May 19 from www.ticketmaster.com

June 27 - Chicago, Metro. Presale from 12noon on May 16 from www.rag-and-bone-com. Full onsale from 12noon on May 20 from www.ticketmaster.com

NB: All times listed are the ones local to the venue.

Presale tickets are, naturally, limited - so you'd be well-advised to be sitting in front of your computer at the corresponding time tomorrow. Good luck!

Keane HQ

There are some bands that just never get a fair shake. Groups whose critical acclaim and unbelievable songs seem never to reach an audience outside of core fans and record store clerks. Bands whose greatest legacy is in their influence of OTHER bands.

THE GO-BETWEENS, at least on OUR shores, have always been one of those bands.

It could be argued that, sans Go-Betweens, there would BE no indiepop scene. You see, the Aussie band has been doing it since their first record in 1981. Their trademark sound, led by the great duo of Grant (GW) McLennan & Robert Forster has long influenced a stream of fantastic bands.

Last night, Grant McLennan died in his sleep. It won't even make a small blurb in your local paper. Yet the shock waves to the world of indie music are far and wide-reaching. Already tributes are pouring into the Go-Betweens website from bands like Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian, The Church, etc., as well as record labels like Jeepster and March.

What makes Grant's untimely death all the more shocking and hard to cope with is that, after almost a 10-year hiatus, the Go-Betweens reformed in 2000 and have been putting out arguably their best music to date in the years since.

Rest in peace, Grant. Thanks for the stellar music. Our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of the Go-Betweens.

We've got some sad news for fans of Mojave 3 and Slowdive to report. Rachel Goswell has written in her MySpace Blog that she's had a variety of health issues lately that will restrict her from touring and playing with Mojave 3 in the near future.

"Back in January I suddenly lost a moderate amount of hearing in my left ear. Accompanying this I have had really bad problems with my balance and awful tinnutis. It's been very debilitating for me and I haven't been able to do very much at all. The general day to day stuff on it's own has been quite difficult. It took 5 weeks to see a specialist. I've had a few tests now and have more to go through over the next month to determine why what happened happened. Ears are complicated things. What has happened to me I've been told is rare. I've had labyrinthitis (an inner ear infection) which has led to permanent hearing loss, permanent tinnutis and nerve damage in a couple of places in my inner ear. Some nerves have died apparantly and I keep getting additional middle ear infections. My immune system is currently through the floor. I've been on various medication since it all happened to me. The main one was to help me balance, I've come of these drugs now and am adjusting to my new way of life going through daily physiotherapy to retrain my brain to compensate for the loss of the left side. I'm also waiting for a hearing aid."

We wish Rachel all the best in her recovery.

In a renewed effort to promote British music on US shores, a new tour will be kicking off from LA in May. The Brit Bus Tour is hoping to help a few British acts get their name and guitars out and loud on American shores. Welsh artist Julia Jones founded the Brit Bus tour last year in an attempt to alleviate the financial difficulty new British acts have in touring North America...

"For far too long new British bands have failed to make an impression in The States as the scale of the country and prohibitive promotional costs have combined to make access to this huge record buying public extremely difficult."
"This could be the big break that a new British band is looking for. We expect thousands of responses and look forward to working with the winner and inviting them to join us at our final event in New York."

In Jones' attempt to even the scales she has attracted support from the UK Government, The British Phonographic Industry as well as organizations such as Virgin Megastores, Visit Britain, Gibson Guitar and more. The artists on tour have not yet been announced but major acts such as The Magic Numbers, Hard-Fi, and Paul Oakenfold have thrown their support behind the project by boarding the bus on it's kickoff on May 1 in LA to sign CD's and Epiphone guitars that will be given away as prizes throughout the tour. Further information is available at britbustour.com.

I couldn't sleep so I went to see what's up with YO LA TENGO when I read that they will be appearing on the WB show, Gilmore Girls. SONIC YOUTH will also be appearing on the show which airs on May 9th. The subplot revolves around GRANT LEE PHILLIPS who is choosen to open for Neil Young. Once the news spreads, several bands show up to try to get in on the action. Sonic Youth will be playing an acoustic version of their new single, "What a Waste" which will be on their new album, "Rather Ripped", released on June 13th. Yo La Tengo have a new album coming out this fall and recently announced a covers-only CD, "Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics", which you can purchase from yolatengo.com.

GOMEZ are set to return to the US in May to support their fifth album, "How We Operate". They've been playing together for almost 10 years with the original lineup, which is fairly impressive. It's rare these days that a band can survive critical success and several US tours without breaking up. The new album is fantastic and some of my favorite tracks are "Notice", "Charley Patton Songs", and the first single, "How We Operate" which you can hear/see:

Audio: Windows Media - Quicktime - Real
Video: Windows Media - Quicktime

I think Gomez are one of the most entertaining bands live, their current tour dates are now listed.

I realize it isn't very exciting news to most people that a Danish band they've never heard of is finally releasing a record in America. I tell you, it IS brilliant news. You might not know MEW now, but you will... oh you will.

Enough of the foreboding know-it-all... Mew is a Danish 4-piece who have been wowing Europe for years now with their amazing progrock. The band released a record And The Glass Handed Kites to amazing acclaim last year (Drowned in Sound, Virgin Net, The Beat Surrender, Under The Radar, etc). Ok ok, so one of those glowing reviews was from me. There had been quite a bit of confusion among American fans eager to see Mew live and/or just be able to recommend a record to friends. August 11th, Mew will finally hit American record stores as the CD will see a release on Columbia Records.

In the meantime, you can hear some music on Mew's website or take a peek at the video for 'A Zookeeper's Boy' (Windows Media Broadband | 56k / Real Player Broadband | 56k).

Not the best of weeks for up and coming New Zealand popsters RYAN MCPHUN & THE RUBY SUNS. After a fantastic SXSW appearance, the band were halfway through their US tour when, en route to Seattle, their RV (nicknamed Harvey) burst into flames. A passing motorist flagged the band down, and they were able to get the RV to the side of the road and escape unharmed before the RV became engulfed.

The bad news, however, is that every worldly possession the band had with them on the road -- equipment, instruments, clothes, food, passports -- all burned up, leaving them basically stranded stateside, waiting to see what if anything their insurance will cover.

The band are one of our new favorites, and this couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of people. The group's label, Lil Chief Records, has set up a donation page here.

We strongly urge anyone with a few extra Paypal bucks to give what you can to help these guys out. In the meantime, you can check out the group's MySpace page to hear their music and see some pics of the blaze.

Oh you know you can't resist those Swedish Pop stylings... well the Consulate General of Sweden wants to give you a present. They've put together a CD compilation called "Made in Sweden" to give you, me and everyone an overview of what's going on in the Swedish pop scene. This magical (and FREE) disc contains some of the artists you might know, and some new... The Ark, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Moneybrother, Melody Club, Mando Diao, Andreas Tilliander, Elin Sigvardsson, Peter Nordahl Trio and many more. Again, the CDs are complimentary... but limited to first come, first serve so Act Now! Offer only open to US residents.