One of our favorite American groups, OF MONTREAL, have snuck advance copies of their new album, "Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse," for sale on the KINDERCORE RECORDS website. The record, due for general release in mid-April, is available starting today exclusively through Kindercore's own online store.

And just when we were getting excited about the Oscars for a change... it's now been reported that producers of this year's Oscar telecast have pulled the plug on the planned BJORK/THOM YORKE duet, citing time constraints. The performance has been limited to three minutes, while Bjork's nominated track, "I've Seen It All," clocks in normally just over six minutes in length. An abbreviated arrangement of the track will still be performed by Bjork during the show, but the new arrangement gives no time for an appearance by Yorke.

Not so much a news item but a plea to help one of our favorite unsigned bands. If you don't know who KOALA are, you should head over to their website to find out more. That said, Koala need our help! The band DODGY (hey, remember them?) are gearing up for their upcoming comeback gig at the London Astoria. Dodgy are holding a contest via their website to pick an opening band for the gig... and Koala have been selected as a finalist! This high-profile gig could easily result in a record deal and much needed publicity for Koala.

An update on the COACHELLA FESTIVAL: Well, we were right -- no Blur, no Suede. The official lineup was unveiled this weekend, and though it does include quite a few decent acts (WEEZER, FATBOY SLIM, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, TRICKY, DANDY WARHOLS, PHOTEK, and others,) it's nowhere near the line-up that was earlier rumoured. You can get all the details about this year's event by clicking HERE.

News stories are popping up all over the place regarding this year's COACHELLA FESTIVAL in California. Last time, Coachella drew a number of great indie bands and was heralded as the greatest show of the year. Last week, announcements were made that among this year's line-up would be BLUR and SUEDE among others. Well, don't get too excited just yet.

GRANDADDY will be touring the US starting April 12 according to their official site. The tour will start on the west coast and move it way across the "whole dammed country". The details are expected to be announced later this week.

RADIOHEAD have announced plans for a US tour to take place sometime in the vicinity of June. The band casually mentioned it during a recent interview with an L.A. radio station.

www.bjork.com has just confirmed that THOM YORKE will be performing with BJORK at the Oscars.

We don't have dates confirmed yet, but our new Icelandic heroes SIGUR ROS are prepping for their very first American tour, according to NME. We'll keep our eyes peeled for an official announcement from the band, and as soon as dates start appearing, we'll have them here...

We were all a bit disappointed that BJORK didn't get an Academy Award nomination for her role in "Dancer in the Dark," but it's redemption time. Because of her nomination for Song of the Year, the Academy has announced today that Bjork will be performing "I've Seen It All" live at the Oscar ceremonies on March 25th. It's our understanding that Bjork will be accompanied by a 55-piece orchestra for the performance, but there's still no word about who, if anyone, will handle the male vocals on the track, which was performed on the adapted soundtrack by Radiohead's Thom Yorke.