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Hi all! Just wanted to say happy holidays and thanks to all of you for the support over the past year. We hope that neither orange alerts nor rampant mad cow disease stops you from having a tremendous holiday season. Be sure to check back over the next couple of weeks, as Shane will be dropping his Best of 2003 column, as well as the results of our annual member's poll! Enjoy your holiday turkeys... or hams... or tofu... or, for the really brave, your mad Christmas beef.

Ajay, Liz, and Shane
Your Excellent Administrators 2003

When the little hand meets the big hand in a round of 2004 kisses and jubilation... I will be a little sad to see it go. This was musically one of the best years I've heard since the late 90s. Week after week, month after month I was enthralled with new artists and brilliant records from some old favorites.

I've been an anglophile for over a decade now and I'm a little perturbed by the lack of Brits on my top 20. There are some, but not those that should be expected. The lack of a true British music scene just isn't interesting me anymore. Keeping-up-with-the-NME hasn't been my style in years but I think this is the first year where not a single one of the British bands of the moment has stayed within my radar for very long. So what's taking their places? A LOT of Americans, some Canadians, a few Danes, Swedes etc.

No more time for the pomp and circumstance, we've got some music to hear so let's get on with it...

Every once in awhile when the press, the RIAA, etc stops their bitching about downloading music from the internet... some kind soul stands up and reinforces how music traverses the globe more now than ever through the internet. Case and point... at www.radio.plus.com you can find LEGAL downloads of songs John Peel has featured on Radio 1. All tracks on the site have been donated by the band's featured... which include Mogwai, Bearsuit, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Autechre, The Fall and MANY more. Just in case you haven't checked out Epitonic lately we'll give them a wee plug too. Featuring free downloads from prominant bands and labels alike... it's a one stop shop for checking out new talent.

'Fans Only' is the name of the BELLE & SEBASTIAN DVD that has received glowing reviews in the UK... and it's coming to America on January 20th. Shhh... we've got another secret though. You can pre-order it from Matador and get $ 1 off.

Well great you've told me when I can get it... but what is it?

Yeah sorry... got a little ahead of myself. This DVD is the ULTIMATE reference for B&S fans. It contains EVERY video, live performanaces, interview, tv appearances, a documentary, out-takes, etc etc. Music fans in the UK have been calling this the most complete music DVD ever released. There are over 75 songs on the DVD including covers of Serge Gainsbourg and The Who. More information and a tracklisting is available on the B&S site.

Ok... the Smiths haven't actually been resurrected, but their material has. Matinee Recordings has asked the artists on their roster to "take a stab at a Smiths cover"... and are releasing the material to honor the 20th anniversary of the band. Included on the new compilation, "Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware", are The Lucksmiths, Would-Be-Goods, Pines, The Liberty Ship and more. The album will be available late in December via Matinee Mailorder or in January in record shops.

Well... the fat lady hasn't sung yet! This morning in a NY District court, Daniel Geller and Ryan Lewis (the KINDERCORE founders) filed suit against I.D.E.A. (aka The Telegraph Co). Not only is the company named in the lawsuit but the Kindercore General Manger and I.D.E.A. CEO. Why? Geller and Lewis are alleging breach of contract, libel, slander and other infractions against the company that purchased Kindercore in 2001. According to Geller the November announcement that Kindercore was closing came as a shock to him.

Read the full press release below...

*Poof*. And like that, it's over. The financially troubled KINDERCORE RECORDS has shut down. The label, once home to the majority of the Elephant 6 Collective, has announced via a post on their message board that it, as well as its parent group The Telegraph Company, will cease operations effective immediately. Sadly, this doesn't come as much of a shock. About two years ago, the original owners of Kindercore sold out to the Telegraph Company to avoid bankruptcy and closure, and after that move, the label's biggest draws began immediately searching for new homes. The Telegraph Company will remain in effect as a distribution outlet, which means that the Kindercore back catalog will remain in print and able to purchase. But it DOES mean that completed and expected new albums from JAPANCAKES, I AM THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, MASERATI, and others are shelved. It DOES mean that these bands, along with Kindercore faves DRESSY BESSY, Olivia Tremor Control off-shoot THE SUNSHINE FIX, and OF MONTREAL will have to find new homes (for what it's worth, the guys in Of Montreal told us some time ago they were through with the label.) Regardless, it's kind of a sad day. The label was far removed from its halcyon days of buy-everything-it-puts-out-because-Kindercore-don't-put-out-crap, but it leaves us aching for another US label of the same calibre. Who's to become our favorite stateside label now? Skippy, it's time to put MARCH RECORDS in overdrive... will the label-less former Elephant 6 bands follow the trend of The Essex Green and move to MERGE or trail The Marshmallow Coast to MISRA? Or will our hottest tipped label become the young upstart FUTURE APPLETREE RECORDS with a roster so impressive it hurts? Time will tell...

It is with great joy we introduce a new column here at Excellent.... PopKIDS! We are now bringing you the musical exploits of NYC grade school teacher, Sarah Allen. Sarah often shares music with the kids in her classes and records their opinions. These kids are hysterical and sometimes spot on (I will forever hold a soft spot in my heart for whomever said that Stereolab 'sounds like tiger music').

These kids are addictive... so we're offering a fix that's a few months old.
The Lucksmiths - "T-Shirt Weather"
4th Graders on what exactly *is* T-Shirt Weather?

The official statement:

"Suede would like to announce that from next year they will be working on their own individual projects.There will not be a new studio album until the band feel that the moment is artistically right to make one.This announcement does not affect the forthcoming touring commitments. Suede would like to thank the fans for their wonderful support over the years. See you in the next life."

To pay our respects Ajay has set up Excellent Radio to play All Suede... All Day.