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I went to the Fischerspooner show with some reservations. I've heard things about them ranging from brilliant to boring art school wanking.

Adding to the whole experience was the hockey crowd surrounding the venue. It was a big home game and every yahoo from the surrounding 200 kilometers or more were downtown and ready to part-tay. And they all decided to drive. And honk their horns, the whole way there and back.

In a warm up to the June 7 headling slot at the Field Day Festival, RADIOHEAD have announced a show the night before at the Beacon Theatre in NYC. The band has put a pair of front row tickets online at eBay with all proceeds going to charity. The Beacon show will be broadcast at a later day on MTV. No word yet on a US tour, we'll keep you updated.

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How I Hung Out With My Idol and Didn't Come Across Like an Ass (Hopefully)

In my world, having Mark Gardener tour the States and play acoustic gigs in intimate settings is a bit like having Jesus round for a spot of tea. Finding out on 3 hours notice that you've got an interview with Mark Gardener is a bit like finding out that you, in fact, ARE Jesus. No pressure there.

And despite my fears, it went swimmingly. So swimmingly, in fact, that I'm not even sure where the interview stops and hanging out with a new friend starts. Liz and I got a chance to sit around for a few hours(!) with the former Ride frontman before his recent acoustic gig at Chicago's Abbey Pub. Turns out the voice of my favorite band of all time is actually a pretty down-to-Earth guy with some fantastic insight on Ride, Creation, shoegazing, and his brilliant return to form this year.

Want to hear how Ride "fucking rocked the house"? Want to learn what it's like to have an indie rock icon for a landlord? How Mark considers this his "Neil Young phase"? Then click more to read on!

Indiesynthpop duo The Postal Service are taking to the road this weekend for a month long US tour. The band (a collaboration between Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello) have just hit the #1 spot on the CMJ college radio airplay chart with their Sub Pop release 'Give Up'. According to a recent MTV interview, in order to keep the audience interested in a performance that is basically 2 boys and a laptop... they plan on showing videos during each tune. Also appearing on stage will be Rilo Kelly singer Jenny Lewis who also contributes backing vocals on the full length album.

The new RADIOHEAD album was leaked on the Internet last week. "Hail to the Thief" is scheduled to be released in June but a rough copy that hasn't been mastered found it's way on several sites last week. This was confirmed when Nigel Godrich (their producer) posted on the Radiohead Messageboard:

"Its the rough mixes ....
some tracks not even finished.
aint that a bitch?
Not really what I'd want the world to hear, frankly.
boo."

And in other news, I found this interview with the "guy" that provided the vocals for "Fitter Happier".

"Just because they knew your name,
Doesn't mean they know from where you came."
- I Don't Blame You

Chan Marshall has always had a raw and emotional voice that leaves her a glow in a wash of power. 'You Are Free' is her first new material in almost four years, and she's more confident and calculated than with her 1998 release 'Moon Pix'. Beauty in haunted melody and frantic strings; Alluring ballads as addiction itself.

In what might be the first good anti-war song released since the latest Gulf incursion, R.E.M. has stepped onto the playing field by making a rough studio mix of their new song "The Final Straw" available on their website. The song, which is set to appear on the forthcoming 2004 R.E.M. album, clearly expresses disdain for the US government's current war in Iraq.

A note on the site expresses Michael Stipe's desire to release the song prior to the album completion. "This is the strongest voice I could think of to send out there. We had to send something out there now. We are praying and hoping for the lives of all people involved, the troops, the Iraqi civilians, refugees, pow's, families of troops, the innocents-- that they are safe and okay. Safe home, all."

In an official word from THE STROKES, they've gone back to the studio to start work on the sophomore album. The New York five piece has decided to start laying down a few tracks with famed Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. If all goes well they will continue working with Godrich otherwise... they've left it up in the air as to whom they might employ next. They are *aiming* at the new album being out Late August or September but certainly can't be held to that timeframe yet.

In an effort to get the record out there will be NO UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS. Apparently they get lots of email about this, so leave em alone, there's no chance until sometime after the album release. After that point, they are expected to attempt tours in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Canada, Europe and the US. A few of the songs you might have heard live in the past are expected to make the new disc, including: "You Talk Way Too Much", "The Way It Is", "Meet Me in the Bathroom" and "I Can't Win".

Louis Philippe sent us a message just for you. :-)

"Quite a few American fans have asked me if and when my new album, My Favourite Part of You, would be available in the US...I'm sorry to say that we haven't found any licensing deal so far. BUT the album will be available in so-called "specialist" shops - I'm thinking of Other Music in NYC, for example - from 25 March onwards. You can already order it on the web from www.XIIIbis.com, and a link will be put up on my website, www.louisphilippe.co.uk.

Apologies for this shameless bit of self-promotion. And many thanks to my American friends, who have been so patient and so loyal over the years. One last thing: make sure you vote next time, and don't let a fundamentalist cross-eyed war-crazed monkey in the White House. I have spoken.
Peace to you all.
Louis"

The kids in BROADCAST will be releasing their new six track Pendulum EP on Warp Records on May 6. The band has just finished planning a US tour to coincide with the release of the EP. Broadcast hasn't been stateside since their 2000 album "The Noise Made By People" and received a wonderful reception on their recent UK tour opening for Saint Etienne.