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Brit rocker's The Music are aiming their sights high... to the US market to be precise. If the the opening slot of the upcoming Coldplay tour wern't enough to get them noticed, they are in the midst of booking another US tour with The Vines, releasing their first album here in the states, and set up a national TV spot on March 18 with David Letterman.

Back home in the UK, they are about to release their final single, The Truth Is No Words, from their debut self-titled album. The album will have a February 25 release in the US and contain the video for Take The Long Road and Walk It as well as video footage from their recent North American tour. If you'd like a preview of The Truth Is No Words the video can be downloaded from Dotmusic.

Ok, nothing like a bit of exaggeration for a headline eh? No, Justin Timberlake hasn't *really* joined The Flaming Lips but he did perform with them on Top of the Pops on Friday. The segment, which was recorded Thursday, has Timberlake appearing with the band on bass during their rendition of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Apparently Timberlake and Wayne Coyne had met earlier in the week while taping separate interviews with Radio One. Timberlake took a copy of the track to study, and came to TOTP wearing a dolphin costume until the taping actually began. What's that saying about strange bedfellows?

It's been over 10 years since former Echo & The Bunnymen singer, songwriter Ian McCulloch has recorded without former Bunnymen Will Sergeant. McCulloch is set to release his first truly solo effort in the UK on April 28. The album, titled 'Slideling' is Ian's first since 1992's 'Mysterio'.

'Slideling' will be featuring guest apperances from Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland of Coldplay, along with an appearance (of some sort?) by John Simm (star of '24 Hour Party People').

Slashdot posted this Wired commentary from Charles Mann about how the the recording industry will soon collapse. It's a nice summary of all the things they are trying to do to control every aspect of music from the musicians all the way to your ears. I agree with his conclusion in that if the current industry does go away then a better one will replace it.

ERASURE has announced North American tour dates in support of their new album, Other People's Songs which is available in the US on January 28. "The Other Tour" is Erasure's first North American tour since 1997.

The band will appear on Top of the Pops this week, as the first single, "Solsbury Hill" (originally by Peter Gabriel) debuted at Number 10 on the UK pop charts. The single was released January 14 in North America with 2 new tracks not available on the album plus new mixes of "Solsbury Hill." The CD is apparently enhanced with a special short film directed by Vince Clarke and staring Andy Bell.

Not that we're the sort of site that likes to dwell on crap like this... (oh, who are we kidding, sure we do.) But it's official today through a spokesperson: FATBOY SLIM and wife/radio presenter ZOE BALL have separated. Oddly enough, ol' Normy's quoted in this week's NME that he's planning to take time off from DJ gigs to spend more time with his family...

LADYTRON seem ready for world conquest as they are about to take the United States by storm in February. During their first ever US tour by the entire band, fans should be ready to hear plenty of material from Light & Magic & 604. Tickets are going fast as Light & Magic received rave reviews the world over, including Rolling Stone's top 50 records of the 2002.

You've heard of the Ben Folds Five, what about the Ben Folds Three? Ben Lee, Ben Folds and Ben Kweller have planned an Australian tour together as The Bens. Catchy eh? Since all three musicians have new material out this was a perfect time for all three to play together and confuse the hell out of the roadies in another country. "Oi, say Ben where do you want this amp?". The shows are currently planned as:
Friday, March 14 The Arena Brisbane
Tuesday, March 18 The Enmore Sydney
Monday, March 24 Palais Melbourne

The lineup for the annual NOISE POP festival has been announced. Some of the major acts to hit the stage this year include Tortoise, Stephen Malkmus & The Jucks, Cat Power, Trans Am, the Mountain Goats, the Donnas, Calexico, Folk Implosion and more. The festival is to be held February 25 - March 2 throughout the San Francisco area. Badges go onsale today and can be picked up on the website. Otherwise tickets to individual shows go on sale through each venue's normal ticket outlets. Among the features of NOISE POP this year are an educational series, panel discussions, music-themed film screenings and more.

Spiritualized will be releasing 24 tracks of pure, unadulterated rarities on Spaceman/Arista Records in March. All material is previously unavailable on LP and has been personally selected for the double disc set by Jason Pierce. The Complete Works Part 1 includes over an hour of covers and music from various singles and EPs including 'Electric Mainline'. The set will encompass the first 3 years of the band's existence and will be followed up by a Part 2 later in the year.