Excellent Online

Paul Marin sent in a great link to an article on pitchforkmedia.com where they discuss the possibility of a "The Strokes" show. My favorite is, of course, "The Strokes of Hazzard".

This will be Coachella number three for me and it just gets better every year. I saw Cornershop, Groove Armada, Queens of the Stone Age, Beta Band, Sasha and Digweed, Chemical Brothers, Elbow, Strokes, Cut Chemist, Paul Oakenfold, Prodigy, and Oasis. Not bad for 150 bucks. I saw so many artists this year because the organizers are thinking about who we want to see instead of the typical, "biggest artist headlines" rule. This was clear when Paul Oakenfold, clearly the biggest DJ on Sunday spun at 7pm, it was still daylight outside! This made it easy to see Oakenfold, then cruise over to the main stage for Prodigy and Oasis. Saturday also had a lineup that was easy for me because most of the bands I wanted to see played on the Outdoor stage, one after the other. Getting into Coachella is a bitch. You have to get there early, or late, not in the middle. We arrived in Indio and didn't get inside until about 3:30 because the traffic is horrible. If you want to see a band that's playing at three (like Folk Implosion!!), make sure you arrive in Indio at noon.

This is probably a bit late, but my brother just found the current issue of Magnet (Mar/Apr 2002). Ride's on the cover and they talk about the 'History of Shoegazing'. They have small interviews with Andy Bell (Ride), Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), Neil Halstead (Slowdive/Mojave 3), Alan Magee and others. It's pretty interesting as they talk about what happened the the followup to MBV's 'Loveless'. Click the 'read more' link to see their list of shoegazing's defining albums.

According to an article in the Dallas Music Guide, OASIS have brought on former KULA SHAKER keyboardist Jay Darlington for their upcoming tour in support of the forthcoming (even though everybody's already found it on the net) album, Heathen Chemistry. According to the article, it's still unclear whether Darlington will become an official member of the group, or simply be handling keys on tour.

Leslie posted a message to the list about Ignition Mangement and their statement regarding the Oasis MP3's that are currently circulating around the Internet. They claim that the files are "poor quality" and shouldn't be used to by journalists to review the album. Click on 'Read More' to see the full statement. A statement from Ignition Management 19 April, 2002

Torr Leonard sent in a link to Billboard about the upcoming co-headlining Doves and Elbow tour. The tour is still in planning stages but it will cover 10-dates across the US and is expected to start in June. I want to know if Elbow will ever do a headlining tour across America? So far they've opened for Goldfrapp and Pete Yorn and co-headlined a tour with South.

Robert Moore sent the list some info from V2 about the new Underworld album. It has a working title 'Ansum' and is scheduled for release on September 16. It will be preceeded by a single, 'Two Months Off', which will be released on Sepember 2nd.

Mercury Rev will be playing a short west coast in the middle of June. They have also just released a special edition of last years, 'All is Dream', which includes live material, documentary footage, and two videos.

When I was in Tokyo earlier this year, I found a fantastic compilation called 'Airpop Terminal 2' with a rather frightening photo on the cover of a 'jet blue' plane flying in front of the twin towers in NYC. Despite the ominous image of the cover art (released on the German label "Apricot" at the beginning of 2001), I was intrigued by the huge diversity of musicians on the 2-disc set. I was pleasantly surprised that my favorite Chicagoans INSTA had rated well enough to get on a comp with BIRDIE, EGGSTONE, CINNAMON, et al. Yet above all else, the biggest joy on the album was a little Motown inspired ditty by THE SHERMANS... so 2 shermans cd's and a single later... I'm hooked.
THE SHERMANS - HAPPINESS IS TOY SHAPED
(Shelflife 035)

Allstar has a blurb about Beth Orton's new album, Daybreaker. The album will be released July 30th on Heavenly/Astralwerks. It also features a bunch of cool guests like Johnny Marr, Chemical Brothers and Ryan Adams.