Excellent Online

Perry Farrel announced that the return of Lollapalooza will be pushed back until 2003. The delay is because no one cares about Lollapalooza anymore. Whoops, did I say that out loud? I meant to say that the delay is caused by getting a late start on organizing the festival and they didn't get the headliner they wanted. Meanwhile, Moby's Area 2 Festival will feature David Bowie and Busta Rhymes.

NME's reporting that the upcoming Primal Scream album will likely be banned in America due to a track called, Bomb the Pentagon. I can't see it being banned, maybe it won't be sold in Walmart's but I'm sure your local import record shop won't care. It's also important to note that the track is about the US foreign policy and was performed live before the September 11th attacks.

Allstar has the story about David Bowie next album, Heathen'. It features guitar leads by Pete Townshend and remixes by Air and Moby. The album is due out on June 11th.

Shift has an article about the two new "official" methods for downloading digital music. They also have a preview of the new subscription based Napster service which should open up any day now. In short, they blow. If you download a hundred songs then cancel your service, the songs will "deactivate" and become worthless. So if you subscribe, then you have to subscribe for life.

Stewart Nash sent us the link to his site about Creation Records. I found this site some time ago and if you haven't checked it out then I suggest you take a look because it does a good job keeping track of all those great creation bands. Plus it has some exclusive interviews with Ride, Adorable, My Bloody Valentine and more.

The greatest thing about being a part of Excellent Online is the ability to push my favorite artists on all of you guys, and here's another one to be filed under Things You Need To Hear.

Paula Kelley released her first solo full-length, "Nothing/Everything," on Boston's Stop, Pop, and Roll Records last year - and it quickly became one of the biggest surprises to make my 2001 Best-Of lists. Inside this little pop-tastic package was a whirlwind of emotion - innocently taunting, musically charming yet lyrically intense... a combination you don't come across too often.

Paula's is a name you might be familiar with and might not even know it. Starting as a member of US proto-shoegazers The Drop Nineteens, Paula left the band just as they'd begun to make waves with the US and UK critics. Over the next few years came a couple new projects - first the one-off Hotrod, which showcased Kelley's burgeoning songwriting abilities, and then Boy Wonder, which found Kelley further immersed into the East Coast powerpop scene.

Over at the LA Times, they're running an article about a recent proposal for webcasting royalties. Right now you're looking at $1.40 per thousand listeners for webcast-only stations and only $0.70 cents if you're a regular radio station that's also broadcasting online. The webcasters say that the price is too high while the RIAA is claiming that the price is too low.

It's about damn time.

Tonight is the debut of the two hour Pay-Per-View event by Depeche Mode. Titled "One Night In Paris - The Exciter Tour 2001", the broadcast will include footage from the tour recorded at The Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy. Shot by longtime partner in crime Anton Corbijn, who received a Grammy nomination for 1994's Devotional concert film. It is set to play between now and April 9th. Click here for specific details on how to order.

Dan the Automator just released his own mixed compilation, 'Wanna Buy A Monkey?'. It has exclusive mixes from Air, Zero 7 and Tortoise. Also, when I was listening to the minimix of the album I swore that I heard some of the Doves right at the very end. For those of you going to the last couple Gorillaz shows, make sure to get their early as Dan the Automator will be spinning.