Excellent Online

One of our Excellent members, Lisa Y. Garibay, interviewed James Walsh from Starsailor for her site, Then It Must Be True. Go read it because it's a fantastic interview and you won't see a 'Where did the name Starsailor come from?' question.

Strokes
San Diego, CA, 4th & B
February 3, 2002

Why can't the Strokes just be good. Some people love them to death, some people hate their guts, I on the other hand can't decide! I think their album is super catchy and really fun, but it also sounds really weak and stupid at the same time. So I had a hard time deciding when my friend asked me to go to the Strokes show, but I eventually agreed.

Okay, so we've just got to toss the morals out the window and mention it. Has anybody here been to SUPERCULT.COM before? We're not here to judge, nor are we here to promote porn, but we've never seen anything as bizarre as nekkid peeps posing in front of Joy Division posters and mentioning that they were listening to Belle & Sebastian and The Charlatans while taking their pictorials. It's like porn for the indie sect, whether it appeals to you or offends you. Love it or hate it - it now exists.

You might not be familiar with vocalist Doreen Waddell by her name... perhaps not even by her recording name, DO'REEN. But you're quite possibly familiar with her vocals as part of SOUL II SOUL or THE KLF. Sadly, Waddell was struck and killed today by three vehicles on the A27 bypass in Shoreham, West Sussex. But the story gets even sadder: Waddell ran into heavy traffic while being chased by police for allegedly shoplifting from a Tesco supermarket. The road, which had to be closed for nearly 5 hours, was littered with what appeared to be the stolen items.

LEFTFIELD have called it a day after 2 albums and countless remixes together. The duo, Paul Daley and Neil Barnes, plan to carry on with solo careers. In a statement released to press this afternoon, Barnes says, "Leftfield was always about pushing the boundaries of sound as far as we could. I'm proud to be a part of this. Thanks to all the people we have worked with over the years and to everyone that promoted and bought our records. THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNING."

While the Big Five record execs celebrated the industry on Grammy night, musicians themselves continue to fight for a different kind of recognition. Johnny Temple of Girls Against Boys in The Nation.

Over at the official Super Furry Animals homepage, they announced a slew of US dates. Their album, 'Rings Around the World', will finally get a US release on March 19th.

Inside is the full lineup for the Coachella Festival from the Goldenvoice press release. It's scheduled for the weekend of April 27-28 and I imagine that set times and specific details like that won't be available until then. I think the lineup is pretty well balanced which makes it very hard for me to go only one day. Tickets go onsale on March 2nd at 10am via Ticketmaster. They are priced at $75 a day and there is a limited number of two-day passes at $125. Crap, time to sell those Primus CD's!

The BBC have an article on how Kerrang! have finally taken over as top weekly music magazine, putting NME in second place. Kerrang! has been selling around 77,000 copies worldwide while NME pulling in around 70,000. The article also mentioned how other magazines which are published less frequently are selling just fine. For example, Q is still selling around 200,000 issues per month.

Siouxsie and the Banshees make their return after seven years with a few shows across the US. They have dates scheduled in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and the Coachella Festival in Coachella Valley. Check the tour page for the full details.