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Simply brilliant. Those are really the best words to describe The Doves. By now, most of you should know their story intimately. From their beginnings as electronic act Sub Sub, through the devastating fire that levelled their new studio and destroyed a new album's worth of master tapes, only to see the band's Phoenix-like rise from the ashes to be re-invented as The Doves. "Lost Souls," the band's timeless debut album, hit shops unassumingly last year, and ended up making nearly every critic's year-end list (including reaching #5 on Excellent's own 2000 Reader's Poll.) The record takes snippets from a lifetime's worth of British (and especially Mancunian) influences, and layers them meticulously into an album that's wonderfully diverse in tunes, yet astoundingly cohesive in overall tone. Thoughtful, dark, moody, and powerful, The Doves defy description. They're simply brilliant.

The band made their very first Stateside trek in February and early March and we spent an early Chicago evening in the back of the Doves tour bus, casually hashing out the inner workings of the band with Doves frontman/bassist Jimi Goodwin. Here's a complete transcript of our VERY casual exclusive interview.

Interview by Shane Brown and Stuart Reid

     Squeezing through the window pane, bypassing the rope entirely, I managed to save the boy from drowning in the house filled with Pepsi. And a thought occurred to me which -- to put it lightly -- made babies cry, skewed orbits, caused rabbits to fall on nearby rooftops, and quietly suggested to women that they should clutch their bosoms with fear and adulation: does anybody really like Lenny Kravitz?

One of our favorite American groups, OF MONTREAL, have snuck advance copies of their new album, "Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse," for sale on the KINDERCORE RECORDS website. The record, due for general release in mid-April, is available starting today exclusively through Kindercore's own online store.

And just when we were getting excited about the Oscars for a change... it's now been reported that producers of this year's Oscar telecast have pulled the plug on the planned BJORK/THOM YORKE duet, citing time constraints. The performance has been limited to three minutes, while Bjork's nominated track, "I've Seen It All," clocks in normally just over six minutes in length. An abbreviated arrangement of the track will still be performed by Bjork during the show, but the new arrangement gives no time for an appearance by Yorke.

Not so much a news item but a plea to help one of our favorite unsigned bands. If you don't know who KOALA are, you should head over to their website to find out more. That said, Koala need our help! The band DODGY (hey, remember them?) are gearing up for their upcoming comeback gig at the London Astoria. Dodgy are holding a contest via their website to pick an opening band for the gig... and Koala have been selected as a finalist! This high-profile gig could easily result in a record deal and much needed publicity for Koala.

An update on the COACHELLA FESTIVAL: Well, we were right -- no Blur, no Suede. The official lineup was unveiled this weekend, and though it does include quite a few decent acts (WEEZER, FATBOY SLIM, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, TRICKY, DANDY WARHOLS, PHOTEK, and others,) it's nowhere near the line-up that was earlier rumoured. You can get all the details about this year's event by clicking HERE.

News stories are popping up all over the place regarding this year's COACHELLA FESTIVAL in California. Last time, Coachella drew a number of great indie bands and was heralded as the greatest show of the year. Last week, announcements were made that among this year's line-up would be BLUR and SUEDE among others. Well, don't get too excited just yet.

GRANDADDY will be touring the US starting April 12 according to their official site. The tour will start on the west coast and move it way across the "whole dammed country". The details are expected to be announced later this week.

RADIOHEAD have announced plans for a US tour to take place sometime in the vicinity of June. The band casually mentioned it during a recent interview with an L.A. radio station.

www.bjork.com has just confirmed that THOM YORKE will be performing with BJORK at the Oscars.