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Another day, another break-up... this time it's LOVE AND ROCKETS, who announced today that their current string of concerts will be their last ever. After splitting duties for the past year between the much-touted Bauhaus reunion and their own album, "Lift," the band are now hanging it up entirely in order to concentrate fully on side projects. Check the TOURS page for news and details on the FINAL shows EVER from Love and Rockets.

THE VERVE have split. It's essentially been in the cards ever since Nick McCabe walked out of the band's tour for "Urban Hymns," but now it's official. Richard Ashcroft is in studio currently working on a new record, with Verve drummer Pete Salisbury in tow. The rest of the band are all currently involved with differing projects, though Simon Jones has told the NME not to rule out further collaborations in the future.

Well, its official -- DONNA MATTHEWS has left ELASTICA. Rumours have been long circulating about a massive rift between Matthews and Justine Frischmann being the cause of the nearly half decade wait for Elastica's sophomore release.

Still more good news on the touring front! ELVIS COSTELLO has announced a new string of North American dates this spring, to coincide with the annual Guinness Fleadh Festival. Besides the 4 dates of Fleadh, Costello will also be playing upscale theaters throughout late May and early June. The Fleadh Festival, which features ex-Pogue Shane MacGowan as well as Costello, makes 4 stops this year (San Fran, Chicago, Boston, & New York.) Check the tours page for the full itinerary.

There's a bevy of studio activity afoot right now. Here's a look at some of the bands in the creative process as we speak:

MANSUN have begun work on their third album, the follow-up to "Six," which was just released in the U.S. this week. Initial reports indicate the band's heading for a more straight-forward approach with this one.

THE CHARLATANS have completed construction of their new personal studio, and are hard at work on their first album to be recorded since the untimely death of keyboardist Rob Collins. Expect an August release, we're told.

"Radio, for everybody,
Give em what they want,
Remember where you heard it first,
The sound that's heaven sent.
Hey radio,
Been so long since I loved you,
Hey radio,
No one else knows what to do."
- The Boo Radleys

Alright, so it first must be known that you need to click on Dean Carlson's column for April ("K-RAP") and then come back here. My apologies off the bat to my colleague Mr. Carlson, for anyone who's been a member of the Excellent UK Indie Mailing List will know that Dean vs. Shane can make for a pretty good debate. Our back-and-forth banter has oftentimes usurped the entire list consciousness, making many of our members bury their heads in the sand and wait for the storm to pass. So, when Dean became an EO columnist last month, I made an internal vow to never make one of MY columns to be a response to one of HIS, lest we start all sorts of higgledy-piggeldy. And, wouldn't you know, here I go (sigh.) BUT. the reason I write this response column is because Dean touched on a pretty active nerve with me. RADIO. It's my passion, it's my hobby. hell, I'll admit it, it was my major, and it's paid my bills (admittedly, only the SMALL bills.) Anyone who knows me knows that I can wax poetic about the current state of radio for eons. Here, I'll keep it to a few paragraphs.

Dotmusic is reporting that the new PET SHOP BOYS album is nearly finished, and features vocal contributions from KYLIE MINOGUE.

Bigmouth is reporting that OASIS have headed to the south of France to begin work on their next album, in an attempt to avoid the crowds of journalists and fans that hounded them during the recording of "Be Here Now". The next album is targeted for an early 2000 release, and the band will not be performing live this year.

In some of the saddest news to come our way since the demise of Sarah Records, yet another of the finest labels around has folded. VELVEL RECORDS has ceased all North American operations due to lack of capital. In the past few years, Velvel had committed themselves to a wide array of UK releases and reissues to American shores -- principally, back catalogue titles from Pulp and Marillion, not to mention new offerings from the Candyskins, ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, and former Strangler Hugh Cornwell.

Details of this summer's TIBET FREEDOM CONCERTS will be made public this Friday, April 16. The concerts will be held June 12-13 in Chicago, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Sydney. We'll let you know the lineup of bands as soon as it's all made public.