Excellent Online

DOT ALLISON, the singer from long-ago one album wonders ONE DOVE is set to embark on a solo career in 1999. A mega-limited edition single, "Tomorrow Never Comes" is out now, with her first proper single, "Mo' Pop" planned for later in the year.

The CHEMICAL BROTHERS are set to release their new album with a little help from their friends. NOEL GALLAGHER, BERNARD SUMNER, and MERCURY REV have contributed to the new album which is set to be released in May of this year.

Sonicnet is reporting that the unreleased 6th RED HOUSE PAINTERS album, tentatively scheduled for a March release, is now tied up in the Polygram/Universal merger. MARK KOZELEK of Red House Painters is also reportedly pulling together a John Denver tribute album scheduled to feature, among others, HIS NAME IS ALIVE.

It appears as though the on/off status of ELASTICA may be on again. As we reported earlier, rumours of the band's demise had been traced to Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann herself. Now comes word that the band have settled their differences and are putting the final touches on their sophomore album. Speaking last week to USA, Uber-producer Marc Waterman (one of four to work on the Elastica record) said that 17 tracks were planned for inclusion on the record, with additional b-sides (including a cover of Trio's "Da Da Da") also in the can.

Yay for end-o'-the-year lists. 1998's been a wonky year. Britpop dies and the UK music world spins all topsy-turvy. The 1997 triumphs of "serious" bands (see Radiohead, Verve, Spiritualized, etc.) sent shockwaves through the ranks of the music elite, and saw everybody from Pulp to Shed Seven to Blur guitar players trying to show off their "deeper" side. Sometimes worked, sometimes not. And in such a "serious" year of music as 1998, happier stuff like Fatboy Slim and Catatonia come across as a breath of fresh air. So it comes out like this, as 1998 being an obvious transitional year. A transition into what, I havnt the slightest idea. But knowing the UK music press as we most certainly do, I'm sure they'll create it before we know what's hit us. Let's look at the way it all ended up

NME is reporting that the new SUEDE album will be out on May 3, preceded by a single in April. New CATATONIA is on the way even sooner, with the first single ("Dead from the Waist Down") due out March 22, to be followed by an album in April. For a lot of what's coming out first quarter 99, click on Releases.

The rather nice people at Velvel records will be rereleasing the complete CANDYSKINS back-catalog on February 23rd. The first two Candyskins albums, "Space I'm In" and "Fun" were previously issued on Geffen, while their third album "Sunday Morning Fever" has never before been released in the U.S. The 'Skins current album "Death of a Minor TV Celebrity" made the top albums of the year listed as voted by the Excellent UK-Indie mailer, and the band is being tipped by Sonicnet as rising stars for 99. Nice going, lads!

Ah, yes, the end of the year. As time passes on and on, there are several skills that we self-confessed Anglo-audiophiles pick up and take pride in. Among these learned skills could be the ability to find cheap import CD's... the inherent knowledge that Matchbox 20 are crap... the ability to trace ANYTHING back to the Beatles... but tops among these would simply be the ability to COUNT FROM 1 TO 50 -- a skill that comes in awfully handy 'round this time of year. For this is the season of LISTS. The time when we can put aside our differences, join hands, rejoice, and unify in the notion that when we put our heads together, we can single-handedly determine the best and worst of, well, everything that 1998 brought us.

What follows are the results of the 1998 Excellent Poll. We asked the 150+ members of our mailing list to determine the top releases and newsmakers of 1998 (and a very heart-felt thanks to all who participated.) The results prove that 1998 could very well be remembered as a transitional year into new realms -- instead of a poll dominated by a few select artists (see Radiohead, Verve circa 1997) the best releases of THIS year are a diverse bunch, representing all sorts of musical styles. Enough babbling, let's get to it.

Some tour news: Hotly tipped Swedish popsters KENT will be opening for THE CARDIGANS on their upcoming U.S. tour in February. The people behind that rather unfortunate cover of "Blue Monday", ORGY, will be opening for LOVE AND ROCKETS on their U.S. tour which will run from March into April.

Creation Records have announced that OASIS are readying a new record for a Fall 1999 release. Expect a single in early September, with the new album to follow shortly. Noel Gallagher had previously claimed that no new Oasis material would surface until the year 2000, but a recent songwriting foray has netted a new album's worth of material.