Excellent Online

Okay kids, so it's been like a zillion years since my last column, so I figure it's time to update... the problem is, there, erm..., really isnt anything worthwhile to write about... Ever have one of those months where you become totally disenchated by music? It kinda scares me, to be quite honest... but I really havnt cared about hardly anything that I've heard this year so far... I'm praying that it's simply been a year of crap music, and not the dreaded "MATURITY" that one tends to hear when one approaches 30 years of age. (Of course, I've still got <3> more years of life prior to that, and I have full and total plans to remain immature and stupid for as long as humanly possible.) It's still kinda spooky, though...

The Cure, Failure, Smashing Pumpkins, Meat Beat Manifesto, and the Deftones are just a few artists who have contributed to the upcoming Depeche Mode tribute album entitled, "For the Masses". 1500 Records is planning on releasing the compilation on August 4th.

In the past eight years, Swervedriver have been dropped by 3 different record labels and have lost two band members. Why haven't they broken up? Adam Franklin sat down with me in the lobby of the Sunset Hyatt on April 7, 1998 to talk about it.

Several years ago, Alan Mcgee was driving in Los Angeles with Guy Chadwick [ex-House of Love] when someone popped in a tape with Swervedriver's demo "Son of Mustang Ford." He instantly signed them to the Creation label and the first "car-band" was born. The initial line up was Adam (guitars and vocals), Adrian "Adi" Vynes (bass), Jimmy Hartridge (guitars), and Graham Bonner (drums), but that would soon change.

Mojave 3 will release their first EP from their upcoming album on June 28th. It will be titled, "Who Do You Love" and contains three bsides "Between Us", "This Road I'm Travelling" and "Who Do You Love - demo". A tour is also in the works.

Dotmusic is reporting this weekend that IPC has chosen to close down VOX, the monthly magazine formerly controlled by the editors of New Musical Express. This leaves Q, Select, and Mojo as the only remaining British music-centred monthlies. (With NME and the Maker still going great guns on the weekly circuit.)

Summer Tours Preview, Part One: The summer and fall of 1998 will feature several bands and artists from the early MTV-era slogging about the U.S. for one more hurrah. Perhaps the biggest of the package tours features Culture Club , The Human League , and Howard Jones . Check out our tours page which should have the complete schedule for this tour within the next few days. Snyth pioneer Gary Numan , former teen-heart-throb John Taylor , and those happy-go-lucky lads from Kraftwork will also be touring the U.S. this summer, to say nothing of the seemingly endless Gene Loves Jezebel comeback tour. Can Xymox be far behind? The fall could feature some high-profile 80's standouts returning to U.S. shores, with both Depeche Mode and a New Order reunion tour possible.

It has been confirmed over the weekend that STRANGELOVE have split up. The official press release is quick, and not too revealing:

It's official... SPIRITUALIZED are to release a live album later this year. The band are currently mixing tracks from their appearance earlier this year at the Royal Albert Hall (which featured, among other things, a full string orchestra.) In the meantime, we can look forward to a new Spiritualized release, The Abbey Road EP, technically a CD single for the track "Come Together," due in UK stores this May. However, we've also received word that parent company BMG have closed down the Dedicated label. This means that Spiritualized may have to quickly find a new home...

Here's a bit of a concert tour newsflash for everybody: It was announced today that THE VERVE are returning to the States for a summer arena tour, with no less than Bristol crusaders MASSIVE ATTACK in tow as an opening act. The Attack's new album comes out within a couple of
weeks, and critics everywhere are already calling it one of 1998's Albums of the Year. Gee, if only there were a way to hear it early... hmm... (hint hint - look for the flame.)

We at Excellent Online are of course deeply saddened by the death of LINDA McCARTNEY, wife of Beatle Paul, who succumbed to a sudden bout of liver cancer this past Friday. Sir Paul is asking that instead of sending flowers or memorials, that we rather donate to an animal rights or cancer charity of our choice, or simply "go veggie."