Sleater-Kinney Set to Tour with The Black Keys
New generation of S-K masturbators stock up on kleenex, bond money

And the beat goes on for Sleater-Kinney! The first ladies of punk are, perhaps surprisingly, not letting the birth of singer/guitarist Corin Tucker's son slow them down-- they're already gearing up for their first tour of 2003. The band have scheduled sixteen dates, which will take them all over these crazy states and even to Canada for one enchanted mid-February evening. For this wintry trek, the gals have recruited that latest of hypes, the bluesy, funk-rock duo The Black Keys-- possibly on a tip from SPIN, who recently said that the duo's music "evokes both wood paneling and broken glass." Sounds like a car wreck!

Drummer Janet Weiss told Rollingstone.com, "The live forum is where we get the feedback from the people who we're really interested in communicating with ... Our real fans are incredible, and they know when we've created something true. And if we ever slack off, they'll let us know. That's the relationship we've created by playing live." You heard that, fans: get out there and let 'em know if the horns on "Step Aside" were a little too KC & The Sunshine Band. Tourdates:

01-31 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
02-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
02-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
02-04 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
02-05 Sacramento, CA - Colonial Theater
02-07 Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
02-08 Hollywood, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
02-13 Northampton, MA - Pearl St.
02-14 Providence, RI - Lupo's
02-15 New York, NY - Roseland
02-17 Toronto, ONT - Opera House
02-19 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
02-20 Columbus, OH - Little Brothers
02-21 Cincinnati, OH - Southgate House
02-22 Champaign, IL - High Dive
02-23 Chicago, IL - Metro

.: Sleater-Kinney: http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/factsheets/sleater-kinney/

Pitchfork Review: Sleater-Kinney: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/sleater-kinney/one-beat.shtml

Corgan Titles New Zwan Album, Rocks Chicago
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans, Medellia of the Grey Skies cast off like rancid groupies

Zwan, Billy Corgan's second run at the big time, seems to bear news in intermittent bursts, which is just about the same pace Corgan himself seems to write compelling songs. The debut dropping from Zwan, Mary Star of the Sea, is a host of online treasures waiting for hardcore fans at their website. The album is due out January 28th on Reprise Records. No tracklist has been officially announced as of yet, but a renegade Italian fansite has presumptuously posted an assumed tracklist:

01 Lyric
02 Settle Down
03 Declarations Of Faith
04 Honestly
05 El Sol
06 Of A Broken Heart
07 Ride A Black Swan
08 Heartsong
09 Endless Summer
10 Baby Let's Rock!
11 Yeah!
12 Desire
13 Jesus, I/Mary Star Of The Sea
14 Come With Me

Also in Zwan haps, the band is headed back to Corgan's hometown of Chiccy-G to play five (yes, five) dates at the venerable Metro. Tickets are on sale now, but they're limited to just two per person. Tour dates:

01-19 Chicago, IL - The Metro
01-20 Chicago, IL - The Metro
01-22 Chicago, IL - The Metro
01-23 Chicago, IL - The Metro
01-25 Chicago, IL - The Metro
(All shows $25, two ticket limit)

But that's not all you can find at the website, kiddos. You can get behind-the-scenes photos, blindingly colorful desktop wallpapers, and video streams, too. Now you can ride along with Zwan as they perform shows, do yoga in their tour bus, vandalize a school, demonstrate the correct way to self-medicate, and even record their new album.

Just in case you landed on planet earth yesterday, here's the impressive lineup again: Zwan combines Corgan, former Slint and Tortoise member David Pajo, ex-Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney, Paz Lenchantin of A Perfect Circle on bass, and Corgan's smashing former drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. We still say he's hypnotized them with those beady eyes.

Zwan: http://www.zwan.com
Zwan (renegade Italian fansite): http://www.zwan.it/

Kinski Tour in Support of Forthcoming Album
Bring (their) abstract (instrumental) epics to (overeducated) fans everywhere

Kinski, the greatest mostly-instrumental psych-rock band in all of Seattle, are gearing up for an extensive tour of the U.S. this year. Only a few dates have been officially announced as of yet, but we do know that they're planning to tour the west coast in February, attend Austin's SXSW festival in March, and play the east coast and midwest in April. February dates:

02-17 San Diego, CA - Casbah (w/Knife in the Water)
02-18 Los Angeles, CA - Silverlake Lounge (w/Midnight Movies, Antarcticans)
02-19 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (w/Oneida, Deadly Snakes)
02-20 Chico, CA - Red Room (w/Comets on Fire)
02-21 Portland, OR - Blackbird (w/Comets on Fire, Earth)
02-22 Seattle, WA - Crocodile (w/Comets on Fire, Earth)

The tour is, of course, in support of their third full-length album (and first for Sub Pop), Airs Above Your Station, which is due in stores Tuesday. A limited-edition double-vinyl version will also be released, by the venerable Strange Attractors Audio House label. Tracklist:

01 Steve's Basement
02 Semaphore
03 Rhode Island Freakout
04 Schedule for Using Pillows & Beanbags
05 I Think I Blew It
06 Your Lights Are (Out Or) Burning Brightly
07 Waves of Second Guessing
08 Think I Blew It (Again)

Kinski formed in 1998 over a conversation debating the merits of analog-versus-digital recording (the spirit of Steve Albini is said to have started this argument while floating by in his Adidas jumpsuit). The next year, they self-released their debut album, and followed it in 2001 with Be Gentle with the Warm Turtle on Pacifico Records. Recently, Kinski contributed a 20-minute ambient soundscape to the new Crickets and Fireflies compilation for the Music Fellowship label, and also released an EP called Semaphore on Sub Pop, which includes a cover of The Clean's "Point That Thing Somewhere Else". These EPs are, however, notorious-- apparently, the manufacturer screwed up, effectively cutting the last few minutes of its final track. Fortunately, the good people at Sub Pop have come to the rescue-- if you've happened onto one of these defective early pressings, contact the label and they'll send a free replacement.

Pitchfork Review: Kinski: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/k/kinski/be-gentle-with-the-warm-turtle.shtml
Kinski: http://www.kinski.net
Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com

Tracklists Announced for Uncle Tupelo Reissues
New generation of Uncle Tupelo masturbators stock up on demos, bonus tracks

Columbia/Legacy has released the tracklists for its expanded reissues of Uncle Tupelo's first three albums, which will include previously unreleased material, as well as compilation cuts and many b-sides. As might be expected from the raucous-yet-twangy ambassadors of alt-country, Uncle Tupelo's selection of material was wildly eclectic: the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Sin City", reverent nods to The Stooges and Soft Boys, and most bizarrely, a send-up of the theme from the hoary 70s melodrama The Waltons.

The previously unreleased material includes demos of some of Uncle Tupelo's most beloved songs, including "No Depression", "Watch Me Fall", and "Grindstone". Collector scum will weep all over their Mylar when they learn that both bonus cuts from the super-expensive vinyl edition of 89-93: An Anthology ("Sin City" and the previously unreleased "Left in the Dark") are appended to No Depression.

All three albums were originally issued on Rockville Records, and have gone out of print in the last couple of years; the group's fourth and final album, Anodyne, was released on Reprise and remains available. As previously reported, Columbia/Legacy's expanded reissues are due on March 11th. Tracklists:

No Depression:
01 Graveyard Shift
02 That Year
03 Before I Break
04 No Depression
05 Factory Belt
06 Whiskey Bottle
07 Outdone
08 Train
09 Life Worth Livin'
10 Flatness
11 So Called Friend
12 Screen Door
13 John Hardy
14 Blues Die Hard [demo]
15 No Depression [demo]
16 Won't Forget
17 Left In The Dark 18 Sin City [Gram Parsons cover]

Still Feel Gone:
01 Gun
02 Looking For A Way Out
03 Fall Down Easy
04 Nothing
05 Still Be Around
06 Watch Me Fall
07 Punch Drunk
08 Postcard
09 D. Boon
10 True To Life
11 Cold Shoulder
12 Discarded
13 If That's Alright
14 Watch Me Fall [demo]
15 Looking For A Way Out [demo]
16 If That's Alright [demo]
17 Sauget Wind
18 I Wanna Destroy You [Soft Boys cover]

March 16-20, 1992:
01 Grindstone
02 Coalminers
03 Wait Up
04 Criminals
05 Shaky Ground
06 Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down
07 Black Eye
08 Moonshiner
09 I Wish My Baby Was Born
10 Atomic Power
11 Lilli Schull
12 Warfare
13 Fatal Wound
14 Sandusky
15 Wipe The Clock
16 Grindstone [demo]
17 Atomic Power [demo]
18 I Wanna Be Your Dog [Stooges cover]
19 Theme From "The Waltons"
20 Moonshiner [live]
21 Take My Word

Uncle Tupelo: http://www.uncletupelo.com

Grandaddy Readies Double-Album for '03 Release
'The Fragile' to explore themes of chronic pain, hip surgery, denture adhesive

According to Grandaddy's Jason Lytle, the band has completed recording their new album and is nearly done mixing it. Speaking to Pitchfork, Lytle revealed that the record is tentatively entitled Sumday, and though it's not yet in the can, he's pretty sure it will be a two-disc set. A double-album? Fuck, yeah, that harkens back to a day when life was much simpler, before national forests were littered with broken household appliances; when you didn't have to de-seed your pot, before Peter Frampton was making lame cameos in rock movies. The album is expected to see release this spring. Tracklist:

Disc One:
01 Now It's On
02 I'm on Standby
03 The Go in the Go-For-It
04 The Group Who Couldn't Say
05 Lost on Yer Merry Way
06 El Caminos in the West
07 Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake

Disc Two:
01 Yeah Is What We Had
02 O.K. with My Decay
03 The Saddest Vacant Lot in All the World
04 The Warming Sun
05 Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer
06 The Final Push to the Sum...

As with Grandaddy's last album, The Sophtware Slump, their latest offering was recorded and produced by Lytle and his friend of many years, Lucky Lew. The band laid down all the tracks in Lytle's home studio, where they were recorded on two-inch analog tape. Analog tape? Fuck yeah! That harkens back to a day when... well, actually, lots of bands still use analog tape. Michael Brauer mixed the record last December at Quad Studios in New York. "This album was recorded in pretty much the same precise manner as every other record we've made. There are usually very intense work spurts and enthusiasm and high-fives, followed by frustrating periods of downtime as a result of exhaustion, apathy, substance abuse, and a need for stimulation which comes from things non-musical like movies, books, skateboarding or just wandering around," said Lytle. Sounds like a Pitchfork News brainstorm session. We dig it already!

In other Grandaddy news, the band's very own record label, Sweat of the Alps, is now an official, growing concern, with a website and all. As previously reported by Pitchfork, the label's first release is a posthumous platter by the now-defunct band Arm of Roger. The California group's "very bizarre album," The Ham and Its Lily should be available shortly, along with the label's second release, Hopalong, by Oakdale, California band Built Like Alaska. Stay tuned to the label's site for forthcoming details.

Pitchfork Review: Grandaddy: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/g/grandaddy/sophtware-slump.shtml
Grandaddy: http://www.grandaddylandscape.com
Sweat of the Alps: http://sweatofthealps.com

Pulp to Go Away for a While
They want to live like common people

Back in December, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker left his audience enthralled and confused during his band's performance as part of the Auto Festival in Rotherham, UK. After playing a portending set that served as a Pulp anthology, and offering a number of rare concert songs, the singer began to wax nostalgic during an extended denouement to the band's signature hit, "Common People". His message wasn't in aid of their greatest hits album, nor a promise to return for an encore the fans were probably expecting. Instead, he exited after confirming what many of those fans feared: "This'll be the last time you see us for a while. But we may meet again, who knows?"

Six months ago, when the band decided to part ways with label Island Records after the release of their Greatest Hits record, rumors began flying. In May, the band's official site claimed that "Pulp aren't technically splitting up, but neither are they making any plans to return to the studio (other than for the new extra tracks on the Best Of, already recorded) for the foreseeable future." At that point, the Auto Festival gig became the band's unofficial goodbye, until Cocker's comments effectively notarized it. A day later, a British tabloid reported the charismatic singer as saying, "It's all over." However, considering it was a tabloid, they could have been asking him about his rash. Context is a bitch.

Cocker recently gave an earful to the British Observer: "I honestly can't say what is going to happen to Pulp. We're going to have this gap, at least a year, and if Pulp continues to exist after that, I imagine it will be quite different." Part of the reason for the split may be linked to changes in Cocker's personal life, including a new marriage, an impending birth, and a desire to relocate to France. (We all know how well that worked out for Jim Morrison.)

That aside, Cocker does seem to be in a new phase of his life, and Pulp isn't necessarily a part of it: "Not getting married, not having kids, not getting a proper job-- that's what being in a group is all about. For me, it was, anyway. I thought, I'm not gonna have anything to do with normal life... it only ends up causing shit. I guess the realisation I got to only recently is that, like it or not, I am part of the human race. It took me to get well fucked-up to realise that." A recent post on their official site somberly reads: "The news page has been updated for the final time and we won't be back until April 2003... if that." It remains to be seen where all this hoopla will lead; who knows, it could be the best publicity stunt since AOL Time Warner bought, sold, and repurchased the rights to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Pitchfork Review: Pulp: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/p/pulp/we-love-life.shtml
Pulp: http://www.pulponline.com

Jay Farrar Film Score to Hit Stores in March
Vic Chesnutt's royalty check to pay off kickass Harley-Davidson wheelchair

Bloodshot Records has set March 4th as the release date for the soundtrack to The Slaughter Rule, the 2002 Sundance Festival selection featuring new music the Pernice Brothers, Vic Chesnutt, and Blood Oranges alongside previously released material from Neko Case, Ryan Adams, and Uncle Tupelo (who contribute their excellent but scarcely heard cover of Gram Parsons' "Blue Eyes"). In addition to the all-star alt-country lineup, the soundtrack sports eleven confoundingly titled selections from Farrar's instrumental score for the film ("Guraption", anyone?). All told, March should be a fruitful month for Uncle Tupelo fans: as previously reported, Columbia/Legacy are issuing remastered editions of the band's first three albums-- No Depression, Still Feel Gone, and March 16-20, 1992-- with gussied-up sound and requisite bonus tracks on March 11th.

Pitchfork originally reported the tracklist and imminent release of the Slaughter Rule soundtrack around this time last year; though the album was mastered and ready to go, Bloodshot and the filmmakers were hoping the coming-of-age-in-a-football-obsessed-small-town story would find a U.S. theatrical distributor. Alas, it did not, but will debut this month on digital-cable fave The Sundance Channel. The indie flick stars Ryan Gosling (The Believer), Kelly Lynch (Drugstore Cowboy), and Clinton doppelganger David Morse (aka the dude Björk whacked in Dancer in the Dark). Tracklist:

01 Jay Farrar: Gather
02 Vic Chesnutt: Rank Stranger
03 Freakwater: When I Stop Dreaming
04 Wylie & the Wild West: Odessa Yodel
05 Blood Oranges: Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet
06 Ryan Adams: To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
07 Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant: West of Samoa
08 Neko Case: Porchlight
09 Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Flatlanders: Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown
10 Malcolm Holcombe: Killing the Blues
11 Uncle Tupelo: Blue Eyes
12 Pernice Brothers: Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown
13 Open Ground*
14 Frost Heaves*
15 Highwood*
16 Augusta*
17 Buffalo Jump*
18 Freight*
19 Dark Early*
20 Cold Chinese*
21 Guraption*
22 Hangman*
23 Open Ground [reprise]*

* instrumental score by Jay Farrar

The Slaughter Rule: http://www.theslaughterrule.com
Sundance Channel: http://www.sundancechannel.com
Bloodshot: http://www.bloodshotrecords.com

D.C. Punks Make an Opera
It's not over until Greg Dulli sings

And now for something completely different: Opera! No, wait, keep reading. A group of Washington, DC's most dedicated punk rock devotees are taking their DIY ethic to another medium with The Nitrate Hymnal, a multimedia opera by writer/musician Bob Massey and filmmaker David Wilson. The show will open at the end of the month.

The opera is based on the lives of Massey's grandparents, whose 8mm home movies from 1941-1985 serve as the work's source material. The Nitrate Hymnal plays on seen and unseen moments in the couple's life-- throughout, these film relics are complemented by on-stage actors, beginning at the end of their lives and moving backwards to images of the young couple, newly married, innocently playing on a Hawaiian beach (just weeks before the Pearl Harbor attack). Massey (Tsunami, Telegraph Melts, Gena Rowlands Band) has been instrumental in DC's music scene since the 1990s, booking shows and curating a local composer's salon called Punk Not Rock, while Wilson (Kansas Anymore, Magic City) has had his films shown in countless festivals worldwide, including New York's Underground Film Festival.

If you haven't tired of the not-so-familiar namedropping yet, try this on for size: The Nitrate Hymnal's all-star orchestra features members of Circus Lupus (Dischord), Skull Kontrol (Touch and Go), HiM, Frodus, Fast Eddie, and folks who perform with Mary Timony, Edith Frost, and Jenny Toomey, among others. Jonathan Kreinik, who has toured relentlessly as a soundman for Trans Am and the Hot Snakes, provides the show's sound design. Now we're ringing some bells. The Nitrate Hymnal will run from January 23rd to January 25th at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Auditorium in Alexandria, VA. The group hopes to take this show on the road in the spring.

The Nitrate Hymnal: http://www.nitratehymnal.net/
George Washington Masonic Memorial: http://www.gwmemorial.org/

Sonic Youth Sets a Date with Dirty
In the midnight hour, she cried Moore, Moore, Moore

DGC's overhaul of the Sonic Youth back catalog will get underway March 4th, with a 35-track expanded reissue of the band's Butch Vig-produced 1992 album Dirty. This double-disc do-over includes most of the period's b-sides, from the "100%", "Drunken Butterfly", "Youth Against Fascism" and "Sugar Kane" singles, as well as "Stalker", which was exclusively available on the two-slab vinyl version of Dirty. The bonus disc unearths covers of Alice Cooper's "Is It My Body" from a Sub Pop singles club seven-inch, and the New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis" from a Sassy flexidisc (remember rooting through your sister's magazines looking for those?), as well as an early instrumental version of "Shoot" entitled "The End of the End of the Ugly". Dude, I never knew SY collaborated with Billy Corgan!

The real cash-bait here are the dozen painstakingly reconstructed eight-track rehearsal tapes recorded by the band before the proper Dirty sessions: unfinished epics and half-baked notions like "Poet in the Pit", "Theoretical Chaos", and "Little Jammy Thing" abound, but embryonic versions of "Youth Against Fascism", "Wish Fulfillment" and "Stalker", which all differ radically from the final versions, should convince fans to trade up for the set.

In addition to bonus jams, the reissue comes packed with a 28-page booklet featuring essays from Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, and rock-crit Byron Coley, plus-- we presume-- plenty of outtakes from that photo session where people you have no desire to see naked cavort with cute little bunny rabbits. Just about the only thing not included (presumably due to space constraints) is the brilliant acoustic version of "Purr"; Youth obsessives are advised to hang on to their "Sugar Kane" and/or "Youth Against Fascism" discs for that one. Tracklist:

Disc one:
01 100%
02 Swimsuit Issue
03 Theresa's Sound-World
04 Drunken Butterfly
05 Shoot
06 Wish Fulfillment
07 Sugar Kane
08 Orange Rolls, Angels Spit
09 Youth Against Fascism
10 Nic Fit
11 On the Strip
12 Chapel Hill
13 JC
14 Purr
15 Crème Brulee
16 Stalker
17 Genetic
18 Hendrix Necro
19 The Destroyed Room

Disc two:
01 Is It My Body [Alice Cooper cover]
02 Personality Crisis [New York Dolls cover]
03 The End of the End of the Ugly
04 Tamra
05 Little Jammy Thing*
06 Lite Damage*
07 Dreamfinger*
08 Barracuda*
09 New White Kross*
10 Guido*
11 Stalker [alternate version]*
12 Moonface*
13 Poet in the Pit*
14 Theoretical Chaos*
15 Youth Against Fascism [alternate version]*
16 Wish Fulfillment [alternate version]*

* previously unreleased

As previously reported, 1990's Goo and Pitchfork's Top Album of the 1980s, 1988's Daydream Nation, are also set for double-disc renovations in 2003, though release dates have yet to be determined.

Sonic Youth: http://www.sonicyouth.com
The Salty Chick Is Mine: http://www.amiright.com/misheard/new/1017118800.shtml

Low Announce Tour, Begin Work on Rarities Comp
Naming a song "Canada" isn't gonna cut it, guys-- you've played like three Nordique dates, ever!

Duluth slowcore legends Low are busy as ever this year. According to an Alan Sparhawk note posted on the group's official website, the band's getting pretty tight with independent film types-- they're already scheduled to perform at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20th, and will also be playing at the screening reception for Travis Wilkerson's An Injury to One, a documentary about the early 20th century union struggles in Butte, Montana. Wilkerson used instrumental bits from several Low tunes (most notably "Laugh" and "Landlord"), as well as songs from Dirty Three and Tortoise.

After the festival, Low heads to Europe for a brief two-week tour, then back to their home turf for some U.S. dates. For their swing through the south, Haley Bonar-- a young singer/songwriter whose surname we will have the good taste not to ejaculate, er, make fun of, and whose second album is slated for an April release on Sparhawk's own Chairkicker's Union label-- will join them.

01-20 Park City, Utah - Sundance Film Festival
01-31 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theater (with the Dudley Corporation)
02-01 Antwerp, Belgium - De Nachten Festival
02-03 Edinburgh, UK - Queens Hall
02-04 Aberdeen, UK - Lemon Tree
02-05 Glasgow, UK - QMU
02-06 Newcastle, UK - University
02-07 Manchester, UK - MDH
02-08 Leeds, UK - Parish Church
02-10 Birmingham, UK - Academy 2
02-11 Bristol, UK - Academy
02-12 Brighton, UK - St. Georges Church
02-14 London, UK - Union Chapel (with Coastal)
02-15 London, UK - Union Chapel
02-26 Iowa City, IA - Old Brick Auditorium (with Haley Bonar)
02-27 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground (with Haley Bonar)
03-01 Columbia, MO - Mojo's (with Haley Bonar)
03-03 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone (with Haley Bonar)
03-04 Fayetteville, AR - Dickson Theater (with Haley Bonar)
03-05 Norman, OK - The Opolis (with Haley Bonar)
03-06 Houston, TX - Diverse Works (with Haley Bonar)
03-07 Austin, TX - Mercury @ Jazz (with Haley Bonar)
03-08 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves (with Haley Bonar)

Also in the works for Low: a rarities and B-sides compilation that will mark their tenth anniversary as a band. We don't yet know what's going to be on it, but it's about goddamn time!

Pitchfork Review: Low: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/low/trust.shtml
Pitchfork Review: Low: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/low/things-we-lost-in-the-fire.shtml
Low: http://www.chairkickers.com
Haley Bonar: http://www.plopfizz.com/haley

Fischerspooner's #1 to See Domestic Release
"Dude, Cirque du Soleil is totally coppin' your shit!"

According to their website, the New York retro-techno pop collective and self-described "post-Napster band" Fischerspooner (yeah, we got their record off Soulseek) will release their overseas debut smash #1 in North America on February 25th via Capitol Records. The package will also include DVD #1, which features the artists' own film work and videos, live performance footage, a documentary, and "other surprises." Like a guy shitting in plastic underwear? 'Cause that would surprise anybody.

The label is touting the project as the "first time a major music project has been simultaneously released on both formats in one package," which, as we're sure you're aware, is quite an historic event! The record includes the eight original tracks off an elusive limited-edition CD, which was earlier this year made available exclusively to the beautiful people in New York City. In addition, you can expect a Junkie XL remix of the European hit single, "Emerge"; the accompanying video will be remixed from its original version as well, and included on the DVD, along with the video for "The 15th", a short film for the song "Sweetness", and some of the video projections the band use in their wet 'n' wild stage performances.

Fischerspooner-- whose core consists of musician/filmmaker Warren Fischer and lyricist/performer Casey Spooner-- last year released its second single, a cover of the Wire classic "The 15th" as a follow-up to their hugely successful debut single "Emerge." They proudly proclaim on their website that this "sees them joining the exclusive club of people savvy enough to cover Wire songs." A very incomplete rundown of that list includes My Bloody Valentine, Big Black, Mike Watt, Minor Threat, Lush, Band of Susans, Naked Raygun, Meat Puppets, Luna, Flying Saucer Attack, Yo La Tengo and R.E.M. May we politely suggest these fey city boys mind their tongues? But let's not be fooled here-- the reissue of #1 also finds the band joining the not-so-exclusive club of people trying to out-Human League the Human League. Fischerspooner expect to hit the road next year to make up some UK dates that were cancelled in November, due to the usually-not-pictured Fischer having to sit for another interview showcasing his uncanny Holly Johnson impersonation. Tracklist:

01 Sweetness
02 The 15th
03 Emerge
04 L.A. Song
05 Tone Poem
06 Horizon
07 Invisible
08 Turn On
09 @#$%&!
10 Natural Disaster
11 Ersatz

Hidden tracks, order unknown:
Mega C.
Emerge (Junkie XL Remix)
Emerge Video (2003)

Pitchfork Review: Fischerspooner: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/f/fischerspooner/number-one.shtml
Fischerspooner: http://www.fischerspooner.com

Future Bible Heroes EP Due This Month
And speaking of non-stop erotic cabarets...

According to their website, Stephin Merritt's Future Bible Heroes have a new EP coming out January 21st via Instinct Records. Entitled The Lonely Robot, the disc will contain seven songs: two new tracks and five remixes of songs from FBH's last release, Eternal Youth. If that doesn't sound appealing, and you really couldn't care less about Stephen Merritt, try this: one of the remixes is by Soft Cell. Marc Almond? Swishy! Tracklist:

01 The DJ from Outerspace
02 Losing Your Affection - Client on Demand Mix
03 The World Is A Disco Ball - Rob Rives Club Mix
04 Losing Your Affection - Sunroof Mix by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones
05 I'm A Vampire - Extended Mix by Christopher Ewen
06 Losing Your Affection - Soft Cell 12-Inch Mix by Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk
07 The Lonely Robot

In other news, Merritt's elaborate concert with The Three Terrors (other Terrors are Dudley Klute and LD Beghtol) has been rescheduled for January 26th, presumably in honor of Pitchfork editor Ryan Schreiber's 24th birthday. The Terrors will perform Their 1885 Transploding Styrofome Holo-Graphic Octopus: Songs of Drink, Drugs and Delirium at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. Doors at seven, octopi at eight.

.: The Three Terrors: http://www.motherwest.com/t3t/

Pitchfork Review: Future Bible Heroes: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/f/future-bible-heroes/eternal-youth.shtml
Pitchfork Review: Future Bible Heroes: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/f/future-bible-heroes/im-lonely.shtml

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)