Friday, November 17th, 2000
New Orb Album Finally Gets Release Date
Volkswagon ad execs champing at the bit
According to Ultraworld, the official Orb website, the new album from Dr. Alex Patterson and his good buddy "Thrash" will, at long last, see the light of day on January 29th, 2001. The record is titled Cydonia, and has been finished for over a year and a half, with constant delays from Island forcing the group to wait to put it out.
Label troubles notwithstanding, any new material from the Orb should be highly anticipated, as the duo have not released a non-"greatest hits" full-length under that name since 1997's Orblivion. Several unofficial versions of Cydonia have been in circulation, but with varying tracklistings and sequencing orders. It is certain, though, that the first single will be "Once More," out in the U.K. on January 15th; some of the other likely tracks include "Ghostdancing," "Hamlet of Kings," "1,1,1," and the appetizingly titled "A Mile Long Lump of Lard."
Death Cab for Cutie to Release Split Singles
Forget the Death Cab! They're just Cuties!
In an interview conducted with the seminal cultural journal Seventeen, Death Cab for Cutie lead singer and songwriter Ben Gibbard announced his band's intention to put out two split singles with Botch and the American Analog Set, with each band covering the other's songs, similar to a trick the Death Cab guys pulled with the boys in Fiver a few years back. In addition, even as they brace themselves for a new fanbase of thousands of pre-teen girls, the band also plans to begin work on a follow-up to We Have the Facts and are Voting Yes. In the meantime, the band recently put out the Forbidden Love EP, and completed an extensive tour of the U.S. The Seventeen interview, unfortunately, did not contain any advice as to what to do when your date turns into, like, a total Death Cab. Whatever!
The Faint Preparing Next Release
Gary Numan begins roll over in grave. He's dead, isn't he?
The Faint, a group of musical Nebraskans for whom wearing all black has never gone out of style, are dreaming lustily of their latest Depeche Mode/Prince lovechild, and are planning on making that dream a reality between the satin sheets of their studio... bed. Boy, extended metaphors suck! Anyway, they hope to conceive this record in March, and then birth it onto store shelves by the summer of 2001. The band is currently breathing easy after a long year of touring to promote their second album, Blank-Wave Arcade. We'll keep an eye out for further info, including possible tour dates, and let you know when they happen, so you can take your black lipstick-wearing, Robert Smith-loving little sister to see them.
Michael Jackson Fans Still Hate Jarvis Cocker
He's stuck in the middle and the pain is thunder
It was 1996. The King of Pop was performing at the Brit Awards, and then, out of nowhere, Jarvis Cocker was climbing onstage, mocking the "beautiful pageant" of MJ surrounded by angelic children. The repercussions of this act still linger...
Michael Jackson's fans are congregating in London this weekend for their annual conference. As a precautionary move, the Rock Circus exhibition is removing their waxwork model of Jarvis. Apparently, the Rock Circus has received numerous calls from Michael fans threatening revenge. Waxy Cocker will be in storage until the 250-odd MJ fans leave London.
In non-sculpted Jarvis news, Pulp are still at work on their follow-up to This is Hardcore, and rumors are rampant that they are making little progress; it seems they scrapped everything they've done because they felt they were going in the wrong direction. Personally, we think the "Billie Jean" cover would've worked.
