== ISSUE 200 ====  CONSUMABLE ONLINE  ======== [Feburary 15, 2000]

  Editor:             Bob Gajarsky
                         E-mail: editor@consumableonline.com
  Managing Editor:    Lang Whitaker
  Sr. Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Joann Ball, Chris Hill, Bill 
                      Holmes, Tim Kennedy, Jon Steltenpohl
  Correspondents:     Michelle Aguilar, Paul Andersen, Christina 
                      Apeles, Niles J. Baranowski, Jason Cahill, 
                      Matthew Carlin, John Davidson, Andrew Duncan, 
                      Krisjanis Gale, Jade Hughes, Paul Hanson, Eric 
                      Hsu, Scott Hudson, Steve Kandell, Reto Koradi, 
                      Robin Lapid, Wes Long, I.K. MacLeod, Wilson 
                      Neate, Mike Pfeiffer, Linda Scott, Don Share, 
                      Scott Slonaker, Kerwin So, Chelsea Spear, 
                      Michael Van Gorden, Simon West
  Technical Staff:    Chris Candreva, David Landgren, Dave Pirmann
  Also Contributing:  Chris Butler

 Address all comments to staff@consumableonline.com ; subscription 
information is given at the end of this issue. 
==================================================================
	All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s). 
Permission for re-publication in any form must be obtained from the 
editor.
==================================================================
                            .------------.
                            |  Contents  |
                            `------------'
REVIEW: The Cure, _Bloodflowers_ - Don Share
REVIEW: The Who, _The BBC Sessions_ - Chris Butler
BOOK REVIEW: _Inside The Music Business: The Power Players...
   Conversations With Eric Kline_ - Joann D. Ball
REVIEW: Mudhoney, _March to Fuzz_ - Scott Hudson
REVIEW: Poster Children, _DDD_ / Salaryman, _Karoshi_ - Chelsea Spear
INTERVIEW: Blue Man Group, _Audio_ - Chris Hill
REVIEW: Adrian Belew, _Coming Attractions_ - Joann D. Ball
REVIEW: Sarah Cracknell, _Lipslide _ - Wilson Neate
REVIEW: Kid Dynamite, _Shorter Faster Louder_ - Andrew Duncan
REVIEW: Various Artists, _Men In Plaid_ - Bill Holmes
REVIEW: The Posies, _Live Before the Iceberg_ - John Davidson
REVIEW: L.A. Guns, _Shrinking Violet_ - Paul Hanson
REVIEW: The Lovin' Spoonful, _Greatest Hits_ - Bill Holmes
REVIEW: Union, _The Blue Room_ - Linda Scott
CONTEST: Deep Elm
NEWS: Cypress Hill, Alanis Morissette, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 
   State Song Project
TOUR DATES: Beck, Frank Black and the Catholics, Chris Cornell, 
   Dismemberment Plan, Fastbacks, Gomez, Guster, Ben Harper & 
   Innocent Criminals, Richie Hawtin, Miles Hunt, Korn, Machine Head
   Morrissey / Sheila Divine, Other 99, Powerman 5000, Pretenders, 
   Stroke 9, 22 Jacks 
ERRATA
Back Issues of Consumable
---
	REVIEW: The Cure, _Bloodflowers_ (Fiction)
		- Don Share
	"When we look back at it all, as I know we will," Robert Smith 
sings on the first song of his latest album, "we always have to say 
goodbye." Twenty years and twenty Cure albums may have culminated with 
_Bloodflowers_, rumored (as has nearly every album for the last decade) 
to be the band's last gasp. Intended as the final disc in a trilogy 
which began with 1982's _Pornography_ and continued with 1989's 
_Disintegration_, _Bloodflowers_ has finality literally written all 
over it.
	No wild mood swings here... it's all down; fortunately, down 
is up for Smith, whose writing - diverse in other atmospheres - is 
effably sad and indelibly wise when he plays in a minor key. The 
production is full, dense, and atmospheric, and the songs don't rush 
themselves, but take their own bittersweet time. "I've been watching me 
fall for it seems like years," he sings accurately. And what singing: 
Smith's voice flies high over the chasm, echoing and quavering, even 
when the lyrics direly insist that "if it can't be like before I've got 
to let it end."
	While endings are the theme, Smith is subtle enough to let in 
tiny but illuminating rays of possibility: "the world is neither fair 
nor unfair," he sings in "Where the Birds Always Sing" -- fair enough. 
"Maybe Someday" even (ambiguously) allows that "maybe someday is when 
it all stops -- or maybe someday always comes again." "There Is No 
If" -- one of Smith's best ever -- admits that "there is no if -- just 
and," and "and" just may be enough.
	Recognizing that "just enough" is all that life allows is what 
each moment of the album gets at. "The Loudest Sound" is the evil twin 
of the Beatles' "Things We Said Today," because its lovers "in silence.. 
pass away the day." But they have more than silence; they have each other.
	Yet "39" is about how when one's "fire's almost cold," then 
"there's nothing left to burn," and the epic title track, "Bloodflowers," 
is the eerie, grim culmination of everything The Cure have ever done: 
"never die, these flowers will never die" slowly grows into its lyrical 
counterpart, "always die, these flowers will always die." The song is 
Smith's epic, and ends with our hero's pricking himself audibly, letting 
flowers of blood fall.
	When it's all said and done, I can't quite believe that we've 
heard the last from Smith, though there's always that risk; after all, 
epics live in the retelling, and while flowers fade and die, there are 
always more flowers to come.
---
	REVIEW: The Who, _The BBC Sessions_ (MCA)
		- Chris Butler
	The Who were - quite simply - the greatest band of the '60's 
British Beat era.  On any given night, they could out-play, out-sing, 
out-noise, out-fight, out-fuck, out-think and out-drink any one of 
their contemporaries...yet they remained perpetual third-stringers 
behind the Beatles and the Stones...a frustrating position that 
despite all their brilliant efforts could only have been remedied 
by two successful plane crashes.  And sadly, for evangelists like 
me, _The BBC Sessions_ is probably the last chance the unconverted 
will get to 'get it'.  Surely with the arrival of this disc the vault 
is finally empty of unreleased Who material?
	The already-convinced will already have this stuff.  The 
available _Maximum BBC_ (Hiwatt) bootleg offers more tracks, 
un-tweaked audio, and is sequenced more or less chronologically 
which better documents The Who's evolution from a pretty good bar 
band playing James Brown and Motown covers to a thundering force of 
nature.  MCA's official version scrambles this timeline, but is much 
more sonically exciting thanks to producer Jon Astley's audio 
reconstructions.  As with all his other MCA/Who catalog rethinks, 
hard-core fans might again sniff at Astley's tidied-up vocals, guitars 
to the front/drums to the rear mixes (sacrilege!) and his proven knack 
for gelding the raw energy of the original masters (for example, A/B 
his polite remix of "So Sad About Us" with the spectacular original).  
But here these techniques work - heavy compression boosts the ambient 
room noise on the older cuts giving them a thrilling presence, and 
skillful eq'ing on the later songs brings out instrumental parts that 
were buried in the bootleg's analog muck.
	Note that _The BBC Sessions_ is not being plugged as strictly 
a "live" album.  The older cuts ("Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", "Leaving 
Here") are definitely "live" live, versus the later material's 
obviously reconstructed backing tracks complete with overdubs.  Some 
of this sweetening sounds clunky (like the handclaps on "My 
Generation"), while the Hammond organ added to "Pictures of Lily" (!) 
is glorious.  Other revelations are redone versions of album tracks 
rarely performed in concert - when stripped of their studio tricks, 
"Disguises", "Run Run Run" and "See My Way" are just sensational. 
Even the normally dumb "Happy Jack" is played with a fun earnestness 
that sounds more Who-ish than the original single ever did.
 	And because this is The Who...nothing comes easy.  Rumor has 
it that a legal challenge had been mounted over the release rights to 
any BBC master to prohibit this disc from seeing the light of day.
I'm glad the release has happened; I'd like the legions of the 
uninitiated to hear what a brilliant band with a giant chip on its 
collective shoulder sounds like.
---
	BOOK REVIEW: _Inside The Music Business: The Power Players...
		Conversations With Eric Kline_ (E. Kline Publications)
		- Joann D. Ball
	When you need to know the real deal, you've got to go straight 
to the source. And that's just what Eric Kline has done in _Inside The 
Music Business: The Power Players... Conversations With Eric Kline_. 
Kline is the former Senior Producer for The Box Music Network, and is 
now the head of E. Kline Productions, a South Florida-based video 
production company which has delivered videos for such superstars as 
Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith and Gloria Estefan, and has 
also produced television programming for comedians Eddie Murphy, Chris 
Rock and Denis Leary.
	The innovative _Inside The Music Business: The Power Players...
Conversations With Eric Kline_ is the first offering from E. Kline 
Publications, which was launched in late 1999. A unique blend of audio 
and text, it covers a range of critical issues such as getting a record 
deal, working in and using radio and video, and the future of the 
record industry. In the lengthy book and 2-CD set which he calls 
"Infotainment," Kline has insightful conversations with over 40 power 
players from various sectors of the music industry. His interviews 
with recording artists, record and video company executives, media 
specialists, managers, producers, and others include brief biographical 
sketches and select portions from phone and in-person conversations. 
Kline's interview approach is straightforward, clear and direct, and 
he manages to get industry movers and shakers to share their 
experiences, knowledge, and expertise. And Kline also gets them to 
reveal just how they became power players, while also given them an 
opportunity to offer valuable advice for those breaking into the music 
business.
	After a brief introduction of _Inside The Music Business: The 
Power Players... Conversations With Eric Kline_, Disc 1 starts with an 
in-depth conversation with pioneering rap and hip-hop power player 
Russell Simmons, conducted in 1998. "We had to create our own through 
the street," Simmons reminds listeners of the history of the format 
which reshaped popular music. Simmons' critical overview the development 
of this innovative sound and style sheds much light on issues and 
difficulties which are now taken for granted some 20 years after rap 
and hip-hop's emergence. Not surprisingly, Simmons offers the 
do-it-yourself approach as the best route to success for emerging 
hip-hop artists. And in so doing, his advice has more to do with the 
grass roots, up from the streets approach that has always been hip 
hop's foundation than with current trends in the developing 
Internet-based music business. In fact, when Kline asks him about 
the impact of the Internet on the music industry, Simmons responds 
matter-of-factly that "it will take a little longer than people think."
	Also included on Disc 1 are conversations with Les Garland and 
recording artists Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins. Kline's 14-minute 
conversation with Garland, who moved from MTV after its first six 
years to international music channel The Box Music Network and now 
runs his own music entertainment company, provides a crucial historical 
context for the development of music video. And Kline's free flowing 
conversation with Boyz II Men generates this advice to new and 
developing artists: "surround yourself with positive people, surround 
yourself with people that truly care about you and have your best 
interest at heart and know what they're doing."
	A conversation with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the only non-urban 
music artists included on the audio portion of the release, begins 
Disc #2. The band provides a brief overview of its history before 
explaining their sound as "definitely music made popular in the '30s 
and '40s which people know as swing." Big Bad Voodoo Daddy also reveals 
that fashion is so important to what they do because "that's the roots 
that this music was formed on." But the most important contribution of 
Kline's conversation with the ground breaking band is the 
acknowledgement of the level of dedication, perseverance and vision 
required to expose and advance a genre of music largely considered 
the antithesis of contemporary popular music.
	"Keepin' it real" is the message DJ Kid Capri delivers in his 
conversation with Kline. The 13-minute interview with one of the 
industry's hottest DJs, follows interviews with BET's "Rap City" 
host Joe Clair, Bay Area hip-hop entrepreneur E-40 and Houston, Texas 
hip-hop entrepreneur J. Prince. DJ Kid Capri is honest and straight to 
the point as he urges wanna-be DJs to avoid payola and polish their 
skills in order to make it. "In order for a DJ to get known, to be out 
there, he has to do a lot of parties, he has to do tapes, he has to 
promote himself, get some pictures,and just make yourself known like 
anybody else."
	The conversations featured in the book, which include artists 
Ice Cube and Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony and powerbrokers from across the 
music industry, are presented in an easy to read question/answer 
format. The conversations are also organized thematically, beginning 
with artist-related issues and covering management, public relations, 
DJ-related issues, music video, and general music business matters. 
And the interviews for each section are followed by an informative 
substantive list of essentials for that area of the industry, 
including "Essentials of Artist and Producer Royalty Computation" 
and "Essentials of Internships."
	_Inside The Music Business: The Power Players... Conversations 
With Eric Kline_ is a fresh approach to providing much needed 
information, context and advice for breaking into one of the most 
difficult but much sought after industries. Rather than focusing on 
the major companies and their internal structures, or offering a list 
of names, numbers and contacts, Eric Kline provides the real 411 that 
can make or break a music business career. 
	To criticize Kline's conversations from being too focused on 
power players involved in rap and hip-hop, however, underscores just 
how rock music centered the music industry has been and how rock, pop 
and rock/alternative music has often been considered the only genres 
warranting serious examination and attention. On the contrary, Kline 
should be praised for channeling his insider knowledge of rap and 
hip-hop, hard earned from his many years at The Box Music Network and 
his more recent ventures in his own video production, into a tool that 
can benefit those seeking a career in the music industry. And the fact 
that he focuses on breaking into the most difficult and still woefully 
undervalued part of the music business in _Inside The Music Business: 
The Power Players...Conversations With Eric Kline_ proves that these 
particular hard knock lessons are really the ones containing universal 
value.
	For further information on the book - available online for $36, 
which covers shipping/handling - check out the website 
http://www.musicbizbook.com 
---
	REVIEW: Mudhoney, _March to Fuzz_ (SubPop)
		- Scott Hudson
	Prior to the breakout success of Nirvana's 1991 debut album 
_Nevermind_, mainstream music was dominated by '80s hair bands and 
guitar gods. Music fans, by-and-large, were oblivious to the 
"underground" grunge movement emanating from Seattle that was about 
to turn the music industry upside down.
	At the forefront of the fledgling grunge movement was Mother 
Love Bone and Mudhoney, bands made up of former members of Green 
River. Ironically, neither would be represented when grunge went 
mainstream. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden would be the torch 
bearers of the new genre.
	To those who may not know, grunge's geneological roots can be 
traced back to Mudhoney. Mudhoney not only defined grunge, but it was 
the success of their first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick" and the 
subsequent release of their EP, _Superfuzz Bigmuff_ that generated 
the early interest in the so-called "Seattle Sound."
	Even though mainstream success eluded them, they still 
garnered a strong underground fan base. It was that loyal following 
that kept the band afloat during the '90s.
	The band's split from their label, Reprise, and bassist Matt 
Lukin's retirement makes this the perfect opportunity for the release 
of their compilation album, _March To Fuzz_.
	March To Fuzz is a 2-disc, 52 song compilation that damn near 
covers about everything they've released in the past 11 years.
	The first disc covers the band's early hits ("Suck You Dry," 
"Hate The Police," "Touch Me I'm Sick," "Here Comes Sickness" and "You 
Got It"). It also includes Mark Arm's response to Simon & Garfunkel's 
"Scarborough Fair," with "Judgement, Rage, Retribution and Thyme."
	While the second disc carts its share great originals ("Run 
Shithead Run," Overblown" and "Ounce Of Deception"), its true value is 
the inclusion of classic B-sides, rare outtakes, compilation tracks and 
priceless covers such as Elvis Costello ("Pump It Up"), Motorhead 
("Over The Top"), The Damned ("Stab Your Back") and Spaceman 3 
("Revolution").
	If it's a sonic blitzkreig you're after, then look no further 
than _March To Fuzz_, because no one serves up Armageddon quite like 
the "grandfathers of grunge," Mudhoney. 
---
	REVIEW: Poster Children, _DDD_ (Spin Art) / Salaryman, 
		_Karoshi_ (12 Inch/Parasol)
		- Chelsea Spear
	Listening to the music of Salaryman is not unlike experiencing 
the industrial world of Fritz Lang's _Metropolis_ first-hand. This 
Champaign, Illinois foursome makes driving, melodic instrumental pieces 
that not only portray the feeling work-related miasma, but bring the 
audience into it through their ingratiating use of repetition, the slow, 
ascending structure of their songs, and through a deep, full-sounding 
rhythm.
	While many have been quick to label Salaryman's music as techno, 
there's much more to it than that. The band have a depth of sound and a 
cinematic approach that many electronica acts lack. The music has a 
nicely kalidescopic effect, and can be appreciated on many levels -- 
dance fiends will thoroughly enjoy dancing to the rubbery, inventive 
rhythm section, while headphone freaks will appreciate the multilayered 
production and pointed use of samples. Others, like me, who prefer a 
fusion of techno's greatest sounds with a more melodic, song-based 
approach, will doubtlessly love the album for supporting its monumental 
sound with a passel of sly, warped and utterly perfect melodies. 
Salaryman may have a hand in helping the "post-rock" trend come of 
age by synthesizing forms and ideas that once seemed disparate, and 
blending them into something unique and captivating in their own right.
	Meanwhile, the latest album by the Poster Children ("Salaryman 
with guitars" according to their website), _DDD_, is probably _Lola 
Rennt_ to _Karoshi_'s _Metropolis_. While _DDD_ might not change the 
fibre of pop music, or anything else, it's perfectly charming for what 
it is. This new album at times recasts the poppy approach the 'Kids 
favoured on _Junior Citizen_ and _RTFM_ as a direct descendant of the 
NYC punk scene, circa 1977. A lazy, easy comparison, to be sure, and 
one that would suggest the reviewer only listened to the 
loud-fast-and-hard Ramones tribute "Rock 'N' Roll". Some nicely 
Blondie-like moments float to the surface on the dreamy, twirling 
"Strange Attractors" and "Daisy Changed" (a reggae rewrite of "Chain 
Reaction" from their album _Daisychain Reaction_); the production and 
melodic force of other tunes, such as the ear-catching opener "This 
Town Needs a Fire," suggest the plight of young people who want to get 
out and grab some thrilling life for themselves. Other tracks, like the 
percussive "The Old School And the New" and "Elf," find the band 
expanding upon musical ideas from their previous album, _New World 
Record_, with a greater sense of optimism in the lyrical department. 
Will _DDD_ change your life? Nope, but smart people looking for a good 
time should look no further.
---
	INTERVIEW: Blue Man Group, _Audio_ (Virgin)
		- Chris Hill
	With a limited amount of space for a record review and 
an interview, a shortened introduction: "THX 1138", Yves Klein's 
"Blue Sponge Relief (1958)", PVC tubes, satirical art commentary, 
cacophonous drumming, intelligent humor, stunning visual effects. 
All this and more describe the Blue Man Group, three New York men 
who've combined their talents and backgrounds to create the alien 
entity known as the Blue Man.
	Even as their "Tubes" production continues its long run 
in three U.S. cities (New York, Boston, and Chicago), the Blue 
Man Group invades a fourth city in March, landing at the Luxor in 
Las Vegas for an extended run.
	A sense of the unique BMG show is communicated by the 14 
track cd, _Audio_.  Graphics inside the cd booklet display the 
BMG's unusual instrumentation:  the Backpack Tubulum (an assembly 
of PVC tubes resembling a Bond jet-pack), Air Poles (thin tubes 
whipped while gripped in various positions for different sounds, 
not unlike plastic lightsabers), the Big Drum (self-explanatory), 
and the Drum Wall (a multi-tiered structure with multiple drum 
stations).  The raw percussive power of the tubular instruments, 
combined with traditional guitar, bass, and drums, manages to 
resonate in the ears and the body; tribal rock which creates a 
primal response.
	This isn't a New Age cd, meant to lull and tranquilize.  
On "Opening Mandelbrot", drums burst forth in a primordial rhythm 
and a rock guitar enters with passion and verve.  "Mandelgroove" 
begins with a zither sawing away, then splits into simultaneous, 
thunderous drums.  "Tension 2" plays frantic drum rhythms against 
chopping and echoing guitars, like a modern "Perils of Pauline" 
interlude.
	It's difficult not to think in cinematic terms when 
hearing these instrumentals.  "Synaesthetic" sees a "Walkabout" 
aborigine wandering through "The Arabian Nights".  "Utne Wire 
Man" crosses "Ran" with "The Road Warrior": preceded by a guitar 
howling like a coyote in the desert, the Sword Air Poles enter as 
martial instruments, whipping and dancing through the air in 
unison.  "Drumbone", urgent and speeding, could fit easily on the 
"Run Lola Run" soundtrack.  Regardless of whatever visuals spring 
to mind, _Audio_ manages to stand as a work unto itself, aside 
from the BMG stage show.
	Taking a break from the pre-production chaos in Vegas, 
the three founders (Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, and Chris Wink) 
sat down for a phone interview with Consumable.  Like the 
merging of their individual selves into the character of the 
Blue Man, the interview was conducted seemingly with a singular 
entity, as three different voices spoke for the whole.
	CO:  So you haven't had your first performance yet? 
	BMG:  Nope, March.  Our first preview is February 24th 
and not even half the show is cued yet, so we're going to get 
cued and ready to go about the day before the audience gets here. 
	CO:  So it isn't the "Tubes" performance that you've been 
doing for a decade plus?
	BMG:  No, it's about half and half.  We've got the 
signature bits from that show, the stuff that we feel like we 
almost have to do, because we still like it so much.  But we've 
got a lot of new stuff, inspired by the work we did on the album, 
plus some new character stuff.
	CO:  Do you ever see a travelling road show? 
	BMG: We're really determined to figure that out next, 
after this.  We're thinking that a lot of the experiments we're 
doing in this show will help us understand how we could possibly 
take it to a tour situation.  There's still a lot of things that 
we'd have to solve.  It takes a lot to get it all in place, which 
is why we can't just go out and go on tour, and set up in one 
day.  It takes us two weeks just to be able to get to the point 
where we can actually run through the bits.  Until we can figure 
out how to tour, we're hoping that some of our fans will find 
their way here.
	CO:  What's the stage show like, for people who are just 
hearing the album?  I read that there really isn't a plot, per 
se.  Is it improvisation?  What's a typical show?
	BMG:  There's isn't a plot, but it does have sort of a 
shape to it.  Maybe one way to describe it, is that the Blue Men 
come out, and there's an element of improvisation in that they 
actually look at the audience.  There isn't a fourth wall.  They 
come out and they LOOK at the audience.  They don't play with 
them the whole time, but they lead them through what we might 
describe as a post-modern, freaked-out ritual.  And it combines 
all different kinds of mediums and crafts and images.  It's a 
cultural stew of influences.
	Then there's another side that we didn't even hint at on 
the album, and that's the comedic element.  We don't think of 
ourselves first and foremost as comedians.  We try to establish 
an element of seriousness to the show, before anything funny 
happens, but that actually helps make it a better kind of humor. 
It's not trying really hard to be gaggy, but it does happen, and 
that's another element for people who haven't seen us.  It's a 
very deadpan, Buster Keaton, not trying too hard, kind of humor.
	There's also a collision between the ancient and the 
modern.  We play big drums, not just with big sticks, like a 
world beat band would do, or kodo drummers, but we play them with 
electronic signs, where the Blue Man rips an L.E.D. sign off the 
wall, and starts smacking at a 6' drum with it.  And that kind of 
sums up the aesthetic...futuristic and ancient at the same time.
	CO:  There really is a sexless, modern, futuristic look 
to the character.
	BMG:  Yep.  Perfect.  Thank you.  And we try to extract 
the ego out of it, so that he can look at the world with fresh 
eyes, in either a naive way or a very knowing way, depending on 
what the situation is.
	CO:  So it really frees you three up, if it's a distinct 
identity, aside from the three of you?
	BMG: Absolutely.  And also, it not just frees us up, but 
I think it makes the work more profound, too.
	CO:  So, for the show, is it going to be you three guys 
doing all the shows, or are you bringing along understudies? 
How does it work?
	BMG:  We have a troupe of Blue Men.  We're not the only 
ones.  And it's important, especially in a show like this.  Like 
on a day like today, we had to be out in the audience directing, 
we had Blue guys on stage, and then after we got the lights set, 
WE got on stage, so we were sure to be able to do it.
	Typically, we'll open the show.  But we'll also start 
rotating one at a time out, so we can watch it.  The new Blue Men 
are great, and they have the luxury of being able to practice and 
rehearse nothing but the show all day, whereas we have to direct 
and think about lights and sound and all the other elements that 
go into making it happen.  So we've actually really enjoyed having 
a larger troupe.  And it's not about us.  It's not about us, it's 
not about our personalities, it's about the Blue Men.
	There have always been multiple Blue Men.  And that's what 
the project's always been about.  The very first public event had 
eleven people who were blue - men and women - and the project has 
just gone from there.  So we've been joking around recently, like 
on our EPK (Electronic Press Kit) that we're the founders of 
the Blue Men, meaning we FOUND the Blue Man, but the Blue Man is 
everywhere.

Part 2 of this interview will appear in next week's issue of Consumable.
---
	REVIEW: Adrian Belew, _Coming Attractions_ (Thirsty Ear)
		- Joann D. Ball
	Adrian Belew has been an extremely busy man in the months since 
his last release, _Salad Days_. Among the varied projects Belew is 
currently constructing are a new studio record, a collection of 
unreleased tracks, and the second volume of an experimental guitar 
series. And, and all of this is in addition to his contributions to a 
new King Crimson CD. Rather than keep all of this musical productivity 
to himself, Belew has chosen to give the listening public a sneak 
preview of the songs and sounds that flow from his brilliantly 
overactive mind.
	On _Coming Attractions_, Belew reveals the energy, enthusiasm, 
and the range of instrumental innovations that drive his creative 
process. _Coming Attractions_ opens with "Inner Man" and "Predator 
Feast," two tracks from his soon to be released studio effort. On 
"Inner Man," guitar wizard Belew leads his aggressive power trio on 
a sonic assault that expresses the anger and rage within that is usually 
hidden from the world. And the song is propelled by drum samples taken 
from his most commercial solo record to date, _Mr. Music Head_. 
"Predator Feast" is another industrial strength aggro number, but 
here Belew transforms his guitar into a flame thrower over machine 
sounds-turned-drum loops by Ken Latchney. Both of these killer cuts 
suggest that Belew's year 2000 offering is bound to expand Belew's fan 
base and should reap great commercial rewards.
	For those who are intoxicated by Belew's brand of classic power 
pop, though, Belew offers "117 Valley Drive" which features his sometime 
band mates the Bears. Switching gears yet again, this Beatlesque number 
is followed by "Inner Revolution" and "Time Waits" which were recorded 
in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1997. These two live cuts will appear on 
the upcoming live record _This Is A Pencil_.
	Also included on _Coming Attractions_, are several tracks from 
an upcoming box set of rarities called _Dust_. An overview of songs 
Belew has written or co-written in the past twenty years, it includes 
a demo version of King Crimson's "People" and a reconstructed version 
of an alternate version of "Bird in a Box" from _Mr. Music Head_. And 
rounding out this 12-track sneak preview is "Animal Kingdom," an 
experimental track of African percussion preformed on guitar to the 
accompaniment of an acoustic drum kit. Unlike other projects, however, 
there is no projected completion or release date for the second volume 
of the experimental guitar series of which "Animal Kingdom" is a central 
part.
	Yet again, Adrian Belew is generating some of the most intriguing 
and interesting popular music available today. Always blurring categories 
and genres by freely experimenting and developing new approaches to 
song and sound, Adrian Belew is a prolific musical genius whose work 
is always fresh and progressive. So enjoy the sneak previews on _Coming 
Attractions_ and be sure not to miss any of the full length feature 
releases!
---
	REVIEW: Sarah Cracknell, _Lipslide _ (Instinct)
		- Wilson Neate
	Since joining Saint Etienne in 1991 and adding a crucial 
ingredient to the sound of a band who surely rank among the more 
influential British acts of the last decade, Sarah Cracknell has 
emerged as one of the most enduring and classy female vocalists in 
UK pop today.
	While too much of the mid-90s was taken up with Brit-Pop 
hype and while Blur and Oasis fought it out in the not entirely 
dissimilar English tabloid and music presses, Cracknell's full-time 
outfit quietly went about their business crafting their own, more 
sophisticated, more intelligently referential and infinitely more 
danceable soundtrack to a post-house, nascent Cool Britannia.  Indeed, 
Saint Etienne not only pre-dated Brit-Pop - enjoying the dubious honor 
of having Oasis open for them on one tour - but they will undoubtedly 
outlive it.
	When bandmates Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley took time out in 
1996 to set up their own label, Cracknell took the opportunity to 
record her solo debut _Lipslide_ (which came out in Britain in 1997, 
albeit with slightly different tracks).  As Cracknell commented in an 
interview in the English press, this project was in part motivated by 
being tired of "people assuming that I was just a frontperson for Bob 
and Pete, that I was a puppet, that I didn't do any of the real work."
	Bearing in mind her songwriting abilities as evidenced on 
Saint Etienne's 1994 _Tiger Bay_ ("Hug My Soul" and "Marble Lions"), 
even by the time of its original release _Lipslide_ was already 
long-overdue.  Given the quality of her work thus far with Wiggs and 
Stanley, it's not surprising that Cracknell's solo release should be 
such a successful outing. 
	_Lipslide_ covers both well-trodden and uncharted territory.  
On the one hand Cracknell offers solid and smooth, polished pop in 
the Saint Etienne vein, albeit without the ironic, sometimes rough-edged, 
off-beat or experimental dimension of the trio at their best - there 
are no Rush samples here, no occasional dub dabblings and no sampled 
movie and television snippets.  On the other hand, she makes a 
convincing case for her own, autonomous musical identity both as a 
co-writer of all the songs and as the producer on two of the most 
impressive tracks on the album.
	Sarah Cracknell achieves a finely tuned musical collage that 
effortlessly straddles the dance floor and the cold light of day with 
its attendant ups and downs, usually on the barometer of romance.  
_Lipslide_'s cocktail of dance grooves and melodic, playful pop blends 
clubby exuberance and morning-after melancholy.
	The more upbeat side of the equation is well represented by 
tracks such as "Desert Baby," "If You Leave Me," "Anymore," and 
"Coastal Town," with their driving Euro-disco beats.  At the same 
time, songs like "4 Months 2 Weeks," "Home" and "Goldie" attest to 
the more introspective, comfortably mournful side of Cracknell's vision.  
The melancholy melodies are complemented by Cracknell's wistful vocals 
which, in turn, foreground the mood of lyrics that frame eloquent 
snapshots of unremarkable, everyday emotional states.
 	While her songs often comprise familiarly banal and mundane 
dramas of expectation, remorse, loss and longing, Cracknell renders 
them with an uncommonly evocative touch.  Like Morrissey without the 
irony or the  whingeing, or like a less beat-laden version of recent 
Everything But the Girl, Cracknell shows that there is life beyond the 
dance floor - it may not provide fun or even particularly colorful raw 
material but, in the right hands and given the right vocal treatment, 
it can still make for great songs.
	The defining aspect of this record is perhaps Cracknell's 
ability to craft music that manages to be simultaneously retro and now, 
moving in and out of styles and bridging epochs without missing a beat.  
Like her work with Saint Etienne, _Lipslide_ reflects an updated 60s 
pop-art sensibility that recycles and recontextualizes forms, 
cheerfully constructs clever pastiches and nods to a past generation 
of musical coordinates at the same time as it taps into the current 
dance sounds that have permeated the best pop music of the last few 
years.
	Where Cracknell differs is that her musical collage is shorn 
of pop art's camp and irony that Saint Etienne left largely intact on 
albums like _Foxbase Alpha_ and _So Tough_ (on which you could 
occasionally almost hear Wiggs and Stanley winking at you as they 
slipped in another clever reference).
	On _Lipslide_ Cracknell takes the opportunity to declare her 
musical influences more openly and sincerely than before, not simply 
by reference but by carefully fashioning songs that turn citation into 
a sustained stylistic recreation of the feel of the originals.  Not 
surprisingly, her coordinates are well-rooted in the 60s - Françoise 
Hardy, Burt Bacharach, Joao Gilberto, and Dusty Springfield.  
Particularly outstanding are the songs that invoke the music of the 
latter two.
	"Oh Boy, the Feeling When You Held My Hand," on which Cracknell 
is accompanied only by guitar, recreates the understated and yet 
melodically memorable bossa nova stylings of Gilberto.  "Ready or 
Not" and "Can't Stop Now" - both of which Cracknell produced - are 
standout affairs that rediscover a particularly 60s British pop sound 
and pay loving homage to Dame Dusty, all the while managing, as the 
cliche goes, to be . . . well . . . timeless. The second of the two, 
a lilting, waltzy minor masterpiece with strings, harmonies and piano, 
is the real winner here.
	While "Ready or Not" and "Can't Stop Now" in particular attest 
to a finely honed retro sensibility, Cracknell's variations on 60s pop 
go beyond imitation or faddish interest to reinvent her sources in a 
contemporary context.  But then Sarah Cracknell has a peculiar link 
to that period with which she continues such a productive flirtation.  
In 1967 - owing to the fact that her father was a first assistant 
director to Stanley Kubrick - a newly born Cracknell was screen 
tested for the part of the Star Child in _2001: A Space Odyssey_. 
Kubrick decided he wanted a stranger image and she didn't get the 
part.  But that close-call perhaps suggests how, from the outset, 
Cracknell has always had one foot squarely in the middle of 60s pop 
culture, the other stepping toward the future.
	Although some have criticized _Lipslide_'s lack of depth, 
bemoaned its saccharine quality and even faulted it for being as 
weightless as the backing music for 60s/70s British shampoo commercials, 
they really seemed to have completely missed the point - this is pop 
after all, and beautifully done at that.
---
	REVIEW: Kid Dynamite, _Shorter Faster Louder_ (Jade Tree)
		- Andrew Duncan
	Back with Philadelphia's finest, _Shorter Faster Louder_ is 
Kid Dynamite's latest that offers yet another solid collection of songs 
with little transformation.
	Ascending from the now-defunct East Coast hardcore populous 
Lifetime, Dan Yemin and Dave Wagenschutz continue their ideology with 
Kid Dynamite.  While in Lifetime, the band believed in keeping the songs 
short and to-the-point, catering to the short attention-spanned 
generation of today. 
	Kid Dynamite is no different. Clocking in at a hair over 22 
minutes, Shorter Faster Louder feels more like one epic song than 18 
bursts of hardcore.
	Ranking in popularity with other aspiring hardcore bands, 
including Snapcase or Boy Sets Fire (they recorded a split EP with Kid 
Dynamite for the Sub City label), the band takes pieces from mid-'80s 
influences like Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits with their anthemic, 
social hardcore and adds to the structure elements of pop-core attitude.
	The band has the chops and dexterity to remain consistent in 
such a fast-tempo environment. However, the downfall is that there is 
little diversity between each song, keeping the album dry and later 
lacking the intensity that began the album.
	Their first full-length on Jade Tree was a great re-introduction 
into the hardcore scene, but as time goes by, the band needs to dig 
deeper into their style, which comes across more clearly and intensely 
in their short live sets.
---
	REVIEW: Various Artists, _Men In Plaid_ (Bullseye)
		- Bill Holmes
	Bullseye follows up last year's excellent Klaatu tribute with 
another winner, once again featuring a Who's Who of Contemporary Pop 
Bands. Rollermaniacs, having seen their heroes suffer the torture of 
VH-1's _Behind The Music_, can now revel in a newly issued Greatest 
Hits collection and this enthusiastic homage. But even if you hated 
the Rollers -- and I just KNOW many of you did -- you'll be surprised 
at how many great songs are buried beneath the plaid exterior. Maybe 
"S-S-S-Saturday Night" doesn't carry the same cultural weight as 
"My G-G-G-Generation" to you, but for millions of fans across the 
world, The Bay City Rollers were their Beatles.
	To say that The Flashcubes launch this record like a rocket 
would be an understatement; Paul Armstrong and Arty Lenin rip into 
"Wouldn't You Like It" like Keith Richards and Mick Taylor circa "Brown 
Sugar". Although no one else blows the roof off quite like that opening 
track, there are several other solid contributions. Gary "Pig" Gold 
sounds like he's been a closet Gripweed for years; this "Rock And Roll 
Love Letter" can stand proudly alongside The Records' version. There 
are TWO versions of "Saturday Night"; Anton Barbeau adds his trademark 
left-of-the-dial approach while The Dipsomaniacs attack the song with 
a fever pitch. Tom Davis and Jeremy handle the mellower cuts equally 
well, while the appropriately named Squires Of The Subterrain dial in 
from the basement.
	Other standouts include Ed James' one-man-band take on "You 
Make Me Believe In Magic"; this performance will have people running 
to the store for HIS record. And both Reptopia and Fudge chose to take 
some liberties with the bubblegum pop songs, and their arrangements 
result in two of the standout cuts. Of course, not every cut bears 
repeated listening -- for me, The Bobbies' version of "Let's Go" was 
devoid of energy -- but beauty is in the ear of the beholder.
	_Men In Plaid_ features a solid collection of bands who treat 
the songs with some reverence, but also have a lot of fun with them. 
That's the way music used to be in the Rollers days. Some of these 
bands are old enough to remember, but the others probably had to be 
told. And the little girls still understand. 
( http://www.bullseyecanada.com )
---
	REVIEW: The Posies, _Live Before the Iceberg_ (Badman Recording)
		- John Davidson
	Despite putting out some of the most admirable power pop of 
the '90s, one of the many Seattle-area bands that never made it to sales 
nirvana was The Posies. Then again, most bands signed during that grunge 
gold rush never amounted to much more than a '90s equivalent of Donna 
Summer: acts so tied to a fad that when the fad dies, so does the 
artist. Things are never quite that simple, yet sadly, many talented 
musicians from the grunge era are never going to get a big label shot 
again. As a more recent example, the relative sales failure of 
Soundgarden's Chris Cornell solidifies the pessimism that lurks at 
the executive level in the music business.
	However, some artists never waited for success to happen, and 
that wisdom has paid off in great dividends (i.e. income stability and 
more of a "career" in rock music.) Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, the 
creative duo behind the Posies throughout their ten-year existence, 
never sat still when it came to exploring their musicianship. Widely 
known for their participation in the relapse tours of pop heroes Big 
Star, they also have an extensive track record of collaboration with 
many other upstart West Coast bands. They've played tribute albums, 
toured extensively, and this past year, Stringfellow even hit the road 
as part of the backing band for R.E.M. Their lasting career is not a 
tribute to odd luck; rather, it's an example of how talent can carry a 
load that fickle fandom simply can't.
	Still, their years as Posies are their stock trade and lasting 
legacy. As a legacy, the band probably won't be remembered as much for 
their style as for their ability to re-work the promise of Big Star 
within the guise of more aggressive, 90s rock. Often intimately baroque 
at their roots, by the end the Posies were leaving that precocious sound 
for a more punk-inspired, emotional fireworks. This transformation most 
surely alienated some of the earlier fans, but the band seemed intent on 
turning up the volume both in the studio and in the live setting. So, it 
comes as no surprise that _Alive Before the Iceberg_ is a relic of the 
Posies cranking it up at the expense of delicate, flowery showmanship.
	_Alive_ captures the band in Spain on their last tour supporting 
their swan song _Success_, and the twelve songs are representative of 
that album more than their career. Both Auer and Stringfellow sound 
weary throughout (elaborated to great extent on Stringfellow?s engaging 
liner notes), and the effect comes off as somewhat sloppy but full of 
passionate energy - in a sense, a live show that's not canned or 
reworked to sound like the studio version. The insecurity of "Please 
Return It" burns with the howled line "There has to be an upside!" and 
the bitter "Everybody Is a Fucking Liar" encapsulates the gutter of 
any failed relationship. However, _Alive_ also serves to exacerbate 
the weaker songs in their catalog (most notably "Start a Life" and 
"Broken Record"), and you have to wonder why they got included on a 
forty-seven minute disc. There are better songs to choose from, although 
give Badman credit for adding the boozy Cheap Trick cover "Surrender."
	What may be the best part of the disc is the fact that it has 
appeared at all. Tiny upstart Badman finagled a way to release this live 
document, and if the big labels in the industry had any clue, they would 
realize that there is a huge demand for live music. Take one look at the 
bootleg industry, and you'll see that there is plenty of money to be 
made. It's well-known that most artists are in favor of releasing their 
concerts as opposed to letting bootleggers make all the money. With the 
cost of manufacturing going down and a cheap form of distribution (the 
Internet) becoming more and more viable, it's hopefully only a matter 
of time before acts in new millennium will be churning out approved 
live material and other studio scraps. _Alive Before the Iceberg_ is 
proof that the future is here, serving as a raucous farewell letter to 
Posies fans everywhere.  Check out http://www.badmanrecordingco.com 
for more information.
---
	REVIEW: L.A. Guns, _Shrinking Violet_ (Perris)
		- Paul Hanson
	Who asked for this? Who the hell called up Perris Records and 
said, "Please Mr. Record Exec, give one of my favorite 80s band that 
never had much of a commercial success ONE MORE CHANCE."
	Why do I want to find this person? Simple. I want to say thank 
you. Yes, thank you for giving yet another reason to the music industry 
to respect the bands of the '80s. There were talented acts and none less 
so than L.A. Guns. Yes, they initially rode the Guns-n-Roses ticket to 
recognition (Tracii Guns was in Guns-n-Roses at one time, before 
_Appetite for Destruction_) but they promptly drove that stigma away.
	By the time they hit their radio success with "The Ballad of 
Jane," the band was loaded with success of their own making. It becomes 
evident quickly that this is a band that wants to stake a claim in the 
music industry, not as a has-been '80s band, but as a legit band in 
2000. The songwriting here is structured around writing a "song" in 
the traditional sense. There's an intro followed by a verse followed 
by a chorus followed by a verse. These are songs, not 4 minute ear 
candy for radio.
	This time around, sex is, once again, at the forefront of this 
band's collective mind, evident with the first track, "Girl You Turn Me 
On" and later with "Big Lil' Thing." It's immediately evident that Guns 
and company are out with a vengeance. Gilby Clarke's production is 
crisp and clean, yet not so much that this sounds slick. Vocalist 
Jizzy Pearl proves he is talented, toggling between a distorted vocal 
style and a more 80s style screech. "Shrinking Violet" continues the 
momentum with a tight musical interplay between drummer Steve Riley 
and bassist Stefan Adika. Some nice harmonies add to this track.
	The stellar tracks, though, are the Led Zeppelin "Kashmir"-ish 
"Decide" and all-out rocker "Big Lil' Thing." At a mid-tempo plod, 
"Decide" showcases the magic of this band. Drummer Steven Riley 
provides a solid backbeat. "Big Lil' Thing" is an up-tempo rocker 
with yet another chops workout for Riley as he provides slick fills 
throughout the song. Could it have been recorded and released in the 
'80s? Possibly, but I doubt the band of then could have pulled it off 
as well as the 2000 version of this band.
	This record easily re-captures the band's groove from their 
debut release of long ago. _Shrinking Violet_, is a return to form for 
this band.
---
	REVIEW: The Lovin' Spoonful, _Greatest Hits_ (Buddha)
		- Bill Holmes
	With their induction to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame just 
around the corner, what better time than now to celebrate the artistry 
of The Lovin' Spoonful? They weren't icons like The Beatles, tough like 
The Animals or cute like Herman's Hermits. But they were one of America's 
best answers to the British Invasion, and like their West Coast cousins 
The Byrds, had their roots firmly planted in traditional folk music.
	Though Dylan and Hendrix and McGuinn and Sebastian prowled the 
same small Greenwich Village neighborhood, each took different steps 
towards the future. For Sebastian and mates Zal Yanovsky, Joe Butler 
and Steve Boone, the music was as much of a melting pot as the 
neighborhood. Mixing swamp blues, country, rock and R&B together, the 
Spoonful were staples of AM radio from 1965 through 1967. With hits 
like "Daydream," "Do You Believe In Magic," "Did You Ever Have To Make 
Up Your Mind," "Rain On The Roof" and "Summer In The City," the band 
created an influential form of American music that was as commercially 
successful (their first seven singles were top ten hits!) as it was 
unique. That success helped open the doors for bands from...well, The 
Band and Credence Clearwater Revival to The Jayhawks and Wilco, thirty 
years down the road.
	Buddha continues to mine its catalogue and treat listeners to 
pristine, digitally remastered versions of classic records. This 
collection clocks in at over an hour and features twenty-six tracks, 
and the sound is fabulous. Sebastian is validated as a great vocalist, 
and the guitars, Zal's in particular, shimmer and bite in a way car 
radios could never have appreciated. Overall, the colorful 
instrumentation, unconventional harmony arrangements and pure joy of 
the music jumps out of the speakers with a freshness and vitality that 
confirms the timelessness of the material.
	John Sebastian, of course, went on to enjoy solo success with 
his easygoing material, and later got his career (and wallet) recharged 
with the popular theme from "Welcome Back Kotter". Even now, while he is 
touring with NRBQ or playing solo acoustic dates, the crowd will 
invariably ask to hear the classic Spoonful material more frequently 
than his later, lesser known work. And unlike many rock and roll 
survivors who downplay their past successes, Sebastian will thank the 
crowd for asking, and then light up the room with some of those 
chestnuts. And he'll smile along with them, because he knows all too 
well that even a newer song like "Tar Beach" speaks of the same days 
in New York as "Summer In The City," all those years ago...
---
	REVIEW: Union, _The Blue Room_ (Spitfire)
		- Linda Scott
	Union won the best new band award from "Metal Edge" in 1998. 
With _The Blue Room_, Union releases its sophomore effort (not counting 
a live album). When you hear this traditional rock and roll band, you 
wonder how can these guys be so good so fast? Check out the band members 
for the answer: Bruce Kulick, ex-Kiss lead guitarist, on guitars and 
vocals, plus John Corabi, ex-Motley Crue on vocals and guitar. Between 
them there is twenty years of experience. Kulick performed with Kiss 
for 12 years and was let go when the original Kiss reformed for a makeup 
covered reunion. Corabi was with the Crue till the original band 
re-formed there. It must be some consolation that Union sounds better 
than either of the two reunion bands.
	_The Blue Room_ is first and foremost a classic rock album but 
with a touch of metal, a touch of blues, and some terrific lyrics. The 
band claims as its influences the giants of rock: The Beatles, Led 
Zeppelin, and Aerosmith. Some songs are distinctly Beatle-esque, both 
in the music and the lyrics. Most are just the heart of the great rock 
bands pounding behind Union's backbeat. 
	The album leads off with "Do Your Own Thing," the first single. 
It's so catchy, it'll play in your head all day. Jamie Hunting on bass 
and Brent Fritz on drums are standouts on this number. "Everything's 
Alright" is one of those with The Beatles' influence. Great harmonies 
and backing vocals on this one. Kulick shows his guitar wizardry, and 
Corabi sounds great. A standout cut! "Dear Friend" is Kulick's lyrical 
and vocal tribute to Eric Carr, friend and Kiss drummer, who succumbed 
to cancer in 1991. Kulick says goodbye to his bandmate, and the song 
moves on with him to a rocking finish. In yet another style, "No More" 
is an angry song from Corabi on social issues such as school homicides, 
the environment, etc. Corabi has a young son and is disgusted with the 
state the world is in. This kind of social indictment isn't often seen 
anymore on rock or other albums. Corabi snaps out the lyrics, drums and 
bass emphasize and Kulick pounds it all home. An exceptional end to the 
album.
	There haven't been many true rock albums lately, but _The Blue 
Room_ is in the classic rock style. If you have been missing rock, it 
will be coming around on February 22 with _The Blue Room_'s release. 
When Union tours in support of their album, why not check them out? 
They are playing clubs, so you get an inexpensive rock evening, and 
you get to meet and greet the band after the show. Just seeing the 
legendary Bruce Kulick would make it all worth while. Stand by for 
that single, "Do Your Own Thing," and visit the band at: 
http:\\UnionAsylum.com
---
CONTEST:
	> Deep Elm Records will be giving away a sampler CD 
to three randomly chosen people who answer several music 
questions on the label.  Check out our main page, at 
http://www.consumableonline.com for a link to the contest.
Members of Consumable Online and their related family are not 
eligible to enter.
---
NEWS:	> Cypress Hill will be releasing two different versions 
of the first single to come from their _Skull & Bones_ album, 
each boasting special guest appearances by different artists.  
The song is called "Superstar" and is a cautionary tale aimed 
at starry-eyed youngsters getting into the music business.
	"(Rap) Superstar" contains excerpts from interviews with 
Noreaga and Eninem while "(Rock) Superstar" contains excerpts 
from interviews with Everlast and Chino Moreno (Deftones) 
discussing the problems they've countered in the course of 
their respective careers and their advice to naive beginners 
just getting started.
	> Alanis Morissette will be making her theatrical stage 
debut, between March 24 and April 2, performing pieces of the 
critically hailed The Vagina Monologues at the Westside 
Theatre in New York City.  
	> The Red Hot Chili Peppers will be releasing their latest 
long form home video, _Funky Monks_, on DVD on February 22.  
Originally released on home video in 1991, _Funky Monks_ captures 
the creation of _Blood Sugar Sex Magik_.
	> The State Song Project is gathering together modern 
renditions of the official songs of the fifty states, with the 
final result being a Volume 1 compilation album.  Cash prizes 
will be offered up to $25,000 along with continuing royalties 
to winners. For further information, check out 
http://www.statesongproject.com .
---
TOUR DATES:
	Beck
Feb. 18 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre
Feb. 19 Washington, D.C. Patriot Center

	Frank Black and the Catholics
Feb. 19-20 Madison,WI The Annex
Feb. 21 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
Feb. 22 Minneapolis, MN Quest Club
Feb. 23 Sioux Falls, SD KC Hall
 
	Chris Cornell
Feb. 16 Columbia, MO Blue Note
Feb. 18 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
Feb. 19 Rochester, NY Harro Ballroom
Feb. 22 Providence, RI Lupo's
Feb. 23 Long Island, NY Vanderbilt

	Dismemberment Plan
Feb. 18 Los Angeles, CA Fais Do Do (w/ Juno)
Feb. 19 Las Vegas, NV Expresso Roma (w/ Juno)
Feb. 22 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill (w/ Juno)

	Fastbacks
Feb. 19 Seattle, WA Sit-n-Spin

	Gomez
Feb. 18-19 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
Feb. 21 Portland, OR Aladdin
Feb. 22 Seattle, WA Kink Kat/Showbox
Feb. 23 Vancouver, CANADA Richards

	Guster
Feb. 18 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa
Feb. 19 Dallas, TX Gypsy Tea Room
Feb. 22 Vail, CO 8150 Club
Feb. 23 Fort Collins, CO Aggie Theater

	Ben Harper & Innocent Criminals
Feb. 18 Columbia, IL Blue Note
Feb. 19 Kansas City, KS Uptown Theater

	Richie Hawtin
Feb. 18 San Francisco 1015 Folsom
Feb. 19 Iowa City, IA University of Iowa

	Miles Hunt
Feb. 18 Long Branch, NJ Gemini Lounge
Feb. 19 New Brunswick, NJ Melody Bar

	Korn
Feb. 18 Lakeland, FL Lakeland Civic Center
Feb. 19 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
Feb. 21 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena
Feb. 23 Dallas, TX Reunion Arena

	Machine Head
Feb. 18 Columbus, OH Al Rosa Villa 
Feb. 19 Detroit, MI Harpo's 
Feb. 20 Chicago, IL Metro 
Feb. 22 Suaget, IL Pop's Annex 
Feb. 23 Madison, WI Barrymore Theater 

	Morrissey / Sheila Divine
Feb. 17 Pittsburgh, PA Metropol
Feb. 19-20 Boston Avalon
Feb. 21 Portland, ME State Theater

	Other 99
Feb. 23 New York, NY Mercury Lounge

	Powerman 5000
Feb. 15 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Feb. 16 Providence, RI Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
Feb. 18 New York, NY Roseland
Feb. 19 Worcester, MS Palladium
Feb. 20 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
Feb. 22 Pittsburgh, PA Metropol
Feb. 23 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's

	Pretenders 
Feb. 19 Vancouver, Canada Orpheum Theatre 
Feb. 23 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre 

	Stroke 9
Feb. 18 Towson, MD Recher Theater
Feb. 19 Philadelphia, PA TLA

	22 Jacks 
Feb. 16 Austin, TX Austin Music Hall
Feb. 18 St. Louis, MO Gargoyle
Feb. 19 Columbia, MO Expo Center
Feb. 20 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
Feb. 21 Madison, WI Dane County Hall
---
ERRATA: Last week's issue mistakenly included a reference in the 
Lambchop review to San Francisco Music Club; it should have read 
American Music Club.  Thanks to Jim F., who first pointed this out.
---
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