The Breeders' Kelley and Kim Deal
Photo: MTV News

On the surface, Kim and Kelley Deal — a.k.a. 50 percent of the Breeders — don't have much in common with, say, Britney Spears. Or maybe they do. And they'll be the first ones to tell you about it.

Similarity number one: decidedly rural roots.

"My mom and dad, they were both born and raised in West Virginia. ... They're both hillbillies in the Appalachians with the coal mining and stuff," Kim explains. "My mom, she has Alzheimer's, and she's always pulling out these photographic books and pointing out this stuff. She'll start going on about the big sand — because you needed sand for the rails for the friction for the coal cars — and how they used to jump into the big sand pile, and how there was soot everywhere all the time, so nothing ever kept clean. ... You know, stuff like that."

Similarity number two: rehab.

"I was in rehab! If I hadn't gone to rehab, I would be either dead or in jail or — where do the prostitutes hang out? Santa Monica [Boulevard]? I would be there," Kelley adds. "I think it's very beneficial. ... You can talk about, 'Oh, the clarity has helped the music,' but it gets to a point where those are bonuses, but you have to cut to the chase and say, 'Are you alive still? Did you OD? Are you dead because you went to get drugs in the dark without any weaponry?' It's really dangerous, that whole lifestyle."

OK, so that's about the only two things they share with the erstwhile pop princess, and while lumping the two together might seem like a cheap ploy to work Britney Spears into a story about the Breeders (and, hey, it sort of is), there's actually some merit to the comparison. Sort of. Because if anything, the Breeders' new album, Mountain Battles, tries very hard over the course of its 37 minutes to undo pretty much every bit of shiny, mechanical, overproduced pop that Britney and her ilk have foisted on us over the past decade. Full of snarling, toe-curling guitars, fuzzy, blown-out bass and boozy, howled vocals, Battles (due April 8) is lo-fi to the bone, a record so brimming with amateurish attitude and crackling, DIY production that it sounds positively not of this era. And we mean that in the best possible way.

Following in the hissy footsteps of 2002's Title TK (which, like this one, was produced by Steve Albini) and the record Kim cut in 1995 with her side project the Amps, Battles kicks off with "Overglazed," a clarion call that sounds like it was recorded in a thrift store. It ends with the title track, which features Kim's mush-mouthed vocals floating over — and under — a barely there bass-and-organ line. In between, there's somber, dreamy pop ("We're Gonna Rise"), breakneck Germanic stompers ("German Studies"), Spanish love songs ("Regalme Esta Noche") and dubby, trance-inducing exercises in call-and-response ("Istanbul"). It's sad in parts, blissful in others ... and sometimes both at the same time. It's an album of highs and lows that mirrors the past five years of the Deals' life: from Kim's world-crossing tour with the Pixies to the sisters' return to their native Dayton, Ohio, to care for their ailing mother.

"In 2002, we released Title TK, and then we started working on demos. We demoed stuff that year, then in 2003, and we did some on the RV while on tour with the Pixies in 2005," Kim says. "So the whole time we've been working. We never actually broke up and then thought, 'We'll get back together.' We never did that. Basically, we just changed the base of operations from East Los Angeles to Dayton.

"And this T-shirt [she points to the black shirt she is wearing] is their death certificate, the people who [raised] my mother in West Virginia. ... They died in the 1930s. They were born in the 1800s. I guess they used to do death certificates, and this is it, but we put it on a T-shirt," she continued. "On top it says, 'Not lost, but gone before,' and I thought, 'Well that's nice, that would be a pretty song,' and I asked my mom, 'Mom, what would happen if I did a song, and I started it out and I said, 'Not lost but gone before'? And she said, 'Here no more, here no more.' And that's the second line of the song."

It bears mentioning that Kim punctuates the story about her mother with a devilish, somewhat questionable cackle (you can watch it in our Newsroom blog), which is sort of the tone she set for the duration of MTV News' interview with her and her sister. It's debatable whether she's kidding, or if she's simply beyond the point of caring about decorum any more. And that's a pretty apt way of describing Mountain Battles too. After all, Kim has been doing this for a long time now — earning the respect of rock critics and snotty indie-rock fans worldwide — and she's done it on her own terms, at her own pace, with two different bands. She's obviously proud of what the Breeders have accomplished on Battles, but she's in no rush to do it again anytime soon.

So, Deal fans, savor the album for all it's worth. Because in keeping with her languid recording pace, it might be awhile before we get another effort from the Breeders. Which, we guess, makes three things they have in common with Britney.

"I have a good idea for a song, but that's about as far as it's gotten. Maybe some people go, 'Today I will start the process of the new record,' but I don't," Kim laughed. "I've heard that Nick Cave goes somewhere every morning and works like he's going to the office. And if he does it, you know it must work. I don't know if that would work for me though. I'm not a morning person."

• Story Time With The Breeders' Deal Sisters

• The Breeders

M.I.A.
Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

As usual, this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will feature more than 100 acts, including several reunited alternative-rock giants mixed in with some of the hottest acts touring today. The festival will take place on the weekend of April 25-27 in Indio, California, and be headlined by Jack Johnson, Jack White's Raconteurs, reunited bands the Verve and the Breeders, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket and former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters (who will perform Dark Side of the Moon).

Festival organizers also confirmed that they are launching a new event on the East Coast called All Points West Music & Arts Festival, a three-day event set for August 8-10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. No lineup or ticketing information has been announced for the event, which appears to be in direct competition with the Vineland Music Festival slated to launch in New Jersey this summer from the people behind Lollapalooza and England's Reading Festival.

Among the rarely touring acts performing over the course of the Coachella weekend are trip-hop legends Portishead, who are releasing their first album in more than a decade in April, as well as German techno pioneers Kraftwerk and long dormant English psychedelic rockers Spiritualized. The first night of the festival is packed with some of the best dance and alt-rock bands of the moment, including the National, Animal Collective, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Battles, Aesop Rock, Spank Rock, Santogold, Vampire Weekend, Black Lips, Rogue Wave and Architecture in Helsinki.

Saturday night's lineup is just as strong, with acts that include M.I.A., Cold War Kids, Café Tacuba, Rilo Kiley, Mark Ronson, Islands, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, VHS or Beta, Bonde Do Role, Akron Family, MGMT, and the Bird and the Bee. In addition to the sure-to-be-trippy capper from Waters, the final night will also feature a reunited Love and Rockets, dance stars Justice, gypsy-rock punks Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Simian Mobile Disco, Murs, Autolux, Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sia, Black Kids, Black Mountain, Kid Sister with A-Trak, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra and the Horrors.

Tickets for the fest will be available this Friday, with three-day admission going for $269 and single-day tickets for $90; camping is an additional $55 per person.

The full lineups for each day are:

Friday, April 25: Jack Johnson, the Verve, Raconteurs, the Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, the Swell Season, the National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Múm, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santogold, Jens Lekman, John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, the Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang, Lucky I Am.

Saturday, April 26: Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Café Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, the Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/Silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs (Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic), James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, the Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Uffie.

Sunday, April 27: Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dmitri from Paris, Autolux, the Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy F---, Black Kids, Black Mountain, the Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, the Horrors, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plastiscines, Brett Dennen.

Planning on going to Coachella or any other big music fests this year? Be sure to join the You R Here community, where you can upload your concert photos, videos and reviews. Go there now to check out coverage of last year's Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo festivals.

• Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Amy Winehouse, More At Coachella 2007

• M.I.A.
• Pink Floyd
• Portishead
• Jack Johnson
• Raconteurs

Is Christina Aguilera following Britney's lead and heading to the altar? Rumors have been spreading that X-tina is getting hitched to her boyfriend, Jordan Bratman, after she started sporting some diamond bling on her engagement-ring finger, but both Bratman and the singer's representatives say that the rumors are false, and they're not engaged. ...

Aretha Franklin remains hospitalized at Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital following a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics, The Associated Press reports, but the illness is not expected to have any lasting effects. "I am resting comfortably and responding very well," the singer said in a statement. She felt ill after returning from a tour on Saturday and was subsequently found to have a reduced platelet count. ... Now that she's recovered from her knee injury, Britney Spears resumed her Onyx Hotel Tour Tuesday in Atlanta. Her postponed dates have been rescheduled, with the missed Chicago date now taking place April 13, and her scrapped Detroit show set for April 14. All tickets for the original dates will be honored for the new shows, according to her record label. Meanwhile, the full-length black gown Spears wears for her Showtime live concert promos is being auctioned off on eBay. The Roberto Cavalli dress auction closes on March 30, two days after the concert, with all proceeds benefiting the Britney Spears Foundation. ...

On Monday, MTV News mistakenly reported here that Outkast, Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys and Fefe Dobson would perform at the "TRL" Awards on April 13. While those artists will in fact appear on the show, no announcement has been made yet regarding performances. We regret the error. ... After a couple of memorable appearances in New York last week, Courtney Love called Howard Stern's radio show Monday and Wednesday to rant about charges against her, the coverage it elicited, and how she's dealing with the stress of it all, which is to say, not very well. On Wednesday, Love wept about Michelle Malkin's syndicated op-ed piece that ran in hundreds of newspapers that day, accusing her of being out of control and closing with the comment, "Poor little Frances counts the days until she officially becomes an orphan." Love sobbed on Stern, "I want to retire, I want to go to France ... get my kid and go." After she regained a bit of composure, she added, "I don't care what they say about me, as long as they don't talk about the kid." ...

N.E.R.D. celebrated the release of their second album, Fly or Die, with a warehouse party in Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday night. The band performed an hour-long set at midnight on the back of a flatbed truck across from a half-pipe full of skateboarding fans. The crowd consisted mostly of local hipsters who were all given free tickets the day before the show. Backstage, Pharrell Williams confirmed that he and Neptunes production partner Chad Hugo have been producing tracks under a new name, though he wouldn't divulge exactly what it was. Meanwhile, the tandem's label, Star Trak, officially moves to its new home, Interscope Records, next week. ... Just three weeks before the Pixies kick off their reunion tour in Minneapolis, bassist Kim Deal will head out with her other band, the Breeders, for a jaunt of her own. Beginning Wednesday (March 24) in Fairfax, California, Deal and crew will play seven dates in the Bay Area and Southern California, ending with an April 1 show at Los Angeles' Spaceland. ... Meanwhile, the Pixies have been tapped to headline the Bumbershoot Festival on September 6 in Seattle. ...

If your dream is to sing next to a legend, you have a shot this week. Patti LaBelle is holding auditions for backup singers Thursday through Saturday for her upcoming world tour. Tryouts start promptly at 11 a.m. each day at Indre Studios in Philadelphia. ... Dame Dash just signed junior middleweight boxing champion Ronald "Winky" Wright to an endorsement deal with Roc-A-Wear's State Property clothing line. You may remember Winky wore the State Property logo on his trunks recently when he defeated "Sugar" Shane Mosley. ...

Chuck D isn't impressed with Kanye West's success. The Public Enemy frontman wrote on his Web site that he was wondering how "somebody gets top-notch producer credits for speeding up old records." He also questioned Kanye's rapping abilities, saying, "I think his lyrics are decent but 85 [percent] of cats rhymin' have the same voice with little difference in cadence. That's like the NBA having 200 six-foot point guards." ... Kurupt has set a June 29 release date for his latest album, Death Row Presents Kurupt - Against the Grain. The release is the first collection of original material from Death Row Records (apparently back to the moniker after a stint as Tha Row) in eight years. ...

Rancid's Tim Armstrong co-wrote the lead single, "What I Want," from Autopilot Off's major-label debut, Make a Sound. The album is due April 13. ... Dokken will release their new studio album, Hell to Pay, on May 18. The disc is the follow-up to 2002's Long Way Home. ...

Sting will tour with Annie Lennox starting June 27 in Camden, New Jersey. The 42-date trek runs through October 12 in Calgary, Alberta. ... About a month before his first album in seven years, You Are the Quarry, drops, Morrissey will set up shop in Los Angeles for a five-night residency at the Wiltern Theatre, beginning April 22. The album's first single, "Irish Blood, English Heart," has just begun to surface at radio. ... Early tracks by Coldplay, Bright Eyes, the Polyphonic Spree and Death Cab for Cutie are complied on Decade: Ten Years of Fierce Panda. The U.K. indie-label anthology is set for release April 20, almost 10 years to the day of the label's inaugural release, the compilation EP Shagging in the Streets. ...

03.23.2004

"Pass the Courvoisier!" That's what Outkast cronie and former P. Diddy parasol-holder, Farnsworth Bentley, will be demanding now. The dapper hip-hop dignitary has inked a deal with the cognac maker to become its pitchman. ... P. Diddy is suing an interior designer, Jennifer Post, saying the celebrity decorator conned him out of at least $25,000. Diddy, who usually finds himself on the other end of lawsuits, says Post unfairly jacked up her contractor's fee when she agreed to decorate the inside of his Tribeca home in New York. ...

Prince has agreed to work with a major label for the first time since the mid-'90s. Columbia Records will release Prince's latest release, Musicology, worldwide beginning April 20. The first single, also titled "Musicology," will go to radio March 29. ... A judge in Los Angeles refused to allow Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland to leave rehab to shoot a video for "Slither" on Tuesday, but she did allow him nine hours to do so on April 4, with certain provisions, a court spokesperson said. The judge also modified the singer's sentence, changing his remaining 180 days in a residential care center to 30 days in a hardcore live-in facility, followed by 90 days in a sober-living program. While in the latter, Weiland will have more freedom to come and go. After that, he'll undergo six months of after-care counseling and testing. If Weiland remains clean, he will be done with rehab in 10 months. ... Meanwhile, Velvet Revolver's debut album, Contraband, is now slated for a June 8 street date. ...

The recording industry filed another 532 lawsuits against file-sharers Tuesday (March 23), 89 of which targeted people who used the networks of 21 different colleges and universities in 10 states and Washington, D.C. Like previous legal actions taken after a judge ruled in December that the RIAA could not force Internet service providers to reveal the identities of its customers without a judge's order, the latest round of lawsuits are of the "John Doe" variety, meaning the action is taken against anonymous plaintiffs whose identities are revealed only after a judge decides they should be known. ... After a lengthy investigation, The Village Voice has confirmed with NYPD officers the existence of an intelligence unit within the force that monitors the rap-music industry. The acknowledgement comes in the wake of a recent report that the Miami Police Department also tracks hip-hop impresarios when they visit the Sunshine State. Meanwhile, Miami Beach's Black Host Committee, a local civic organization, has offered to educate police officers on the norms of hip-hop culture. ...

A bomb threat that proved to be a farce forced Limp Bizkit to cancel a concert Monday in Poland. The call was received two hours before the band was to take the stage, and more than 4,500 people evacuated the Spodek Sports Hall in Katowice after being told that a bandmember was sick. The bomb threat was not mentioned so as to avoid causing panic. ... Due to overwhelming public demand, most of the shows on the Darkness' U.S. tour have been moved to significantly larger venues. The band's opening show in Milwaukee on March 26 has been moved from an 800-seat venue to a 3,500-seater, and quadruple-digit changes have been scheduled in four other markets: March 30 in Cleveland, April 8 in Atlanta, April 11 in Houston and April 16 in San Diego. Overall, 13 venues have been changed to accommodate bigger crowds. ...

Ja Rule is being sued for $25,000 by Baltimore native Tony Veanie, who claims the violent images in the video for "I Cry," part of which were shot in his neighborhood, left him feeling "threatened, shot and stabbed." The video for the song, which is from Ja Rule's 2000 album, Rule 3:36, depict the rapper avenging the murder of a friend. ... Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger has been tapped to write songs for the theatrical adaptation of John Waters' 1990 film "Cry-Baby." The play, which is expected to launch on Broadway in spring 2006, marks Schlesinger's first foray into theater, after having penned tunes for TV (the theme to Comedy Central's "Crank Yankers") and movies (1996's "That Thing You Do!"). ...

Australian rabble-rousers Jet have assembled a seven-song album of demos and live tracks, but it won't be sold at retail outlets. The disc is available to fans who attend Jet's show and then purchase their album within a two-week period. More details can be found at www.jetkickedmyass.com. ... Good Charlotte, Jet, Something Corporate, Finger Eleven and Billy Talent are among the first crop of bands announced for this year's Edgefest, taking place July 2 at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. ...

The U.K. documentary "Police Protecting Children," airing on British television Tuesday, contains footage of Who guitarist Pete Townshend being questioned by police after his arrest in January 2003. Townshend claimed he was doing research for a book when he was caught visiting a child-porn Web site. He was formally warned and his name was placed on a sex-offenders register for five years. The filmmaker told a British paper that the Townshend footage was included as "a cautionary tale" to halt even the temptation to view child pornography. ... Three massive Rolling Stones box sets, collecting nine years' worth of the legendary band's singles, are on the horizon. The dozen-disc The Rolling Stones Singles 1963-1965, due May 4, features early hits like "Time Is on My Side" and "Heart of Stone," rarities such as their cover of the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" and three EPs never before released on CD. Singles 1965-1967 is scheduled for summer, while 1968-71 is expected in the fall. ...

Barbie is getting into the music-compilation game with Barbie Hit Mix, a 16-track collection of hits sung by kids so that other kids can sing along. Among the tracks featured on the album, due April 6, are covers of Outkast's "Hey Ya!," Hilary Duff's "Come Clean," Britney Spears' "... Baby One More Time" and Michelle Branch's "Breathe." ... John Mayer is the latest addition to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival from June 4 to June 6 in Dallas. Clapton, Mayer, Carlos Santana, Queen's Brian May, B.B. King, James Taylor, Steve Vai, the Eagles' Joe Walsh, ZZ Top and Vince Gill are among the other guitarists scheduled to perform at the Cotton Bowl for the event, which will raise money for Clapton's Crossroads Centre Antigua, a treatment and education center he founded in 1997. ...

Velvet Revolver's debut album, Contraband, is now slated for a June 8 street date. The group is expected to shoot a video for its first single, "Slither," in early April. ... Guster are releasing a DVD and live album in May called Guster on Ice. Meanwhile, the band recently finished a live/behind-the-scenes video for "Careful," the second single from Keep It Together. ... Guster have also been added to this year's Bonnaroo festival, along with Ween, Patti Smith and the Radiators. Bob Dylan, the Dead, Dave Matthews and friends, Wilco and Trey Anastasio are headlining the event, taking place June 11 to 13 in Manchester, Tennessee. ...

• Christina Aguilera
• Aretha Franklin
• Britney Spears
• N.E.R.D.
• The Breeders

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Photo: Interscope

"The Simpsons" may have rocked with the Stones and Paul McCartney, but when show creator Matt Groening was tapped to curate the upcoming All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Los Angeles, his musical tastes proved more esoteric.

Groening's initial list of bands for the latest in the ongoing series of underground music festivals includes: ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Breeders, Wire, Yo La Tengo, the Fall, Neko Case and the Boredoms, according to an event spokesperson.

The shows are slated for June 18 and 19 at UCLA's Royce Hall and June 20-22 at three other as-yet-unannounced venues. Also scheduled to perform are: the Bangs, Blonde Redhead, DJ Coldcut, the Danielson Famile, Melt-Banana, Jah Wobble and the Melvins. The event will include a tribute to pioneering psychedelic rocker Captain Beefheart, featuring former members of his backing group, the Magic Band.

The tribute will mark the first time Magic Band members Mark "Rockette" Morton Boston (bass), John "Drumbo" French (drums), Gary "Mantis" Lucas (guitar) and Denny "Feelers Reebo" Walley (guitar) have performed Beefheart's music together in more than 20 years.

The Los Angeles event will be preceded by a U.K. edition April 4-6 in Camber Sands, England, curated by techno act Autechre. The Magic Band and the Fall will also perform at that event, along with Public Enemy, El-P, Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, Kool Keith, Jim O'Rourke, LFO and several dozen other artists.

• ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
• The Breeders
• Wire
• Yo La Tengo

The Breeders' Kim Deal
Photo: Elektra

In their 12-year career, the Breeders have toured the world and played some of the seediest clubs in the process. But perhaps none is as scary as the joint they’ll rock when they stop in a small, suburban town called Sunnydale.

Deal sisters Kim and Kelley will make an appearance in an upcoming episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," according to a UPN spokesperson. The episode, titled "Him," is scheduled to air during November sweeps.

The Breeders, who in May released their first album in nine years, Title TK, will be shown headlining the Bronze, the nightclub where Buffy, Xander and the rest of the Scoobies like to unwind after a night of staking vampires and banishing demons. The band doesn’t influence the episode’s plot, however. They filmed their part September 20.

The Dayton, Ohio, quintet’s cameo ranks them among Cibo Matto, Blink-182 and Lotion as bands that have made visits to the Sunnydale hotspot.

In other "Buffy" news, the soundtrack to last season’s musical episode "Once More With Feeling," debuted at #49 on the Billboard 200 albums chart after selling more than 20,000 copies. The album features the show’s cast singing all the tunes, with musical accompaniment on the more rocking fare provided by A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese and Redd Kross bassist Steven McDonald, among others.

• The Breeders

Box Car Racer
Photo: MCA

It's Tuesday again, time push aside the old, dusty albums to make room on the shelves for shiny, new releases. This week's spotlight is on two-thirds of Blink-182, as Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker unveil the self-titled debut from their side project, Box Car Racer.

Though Box Car Racer — whose lineup is rounded out by Dave Kennedy and Anthony Celestino — could be seen as an extension of sorts to Blink, the music is darker and less poppy, as seen on their first single, "I Feel So."

The way Tommy Lee feels, predictably, is like rocking, and his new album, Never a Dull Moment is the perfect place to do it. Marc Anthony rolls out his newest English-language release, Mended, while the Breeders — Kim and Kelley Deal and their new lineup — make their way back onto the scene with their first album in almost a decade, Title TK. Word to the Holler girls.

Out Tuesday, May 14:

• Afu-Ra - Life Force Radio (Koch)
• Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men - Out in California (HighTone)
• Laurie Anderson - Live at Town Hall, New York City, September 19-20, 2001 (Nonesuch/Atlantic)
• Marc Anthony - Mended (Columbia)
  Read about it ... Mended Marc Anthony Releasing New English LP In May
• Patti Austin - For Ella (Playboy Jazz)
• Axel Rudi Pell - Shadow Zone (Streamhammer)
• Baby Anne - I'm About to Break (Moonshine)
• Bad Company - In Concert: Merchants of Cool (CMC Int'l)
• Long John Baldry - Remembering Leadbelly (Stony Plain)
• Bell Biv Devoe - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (MCA)
• Beyond the Embrace - Against the Elements (Metal Blade)
• Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Trio - On the Go (Jeems)
• Big Syke - Street Commando (RideOnUm)
• Box Car Racer - Box Car Racer (MCA)
  Read about it ... Box Car Racer About End Of The World, Not End Of Blink-182
• Breeders - Title TK (Elektra/4AD)
  Read about it ... Breeders Shout Out Tater Holler, Truck-Stop Knives, Beer Class On New LP
• Meredith Brooks - Bad Bad One (Gold Circle)
  Read about it ... Meredith Brooks Preps Album, Produces Jennifer Love Hewitt LP
• Buffalo Tom - Besides (Beggars Banquet)
• Burner - One for the Road (Artic/Crash)
• Capitol K - Island Row (XL)
• Ian Van Dahl - Ace (Robin's Ent.)
• Rick Danko, Fjeld & Anderson - One More Shot (Appleseed Recordings)
• Dayton Family - Dope House (In the Paint)
• D.I. - Caseyology (Cleopatra)
• D.I. - State of Shock (Cleopatra)
• Dio - Killing the Dragon (Spitfire)
• DJ Dara - Further (Moonshine)
• DJ Spooky - Modern Mantra (Shadow)
• DJ Teebee & K - The Deeper Side of Drum & Bass (Rockwell)
• Doc Martin - Sounds You Can Feel ... (Classic Studio K)
• Doom - Total Doom (Peaceville)
• Down to the Bone - Crazy Vibes and Things (GRP)
• Emerson Drive - Emerson Drive (DreamWorks Nashville)
• Engine - Superholic (Metal Blade)
• Bryan Ferry - Frantic (Virgin)
• Neil Finn - One All (Nettwerk)
• The Flatlanders - Now Again (New West)
• Funkmaster Flex - 60 Minutes of Funk Vol. 5 (Loud)
• Girlschool - The Very Best of Girlschool (Sanctuary)
• Goldfinger - Open Your Eyes (Mojo)
• Amy Grant - Legacy ... Hymns & Faith (A&M)
• Steve Hackett - Genesis Files (Recall)
• Hank Dogs - Half Smile (SpinART)
• Havalina - Space, Love & Bullfighting (Tooth & Nail)
• Hayseed Dixie - A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love (DualTone)
• High Violets - 44 Down (Reverb)
• Hometown Hero - Hometown Hero (Maverick)
• Mike Ireland - Try Again (Ashmont)
• Mason Jennings - Birds Flying Away (reissue, Bar None)
• Mason Jennings - Mason Jennings (reissue, Bar None)
• Juanes - Un Día Normal (Circo/Universal)
• Kage - Big Big (Rocwilda)
• Killingbird - Killingbird (Two K Sounds)
• Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing (Roadrunner)
• Patti LaBelle - Over the Rainbow (Spy)
• Lady May - May Day (Arista)
  Read about it ... Lady May + Rob Jackson = 'Boom, Boom, Boom'
• Tommy Lee - Never a Dull Moment (MCA)
  Read about it ... Tommy Lee Hitting The Road In May
• Phil Lesh & Friends - There and Back Again (Lapis/Columbia)
• Little Big Town - Little Big Town (Monument)
• Madd Nation - World Gone Madd (Warlock)
• Marley Marl - The Best of Cold Chillin' Volumes 1 & 2 (Landspeed)
• McBride and the Ride - Amarillo Sky (DualTone)
• MFSB - MFSB (reissue, Legacy)
• Mondo Grosso - MG4R (Red Dance)
• Motörhead - The Very Best of Motörhead (Sanctuary)
• MXPX - Ten Years and Running (Tooth & Nail)
• Natas - Godlike (Number 6)
• Randy Newman - Good Old Boys (reissue, Rhino)
• Randy Newman - Sail Away (reissue, Rhino)
• Heather Nova - South (V2)
• Gary Numan - Dark Wonders (Recall)
• Out to Win - Persist & Destroy (Triple Crown)
• Billy Paul - 360 Degrees of Billy Paul (reissue, Legacy)
• Teddy Pendergrass - From Teddy with Love (Razor & Tie)
• Billy Preston - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (A&M)
• Tito Puente - Live at the Playboy Jazz Festival (Playboy Jazz)
• Pulp - We Love Life (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
• Amy Rigby - The Mod Housewife Anthology (Koch)
• Duke Robillard - Living With the Blues (Stony Plain)
• Rubyhorse - Rise (Island)
• Saints - Spit the Blues Out (Raven)
• Michael Schenker - Thank You, Vol. 2 (Steamhammer)
• Paul Schwartz Project - Earthbound (Windham Hill)
• Christophe Schweitzer Normal Garden - Physique (OmniTone)
• Dave Seaman - Global Underground 022: Melbourne (Global Underground)
• The Selecter - Perform the Trojan Songbook Vol. 1 (reissue, Trojan)
• Serberus - Descension (Crash)
• Roxanne Shanté - Best of Cold Chillin' (Landspeed)
• Todd Sheaffer - Dream of Love (Bos Music)
• Slowdeck - Multiple Offenses (Waveform)
• Something Corporate - Leaving Through the Window (MCA)
  Read about it ... Something Corporate Take Down The Shermanator, Take Home A Playmate
• Soul Hooligan - Music Like Dirt (Maverick)
• The Specials - In the Studio (reissue, Chrysalis)
• The Specials - More Specials (reissue, Chrysalis)
• The Specials - Skinhead Girl (Chrysalis)
• The Specials - The Specials (reissue, Chrysalis)
• Speedy J - Bugmod (EP) (NovaMute)
• Rick Springfield - Speak to the Sky (Laserlight)
• The Staple Singers - Let's Do It Again (reissue, Spy)
• Steven - Future Home of Burbank Elks (Slabco)
• Superjoint Ritual - Use Once and Destroy (Sanctuary)
• Take 6 - Beautiful World (Warner Bros.)
• Telepopmusik - Genetic World (Capitol)
• Danny Tenaglia - Back to Basics (Six-Eleven)
• The The - 45 RPM: The Singles (Legacy)
• Tiara - Titletron (Grand Theft Autumn)
• Kevin Tihista - Judo (Parasol)
• Mary Timony - The Golden Dove (Matador)
• Tram - A Kind of Closure (Jetset)
• The Trammps - Trammps (reissue, Legacy)
• Tre-8 - 2 Hot 4 TV (Major Ent.)
• Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth (Sub Pop)
  Read about it ... Side Project From Modest Mouse Singer Is Typically Twisted
• Uriah Heep - The Very Best of Uriah Heep (Sanctuary)
• Various artists - Big Beat Classic Dance (Big Beat)
• Various artists - Big Beat Future Classics (Big Beat)
• Various artists - Big Beat Urban Classics (Big Beat)
• Various artists – "The Blue Planet" soundtrack (Koch Progressive)
• Various artists – "Bob the Builder" soundtrack (Koch)
• Various artists – "Dogtown & Z-Boys" soundtrack (Universal)
• Various artists - Electronic Tribute to the Grateful Dead (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Exposure 2 (4 Foot Eleven)
• Various artists - A Great Night in Harlem (Playboy Jazz)
• Various artists - Lost Gems (Laserlight)
• Various artists - Metal Years: Gothic Doom (Spitfire)
• Various artists - Metal Years: Power Metal (Spitfire)
• Various artists - Metal Years: Progressive Metal (Spitfire)
• Various artists - NASCAR - Crank It Up (MCA)
  Read about it ... Slipknot, Staind Gear Up For NASCAR Comp
• Various artists - Off the Hook: Now Presents Urban Hits (Columbia)
  Read about it ... Now That's What I Call Hip-Hop
• Various artists - Philadelphia Classics (Legacy)
• Various artists - Progressive Trance America 001 (Water Music)
• Various artists - Pure '80s Rocks (Universal)
• Various artists – "Undercover Brother" soundtrack (Hollywood)
  Read about it ... Snoop Dogg Gets Funky On 'Undercover Brother' Soundtrack
• Vomitory - Blood Rapture (Metal Blade)
• X - Ain't Love Grand (reissue, Rhino)
• X - More Fun in the New World (reissue, Rhino)
• X - See How We Are (reissue, Rhino)
• Yes - Yestoday (Recall)
• Youngstah - Kursed (East Side)
• Zawose & Brook - Assembly (Real World)

• Eminem - The Eminem Show (Interscope)
  Read about it ... "Eminem Album Preview: Slim As Shady As Ever

• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit)
  Read about it ... Lil' Romeo Battles His Evil Twin On B-Ball Court

• David Bowie - Heathen (ISO/Columbia)
  Read about it ... Foos' Dave Grohl, Moby Are Bowie Buddies On New LP
• Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage (Universal)
• They Might Be Giants - No! (Rounder)

• Papa Roach - Lovehatetragedy (DreamWorks)
  Read about it ... Papa Roach Distance Themselves From Rap-Metal Peers On New LP
• Swizz Beatz - G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories (DreamWorks)
  Read about it ... Swizz Beatz Unveils Metallica/Ja Rule Track, Sets 'Guilty' Single

• Boy George - Night Out (Moonshine)
• Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip (Island/Def Jam)
  Read about it ... Jerry Cantrell Conjures Ghost Of Alice In Chains On New LP
• Solange Knowles - Solo Star (Columbia)
  Read about it ... Solange, Beyonce's Lil' Sis, Says She's No Destiny's Child

• Box Car Racer
• blink-182
• Tommy Lee
• Marc Anthony
• The Breeders

The Breeders
Photo: Elektra

Considering their last album was released in 1993, you'd think the Breeders could have come up with an album title in that time. Instead, they named their new release Title TK, which in journalism jargon means "title to come" — used when information is still forthcoming.

As coolly detached as she is, frontwoman Kim Deal wasn't being a slacker. This title was conceived even before this album, due May 21, was.

"I always thought Title TK sounded cool. Even when Last Splash didn't have a name, I thought I'd call it Title TK, but I didn't use it then. And then for this one, I was like, 'I could use Title TK and that would be funny because it reeeally is truuue,' " Deal said, laughing. "It sounds like a championship of procrastination and ..." she trailed off, appropriately.

The Breeders' Pod (1990) and SafariEP (1992) got little attention from mainstream listeners. It wasn't until Last Splash, known for the breakout single "Cannonball" and its accompanying music video directed by Spike Jonze (Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim) and Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, did the group hit it big — for an indie band.

Then they fell off the face of the earth.

It's nearly 10 years later and the Breeders, still anchored by Kim Deal and, to a lesser extent, her twin sister Kelley, are back. The Deals have traded in all of the old bandmembers — Tanya Donelly, Josephine Wiggs, Carrie Bradley, Jim MacPherson and Britt Walford — for ex-members of the L.A. punk rock band Fear: Richard Presley, Mondo Lopez and their friend Jose Medeles (see "Breeders Days Away From Completing New LP").

"See, I couldn't find a band for a while," Deal said, explaining the group's absence. "I think it was because everybody was on their digital stuff, their Pro Tools stuff that was just coming out of the boxes then, fresh-smelling and everything.

"Musicians were in a room in their house, not in a room playing with each other," she continued. Then, in her best computer geek voice, she illustrated what she meant. "I got a P.O.D here man, we can just put it straight on to Pro Tools." She breaks the act to explain that that means, "You're just sitting there watching someone work a computer, which is so not fun. I can't even stand to see someone read their e-mail.

"So I couldn't find a band. I thought, OK, I'll learn to play all the instruments," she explained. No small feat, but not out of character for the tough-girl rocker. In the summer of 1999 she went to Electrical Audio, producer Steve Albini's studio in Chicago. She recorded three songs herself: "Too Alive," "Forced to Drive" and "The She."

"But what I noticed was it didn't matter if I liked how it came out, there wasn't a band around to make fun of me or for me to make fun of," she said. "If I did finish the record like that, how would I tour it? I'd have to get a band. What? Like a touring band? That's just weird. So after those three songs, I didn't go back and finish it because it didn't make any sense. I needed a band."

She found the members of Fear in March 2000. Kim met them when they were in New York playing a few shows. The guys were at Motor City, a bar on the Lower East Side, when Kim walked in to grab a drink after playing music at a friend's studio around the corner.

"The studio is called Loho," Presley said. "Which means ...?"

" 'Good luck' in Chinese," Deal answered assuredly.

"Good luck," Presley repeated, completing their little exchange.

"So," he continued, "she came over to us and we started talking and she said, 'Hey, I'm next door, you should come over and jam.' We were there till like 9 a.m."

Over the course of that epic jam, Deal first asked where the guys lived — East Los Angeles — and then decided to move there. Three months after that night, she showed up with all of her stuff and three songs from her one-woman recording session in hand.

Two years to the month after they met, Deal and the Breeders were back in Albini's studio recording such songs as "Sinister Foxx," "Little Fury" and "Off You."

" 'Sinister Foxx' is a name I've had since the '80s," Presley said, "and I thought it would be a good name for a cheesy metal band. And this is really bad, but this is for the kids: A year and a half ago, I got a DUI and had to go to court-ordered alcohol awareness programs every Thursday night. And [Kim] would say, 'Oh Richard can't come to practice, he's gotta go to his beer class,' " he explained, referring to the song's reference to his weekly engagement.

"And at a Breeders show in L.A., this friend of ours got drunk and almost died. So that's where the line about being at Cedars every night comes from because there's a hospital in L.A. called Cedars Sinai," he continued. "She's got a nasty scar on her stomach, they had to push her guts back in and stuff, so that's where we got the inspiration for the song."

As for "Little Fury," Kim explained that the title comes from pocketknives that are sold at truck stops with the word "fury" across the blade. "I thought it was funny that this guy called it his little fury and I was like, 'Yeah, you're doing great for yourself.' "

The opening line of the song and the whole album is "Round up holler girls," which Deal said refers to her grandmother's neighborhood in West Virginia — Potato Hollow — which is known around the way as Tater Holler. "I'm just saying, 'Hi, Holler girls.' "

" 'The She' has a cool-sounding organ on it," Deal said. " 'The She' is the name of a nightclub where my brother used to disco dance, he had the suit and everything."

"Her brother Kevin was a championship disco dancer in Dayton, Ohio," Presley said.

"He wasn't a champion. Did he win any trophies? He roller-skated," Deal clarified.

"Disco roller-skate?" Presley joked. "With the pulled-up socks and the Jack Tripper shorts?"

Giggles all around and then, trying to stifle them, Deal said, "So that's 'The She.' "

The first single from Title TK, "Off You," features what Deal refers to as "that noise."

"We were at the studio. 'Off You' sounds good. The bass is done, the guitar is done. Then Kelley wanted to play bass pedals. It came out as so obviously not a noise that would go with the song, but it sounded cool."

"It sounds like some science fiction thing," Presley said.

"Yeah," Deal said. "Whenever I hear it, I say, 'Kelley's landed.' "

Giggles again, ending TK.

• The Breeders

R. Kelly, Lifehouse and Gloria Estefan have been added to the list of performers for the Olympic Winter Games events. Kelly will sing at opening ceremonies Friday (February 8), Lifehouse will play at Olympic Medals Plaza on Sunday and Estefan will partake in closing ceremonies on February 24. ... Title TK, the Breeders' first album since 1993's Last Splash, will hit stores May 21. Sisters Kim and Kelley Deal and their new band, currently in the midst of a club tour, will launch another outing come summer, according to Elektra Records. ... Henry Rollins, X frontwoman Exene Cervenka and MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer will share the bill next month in Los Angeles to benefit three young Arkansas men convicted of murder. The show, set for the Troubadour on March 8, will benefit the legal defense fund of the West Memphis Three, whose case was chronicled in the 1996 documentary "Paradise Lost." ...

That '80s show: Synth-poppers Depeche Mode have announced a special "One Night in Paris, the Exciter Tour" Pay-Per-View concert debuting Friday, March 8 on iN, TVN, Echostar and DirecTV. Directed by Grammy-nominated Anton Corbijn, the show was recorded at the sold-out Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy during the band's 2001 Exciter world tour. ... On Wednesday, an L.A. Superior Court judge ruled that ex-Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy must stop using the band's name and logo. The judge also ruled that Pearcy must hand over all the money he earned while billing himself as "Stephen Pearcy and Ratt" to his former bandmates, who have also been touring as Ratt. Ironically, the decision stemmed from a suit Pearcy filed last year to gain sole ownership of the name. The judge determined that Pearcy's claims against his former comrades were without merit because he vacated the band of his own accord, leaving guitarist Warren DeMartini and drummer Bobby Blotzer as the sole holders of the Ratt trademark. ... Rhett Miller, frontman for the alt.country outfit Old 97's, has announced plans to begin recording his first solo album. ...

• R. Kelly
• Lifehouse
• The Breeders
• Henry Rollins
• Gloria Estefan

Jason Newsted
Photo: MTV

From Jason Newsted's jaw-dropping departure from Metallica to At the Drive-In going on an "indefinite hiatus" at the peak of their popularity, 2001 certainly had its share of personnel shakeups and band breakups.

Only time will tell if some bandmembers are as replaceable as dead batteries or whether they were, in fact, the real power source of the group. And sometimes retirement is only as long as a much-needed vacation, as the Breeders proved most recently when they regrouped for a new album and tour (see "Breeders Reunion Spawns Monthlong U.S. Club Tour").

So while there's no telling how permanent any of these changes may be, they were made, and the rest of us, like it or not, will have to live with the results.

Limp Bizkit Loses Wes Borland: In October, the often-costumed guitarist and rap-rock kingpins parted company in what the band's management called an amicable split (see "Limp Bizkit And Wes Borland Part Ways"). Just days later, Limp Bizkit announced their open-audition search for a replacement (see "Wanted Ill Guitar Player; Must Know Limp Bizkit Tunes"). Although a roving hunt was to commence in November, they've yet to hit the trail.

Meanwhile, Borland is working on an album with his new band, Eat the Day, composed of members from his Bizkit side project Big Dumb Face. Eat the Day's debut is expected to surface in mid-2002 (see "Ex-Bizkit Borland Digs In With His New Band, Eat The Day").

Metallica Bassist Newsted Bows Out: The year kicked off with some shocking news when Jason Newsted announced in January that he was leaving Metallica after 14 years with the group (see "Bassist Jason Newsted Leaves Metallica"). An article in the April edition of Playboy suggested that Newsted had always felt like an outsider, despite having a longer tenure with the band than original bassist Cliff Burton (see "Metallica Bares All In Playboy").

After leaving, Newsted worked with musical youths the Moss Brothers (see "Ex-Metallica Bassist Newsted Plays With Young Duo") and his new band EchoBrain and produced various projects (see "Jason Newsted Gets Buys After Metallica"). Meanwhile, Metallica began work on their new record in April (see"Shorthanded Metallica Enter Recording Studio"), and three months later singer James Hetfield entered rehab. He left the facility in December (see "James Hetfield Exits Rehab, Rejoins Metallica"), and a new album is expected soon, though a void in the bass slot remains.

Weezer's Bassist Goes AWOL: Bassist Mikey Welsh, who had replaced founding member Matt Sharp, left the company of Weezer in August rather mysteriously. After skipping out on a scheduled video shoot for "Island in the Sun," he went missing and later turned up in a psychiatric hospital (see "Weezer Bassist Checks Into Psychiatric Hospital"). The band named Scott Shriner of Los Angeles' Broken as a temporary tour replacement, and Weezer are now working on the follow-up to Weezer, a.k.a. the Green Album (see "Weezer Continue To Hammer Away At New LP").

Rage Against the Machine Working With Cornell: Following frontman Zack de la Rocha's departure in October 2000, the remaining members of Rage Against the Machine began working with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell in May (see "Chris Cornell To Rage With The Machine"). The group, which will not be called Rage Against the Machine, hopes its labors will come to fruition next year.

Guns N' Roses Reload With New Lineup: Although a new GN'R lineup was cemented in early 2000 (see "GN'R: Buckethead In, Freese Out"), it took some nine months before fans could see the result. Axl Rose was the only original member to hit the stage on New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, joined by guitarists Buckethead, Robin Finck and Paul Tobias, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pittman, former Primus drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia, and former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson (see "Rose's New Guns Unveiled In Vegas").

The group, minus Pittman, was said to be readying its long-awaited new album, Chinese Democracy, for a June release (see "Guns N' Roses To Release New Album In June"), but perhaps not surprisingly, the date has been pushed back indefinitely. A European tour was also in place, but that, too, was scrapped (see "Guns N' Roses Cancel European Tour — Again"). Next year will bring everything full circle, as the band will once again toast the new year in Las Vegas (see "Guns N' Roses Ante Up For Another New Year's Eve In Vegas").

Powerman 5000 Lose Some Juice: While retooling their new album, which once bore the title Anyone for Doomsday?, the rhythm section of Powerman 5000 pulled the plug. Bassist Dorian Heartsong (a.k.a. Dorian 27) and drummer Alan Pahanish (Al 3) announced in November that they were splitting with singer Spider One and guitarists Adam 12 and M.33 (see "Powerman 5000's Bassist, Drummer Split"). And though Spider said the split was amicable, he confessed that "Powerman 5000 will never be the same — it will be better!" The follow-up to 1999's Tonight the Stars Revolt! is still without a release date.

Slayer Drummer Gets Elbowed Out of Job: Slayer's Paul Bostaph, the band's drummer since 1994, was forced into retirement by a chronic elbow injury in late December, leaving the slot behind the kit open for original drummer Dave Lombardo to return. Lombardo's stint is temporary, however — he's on board only for the next leg of Slayer's God Hates Us All tour, which begins in January. A permanent replacement has yet to be named (see "Original Slayer Drummer Dave Lombardo Back For Tour").

Methods of Mayhem Rapper Departs: TiLo, one of the two principals behind Methods of Mayhem with former Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee relinquished his post in February to pursue other interests (see "Methods Of Mayhem Un-Rapped: TiLo Leaves Band"). Lee, meanwhile has been working on the follow-up to MoM's eponymous 1999 debut, which he hopes to have out in May (see "Tommy Lee Pulls In Incubus, Cypress Hill Members For More Mayhem").

Kittie Guitarist Goes Astray: Guitarist Fallon Bowman was unceremoniously removed from Kittie's lineup in August without any explanation from the band's camp. A statement issued by their label announced that Kittie are now a trio while emphasizing that sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander were always the creative force anyway (see "Kittie Guitarist Scratched From Lineup"). Guitar tech Jeff Phillips rounded out the group for live performances to support Kittie's latest album, Oracle, released in November.

At the Drive-In Take a Back Seat: The members of El Paso, Texas, rock group At the Drive-In, together since 1994, announced their indefinite hiatus in March, so that they can pursue other projects, such as DeFacto, a dub project consisting of guitarist Omar Rodriguez and singer Cedric Bixler (see "At The Drive-In Suspend Activity, Cancel April Dates"). Their last album together was 2000's Relationship of Command.

Static-X Score Some Dope: In January, techo-metal group Static-X replaced guitarist Koichi Fukuda, who announced his departure in November 2000, with former Dope guitarist Tripp Eisen (see "Static-X Finishing Album, Hire Dope Guitarist"). Eisen's handiwork can be heard on the band's latest album, Machine, released in May.

New York rap-rockers Dope then recruited guitarist Virus and drummer Sketchy Shay while moving bassist Acey Slade to guitar and filling the void with original bassist Sloane Jentry. They released their second album, Life, in October.

Bad Religion Reunite With Gurewitz: Original Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records founder Brett Gurewitz re-entered the band's lineup in May to write and record the two-decade-old band's twelfth album, The Process of Belief, scheduled for a January release (see "Bad Religion Reunited With Brett Gurewitz"). Drummer Bobby Schayer was permanently sidelined by a shoulder injury in June (see "Bad Religion Drummer Forced Into Retirement"), and Suicidal Tendencies drummer Brooks Wackerman replaced him behind the kit.

Savage Garden No Longer Growing: The harvest month of October yielded no crop from Savage Garden, as the pop duo of Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones went their separate ways after five years together (see "Savage Garden Grow Permanently Apart"). Jones is pursuing a nonmusical career, while Hayes is preparing to release his solo debut, Spin in the spring.

Wilco's Tweedy Weeds Out Members: The only members left from Wilco's original lineup are frontman Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt after two torches were passed to successors. Drummer Ken Coomer was replaced in January by Glenn Kotche, and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett quit the band in July, allowing Leroy Bach to climb aboard. After being dropped from longtime label Reprise, the quartet streamed their new album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, online while searching for a new home (see "Wilco Stream New Album Online While Shopping For Label"), which they found at Nonesuch. The group's fourth album is due in April.

Fu Manchu Drummer Hits the Road: After receiving some mainstream recognition with last year's King of the Road, Fu Manchu said goodbye to drummer Brant Bjork, who quit the stoner-rock quartet in November to pursue other endeavors. Before leaving, he had already recorded his parts for Fu's forthcoming seventh album, California Crossing, due February 5. A replacement drummer has been selected but not yet announced.

Our Lady Peace Guitarist Departs: Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace got a little less tranquil when founding guitarist Mike Turner announced his departure in December, citing musical and creative differences. The band has been working on its fifth album, the follow-up to the conceptual Spiritual Machines, in Maui, Hawaii, with producer Bob Rock, and will continue to labor away in January. A six-string successor has not been named.

You Tell Us:

What shakeup or breakup will have the most lasting effect on music? Voice your opinion in You Tell Us.

• Metallica
• Limp Bizkit
• The Breeders
• Weezer
• Rage Against the Machine

The Breeders' Kim Deal
Photo: Elektra

The Breeders will launch their first club tour in more than eight years on January 28 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The monthlong trek includes two nights in New York and wraps up February 28 in Anaheim, California, an Elektra Records spokesperson said Friday (December 14).

The Breeders went on hiatus after the release of 1993's Last Splash until founder Kim Deal, formerly of the Pixies, convinced her twin sister, Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal, to play on some tracks she had written in 1999. (Kelley replaced original Breeders guitarist Tanya Donelly.)

The sisters Deal recruited guitarist Richard Presley, bassist Mando Lopez and drummer Jose Medeles to round out a new Breeders lineup late last year, and the band has since recorded an album in Chicago with longtime Pixies/Breeders producer Steve Albini (see "Breeders Days Away From Completing New LP"). They have also played a handful of shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago (see "Breeders Resurface At Surprise Show").

Title TK, the follow-up to Last Splash, will be released next year on 4AD in the U.K., and possibly on Elektra Records in the United States, though the label spokesperson said nothing has been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Donelly, formerly of the Throwing Muses and Belly, will release her second solo album, Beautysleep, on February 19 and plans to tour in support of the disc.

Breeders tour dates, according to Elektra Records:

• 1/28 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad

• 1/30 - Austin, TX @ Emo's

• 1/31 - Dallas, TX @ Trees

• 2/1 - Houston, TX @ Engine Room

• 2/2 - New Orleans, LA @ Shim Sham Club

• 2/4 - Atlanta, GA @ Echo Lounge

• 2/6 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle

• 2/7 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar

• 2/8 - Philadelphia, PA @ North Star

• 2/9 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

• 2/11 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

• 2/12 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Club

• 2/14 - Columbus, OH @ Little Brother's

• 2/15 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

• 2/16 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick

• 2/18 - Chicago, IL @ The Abbey Pub

• 2/20 - Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar

• 2/22 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater

• 2/23 - Fort Collins, CO @ Starlight

• 2/27 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah

• 2/28 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

• The Breeders