Primal Scream
Photo: Astralwerks

The name Primal Scream has always been synonymous with experimentation and rock-and-roll excess. Frontman Bobby Gillespie, who started out as a drummer for the Scottish noise-drone band Jesus and Mary Chain, has been a perennial force for nihilistic celebration, and the band's music — whether heavy-lidded and dancey like 1991's Screamadelica, swaggering and Stones-y like 1994's Give Out But Don't Give Up or harsh and electronic like 2000's XTRMNTR, — has been a stupefying soundtrack for altered states and dying brain cells.

It's no surprise then that the band's new album, Evil Heat, is another colorful psychedelic excursion, beginning with the rambling lyrics, "Summer girl/ Suicidal beautiful/ I can see death in me, death in you/ Love is good" ("Deep Hit of Morning Sun") and continuing through a barrage of churning beats, whirring samples, buzzing guitars and dusky, echoing keyboards. Unlike many of the band's past efforts, however, Evil Heat was created without the aid of consciousness-warping chemicals.

"We've just got psychedelic heads, I think," Gillespie said in his working-class Scottish accent from a hotel in Europe. "We see the world in a very fractured way, which is why we make quite druggy music. But I'm straight, man. I've got a child now, and I don't think it's very responsible if you're taking speed every day when you've got a young kid who's 11 months old."

Primal Scream's decision to remain sober wasn't just a reflection of their personal growth; it had almost as much to do with the desire to avoid obstacles that have tripped them up in the past.

"If we were to get f---ed up in the studio like we used to, nothing [productive] would happen," Gillespie explained. "This time we were straight and it was good fun to make and really easy."

A host of special guests added to the excitement. Jesus and Mary Chain member Jim Reid sang on the jaded, electro-fueled "Detroit," which marked the first time he and Gillespie were in the studio together since 1985. In addition, My Bloody Valentine frontman Kevin Shields played guitar on the garage blaster "City" and produced six of the tracks. The other four songs were produced by Two Lone Swordsmen. Gillespie's greatest thrill, though, was working with former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, who played harmonica on "The Lord Is My Shotgun."

"He lives near our studio," Gillespie said. "So one day when I was a bit drunk I saw him in the pub and I said, 'Hey Robert, would you like to play harmonica on a psychedelic blues [track] we've got? It sounds like Captain Beefheart meets Throbbing Gristle.' He said, 'Sure,' and he was completely true to his word. We had such a great laugh that day, we were just ecstatic. We were laughing and chatting about music. He's got a very funny attitude about Led Zeppelin. He just makes fun of the whole thing, which is kind of good. He's a really nice guy. He's got no attitude. It was great to have him on the record."

Almost as surprising is the cover of the Lee Hazlewood song "Some Velvet Morning," which features guest vocals by supermodel Kate Moss. Actually, Moss and Gillespie have been good friends for 10 years.

"I met her when she was really young, and I hung out with her on and off," Gillespie said. "Last year we got drunk on the Eurostar train going to Paris, and we were singing Velvet Underground songs. And I said, 'We should do a duet sometime.' She thought I was just taking the piss [joking around], but I was serious."

• Primal Scream

New Order's Bernard Sumner
Photo: Donald Christie

New Order will ask fans to Get Ready, the title of their first album in eight years, on October 16.

The veteran electro-rock group recently added a last-minute collaboration with Primal Scream to the LP, according to their management. The track is called "Rock the Shack." Get Ready also features guest appearances by the Chemical Brothers, on an as-yet-untitled track, and former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, on "Turn My Way" (formerly "Shipwreck of a Broken Man").

Corgan will also join New Order on selected dates of Moby's Area: One festival tour, according to a publicist for the tour. More details will be announced later.

Another newcomer will also be on stage with the band. U.K. guitarist Phillip Cunningham will temporarily replace Gillian Gilbert, who is taking a break to care for her and New Order drummer Stephen Morris' 18-month-old daughter, who is recovering from a serious illness.

"Crystal," mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent (Massive Attack, Spice Girls), is the first single from Get Ready and will be released mid-July.

Other producers and mixers on the album, recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Wiltshire, England, include Steve Osborne (Paul Oakenfold, U2) and David Kahne (Sugar Ray, Sublime, Paul McCartney). In other New Order news, plans to release a live DVD filmed at a 1981 New York show and at Britain's Reading Festival in 1998 have been put on hold, the band's management said.

New Order also includes singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook, who, along with Morris, were part of the legendary post-punk outfit Joy Division, which ended with the suicide of singer Ian Curtis in 1980.

• New Order
• Primal Scream
• The Smashing Pumpkins
• The Chemical Brothers

Coldplay's Chris Martin
Photo: Capitol

British newcomers Coldplay and Irish veterans U2 were the toast of the 2001 NME Carling Awards on Tuesday (February 6), with the former taking home three awards, including Best New Artist.

Coldplay also won the Best Single award for "Yellow," and the band's live appearance on the BBC's "Radio 1 Evening Session" was recognized as the Session of the Year for 2000.

Following close behind Coldplay's hat trick were U2, who picked up Best Rock Act and the Godlike Genius award, which was presented by Aussie singer Kylie Minogue and Starsailor, a hot new group from Wigan, England.

In accepting the Best Rock Act award, U2's The Edge jokingly alluded to the controversy surrounding Eminem, winner of the Best Hip-Hop/Rap Act award, which was presented by Run-D.M.C.

"I'm glad we've won the rock award," the guitarist said from the stage, "because hip-hop is the devil's music." Other winners included Marilyn Manson for Best Metal Act, Radiohead for Best Band and Fatboy Slim for Best Dance Act. Primal Scream's XTRMNTR was selected as the Best Album of 2000, while Badly Drawn Boy was named Best Solo Artist. Rounding out the awards were the battling duo of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and singer Robbie Williams, who were tagged the NME Hero and the NME Villain of the year, respectively.

The NME Carling Awards are the longest-running pop-music honors in the U.K., dating back to 1953. They are voted on by readers of the British weekly New Music Express and its accompanying Web site. The NME Carling Awards, held this year at the Arches in East London, are generally viewed as a precursor to the Brit Awards, the U.K.'s equivalent to the Grammys. Brit Awards nominees will be announced on February 26 at Earls Court in London.

The complete list of winners at the 2001 NME Carling Awards:

Best Metal Act: Marilyn Manson Best R&B/Soul Act: Kelis Best Pop Act: All Saints Best Hip-Hop/Rap Act: Eminem Best Rock Act: U2 Best Dance Act: Fatboy Slim Best Club DJ: Carl Cox Best Club: Cream Best TV Program: "The League of Gentlemen" Best Radio Show: Steve Lamacq ("Radio 1's Evening Session") "Radio 1 Evening Session's" Session of the Year 2000: Coldplay Best Musical Event: Carling Weekend — Reading and Leeds NME.com Fans Award For Best Live Act: Moby Best New Artist: Coldplay Best Band: Radiohead Best Single: "Yellow" by Coldplay Best Album: XTRMNTR by Primal Scream NME Philip Hall Award for Brightest Hope in 2001: Starsailor Godlike Genius award: U2 Best Solo Artist: Badly Drawn Boy NME Hero: Liam Gallagher NME Villain: Robbie Williams

• Coldplay
• U2
• Eminem
• Primal Scream
• Radiohead

Fatboy Slim
Photo: MTV News

Previously unreleased songs by Fatboy Slim, Photek and Future Sound of London will be included on Rarewerks, a compilation of rare material on the dance-music label Astralwerks which is due January 23.

Rarewerks is the first in a series of collections Astralwerks plans to release highlighting rare and unreleased tracks from its artists' catalog. Among the other tracks, nearly all of which are gaining their first American release, are a Massive Attack trip-hop remix of Primal Scream's "Exterminator," from their 2000 album XTRMNTR, a Brendan Lynch remix of Air's "Casanova 70," from their 1997 debut EP Premiers Symptomes, and David Morales' "Latin Dub" remix of Basement Jaxx's "Bingo Bango," from their '99 LP Remedy. Sasha's extended trance remix of the Chemical Brothers' "Out of Control" will be released commercially for the first time on Rarewerks. The Fatboy Slim track, "How Can You Hear Us?," was recorded during the sessions for his 1998 album You've Come A Long Way, Baby, and was set to be included on the Amp 2 compilation, but "The Rockafeller Skank" took its place on the U.S. release for contractual reasons; "How Can You Hear Us?" remained on the album in the rest of the world. Also featured is the now-deleted Beta Band cut "To You Alone," a limited-edition single recorded by the Scottish quartet after the release of their full-length debut. "Live in New York" is the first release by the pioneering duo Future Sound of London since their 1996 album, Dead Cities. The track originally appeared on an advance sampler for their landmark 1995 double album ISDN, but wasn't found on its final version and will be available commercially for the first time on Rarewerks. Other notable tracks include a Groove Armada remix of Q-Burns Abstract Message's "Feng Shui" and French duo Cassius' remix of their own song "Foxxy."

• Fatboy Slim
• The Chemical Brothers
• Air
• Primal Scream

After detonating its new studio album, "Exterminator," during a recent European tour, Primal Scream is now setting its sights on North America, where the band will launch its first headlining tour in almost eight years on May 26 in Washington, D.C.

Primal Scream issued "Exterminator," its much-anticipated follow-up to 1997's "Vanishing Point," in the U.S. earlier this month, and the group is currently pushing the single and video for "Kill All Hippies," the lead track off the record.

For the upcoming North American shows, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield told MTV News that they plan to keep true to the postmodern, overtly political nature of "Exterminator," and even confessed to having a live agenda of sorts.

"We want to come here and smash it down," Mani said.