Viva! La Woman - Cibo Matto
Timeless - Goldie
Rapture - Peter Mulvey
Wee Willy's Wizzer - Obvious Necessity
Salt Peter - Ruby
Marina - Speed The Plough
Brief Reviews of releases by the following: Haze, Kathy McCarty, Alison Pipitone, Butterflies, Super Friendz, Neros Rome, Siberia, Pulp, The Delilahs, Holiday Flyer, Brian Stevens, Speech, Groovy, Stuart Moxham, Ruby Falls, Yanti Arafin, Supernova, Vodka, Joe Christmas, Anders Osborne, Sandy Dirt, Mike Scott, Potato Eaters, Iodine, Wannabes, Teen Angels
The Colossal Saxophone Sessions
Several bands are in the process of calling it quits. All of the splits are said to be amicable.
Noise Addict will disband after some late February and early March shows in Australia. Ben Lee plans to continue as a solo artist. Perhaps that other band of Australian teens will take this as a hint.
Alternative Tentacles artists Alice Donut have called it a day after nine years and seven albums. They decided, after their 1,000th show (London - Nov. 25th, 1995) to go their separate ways and pursue other interests. They have a couple of tracks set for other projects, so their split should be a little less painful for fans. They've contributed a track, Moon Pieother to In Defence of Animals Vol. 2. They also have a track set for a split 7" with Killdozer. Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You is the Donut track, Conquistador, an old Procol Harum track is the Killdozer track. The 7" will probably appear under the name Kill Donut on Touch 'n' Go. The CD5 will contain a cover of Aquarius that both bands collaborated on.
Bob Mould is now a solo artist once again. Sugar, after 5 years and several albums, singles/EPs, is no more. Mould has a solo album in the can which will be released by Rykodisc in April. Bassist Dave Barbe is staying close to home with family in Georgia. He's also producing local bands and playing in a band called Buzzhungry. Barbe's family life makes it difficult to tour. Rather than replace Barbe, Sugar will simply no longer be. Drummer Malcolm Travis is leading his own band, Customized, a Massachusetts-based band.
Rave-On Records has two releases planned for April that should be of interest to Blues enthusiasts. New albums are planned from Satan & Adam (who have two excellent albums on Flying Fish) and Mike Dugan and the Blues Mission. Both CDs will include a CD-ROM component.