Coming soon...

Several of the bigger artists of the '90s have albums in the works:

* The Foo Fighters' new album Wasting Light comes out April 12. Krist Novoselic plays on one of the tracks, and Pat Smear is back in the band! Here's the first video, "White Limo" (featuring Lemmy from Motorhead)


* John Frusciante is gone, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers are in the studio working on a new album with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, formerly a touring musician for the band. Flea's Twitter is apparently the resource for recording updates. No release date has been announced, but the band is playing festivals in Japan in August and Brazil in the fall, so expect something around then.

* Radiohead's King of Limbs is out now electronically. If you want a hard copy, wait until May 9.

* R.E.M.'s new album Collapse Into Now comes out March 8. Four songs from the album have been released so far; I particularly like "Uberlin." Sadly, they've chosen not to tour for this one.


* Green Day will release a(nother) live album, Awesome as Fuck, on March 22. It has one new song, "Cigarettes and Valentines." See full tracklisting here.

This week in break-ups: Live! Red Hot Chili Peppers! Fuel!

* Apparently John Frusciante quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers a year ago, and forgot to tell anybody. The Chilis reformed with some other guitarist for a tribute concert honoring Neil Young. Meanwhile, Flea turned up over the holidays playing the Simpsons theme on Fox and backing up Josh Groban for a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the BCS Championship Game and is now part of Atoms for Peace, Thom Yorke's backing band, which is touring the US in April.

* That Live hiatus may be a lot longer than anybody realized. Guitarist Chad Taylor has taken to his blog and accused lead singer Ed Kowalczyk of stealing from the rest of the band. The non-Kowalczyk members of Live are in a new band called the Gracious Few, with Kevin Martin of Candlebox on lead vocals. Kowalczyk is doing a solo acoustic tour with Art Alexakis and the chick from Sixpence None the Richer.

* Fuel haven't been heard from since 2007 or so, and now ex-lead singer Brett Scallions and bassist Jeff Abercrombie have started a band called Refueled, which tours around and plays Fuel's songs off the first three (successful) albums. Meanwhile, Scallions' replacement, Tornyn Green, has joined a new band. Which would make one think that Fuel are no more.

This week in break-ups... the Verve (again)

* The Verve, who got back together in 2007, have broken up, again. This makes the third time, and once again, the problem is that everybody else in the band apparently hates Richard Ashcroft. The guitarist and bass player have started a new band with the lead singer of Goldfrapp, and Ashcroft is presumably returning to his milquetoast solo career. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure how big a loss this is; last year's reunion album, Forth, didn't exactly set the world on fire.

* Noel Gallagher quit Oasis after a screaming row with brother Liam in Paris; this conveniently came at the end of a year-long world tour and just before a scheduled hiatus. Apparently, Noel smashed up Liam's acoustic guitar during the fight, Liam didn't invite any of his band members to his wedding, and Noel is angry about Liam's clothing line. Liam appears to want Oasis to continue, and semi-hired guns Andy Bell and Gem Archer (all the non-Gallagher original members of Oasis have been gone since 2000 or so) are supposedly willing to carry on. The Times of London predicts the band will turn into Britpop's first heritage act, touring around festivals and state fairs playing the old hits.

* That Red Hot Chili Peppers hiatus just keeps on stretching out. Fresh off his supergroup Chickenfoot, drummer Chad Smith now has a solo project called Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. Their new album is all prog-rock instrumentals (get an autographed copy here, or if you'd rather, try to win a copy here). Here's an interview with Smith where no mention of the Chili Peppers is even made. That can't be a good sign. Meanwhile, Flea played bass for Thom Yorke's solo shows in Los Angeles recently.

This week in break-ups... Smashing Pumpkins

* Jimmy Chamberlin, the one non-Corgan original member of the Smashing Pumpkins, has left the band. This is the first time he's done so of his own accord (he was kicked out due to a heroin addiction in '96, but came back to the fold eventually). Corgan still plans to record and tour as the Smashing Pumpkins.

* Nothing concrete, but John Frusciante just released a solo album, and Chad Smith is now drumming for Chickenfoot, the new supergroup featuring Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, and Michael Anthony. And I haven't heard much from Flea or Anthony Kiedis in awhile. Are the Chili Peppers still together?

* Don't expect to see more Rage Against the Machine dates this summer, as Tom Morello has a new band called Street Sweeper that'll be opening up for Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction.

New this week... Reel Big Fish, Duncan Sheik

Last week's release schedule was so light, I skipped it. So here are the albums new in stores this week (and last):

Trey Anastasio, Original Broadwalk Style- Live album, previously only available on the Phish singer's website.

John Frusciante, The Empyrean- the Chili Pepper guitarist's 10th solo album. Really. Haven't heard the other nine? You're not missing much.

The Odds, Cheerleader- Canadian power-pop band who had brief success in the US in 1998 with "Someone who is Cool:"


Reel Big Fish, Fame, Fortune, Fornication- Oh, my. It's a covers album, including their versions of hair metal songs, John Mellencamp, and "Brown-Eyed Girl."

RZA, Afro Samurai Resurrection- Wu-Tang Clan mastermind does an anime soundtrack, with guest spots from a lot of other Wu-Tang alums.

Duncan Sheik, Whisper House- album intended to be a sampler for the next Broadway musical from the Adult Top 40 fave turned Tony award-winner.

Swervedriver, Mezcal Head- remastered version of the shoegazers' 1993 album, with 4 bonus tracks.

Thom Yorke, The Eraser Remixes- I believe this originally came out in vinyl last spring, but now it's available on CD. As you can guess, it's remixes of songs from Yorke's solo album.

Get some autographed stuff

If you're still purchasing CDs (I am, but from conversations with friends, I may be a little lonely in that regard), why not get some free stuff, too? For instance, available now:

1) Get an autographed booklet of ex-Radish frontman Ben Kweller's new country album.

2) An autographed booklet for Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante's new solo album.

3) An an autographed booklet for Roger Joseph Manning Jr.'s new album Catnip Dynamite. Manning's been a sideman for Beck and Air, and used to front Jellyfish, Imperial Drag (not to be confused with Imperial Teen) and the Moog Cookbook:

This week in reunions...

* The Red Hot Chili Peppers gave the impression that they were on "semi-permanent hiatus" after Stadium Arcadium, but now they're thinking about getting Justice (the French techno duo) to produce their next album (according to the Sun, Britain's third- or fourth-most reputable tabloid newspaper). So... I dunno. Does that even count as a reunion?

* Sixpence None the Richer got back together for a set at the Cornerstone Christian-music festival earlier this month after six years apart and are working on a new album. They've had three Top 100 hits; two were covers. Can you name them?