I never thought it would happen, but Yaz have reunited for a tour! Known as Yazoo outside of the US, the duo of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke are starting off with UK and European dates before coming to America in July. Six shows have been announced:

Jul 07 - Oakland, CA (Paramount Theatre)
Jul 10 - Los Angeles, CA (Orpheum Theatre)
Jul 11 - Los Angeles, CA (Orpheum Theatre)
Jul 14 - Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)
Jul 16 - New York, NY (Terminal 5)
Jul 17 - New York, NY (Terminal 5)

In a press release posted on the Mute Records website, the members had this to say about the tour:

Vince Clarke: “It’s been really good going back to these songs after such a long while. Many of them have never been played live. I’m looking forward to performing them with Alison for all the fans who’ve enjoyed our music through the years but never had a chance to see Yazoo in concert”

Alison Moyet: ”Playing this material live is not about revision for me, it is about finishing something we started – writing, recording, performing. Three parts of a whole. A salmon cycle. It’s like going home.”

The tour coincides with the release of a new 4 disc box set, “In Your Room.” For more info, visit the official Yaz/Yazoo website at yazooinfo.com

Electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk have announced a series of US live shows leading up to their performance at the Coachella Music Festival.

The dates are:

Sat 4/19 Minneapolis, MN @ Myth
Sun 4/20 Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
Wed 4/23 Denver, CO @ The Fillmore Auditorium
Sat 4/26 Coachella, CA @ Coachella Music Festival

For more info, visit the official Kraftwerk website at kraftwerk.com

DC’s Swamp Thing seemed like a rather unlikely comic book character to be given a live-action TV show, but the resulting USA Network series turned out pretty well. “Swamp Thing: The Series,” which originally ran for 3 seasons beginning in 1990, managed to capture the essence of the character and generally rise above the budget limitations of a cable series. It has finally found its’ way to DVD with a 4-disk season 1 & 2 collection. Actor/stuntman Dick Durock, who played Swamp Thing in both 80’s films, returned as the scientist-turned-swamp creature for the series. The tone was pretty dark and serious; a far cry from the campiness of 1989’s “Return Of Swamp Thing” film. In some episodes Swamp Thing would play a central role in the plot, while others focused more on his arch nemesis, scientist Anton Arcane. The show’s 1/2 hour format was a bit unusual for a sci-fi/drama, but this led to tight storytelling and more of a comic book feel. “Swamp Thing - The Series” is somewhat lacking in terms of DVD extras, but does present interesting interviews with Durock and original comic write Len Wein.

It’s been almost a decade since the last Shamen album (”UV”) and I’d been wondering what frontman Colin Angus has been up to (I knew rapper Mr. C has been keeping busy with DJing and other projects). So I was very happy to learn that Angus is back with a new musical project called Pablo Sandoz. While there are currently no plans for a CD release or live shows, music samples have been put online at pablosandoz.org. In additional, animator David Normal has created a video for the track “Pyramid”.

For more info on the Shamen, be sure to check out our 1993 interview.

Trent Reznor has released a new 36 track instrumental Nine Inch Nails album, “Ghosts I - IV.” It’s available in a variety of formats, including a $5 digital download, CD set, CD set with a data DVD of multi-track session .wav files for remixing, and more. On the official website, Reznor had this to say:

“I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”

“Ghosts I - IV” can be downloaded from nin.com, but the site seems very slow right now (possibly due to a surge in traffic?). An alternative is Amazon’s MP3 store, which has it for the same price. Click here to visit the download page.