Archived News from Ubu Projex

Date shown is the date of archiving.

The format is DualDisc. We do not have a copy of the production release at this point. One side of the DualDisc is a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound remix of the entire album, a 30 minute interview with David Thomas, as well as a new mastering of the original stereo album mix at DVD audio quality (96khz/24 bit). The other side of the disk is a cd audio format of the new mastering of the original stereo album (44khz/16 bit) playable on standard audio cd players.

David Thomas, who attended the remix session by Chris Haynes, reports: "This is the way we heard The Modern Dance in the studio... no, it's better than that, it's the way we heard it when we were playing it. The detailing is fantastic. The space reveals everything while still retaining the album's intensity and original intention. And the best thing is, if you want to hear something louder or quieter you just move your head a foot. Everything is there!"

Fan reaction:
Michael Trotier: "Nothing but praises for the Modern Dance dual disc. It is brilliant! Words cannot describe the beauty of the 5.1 mix."

Theremin Demo
On Monday, October 29th at 7:00 pm, Robert Wheeler will demonstrate the mysteries of the theremin at the Avon Lake (OH) Public Library.

Red Apple Boy
David Thomas contributes lyrics and vocals to a track called Red Apple Boy on the recently released The Book of Knots album, Traineater (Anti 86853-2). It's a project Tony Maimone is involved in and also features performances by Tom Waits, Mike Watt and John Langford, among others.

David Does Disney
David Thomas sang four songs for "Forest of No Return," Hal Willner's two act production of songs from Disney films, on June 17 2006 at the Royal Festival Hall, London. The four were "I'm Late, I'm Late," "Heigh-ho" as a duet with Nick Cave, "When I See An Elephant Fly," and "Pink Elephants On Parade." Keith Moliné played noise guitar. Other participants were Grace Jones, Jarvis Cocker, Baba Malle, Shane MacGowan, Beth Orton, Roger McGough, Chris Spedding and Marshall Allen.

Ubu Tour Dates
European dates in late April / early May have been announced. London date is confirmed. See Calendar Page.

Experimentations: Robert Wheeler will not do the April 2007 European dates. He is still a full and functioning member of the band - have no fear - but he will be replaced on synth duties by Dids of Gagarin, long-time Ubu and 2pbs soundman. Robert will return for the 2nd leg of European dates in May. Andy Diagram will join Dids and Ubu for the London show.

The Harry Smith Project
David Thomas contributes 2 songs to "The Harry Smith Project, Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited" (Shout! Factory). It's a 2-cd and 2-DVD release box set. On "Fishing Blues" he performs with The Mondrian String Quartet, Percy Heath and Van Dyke Parks to a VDP arrangement. On "Way Down The Old Plank Road" he performs with a band featuring Steve Earle, Eric Mingus, David Johansen, Philip Glass, and Bill Frisell, among others. His performance of "Fishing Blues" also features in video form on one of the DVDs.

Ubu on French TV
A short documentary including an interview with David Thomas airs tonight in France, Nov 14.

The Shape of Things To Come
There is a chapter in Greil Marcus' new book, "The Shape of Things To Come - Prophecy and the American Voice" (Farrar, Straus And Giroux) pages 201-259, devoted to David Thomas. The chapter is titled "Crank Prophet Bestride America, Grinning: David Thomas."

Trivia
Please note new addition to Protocols Page: Trivia Questions. We provide this heads-up to our loyal fans to give them an advantage (not that they would need one) during any Pere Ubu promotional giveaway contest on the radio. We care.

Pirates & Drunken Sailors
David Thomas sings two songs, "Dan Dan" & "The Drunken Sailor," on Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Shanteys, due for release Aug 22. Other contributors include Bono, Sting, Lou Reed, Bryan Ferry, Richard Thompson, Van Dyke Parks, Nick Cave, Eliza Carthy, and Waterson/Carthy. Interview answers:

Sea shanteys are a form/idiom we have visited over the decades, the most obvious example being "Caligari's Mirror," which is actually based on "Drunken Sailor." When you want a metaphor for the condition of humanity you can't do better than reference drunken sailors, mad ship captains, etc. It certainly worked for Herman Melville!

I didn't set out to do radical, simply to properly interpret the song, not as a museum piece but as contemporary folk music. And, uh, drunkards don't sing that I've ever noticed in neat musical syntax. Not down at my local anyway...

Dan Dan was easy, dictated by the lyric-- hard fast punk. Get in, hit hard and get out before anybody notices the mess. Mayhem R Us.

I actually haven't heard mixes of my tracks yet, never mind the album. I've worked with Hal on 4-5 projects over the last few years (Harry Smith, Firesign Theater, Nino Rota/Fellini) and when he calls I first say Yes and then ask what the project is. It was a great evening in the studio. Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Ralph Steadman, Ed Harcourt, Keith Moline (Pere Ubu), among others, were there and everybody was vibing on the chaos and spontaneity which is the modus operandi of a Willner session. Real seat of the pants stuff, playing with the best people. Dan Dan was the 2nd run thru. Drunken Sailor was the 1st or 3rd, I can't remember. It takes a special kind of musician to be able to deliver the goods that way and Hal knows all their phone numbers.

Ghoulardi
The text of David Thomas' multimedia presentation on Ghoulardi is now posted.

EREWHON Revisited
Cooking Vinyl has re-issued the first David Thomas and two pale boys cd as an audio only cd in a jewel-case. The original release was as a digipak and in the Enhanced CD format with a multimedia side. The audio only cd was remastered by David Thomas and Paul Hamann at Suma in 2005. The digipak/enhanced cd format was impractical to keep in stock.

On the subject of YouTube
We have informed YouTube they are infringing our copyrights by posting certain Ubu videos and YouTube has removed them from their site. Our policy as regards this can be found here.

WIHW in GERMAN LANGUAGE
A press release and German language press clippings can be found here.

Remix
A cd of WIHW remixes called WHY I REMIX WOMEN will be sold as a concert merch item and by mail order only. The remixes are by Keith Moline, Michele Temple, and Gagarin, as well as an album alternative mix by David Thomas. Release will be simultaneous with the Pere Ubu tour of Europe.

Reactions to advance copies of WHY I HATE WOMEN, the new Pere Ubu album:

Neal, the Ubu accountant reports:
"Flows like a river. Cool textures."

Charliedontsurf (webmaster at Ubudance.com) says,
"Well ... it looks like ... it seems that ... i have to say : forthcoming album is the ******* BEST ALBUM OF THE BAND, EVER!"
He has posted a review (in French) at his website.

Zouba, moderator at Pere Ubu Foundation, says,
"I've been mum on this so far, but um: Charlie is completely correct. This is clearly far and away the best piece of any of the 'modern' ubu era releases. Stellar."

Robert Wheeler reports,
"what a wonderful record. I put it away for a while and played it this last week. as good as MD or RGS but all love songs...
I like the proposed title."

Pere Ubu On The Air
Pere Ubu will be on Sound Opinions, the "world's only rock and roll talk show," hosted by Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune.

Saturday November 18th at 7 p.m CST on Chicago Public Radio. WBEZ 91.5 FM Chicago or www.chicagopublicradio.org

Saturday November 18th at 9 a.m. CST on The Current 89.3 FM, 88.7 FM Minneapolis

Sunday November 19th at 5 p.m. EST on WFUV 90.7 FM New York City

Wednesday November 22nd at 4pm AST on KIAL 1450 AM, Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, Alaska

The podcast will be available at SoundOpinions.org the Monday after it airs.

Pere Ubu Tour Dates
Dates are now finalized for the October European tour. We are disappointed to have a day off on October 20. We hate days off. They make us weak. Available on that date for private parties. See Calendar Page for state of play. A return to Southern Europe is under discussion for early in 2007.

British dates are at this point limited to Brighton & London. Special guest at the London show will be Stan Ridgway. See Calendar Page for state of play. More dates are hoped for in early 2007.

The first USA date will be a special all-Ubu double bill at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles on Oct 29. The first set will be a live underscore performance of X, The Man With X-Ray Eyes followed by a concert set. All other dates at this point will be concert sets. Dates in San Francisco, Chicago and New York City are now confirmed. Old friends The Bush Tetras (the ORIGINAL Nerve Gas Dancers) will be special guests in New York City. Two or three more confirmations are expected soon for the end of November. See Calendar Page for state of play. A second tour is hoped for early 2007.

Pale Gagarins
A very special one-off concert by David Thomas and pale gagarins will be performed Oct 4 in Madrid at the experimenta club. It's a partnership of David Thomas, Keith Moliné and Dids. Dids is the 2pbs and Pere Ubu soundman (Europe) who performs as Gagarin. Many of the European Pere Ubu dates will be supported by Gagarin.

David Thomas and Rodolphe Burger.
David Thomas and French guitarist Rodolphe Burger appear together again June 9 at the "C'est dans la Vallée" Festival in Ste Marie aux Mines (Alsace), France.

Ubu Lounges?!?!
They'll be sorry...

Director's Cut releases of RGS & PA
Cooking Vinyl USA celebrates the Pere Ubu's 30th year anniversary with the release of The Director's Cut versions of their highly praised and seminal albums of the 90s, Raygun Suitcase and Pennsylvania on Sep 6.

"The point of doing a Director's Cut is to benefit from that older and wiser thing," David Thomas explains. "We reviewed all alternate mixes from the session, sometimes discovering that an earlier mix turned out to be superior to the chosen mix. As well, 10 years later, we have access to improved mastering technology. Consequently, there is a greater clarity and cohesion to the Director's Cuts."

Reaction from the Pere Ubu Foundation newsgroup (Mr Eyesbleed): "I thought I'd get RGS first, since that's my personal fave Ubu. I've only played it thru 3 times so far, but wow..... big improvement! The overall sound is hotter & crispier & crunchier. And the extremely wacky guitar playing is more out front.... along with all the bleeps & blurps. I noticed more abrasive guitar & general wackiness than before.... MAJOR plus for me! All the guitar stuff is more out front.... I guess I never paid that much attention to it before, but RGS is the perfect mix of avant-guitar & surf-guitar..... & the directors cut seems to make it all sound that much better. So....I say HIGHLY recommended. Now I must get Penn."

Mr Gustav121 reports of the Amazon site, "You'll find the "Director's Cut" versions on the second page (of three) of listings. The originals are listed on the first page."

Charlie Dontsurf reports in:
"I recommend both Director's Cut Perfect sound, clearer ... you will discover again the songs On RGS, I particulary like the Robert Wheeler's work ... To buy them, I recommend www.cduniverse.com they are cheaper than amazon.com the albums price is 10.95 USD each at the moment (9.09 a month ago !!!) the shipping cost to Europe is about 8.20 USD for both albums Fast delivery!

New Pere Ubu Album
The recording of the new Pere Ubu album is finished as of Feb 6 2006. The title will not be announced yet mainly because David has made a possibly controversial choice and doesn't want to be bothered by reaction until he has to be. The song titles are Two Girls (One Bar), Babylonian Warehouses, Blue Velvet, Caroleen, Flames Over Nebraska, Love Song, Mona, My Boyfriend's Back, Stolen Cadillac, Synth Farm, and Texas Overture. The album represents a new branch of Pere Ubu song cycles. Release is scheduled for September 19 2006. Guest musicians include Rodolphe Burger, Jack Kidney, Robert Kidney, and Andy Diagram. Michele Temple contributes a lead vocal.

Cloudland on Demand
Philippe Murry (Charlie Dontsurf, webmaster of the very classy French-language website ubudance.com), reports:

I was on Holidays in Wales and found in a second hand record shop a "strange" Cloudland re-release (2004) by Universal via a Made-on-Demand service! It's a cd-r with poor artwork (no booklet) with some info on the cd (in fact: a html file with the poor artwork...)

Phillipe goes on to note that though the disk sounded like a good quality reproduction there were pops and clicks on some tracks. It is the only Pere Ubu album on offer and it is the only known (seemingly) legal outlet for those wanting a copy of the record.

New Ubu
Tom Herman has left Pere Ubu. He has been replaced by Keith Moliné of David Thomas and the two pale boys. Keith has been performing as part of the Pere Ubu Film Group and made his debut as a member of the Pere Ubu Concert Group at the recent Moers New Jazz Festival in Germany. Tom, meanwhile, is moving his family back to Cleveland from the Oakland area.

Review of Pere Ubu live from the September UK tour.

More MOJO madness
The Cooking Vinyl (UK) press officer reports, "Just to let you know, MOJO will be using "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" on their July cover mount (out 1st June). The CD will feature U2's favourite tracks, both old and new - basically tracks they would put on if they were at home for the evening. The Edge chose your song.

Ghoulardi
David Thomas delivered a presentation on the influence of Cleveland monster-movie host Ghoulardi (1963-66) at the Experience Music Project Pop Conference 2005 in Seattle April 15. "A major hit" of the conference reports the Village Voice's Robert Christgau. A transcript may be posted at some point.

Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits poll has closed. Very interesting results. We asked for 35 songs. No surprise that the top vote getter was Final Solution. The most popular album was Dub Housing. The top songs in alphabetical order are:

30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Beach Boys, Birdies, Breath, Bus Called Happiness, Busman's Honeymoon, Caligari's Mirror, Chinese Radiation, Codex, Come Home, Dark, Dub Housing, Fabulous Sequel, Final Solution, Folly Of Youth, George Had A Hat, Go, Goodbye, Heart of Darkness, Heaven, Humor Me, I Will Wait, Laughing, Misery Goats, Modern Dance, My Dark Ages, Navvy, Nonalignment Pact, Oh Catherine, On The Surface, SAD.TXT, Slow Walking Daddy, Small Was Fast, Street Waves, Ubu Dance Party, Waiting for Mary, Wasted, We Have The Technology, Woolie Bullie, and Worlds In Collision.

That's 40 songs - not 35 - because the difference in counts was negligible for many of the songs. Many respondents pleaded passionately that this song or that song simply had to be included and inevitably these were not top vote getters - Postcard probably featured most often in that category. A total of 167 songs received votes. Every album is represented except for Song of the Bailing Man. It's top vote getter was Big Ed's Used Farms.

In the bubbling under category are: Big Ed's Used Farms, Cloud 149, Fevered Dream of Hernando deSoto, Goodnite Irene, Kathleen, Kingdom Come, Life Stinks, Smoke The BBQ, Vacuum In My Head, and Winter In The Firelands.

Jim Jones
Jim Jones would like to pass along his heartfelt thanks for the out-pouring of support (the Jim Jones Benefit). Unfortunately, a computer foul-up means that the list of donors and their email addresses has been lost so personal responses have not been possible. Jim is currently feeling a little better but he is facing 3 major operations. After a couple years of misdiagnosis it has been determined that he is suffering from spondylosis. Along the way he has suffered two strokes and undergone bypass surgery. On the up side he is being treated at The Cleveland Clinic and he has been approved for Disability Benefit and Medicaid. His medical bills will be paid. It can't be stressed enough how important the many donations have been as an interim, bridging mechanism. Thank you all.

Pere Ubu at CBGB's
Linda Dawn Hammond has posted a series of photos of Pere Ubu taken Nov 11 1978 at http://www.indyfoto.com/pereubu.html

Mojo NAP
This from the Cooking Vinyl press office: "MOJO magazine is celebrating the redefining and retooling of the punk ethic both in 1977 and today by compiling a unique CD focusing on the off-kilter collision of punk, funk and industrial malevolence.   They are going to include 'Non Alignment Pact'. The issue will be on sale on 2nd March (cover date April 05). Other artists on the CD include Wire, A Certain Ratio and The Fall with Radio 4, Interpol and The Futureheads."

ICFOS Hit!
The Pere Ubu tour of the 3-D version of "It Came From Outer Space" was a big hit. If Universal allows the print out again we hope to repeat the effort.

"Pere Ubu have created a sympathetic and subtle soundtrack which works with the film rather than stamping their distinctive mark on it." -- Lilly Peel, The Argus, 11/13/04.

"They turned a B-movie into a series of menacing peaks and troughs and the overall art experiment was very much a success." -- The Scotsman, 11/10/04.

"Ubu's driving industrial rhythm are pulled back into moody atmospherics and primitive electronic squiggles." -- The Herald, 11/10/04.

David Thomas, Monster
The Monster box has been reconfigured for re-release. Instead of a box it will be packaged in a 4-cd multiway jewel case with a slip cover designed by John Thompson. The Meadville disk of live David Thomas and two pale boys will not be included.

The re-packaging will make it easier to keep the box in stock by reducing the complexity and stock costs of the previous fabrication. The Meadville disk was dropped because (1) the 5-cd multiway jewel case is flimsy and unpleasing, and (2) Meadville was always meant to be a bonus disk. (In answer to the inevitable complaints-- you had 7 years to buy it...!)

Meadville will be re-released in some way at some point in the near future. Ubutique has a few of the original Monster boxes (with Meadville) left.

The Variations On A Theme disk has been reconfigured, partially in response to some fan requests. Some of the original 1983 mixes have been included and the remixes have been re-mastered.

The UK release of the Monster reissue was Nov 1 2004, the US release was Nov 11.

Wait For It
Tom Herman's first solo album for many years, Wait For It, has been released in Germany and is available via mail order from Glitterhouse and from Ubutique. Addresses in Europe should order from Glitterhouse.

"I Quit!" Shock
David Thomas has retired from singing because of punitive, racist taxes imposed on foreign musicians by Germany, Holland and Belgium.

"I will no longer tolerate the injustice whereby should you create music you are hounded and penalized by racist do-gooders," Mr Thomas said. "Whereas if you simply suck on the teat of the musical welfare state, i.e. if you DJ, you are not. Henceforth I shall suck the teat of the musical welfare state. I have become a DJ."

NOW JAPAN
Japan has joined the ranks of foreigner-haters and are surcharging musicians as well. All Japanese customers of Ubutique will have to pay a 20% surcharge on purchases.

German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese and Belgian Surcharge
Now Spain and Japan have joined the governments of Germany, Holland and Belgium to impose anti-foreigner taxes on non-native musicians playing in their countries. Note that these taxes do not apply to DJs only actual creative musicians who might have something to say. They are designed to exclude non-white and non-native culture. In America we call this bush-league, podunk... uh, déclassé. Racist also comes to mind. Penny-ante. Oh all sorts of things. In any case, because it is an illegal tax the tax authority of England does not recognize it and, therefore, will not give credit for it. Consequently, in order to claw back the tax, Ubutique orders from individuals in these countries will be surcharged, 20% on German orders, 25% on Spanish and Japanese, 15% on Dutch orders and 18% on Belgian orders.

The Rose & The Briar
David Thomas contributed a chapter to the Greil Marcus and Sean Wilentz edited book on the American ballad called "The Rose & The Briar" to be published in November by W. W. Norton & Co. The book's sub-title is "Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad." David's chapter is entitled "Destiny In My Right Hand: 'The Wreck of Old 97' and 'Dead Man's Curve'"

The books is 320 pages with contributions from R. Crumb, Dave marsh, Joyce Carol Oates, Jon Langford, John Rockwell, and others. A companion cd will be released by Columbia.

BBC Album of the Week
18 Monkeys was the BBC's Album of the Week for April 5 2004. "Strange, compelling, terrifying and great," Nick Reynolds wrote. The US release on Smog Veil is scheduled for Oct 19. In the meantime it can be downloaded from iTunes. See below.

iTUNES
Both Rocket From the Tombs cds are now available as MP3 downloads from iTunes, as are Pere Ubu's St Arkansas and Terminal Tower. The 2pbs' first album, Erewhon, is available from eMusic.

18 Monkeys, etc.
The new David Thomas and two pale boys album, 18 Monkeys on a Dead Man's Chest, is available in the UK & Europe as of March 29 on Glitterhouse. UK and European tour dates are coming together for May - June - July. See the Calendar Page. The US release date on Smog Veil Records is October 19. In the meantime it is available as an MP3 download from iTunes. A US tour is scheduled for October.

One Man Drives, etc.
One Man Drives While The Other Man Screams, Pere Ubu Live Volume 2 has been re-issued on Hearpen (April 5 2004) and is distributed in the US by Morphius Records. The 1989 release has been edited and re-mastered. It features tracks from the legendary 1978 London Electric Ballroom show as well as shows from Cleveland and Germany. Some day we will explain why there are, seemingly, any number of Ubu Live Volume Two's out there-- each correctly titled. None of this material appears on the Datapanik box.

Rocket Redux 2
The Rocket From The Tombs non-reunion continues to roll on in its inimitable non way. An album of studio recordings of the live set will be released on Smog Veil Records, Feb 24 2004, in the USA, on Glitterhouse in Europe and on Bomba, Jan 25 2004, in Japan. It's called Rocket Redux and features the following songs: Frustration, So Cold, What Love Is, Ain't It Fun, Muckraker, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Sonic Reducer RFTT, Never Gonna Kill Myself Again, Amphetamine, Down In Flames, Final Solution RFTT, and Life Stinks.

The genesis is as follows. Following the hugely successful June tour we decided to undertake a tour out west to complete a circuit of the country. In order to satisfy a stream of requests after every show, we decided to record the current set of material with the new band and sell it as a concert merchandise only item. Richard Lloyd engineered, produced and mixed the new recordings at his studio over a couple lost weekends. Along the way we got excited about the outcome and decided to release it commercially.

Clearly, credibility is stretched now on the official line that this is not a reunion. Nevertheless, it continues to be the case. Here are the unadulterated facts: (1) We really like playing these songs with each other-- it is satisfying; (2) The mix of personalities is about as stable as nitroglycerine; (3) We actually like each other as people and enjoy each other's company so the 8 flaming rows that erupt each day we are together in the same place at the same time are quickly forgiven; (4) It will not be a "real" band until we start writing new material; (5) This group of people may not be able to write new material together; (6) If we can't write new material of proper quality and nature we don't want to feel like we're stuck together-- we simply part our ways and say to each other, "It's been fun."

Describing the recent shows, David Fricke, editor of Rolling Stone, wrote, "No on else in American rock, underground or over, in 1974 and '75, was writing and playing songs this hard and graphic about being f**ked over and fighting mad. No one else is doing it now."

Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Rocket From the Tombs is not just the great lost proto-punk band of the '70s. It's one of the best bands of the 21st Century too."

Shape of Things
Morphius Records is now distributing the increasingly popular Shape of Things "official bootleg" cd. It should be showing up in the more discerning record shops in your neighborhood.

MC5 & Sun Ra Arkestra
David Thomas will make a guest appearance in the MC5 lineup that plays the Royal Festival Hall, London, on Friday, February 25, along with Handsome Dick Manitoba, Billy Duffy and Lisa Kekaula. The Sun Ra Arkestra will also be on the bill.

Gary Lupico passes away
A great friend of the band from the very earliest days and a talented songwriter / musician, Gary Lupico, died suddenly in Austin TX on Saturday, December 18 2004. A burst aortic aneurysm killed him. There was a memorial at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland Dec 22.

Greatest Hits
We have invited members of the newsgroup to participate (with very interesting results). Now we extend the invitation. As a long-term project we are looking at compiling a 2-cd Greatest Hits package. We'd like it to be a fan-driven thing as much as possible. (Since we actually have nothing like a "hit" in our catalog we will rely on the hit parade that lies in each one of your hearts... sigh...) If you'd like to participate please submit 35 Pere Ubu songs to directors@ubuprojex.net. The project will encompass the entire history of Pere Ubu.

Rules: (1) Only 35 songs; (2) Only songs performed by Pere Ubu; (3) No covers. Please write in the "Subject:" line of your email the phrase "Greatest Hits Project".

We hope to license individual Fontana-era tracks so these should be included in your calculations. We are getting a number of suggestions for formats, etc. These are appreciated and we are considering all possibilities.

The Immortals
David Fricke, editor of Rolling Stone magazine, raves about 15-60-75's Jimmy Bell's Still In Town in a special edition of the magazine entitled "The Immortals." This recording is one of the great moments of our culture. If you don't have it, find it, buy it. It's been reissued on David Thomas' Hearpen Records and is distributed by Morphius. The review is available on the Numbers Band website, which is a pretty interesting place on its own. Visit it. Please.

Slow Walking Daddy
Smog Veil, with the cooperation of spinART, has released a 7-inch 45RPM vinyl version of Slow Walking Daddy, specially edited by David Thomas for the AM radio. On the B-side is a live version of SAD.TXT from the Pennsylvania tours of 1998. Expect it mid-September.

ICFOS at The Ocean, Hackney
Last Week The Ocean went into liquidation. Pere Ubu's performance of It Came From Outer Space was cancelled by the accountants who are now in control. Please note that fans calling to The Ocean have been told that they were not the ones who cancelled the show. This is not true.

Bowery Poetry Club
David Thomas will give a spoken word performance at Bob Holman's Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (across from CBGB's), in New York City at midnight Oct 28 following the appearance by him and the 2pbs earlier in the evening at the Knitting Factory.

It Came From Outer Space
Pere Ubu construct a live, often improvised, underscore to Ray Bradbury's critique of post-war racial isolationism. Director Jack Arnold's 1953 sci-fi classic, It Came From Outer Space, is presented in its rare red/green anaglyphic stereoscopic 3D print. (3-D glasses will be provided.) Performing to a dialog only format conceived and produced by Marek Pytel (of Reality Films), Pere Ubu adds a throbbing atmospheric underscore featuring dialog restored and voice-over descriptions from the film's original Ray Bradbury script. A tour of seven UK select venues runs from Nov 5 to Nov 13 2004. See the Calendar Page for information on dates in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Brighton, Poole, Bristol and Warwick.

"1950s cold war paranoia with the dark vision of Pere Ubu" -- The Guardian

"The audience placed its red and green 3D spex upon its collective nose, and ducked and dived as shards of rock and laser beams poured out of the screen. David Thomas, old daddy Ubu himself, added some witty touches to the dialogue. This live band/3D movie thing could catch on." -- The Evening Standard

"Pere Ubu have raised the standard for live soundtracks." -- Glenn Max, Musical Director Contemporary Culture, The South Bank, London.

New web site
You might want to note the URL of the new Ubu Projex website-- the very place you find yourself now-- which is www.ubuprojex.net. The Suburban Home of Ubu Projex at www.projex.net has been abandoned and its contents transported in Big Black Boxes to this site and dumped into the Resources Page.

Summer Plans
As part of the "Celebrate Brooklyn" series, Pere Ubu will perform a live film soundtrack in Brooklyn on July 22 at the Prospect Park Bandshell to a screening of Roger Corman's "X, the Man With X-Ray Eyes." The band for this occasion will be David Thomas, Michele Temple, Tony Maimone, Robert Wheeler and Chris Cutler.

FLASH!
Pere Ubu will appear with Spiritualized in London at the Royal Festival Hall on August 1st as part of the "Heroes & Villains" concert series.

NINO ROTA
David Thomas, with the two pale boys, will perform in Hal Willner's production of "Perfect Partners: Nino Rota & Federico Fellini" featuring Carla Bley, Geri Allen, Roy Nathanson, Beth Orton, Roger Eno, and others on April 24 at the Barbican in London.

FIRESIGN THEATRE
David Thomas will be among those featuring in Hal Willner's tribute to Firesign Theatre, "Let's Eat-- Feasting on the Firesign Theatre," April 1, 2004, at UCLA in Los Angeles. The production also features Todd Rundgren, John Goodman, George Wendt, Loudon Wainwright, Howard Hesseman, Mark McKenney, Scott Wanio, Chloe Webb, and Stan Ridgeway, among others.

UBUDOLL
The extraordinary David Thomas and Jackie Leven duo, UBUDOLL, makes its long-delayed UK debut in March, having taken 5 years to play Paris, Amsterdam, Bergen and Oslo in the course of the slowest tour ever.

"An unbelievable evening of song, laughter, shouting and fear" -- Dag Bladet (Oslo).

For the London show Ubudoll will be joined on stage by long-time Jackie Leven sideman, Breton multi-instrumentalist Michael Cosgrave, adding keyboards and trumpet to their voices, guitar and melodeon. The material will be drawn from many points in their respective recording careers, and also from the Cooking Vinyl recording collaborations between the two men over the past 6 years: expect to hear (amongst others) Jackie singing 'Morbid Sky' from David's avant garage musical MIRROR MAN, and David perform the Rainer Maria Rilke prose poem 'Faces' from SHINING BROTHER SHINING SISTER, last year's studio album from Jackie.

Wasted
Monster.com, a headhunter net business, has been using bits of "Wasted" in their recent tv ads in America. We've had two requests asking for an explanation. Sample correspondence:

"I felt a shudder of disappointment, and then I chided myself for various presumptions. Then I determined to write to you and find out what's up with you letting your work be used in ads."

Thank you for your concern. I have to say I have a different take on the whole issue. Wasted appears very prominently in a 1994 Hollywood movie called SLEEP WITH ME. No one has ever voiced concerns about its use. The American corporation is held to a higher standard of accountability than the Hollywood producer and is more trustworthy. I am not claiming either to be paragons of virtue. I simply point out the relative standing of the two. We like selling things. We like the marketplace and we consider it a healthier environment than the realm, for example, of state-subsidized art. I really can't get excited about the track being used for a commercial. In any case, we don't own the copyright to that album.

Another fan weighs in: "If McDonald's were to give a free copy of Doc at the Radar Station with every Happy Meal, the fact that it's a great record wouldn't change."

And another: The juxtaposition of "Throwing time away..." and an advertisement telling me to "Get a new job" blooms very nicely, i.e., not always in the way Monster.com intends.

And another: It's true that if McDonald's gave away a free copy of Doc at the Radar Station with every Happy Meal, it wouldn't change the fact that it's a great record; it also wouldn't change the fact that it's a great product. I don't distinguish between Virgin Records and McDonalds; they would both be doing the same thing with that album. Similarly, the fact that Wasted is used in an advert makes no difference to its intrinsic value.

Sentimental Journey
"One Reason to Live" a show on London's Resonance radio (104.4 FM) on Sunday 22 Feb at 8:00 pm features David Cunningham, lecturer at the University of Westminster, discussing "Sentimental Journey" from The Modern Dance. The show can be listened to on the web at http://www.resonancefm.com.

Benefit for Jim Jones
Jim Jones is in the middle of several ongoing and serious health problems. As well, he is recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery on October 21. To ease the financial burden on him and to give him some comfort his friends are promoting a benefit. All proceeds go to a trust set up for him. The benefit is Sunday, November 30, at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. Rocket From The Tombs will be playing. Doors are at 7pm and the show starts promptly at 8pm.

We have had a number of requests to contribute to the benefit. There is a form to give by PayPal at the Suburban Home of Ubu Projex.

The New Salem Witch Hunters are re-uniting for the night to open the show

Saint Arkansas
The new Pere Ubu album is already gathering an extra special dose of rave reviews. Release date is late May (UK & Europe) and mid-June (USA & Canada). The title is St Arkansas. The band is David Thomas, Tom Herman, Jim Jones, Robert Wheeler, Michele Temple & Steve Mehlman. The titles are The Fevered Dream of Hernando DeSoto, Slow Walking Daddy, Michele, 333, Hell, Lisbon, Steve, Phone Home Jonah, Where's the truth and Dark. John Thompson is the art designer. David Thomas produced it at Suma and Paul Hamann engineered.

A St Arkansas Resources page summarizes the important links.

Read the incoming comments from our consumer family.

The Mighty Road Tour begins in the midwest in September. A west coast tour will be booked early in 2003. No European dates are on the horizon yet. The tour t-shirt designs can be found at Ubutique.

David Thomas and the foreigners
A new foreigners band tours in Denmark and Sweden in September. The group is David Thomas, Peter Ole, Jurgen Teller and new member Mads (bass, guitar, trombone). Dates are posted on the Calendar Page.

New Speaker/Cranker
The latest Speaker/Cranker live in the studio cd, PLUGS INTO THE AMPS, featuring Jim Jones, among others, is out and available from Ubutique.

St Arkansas Centerfold
"We enjoyed your choice of V-M the Voice of Music equipment for your new centerfold! It was built by hard working people who really enjoyed what they were doing and it has earned a reputation for quality, reliability, and serviceability! As the jingle goes - The Voice of Music - is the Choice for Music!" --Gary Stork www.thevoiceofmusic.com

Mirror Man: A Reading
David Thomas and Bob Holman give a two man spoken performance of the improvisational opera Mirror Man at the Bowery Poetry Club on June 13. See Calendar Page.

Ken Hamann
Ken Hamann, the engineer/producer for Pere Ubu's early singles as well as the Modern Dance and Dub Housing albums, died Friday, Jan 10.

"Ken Hamann, the Suma Recording Studio owner and engineer who died Friday, engineered some of the biggest rock 'n' roll hits to come out of Cleveland in the 1960s and '70s, from The Outsiders' "Time Won't Let Me," recorded in 1965, to Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" in 1976. During his years with Cleveland Recording Co., he worked on the Lemon Pipers' gold single, "Green Tambourine," and the Human Beinz' hit, "Nobody But Me," both of which rocked the Billboard charts in 1968. Hamann also played a key role in engineering Grand Funk Railroad's first seven albums.

"The 74-year-old Willoughby resident experimented with cutting-edge and sometimes untried recording techniques, often creating his own equipment to achieve the peculiar sounds that artists, like the James Gang and Pere Ubu, wanted." -- The Plain Dealer, 1/13/03

Rocket From The Tombs
The definitive and official Rocket From The Tombs has been released in the US by Smog Veil/Hearpen and in Europe by Glitterhouse/Hearpen. The UK release is scheduled for March 16. The US release will be as cd and as a double album. The official title is The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs. John Thompson is the art designer.

And exactly why is it that you don't...
"But really we should be in the business of selling high quality records with decent packaging not in the business of selling crappy MP3s and thereby devaluing the primary product." --Nick Hobbs, Ubu Projex

The Mighty Road Tour West
Dates have now been posted for the Pere Ubu western tour, Feb 24 to Mar 8. See the Calendar Page for dates in San Diego, Tucson, Albuquerque, Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco.

There will be two shows in Seattle-- a concert of songs at the Crocodile Club and the other a live soundtrack performance to a 3-D screening of It Came From Outer Space.

Disastodrome 2003
The full Disastodrome 3-day festival is coming to Los Angeles Feb 21-23, 2003. It is organized by David Thomas and produced by UCLA Performing Arts. Highlights of the festival include the American premiere of David Thomas' "rogue opera" Mirror Man, a one-time reunion of Rocket From The Tombs, David Thomas and two pale boys (with guests), The Kidney Brothers, Pere Ubu, Foyerdrome, datapanik options, and a number of special guests. Johnny Dromette will be on hand to take the blame for everything.

The Mirror Man cast is David Thomas, Frank Black, Robert Kidney, Syd Straw, Bob Holman, Van Dyke Parks, Keith Moliné, Andy Diagram, Georgia Hubley, George Wendt and Jack Kidney.

Rocket From The Tombs is David Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Craig Bell, Richard Lloyd & Steve Mehlman.

Complete Disastodrome Information, of interest to journalists especially, is available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.

Surf's Up In Bay City
David Thomas performs his theatrical "work in progress" in an intimate setting (capacity 45), Studio 1 at Battersea Arts Centre, London, for 2 nights Nov 26 and Nov 28. See Calendar Page for details.

Mind Your Head
Pere Ubu performs the live soundtrack to a 3-D screening of Ray Bradbury's "It Came From Outer Space" October 9th at the Royal Festival Hall, London. The band will be David Thomas, Keith Moline, Robert Wheeler, Michele Temple and Chris Cutler. The headliners are The Electric Prunes.

What, No Solution?
In the Oct 2001 issue of MOJO there's a big feature on the 100 Best Singles of Punk ("100 Punk Scorchers"). 30 Seconds Over Tokyo is Number 35 and Street Waves is number 27. Sonic Reducer (written by Thomas and Gene O'Connor) shows up as well.

Wilson Shute Bridge
They put up a sign about what they had done...

Ubutique International
Customers outside (or inside for that matter!) the US & UK can pay for orders with credit cards over the web using the PayPal system. See the Ubutique page.

Mirror Man pix
Images captured from videos courtesy of Danny Grace and Bob Teagan of the tour of Mirror Man. More to come. Given the time we will also put up some streaming video.

West End Boys
David Thomas and two pale boys are appearing in Shockheaded Peter in the West End of London until June 16 at The Albery Theatre, St Martins Lane, London WC2-- eight shows a week, matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and a 10pm late show on Thursday (at which all tickets are £15 regardless of location). The production consists of 10 "cautionary" tales adapted from Heinrich Hoffman's The Struwwelpeter.

The Guardian (4/13/02) gave it 5 out of 5 stars.

"Imagine an early-19th-century toy playhouse with fantasy figures dreamt up by a Victorian David Lynch. Other influences might include The Goon Show, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Monty Python, Goethe's Faust, Freud on obsessional neurosis and early Chaplin movies. I think that should cover everything and reassure the serious-minded that they can have a wonderful time with an untroubled conscience. A brilliantly funny evening." -- John Peter, The Sunday Times, 4/28/2.

"Thomas' voice defied convention, rumbling and swooping as trumpeter Andy Diagram and guitarist Keith Moliné employ a series of effects to warp and enhance each melody... He [Thomas] is a huge presence, dominating the toy box set and contrasting comically with wiry Julian Bleach, with whom Thomas appears to be curiously furious throughout. There are some terrifyingly volatile moments, particularly during Johnny Head-In-Air when it seems Thomas will actually attack Bleach. This crackling tension, Thomas' dark intonations and the Two Pale Boys' creepy creaks and chords render the show far scarier than in previous productions." -- Maddy Costa, Time Out, 4/17/2.

Harry Smith Project
David Thomas appeared April 25 & 26, 2001, in Hal Wilner's Harry Smith Project at Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles. He sang Van Dyke Parks' arrangement of "Fishin Blues" accompanied by Van Dyke Parks on piano with Percy Heath and the Richard Greene String Quartet. He sang "Way Down The Old Plank Road" accompanied by Smokey Hormel, Steve Hodges, DJ Bonebreaker, Eric Mingus, Larry Taylor, Van Dyke Parks, Richard Greene and Ralph Carney. He sang "Kassie Jones" along with David Johansen and Steve Earle, accompanied by Philip Glass, Adam Dorn, and Bill Frisell, along with members of the above listed band.

Surf's Up!
The raves continue to come in. Time Out goes bananas, "It is harrowing and haunting, beautiful and haunted stuff in which to both lose and find yourself." The Guardian rates it as "CD of The Week." The Independent is every bit as keen. "Amazing" is what The Wire concludes.

Just in from Daved Hild!! The verdict we've been waiting for!!

A FAQ page for Surf's Up! has been added with some interesting insights into the recording of the album.

Surf's Up!, the new album from David Thomas and two pale boys, is scheduled for release Feb 20 2001 on Thirsty Ear (USA), Glitterhouse (Europe) and Bomba (Japan). The Glitterhouse UK release will be March 5. The song titles are: Runaway, Man In The Dark, Night Driving, Surf's Up, River, Ghosts, Spider In My Stew & Come Home / Green River.

Glitterhouse takes over Jimmy Bell
Glitterhouse fell deeply and madly in love with 15-60-75's Jimmy Bell's Still In Town (Hearpen HR112) and have taken over distribution in Europe (except for Benelux) and the UK. Bomba have released it in Japan.

Mixing It
There's a short video interview with David Thomas for the BBC's Mixing It radio program.

DT on TV
Dutch tv channel VPRO broadcast a 40 minute documentary on David Thomas March 22. The series is called Lola da Musica. The crew followed David around Brighton for a week.

UBUDOLL on the web
The David Thomas-Jackie Leven partnership, UBUDOLL, can be heard on the web in a radio concert recorded for Dutch radio station VPRO on May 19 2000. The songs are Morbid Sky, Bus Called Happiness, Brunswick Parking Lot, Extremely Violent Man and Stranger on the Square.

French site
Charlie Dontsurf is the webmaster of a new site, in the French language, devoted to Pere Ubu. It is www.ubudance.com. There is, as well, a french language discussion group at www.egroups.fr/group/ubudance

Royal Festival Hall
On May 12 BBC-2 tv broadcast two David Thomas and two pale boys songs recorded May 4 for the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Festival Hall, London.

End of tour clearance
The Mirror Man Tour was a great success. Thanks to all who came. Some of you have noticed that a regular feature of end of US tours is a clearance sale of selected cd titles. Rather than return over-stock items to the record companies we try to blow them out at stooopid prices.

Therefore, until July 1 2001 and for those in the UK ONLY the following titles are offered at clearance prices while supplies last:
DUB HOUSING, £5.50
ART OF WALKING, £5.50
SONG OF THE BAILING MAN, £5.50

Mirror Man Dates Announced for UK!
The Contemporary Music Network is presenting a tour of Mirror Man (A Geography of Sound in 2 Acts) performed by David Thomas with The Pale Orchestra. It is a full theatrical production with an all new staging and new 2nd Act featuring David Thomas, Linda Thompson, Jackie Leven, Robert Kidney, Bob Holman, Daved Hild, Andy Diagram, Chris Cutler, Keith Moliné and Jack Kidney.

The Kidney Brothers (Robert & Jack Kidney of 15-60-75) play The 12-Bar Club in London, Saturday, May 19th, 10pm. The address is 22-23 Denmark Place (near Leicester Square). The phone is 020 7916-6989. Highly recommended.

Moers Jazz Festival
David Thomas and two pale boys play Moers, Germany, on June 4.

Double Trouble
There's a chapter on Pere Ubu's Pennsylvania (pgs. 163-69) and most of a chapter on David Thomas and the two pale boys' Meadville (pgs. 141-145) in Greil Marcus' new book, "Double Trouble." It's published by Faber & Faber (2000) in the UK and by Henry Holt (2000) in the US.

Rough Trade Days
Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade Records, was heard on London radio station XFM recently on a program celebrating the 25 years of Rough Trade. "If I had to play one single which summed up what we were about when we started," he said, "It'd be this one." He then played 30 Seconds Over Tokyo. "The first 3 singles on Hearpen were probably the best 3 singles ever released on an independent label," he said.

30 Seconds Over Tokyo is included in the box set "25 Years of Rough Trade Shops" (Mute CDSTUMM 191).

Total Meltdown
David Thomas and two pale boys appear with Elvis Costello, Nick Cave and Laurie Anderson in concert Friday June 4 at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of the RFH's 50th Year Celebrations. The bill features the curators of the RFH's previous meltdown festivals. John Peel and Daniel Miller (of Mute) will emcee and dj.

Sisters of Mercy
Andrew Eldritch personally invited David Thomas and two pale boys to be the special guests of the Sisters of Mercy on a short tour in England in February. The 2pbs will play a 40 minute set starting promptly 30 minutes after doors open (usually at 7pm) except at the London shows where it will be a 30 minute set.

2pbs on Mixing It
Excerpts from the David Thomas and two pale boys show at Dingwalls in London will be aired on Mixing It, BBC Radio 3, Saturday Jan 27 at 10:50pm, frequency 91 - 93 FM.

End of tour overstock DEALS!
We have overstocked cds of various releases left over from the US tour. Rather than return them to Thirsty Ear for credit we'd prefer to blow them out at a special low price. Until stocks are gone and subject to availability, we will sell each of the following releases at $8 plus p+p to US customers ONLY: Apocalypse Now, Mirror Man, Song of The Bailing Man, Art of Walking, Bay City, and New Picnic Time. If you order more than 2 then each item over that number is only $7. Because stock is limited you must reserve your order by emailing with your name and order before sending money.

Wasteland
Wasteland, the track Pere Ubu recorded for the Wayne Kramer project, is available as a free MP3 download. MusicBlitz commissioned the recording, owns the copyright and has exclusive distribution of it. The recording is, therefore, unlikely to ever appear on an Ubu album.

David Thomas writes:
I can't download Wasteland. I click the button and nothing happens. Any luck your end?
Rhodri responds:
"seems to work OK eventually - but something is up with the MIME type of the file, normally mp3s would download straight to disk as per yr browser preferences, but I have to force it to do so by holding down the mouse on the link and choosing 'download link to disk'".

Steve Mehlman reports:
i didn't download the whole song, there's an option to just get a sample which sounds horrible. it sounds as if the songs being played in a room down the hall with the treble cranked....

Kindness Of Strangers Update
Thor Lindsay has contacted us and agrees to complete the paperwork required to notify the record retailing industry that the albums in question have been deleted and rights have reverted to Ubu Projex.

David Thomas and two pale boys return to the best & oddest venue in England-- The Shed, Brawby, N. Yorks-- on Saturday, November 11, which is Bowl Day meaning something about feeding all who come... or something. Brawby being a no horse town in the middle of Utter Nowhere this is seen as a Good Thing food-wise.

Pere Ubu go home
Pere Ubu play a week of American dates beginning Oct 7 in Los Angeles. The touring group is David Thomas, Tom Herman, Michele Temple, Robert Wheeler & Steve Mehlman. See the Calendar Page for details.

Ubu appear in Lisbon for the first time Sep 26 at Aula Magna.

Wayne Kramer (formerly of the MC5 and Pere Ubu), and his band, join Pere Ubu and 15-60-75 at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London, on Wednesday, Sep 27, for 55 Years of Pain. Wayne will undoubtedly stand in with Pere Ubu on the songs he remembers from his (brief) stint in the group. 15-60-75 is the grand-daddy of the Cleveland scene. They changed the lives of everyone who's seen them. Do not miss this opportunity. Robert Kidney and his brother Jack appeared at Disastodrome a couple years ago. Now they bring their entire band.

As well, David Thomas broadcasts late nite radio to no one at all across a lost continent in the premiere of his one man show, "Surf's up in Bay City" at Beyond Baroque in Los Angeles on Oct 6. "Based on stories found, or not, in his acclaimed opera, Mirror Man, Thomas evokes surreal, sensual and visceral visions of the troubled space between memory and reality."

Audio stream "Black Coffee Dawn" at Terra Soundtralis Incognita.

Kindness Of Strangers
Pere Ubu and David Thomas are in dispute with Thor Lindsay, owner of Tim/Kerr Records, Portland OR. He has been in breach of contract for two years. We are owed significant sums of money. We have not received accounts for at least two years. He continues to do business. He continues to sell our albums but he does not respond to our phone calls, emails, faxes, etc. We have exhausted every means of mediating a friendly, compassionate solution.

As much as we'd like to simply walk away from the situation we can't. Because of the way the system works, effectively, we cannot reissue Raygun Suitcase, EREWHON, Monster or Pennsylvania in the US until Mr Lindsay issues a notice of deletion. It is an absurdity yet there it is. Consequently we look to call once more on the kindness of strangers. If you are an attorney based in Oregon, or if you know of one who would be interested in helping us, please contact Nick Hobbs, charmenko@atlas.co.uk or +44-020-7274-6618

Jimmy Bell's Still In Town by 15-60-75 is available on cd for the first time. Recorded in May 1975 and unavailable for decades, Reedurban Records is producing handmade copies. Note that this is the only good album ever recorded by anyone. The rest of us have just been putting in our time on the planet.

David's comments from the booklet:
Jimmy Bell's Still In Town is among the albums that changed the face of music. I don't know how many people have heard it. Ten thousand? Surely not more than twenty. Irrelevant. Culture happens in secret. It is conceived within a brotherhood, masonic and eternally closed to the uninitiated. Brother passes on to brother. Iron sharpens iron. Civilians are awed by cold ashes and dead embers. They rarely experience sparks and fire. Jimmy Bell has more sparks & fire showing than lots of us ever accomplish across an entire career. Treasure it.

Found this note at the Ubu newsgroup in re the Italian vinyl pressings:

"The new vinyl pressing of "Dub Housing" on Get Back Records sounds great! The source tape for this pressing is the remastered version that was used for the CD reissue on Thirsty Ear. As an added bonus the sleeve is gatefold and the inside photo is the same skyline shot used in the CD reissue only a heck of alot bigger. Looks very impressive in 12" x 24". The outer sleeve remains visually unchanged from the original."

The Modern Dance and New Picnic Time have been reissued on vinyl by the same company. Vinyl reissues of The Art of Walking, Song of The Bailing Man and Terminal Tower are in the works.

A theatrical production of both acts of Mirror Man has been booked for the Victoriaville Festival, May 21 2000, in Victoriaville, Quebec. Appearing are David Thomas, Linda Thompson, Bob Holman, Andy Diagram, Robert Kidney, Jack Kidney, Chris Cutler and Keith Moliné. Scenic & lighting design: Danny Grace. Sound: Paul Hamann.

Pere Ubu have recorded a track called "Wasteland" for a compilation that Wayne Kramer is producing.

Ubu Projex has signed a non-exclusive deal with ATRecordings allowing them to market certain releases on the internet. The first such release will be Bay City by David Thomas and foreigners. A credit card facility for mail order sales of cd releases, free streaming and the sales of individual MP3 files will be provided. In time we hope to make the entire Ubu catalog available and to distribute internet only releases of a number of hitherto unreleased live albums. All such internet releases will be available as mail order cds and MP3 files. When the page is up we'll email details.

We have finally responded to questions about the vinyl pressings of The Modern Dance. The Bug Report, "1975-2000: 25 years of error... & bravely beyond!", has been updated with our Notes on Vinyl Pressings.

Christopher Bryant is advertizing Pere Ubu in his Autumn 2000 Inertia Tour lineup in spite of repeated statements from us that we were not interested in appearing. No, we are not appearing on the bill.

David Thomas duets with Jackie Leven twice on Jackie's new cd, DEFENDING ANCIENT SPRINGS (Cooking Vinyl CookCD 191). One of the songs is "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."

Peter Murphy's version of Final Solution appears on his best of compilation, Wild Birds, on Beggars Banquet.