*NEWS*

For reasons not yet clear, there was a serious breach of STARSANDHEROES' usually impregnable defenses over the weekend. So if you received an e-mail from us between Friday evening and, er, now, please ignore it as it wasn't sent by us! Cheers. And if you're the nameless cad who hacked in and changed our password, shame on you - rest assured, we will hunt you down and feed you to the salties...

In a move that probably won't surprise that many people - given the bewilderingly lacklustre reception given to ace last album We Love Life - Pulp are set to leave Universal/Island at the end of 2002. A statement, entitled "Pulp Do One", on the band's official website www.pulponline.com explains: "Keen to avoid the suspicious flannel that usually attends such partings of the ways, the band are attempting to be as straightforward as possible about events without boring the arse off everyone. Put simply, the option for the band's next (fifth) album with Universal/Island was pretty expensive (record contracts being structured with ascending advances); Island proffered a re-negotiation and Pulp said "no, ta", preferring to walk away." So now you know. The inevitable Greatest Hits album will be released just in time for Christmas, oddly. SAH's suggested title? Ten Years Of Razzmatazz...Alright.

More Flaming Lips news (sorry to bang on, but it's really exciting!): MiniDiscs* at the ready, kids, cos Warners have kindly put the whole of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots online for y'all to listen to, a whole two fat weeks before its worldwide release. Just go here and click on the fairly self-explanatory "Listen To The Album" button. Also worth a look-see is this, a grand interview with Mr Wayne Coyne courtesy your friendly Guardian.

*Obviously, we at SAH don't condone the illicit recording of copyrighted audio streams off the Internet: The sound quality just ain't there. Buy the record!

A couple of Ninja Tune titbits for you...Funki Porcini returns after an inexplicably extended absence with a new album on July 29th. The album, called Fast Asleep, marks Ninja's first ever CD/DVD super value meal combo-type thing. And on the Big Dada front, everyone's favourite garrulous rap ingenue Roots Manuva unleashes a newish album of dub rerubs and long-lost gems he found behind the mixing desk on July 8th. Dub Come Save Me, as you might expect, is chock full of dubbed-up versions of tracks from 2001's magnificent Run Come Save Me album. And some other stuff. The Ninja Tune site is the place to go. Innit.

(originally published 1st July 2002)