ARCHERS OF LOAF will have a new 7"/CD single out on Alias in February. The 7" version has two songs, "Harnessed in Slums" and "Telepathic Traffic," and the CD has an extra track. Only "Harnessed in Slums" is on the forthcoming full-length, Vee Vee. Due out in March, Vee Vee is the Archers' second. It's a good one. The Archers also have a song on the My So-Called Life soundtrack, "South Carolina," a rerecorded version of the b-side of their first 7"...and there's a split 7" with Monsterland that came out a while ago on Radiopaque.

SUPERCHUNK has a previously unreleased song on the Jerky Boys soundtrack, "Shallow End."

Ash Bowie of POLVO has joined Helium and will play on the Boston band's forthcoming full-length.

Free Records!, a new cassette-only (for now, anyway) label founded by Charlie Speight (PINE STATE, WXYC, SF!, etc.) is working on its first release, a compilation. The lineup so far: PIPE, JOBY'S OPINION, PINE STATE, SPATULA, BILL McCORMICK, EVIL WIENER, TRACTOR HIPS, DINGLE, and some WIFFLEFIST stuff. Due out late February, the tape will cost zero to you the consumer. Contact Speight at speight@email.unc.edu

In Pine State news, the boys will share the stage with the Zip Code Rapists (and maybe U.S. Saucer) for a few dates this spring. Pine State's first record, a split 7" with TRAILER BRIDE (also of Chapel Hill) on Friction Media, is now available for purchase, as is the second JOBY'S OPINION.

The first 7" from H.M.S. CERVIX is due out on Jettison Records by the end of February.

CHRIS STAMEY and KIRK ROSS (also of LUD, Jesus Christ) have collaborated on a CD, The Robust Beauty of Improper Linear Models in Decision Making: Compositions and Improvisations for Guitar. Glancing at the credits listing coronet, wide-tuned guitars, and orchestrations, it may have more akin to that crazy rural industrial team Lud than anything Stamey has done in the past. Ira Kaplan from Yo La Tengo plays guitar on three songs, too. Look for it on the East Side Digital label in late March. You can also catch Stamey and Ross playing live on WXYC's (89.3 fm) Backyard Barbecue Sunday, February 26, at 7 pm . . . Meanwhile Stamey is writing songs and playing in ALASKA, a trio with John Chumbris on bass and John Howie on drums, for now at least (Howie is also drumming for JUNE).

TWEAKER will release their debut CD, Dark Side of My Room, some time this spring.

The second 7" from CAPSIZE 7, a two-song deal with "Column Shifter" and "Clinger," is out now on Glenn Boothe's Get-Go Records.

Winston-Salem band THE FACE OF CHANGE has released their second CD, Coffee, on Huel Records.

Amish Records has just released EVIL WIENER's third 7", a four-songer including their all-time hottest, "Mexico." Amish is also releasing ASHLEY STOVE's second single, Songs of Soups and Stews, any day now. So far all three releases on the Delaware-based label are local NC bands. Exciting!

Greensboro's D-Tox Records will release full-lengths by GEEZER LAKE and SLOWCHANGE MADAGASCAR in spring.

Simple Machines will put out a 7" and a full-length by Greensboro's RAYMOND BRAKE.

PORTASTATIC has a new five-song EP on the way in early March. Scrapbook (Merge) has two studio tracks from a subscription-only Hellosongs CD and three new four-track recordings, including a rousing cover of Brian Eno's "St. Elmo's Fire" with guest stars Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo. A full-length is due out later this year.

Groovecore Recordings of Greensboro/Winston-Salem has released a compilation 7", The Sound of the Camel City, featuring DAY SEVEN, NAKED ANGELS, SQUATWEILER, and IQ NINE.

Noel Hunter, bassist for Winston-Salem band NAKED ANGELS, has started the North Carolina Music Calendar on the World Wide Web. To see the calendar, point Mosaic or any other WWW Browser to: gopher://gopher.wfu.edu:70/11/users/noel/music-calendar

If you just have gopher, use this path:
gopher -p1/users/noel/music-calendar gopher.wfu.edu
If you have a show to announce, send mail to: music-calendar@wfu.edu and, at the subject line, put the date of the show in numerical format by year-month-day (e.g., Subject: 95-2-13). In the body of the message, describe the show, listing the bands, the venue and its phone number, cover charge, time, etc.

The calender also has links to NC music-related home pages. If you manage such a thing and would like to add a link to the Calender (or if you have any questions), Email Noel at noel@wfu.edu.

NC Meme is also up and running on the Net. Independent critic/alt.music.chapel-hill frequent-flyer Ross Grady is helping make it happen. When I asked him to sum everything up for me, this is what he wrote:

"NC MEME, the North Carolina Multimedia Exhibition of Musicians and Entertainers (my least-favorite acronym there is), after existing in the minds of Doug Matthews and David McConville for a semester, is finally up and on-line. Quick info about it can be gotten from the site itself (http://sunsite.unc.edu/ncmeme) but in a nutshell, we believe that the simplest, most effective way to ensure continued access for indie bands and labels to the net, in the face of an increasing corporate presence, is to set up a kick-ass site now, make it the paradigm for how to put music on the net, and get it on as many hotlists as possible.

"At the moment, we've got local club addresses (with listings to follow, I hope); we've got links to other sites, including a huge SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS page at Interpath, as well as Noel's NC Music Calendar; and, the heart of the site, we've got band pages.

"Currently, those bands with pages are VITO VOLARE, HELLBENDER, RESOL, SHINY BEAST, WWAX, WHISKEY TOWN, and PATTY DUKE SYNDROME. Bands we're working on pages for include CHEW TOY, EVIL WIENER, PIPE, INSURGENCE, STEWFACE, WILLARD, and about any other you can think of.

"We're also working on an archival presentation of the Evil I Do Not to Nod I Live box set, which featured WWAX, SLUSHPUPPIES, ANEGELS OF EPISTEMOLOGY, EGG, and BLACKGIRLS, and which is otherwise unavailable. We'll have scans of all the artwork and every song on the site.

"I'm uploading everything local-music-related I've written, and we're asking other local writers for permission to do the same."

Ross is also putting out a CD tribute to Richard Hell featuring 13 local artists, including: ASHLEY STOVE, TODD MORMAN & JEFF ROBINS, PINE STATE, JUNE, VANILLA TRAINWRECK, JOBY'S OPINION, GEEZER LAKE, BEATLESS, SILICA-GEL, and WHISKEY TOWN. The comp will be out April 1.

The SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS full-length, The Inevitable Squirrel Nut Zippers (Mammoth), came in the mail as this issue is going to press. Straight-forward 20s string band retro. James Mathus, Katharine Whalen, and Tom Maxwell trade off on lead vocals (periodically affecting faux accents) but Katharine clearly rules. Only two covers here, but it's sort of amazing how much the originals sound like the old-time stuff. (Carrie McLaren)