Welcome back to Underground Hum. It's geek-feedin' time! Time to gorge yourselves on the latest buzz. Thank you again for the lovely emails. Keep them coming. Let's get started with this week's Reverb.

International

Matador Records will be releasing Dark End of the Street, a brand new cover EP by the ghostly-voiced singer/songwriter Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall). It will be released digitally on www.matadorrecords.com and on a limited edition double 10" vinyl in a gatefold sleeve on Dec. 9. It's a collection of six songs Chan Marshall and her band did during the sessions for her last cover album called Jukebox, including four previously unreleased tracks. She tackles the Pogues, James Carr, Sandy Denny, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Otis Reddin and Aretha Franklin.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the untimely passing of model/songstress/Warhol cohort Nico, which means it's as good a time as any for a handful of musician friends and fans to come together and commemorate the life and work of the beloved singer and Velvet Underground collaborator.

Velvet Underground's John Cale has assembled a gathering of Nico's friend and admirers for "Life Along the Borderline: A Tribute to Nico", which hits London's Royal Festival Hall on Saturday, Oct. 11.

The Fiery Furnaces, Mark Lanegan (The Gutter Twins, Screaming Trees), Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Cale collaborator Nick Franglen (Lemon Jelly), and other as-yet-unannounced guests will join Cale in "re-imagining Nico's songs" for the special performance.

A Smiths best-of compilation? For real this time?! Yes indeed, the mixtape geeks at Rhino will bring out The Sound of the Smiths, a retrospective of the late, great, super-sad-but-we-sure-look-good-crying rockers, on Nov. 11.

It will be available as both a single disc and a double disc set. The 23-track single disc gathers all of the band's singles and lines them up chronologically, while the second disc mixes B-sides, alternate versions, and live takes. The Sound of the Smiths was crafted with the help of Morrissey, who provided the title and Johnny Marr, who supervised the mastering. Both men also assisted in the track selection as well. Back in August, a reliable Morrissey fan site posted a message that said, "It is understood that Warner Music in London are releasing a Smiths Greatest Hits album in the final quarter of 2008. This release is without Morrissey's approval or involvement"? According to Rhino, that statement was made before Morrissey became involved in the project.

In other news from this lot, according to www.billboard.biz, last month, Morrissey split with his management company i.e.: music after just three months. One wonders if the delay in the release of his forthcoming studio LP Years of Refusal had anything to do with it. Then again, this guy is the poster boy for discontentment, so it really could be any reason. Meanwhile, Johnny Marr has taken a break from his duties with Modest Mouse to link up with British brother act the Cribs. He's currently working on a new album with them.

That about does it for this week's Underground Hum. If you have any questions, suggestions, praises or curses just send me a note at undergroundhum@yahoo.com.

Tootles!

For all of you indie bands or artists out there, let us know if you have a gig coming up so we can include it in future editions of reverb. Be sure to include the name of the event you're playing, what other acts are billed, time, place, date and entry fee if any.

-- Paul F. Agusta

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