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Flaming Lips Help Czars Celebrate 5th B-Day of Cocteau Twins-Owned Bella Union Label

Catherine Lewis and Phil Locke report:
The Flaming Lips and The Czars are teaming up with Imperial Teen for a handful of shows in Spain this month, as Czars' parent label Bella Union celebrates its fifth anniversary. All three acts have been busy of late: Flaming Lips just wrapped an almost two month-long tour opening for (and playing with) Beck; Imperial Teen released its first live album, Live at Maxwell's on DCN, and Denver's The Czars are supporting a four-song tour-only CD titled X Would Rather Listen to Y Than Suffer Through a C of Z's.

Imperial Teen's Live at Maxwell's tracklist:
01 The Beginning
02 Ivanka
03 Our Time
04 Butch
05 Sugar
06 Yoo-Hoo
07 Baby
08 City Song
09 Lipstick
10 Birthday Girl
11 Teacher's Pet
12 You're One
13 Balloon

Czar's X Would Rather Listen To Y Than Suffer Through a C of Z's tracklist:
01 X Would Rather Listen To Y
02 One Single Thing
03 2nd Runner Up
04 You Don't Know What Love Is

After their short tour together, the Russian heads of state will part ways with the masters of labial pyrotechnics (and Imperial Teen) for a show of their own in London, before starting work on a new full-length. Meanwhile, Coyne and his backup band will embark on a seven-date trip through Europe in January.

Flaming Lips + The Czars + Imperial Teen tourdates:
12-06 Denver, CO (Czars only: CD release show with FOMA)
12-17 Madrid, Spain - Arena
12-18 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
12-19 Valencia, Spain - Roxy
12-20 Vitoria, Spain - Azkena
12-21 London, England - the Spitz Club (Czars only)

* w/ Elf Power

Flaming Lips Europe tour:
01-15 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands
01-16 Manchester, England - Manchester University
01-17 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Academy
01-18 Bristol, England - Bristol Academy
01-20 Nottingham, England - Nottingham Rock City
01-21 London, England - London Forum
01-22 London, England - London Forum

In related news, Bella Union-- founded by former conjoined Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde-- recently celebrated their fifth anniversary with the release of a two-disc compilation highlighting the label's roster. At Least You Can Die with a Smile on Your Face is available through the Bella Union online store, which is currently holding a 33%-off winter sale on all items. Christmas shopping anyone? Tracklisting:

Disc 1:
01 The Czars - "Drug"
02 Françoiz Breut - "Portsmouth"
03 Dirty Three - "Some Summers, They Drop Like Flies"
04 Gwei-Lo - "Don't Try"
05 Sneakster "Sweet Melody"
06 Simon Raymonde - "Worship Me"
07 Sing Sing - "Feels Like Summer"
08 Bonnevill - "Gene"
09 Nanaco - "Red Crystal (Bombay Mix)"
10 The Wave Room - "One For The River"
11 Yu:Ra - "A Drop of Tears"

Disc 2:
01 Lift To Experience - "Into the Storm"
02 Devics - "Red Morning"
03 Kid Loco - "Little Bit of Soul"
04 Russell Mills/Undark - "Shed Lustre"
05 Rothko - "Harold Budd"
06 Jack Dangers - "No Secrets, No Surprises"
07 Aeriel - "So Warm"
08 Departure Lounge - "King Kong Frown"
09 Garlic - "Courgette"
10 Violet Indiana - "Jailbird"
11 Al Brooker - "Quixotic"

Robin Guthrie makes his solo debut early next year with Imperial, currently scheduled for a February release on Bella Union. The production wiz and shimmery guitar master recently finished several rare solo instrumental tour dates with the Violent Femmes and is currently working on the next album by Violet Indiana, his collaboration with Siobhan De Maré of Mono. As for non-Bella Cocteau news, 4AD will be remastering and reissuing four titles from the Twins' back catalog on February 10th in the UK, with a domestic US release to follow later in the year. The remastered albums-- Garlands, Head Over Heels, Victorialand, and Treasure-- will carry mid-level price tags.

.: Pitchfork News: Beck Talks About Next LP, Firms Up Fall Tour
.: Pitchfork Review: Violet Indiana: Roulette
.: Pitchfork Review: The Czars: Before..But Longer
.: The Flaming Lips: http://www.flaminglips.com
.: The Czars: http://www.theczars.net
.: Bella Union: http://www.bellaunion.com
.: Imperial Teen: http://imperialteen.com
.: DCN: http://www.dcn.com/index.shtml
.: Originally published: 12 December 2002
.: Items mentioned above on Amazon.com: Before...But Longer (The Czars, 2000); Live at Maxwell's (Imperial Teen, 2002); At Least You Can Die with a Smile on Your Face (Various Artists, 2003); Imperial (Robin Guthrie, 2003); Head Over Heels (Cocteau Twins, r. 2003); Victorialand (Cocteau Twins, r. 2003); Treasure (Cocteau Twins, r. 2003).