FILTER will rock "harder". According to Sonicnet, former NIN guitarist Richard Patrick and his band are in the studio working on new material. Patrick says the follow-up album to 1999's Title of Record will be "harder rock ... than anything we've done." Look for the new FILTER CD in June 2001.

Ex-SOUL COUGHING singer prepares solo acoustic tour. MTV reports that frontman M. Doughty is now touring out on his own. Since SOUL COUGHING's split six months ago, Doughty has played gigs here and there, but this will be his first solo tour, kicking off September 14 in New Jersey and running through the end of October.

SMASHING PUMPKINS release songs on Internet. CDNOW's Allstar reports that early copies of the PUMPKINS' final effort Machina II -- The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music have been given to 25 fans with the intention of bootlegging, Napster-ing, and all other means of free distribution. The band says they released their album in this way because Virgin Records would not release the album commercially. Get your hands on the music at http://www.machina2.cjb.net/.

Compiled by Glennie Rabin
News Editor