Slow Thrills

Beta Band gone, Slint return?
Sad to report that the Beta Band have called it a day. Full details on their official website. It's sad because after the brilliance of the first three EPs they had a lot to live up to and never quite made it. I suspect this news will only be a minor blip on the radar for most people.
Stranger news that Slint would seem to have reformed and have been booked to play the December All Tomorrows Parties event at Camber Sands in Surrey. The official confirmation of this had vanished when I looked at the website and today you need a password to view it, but I've heard from a few reliable sources that they are confirmed to play. The mighty Shellac are also playing, and the festival is being curated by Jake and Dinos Chapman so anything can happen. My money is on Merzbow and Wire making an appearance and there being very little in the way of pop songs on the bill. Of course with the Chapmans' curation moving to a winter slot this probably means that the spring events will be curated by Vincent Gallo and the rescheduled Throbbing Gristle weekend. Doesn't having a festival in early December in a freezing cold holiday camp strike you as another conceptual Chapmans stunt?