SMALL FACES

Having co-produced the hit debut solo album by his sister, Dido, Rollo Armstrong teamed with keyboardist Mark Bates as Dusted and made a concept album about looking back on childhood. Released in England recently, it’s due in the U.S. from Nettwerk America on July 10. Featured vocalist Rachael Brown was formerly in the dance music collective Faithless, the group Armstrong founded that also launched Dido and Bates

Australian band (International) Noise Conspiracy found the middle of April to be the wrong time to try to take socialist and anarchist literature across the border from the U.S. to Canada. The material, which the group sells at its shows, was confiscated by Canadian border authorities who believed the band was headed to Quebec City to jo the recent protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas talks. The group was actually on its way to play shows in Toronto and Montreal, but now is using the confiscation as the basis for its own protests against the trade proposal.