Sound Check: Built to Spill, Doves

ByABC News
February 6, 2001, 6:59 PM

February 2 -- NO SECRET: Built to Spill is nearing completion of a studio follow-up to its acclaimed 1999 album, Keep It Like a Secret. The trio is working once again with producer Phil Ek, who also helmed Secret and last year's Live.

METAL MADMAN: Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl is exploring the dark side with a new death metal project called Probot, according to MTV. The former Nirvana drummer has recruited metalheads such as Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister, Slayer's Tomo Araya, and King Diamond.

PEACE OFFERING: Spacy Manchester, England, trio the Doves are working on at least six new songs in a studio in Liverpool. Drummer Andy Williams says the group hopes to record two or three songs before kicking off its first ever U.S. tour later in February in support of last year's Lost Souls.

MYSTERY BAND: New York hard-rock act Dope announced that it will enter a recording studio this month, with a new lineup, to record a follow-up to 1999's Felons and Revolutionaries. Guitarist Tripp Edsel, who jumped ship to Statix-X, was replaced by a guitarist known only as "The Virus," while a new drummer, replacing departed Preston Nash, is a secret, according to the band.

NOT DEAD YET: Live has nearly completed work on a new album, which is not yet titled. The follow-up to 1999's The Distance to Here was recorded in the Los Angeles home of the band's new producer Alain Johannes, who produced Chris Cornell's solo album.

NO MORE REPAIRS: Folk-rocker Shawn Colvin has completed work on Whole New You, her first album of original material since 1996's Grammy-winning A Few Small Repairs. Colvin co-wrote most of the album with longtime producer John Leventhal, and Edie Brickell resurfaced to help pen "Roger Wilco." The album's due March 27 from Columbia Records.

NEW JIVE SINGER: Newcomer Syleena Johnson will release her debut album, Chapter 1: Love, Pain, & Forgiveness, on April 17 on Jive Records. The 24-year-old singer co-wrote all the songs, and R. Kelly produced and helped write the album's first single, "I Am Your Woman," which hits radio Feb. 12.