July 17, 1998 17:24

SURFER ROSARY: BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS SOLD IN CYBERSPACE

[a]Frank Black[/a] is allowing US fans to buy his 'Frank Black & The Catholics' album via the web...

Frank Black is to make his latest album, 'Frank Black & The Catholics' available over the Internet - ahead of its US release.

The album, which was released in Europe (on the Play it Again Sam label) and elsewhere in the world in May, has yet to be released in the US due to legal wrangles with Black's former record company, American. The album is to be released through stores on September via SpinART, but, according to US music website Allstar, the former Pixies' leader is offering tracks from the album over the internet on MP3 format - virtually CD quality - this month. Individual tracks will be made available for 99c (61p), or $8.99 ('5.48) for the whole album.

The album is available from http://www.goodnoise.com; the release is the first through GoodNoise, an Internet record label in the US. It already has two of the tracks ready to download - 'All My Ghosts' and 'King And Queen Of Siam'.