NME.com reports today, 3/31, that Mike and Andy have joined Aziz Ibrahim's new group: Aziz. Brought together by a benefit gig in Manchester last week. The band have three new songs, one suspiciously entitled "Morassi".

check out www.nme.com for a more thorough report.

...Joyce explained that the band formed when Andy Rourke started working with Ibrahim.

"Andy said 'check out some of this stuff' because Aziz wanted me and Andy to do some tracks in the studio. It was meant to be just a session but it felt like a band and it sounded really good."

He added: "The thing that's really good about Aziz is he's just been known as a guitarist and a session player, but now he's coming out in his own right. And I don't think he realises just how good he is! He's incredibly versatile and that's what reminds me a little bit of The Smiths. One track can be quite funky, the next can be quite rocky and the next can be quite spacey."

At dotmusic.com:

Smiths and Stone Roses form Supergroup

The Smiths former rhythm section of Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke has teamed up with former Stone Roses guitarist Aziz Ibrahim to form a new band. The trio - known simply as Aziz  have already begun recording an album at Rockfield studios in Wales and are being lined up for at least one festival appearance - possibly Glastonbury - this summer.

The trio made their public debut as part of a Stephen Lawrence Trust benefit show in Manchester last week and included a new song intriguingly titled Morassi.

Joyce and Rourke briefly touted themselves around as a rhythm section for hire following the demise of the Smiths and formed part of Sinead O'Connor's band in the late 80s.

...Sumner says, “Raise The Pressure didn’t hit the spot, so we felt we had to change things. A lot of the feedback we were getting suggested that there wasn’t enough of Johnny’s guitar and we had to agree he was under-utilised.
“Synthesizers were banned in The Smiths so when we began working together I brought all my synths into the studio and Johnny started to explore them. He wanted a holiday from the guitar, and so did I really.”
The duo’s refocused approach was reflected in the way they wrote the album’s songs. Instead of writing in the studio, putting down the technology first, they simply sat down with a guitar round at each other’s homes, penning melodies and vocal lines.

Marr says, “It felt natural to plug in and write a song on the guitar again. We didn’t want to spend a great deal of time on it. In the past we’ve used the studio as an instrument and we’ve written as we recorded. There’s a place for that but this time we had most of the songs ready.”

This might be somewhat off-topic, but the play "Gross Indecency" written and directed by Moisés Kaufman is currently playing at the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London. The play is based on transcripts of the Oscar Wilde trials and books written by the people who were involved, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in Wilde, and/or in the relationship between art, morality and society. The play is performed Mon-Sat, with matinés Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets are £11.50-£26.50, but there is a good chance of getting good standby-seats for £12.50 an hour beforehand, especially if you avoid the weekend.

I'm currently writing a book, "Tigers on Vaseline", that is an accumulation of anecdotes / memoirs / short stories / etc. of my life and how music has been interwoven throughout it, meetings and interviews with rock stars I've had as a music journalist and just on my own, and general humourous tales along the lines of a David Sedaris or Sandra Bernhard book.

Anyway, I've written a chapter devoted to my teenage idol/icon Morrissey - concerts, stage rushes, kisses, waiting, following, limos, and the people I met doing it.

I don't currently have a publisher but am looking for one desperately. I hope to have it out by the end of the year (fingers crossed). Any literary types out there who know a publisher/house interested in reading a manuscript?