Barenaked Ladies, currently on the road in Great Britain, will return to the States this summer and begin a mini-tour in the Southwest on up to the Pacific Northwest with supporting act Semisonic beginning August 12 in Birmingham, Ala.| Semisonic, who just began a month-long tour with Sheryl Crow, will warm up the Ladies for eight dates in cities like Houston, Dallas and Phoenix, before winding up their engagement in Portland, Ore., on August 22 . . .

For Electronic, the synth-pop-rock spin-off that united The Smiths' Johnny Marr and New Order's Bernard Sumner, downtime is almost all the time. It's been two years since the on-off project released Raise the Pressure, and five years before that since Electronic delivered their self-titled debut (which featured the hit "Getting Away With It"). In the interim, while most people forgot about the group, Sumner returned to New Order while Marr strummed his strings for The The and The Pretenders. But come April 19, the duo plans to release its third album, Twisted Tenderness, to those old enough to remember who they are in the first place. Unfortunately, those fans will have to be of the British variety, since the group has yet to find a Stateside distributor. However, lengthy clips of all eleven new tracks can be heard at the band's official website (www.electronic-net.com). According to that site, the record was "produced by Electronic and Arthur Baker in a matter of weeks," and it sounds "a lot more raw" than their last two tomes, "indicating that the band have been freed from the burden of expectation that surrounded previous Electronic releases." Burden of expectation? Guess even Sumner assumes that fans are more interested in his upcoming New Order project than with this collection of tunes. Maybe he shouldn't bother finding an American distributor . . .

Erstwhile Who bassist John Entwistle will provide fans a relic from his recent forty-two city Left for Dead Tour in the form of a twelve-track live album, tentatively titled Left for Live (get it?). The album, due out in June or July on J-Bird Records, will feature four new Entwistle songs (including "Endless Vacation" and "Darker Side of Night"), a few Who tunes ("905," "The Real Me") and the Keith Moon tribute "Under a Raging Moon," which Roger Daltrey originally recorded fourteen years ago for an album of the same name. Entwistle drummer Steve Luongo says Left for Live may receive a pre-release on the bassist's web site (www.eden.com/theox), but a tour in support of the album will definitely follow the album's release this summer . . .

This summer's Fuji Rock Festival in mountainous Naeba, Japan, is only 150 miles from Tokyo, but it's well over 6700 from New York, so if you're planning to hitch from the States, you'd better get started. This year's line-up to Japan's biggest festival, scheduled for July 30 - August 1, might make the trek across the oceans worth it. As of April 12, the line-up includes: Atari Teenage Riot, the Black Crowes, Blur, the Boredoms, Catatonia, the Chemical Brothers, Eastern Youth, Femi Kuti, Happy Mondays, Hi-Standard, Joe Strummer, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Limp Bizkit, Ocean Colour Scene, Phish, Rage Against the Machine, Rocket From the Crypt, Skunk Anansie, Stevie Salas Colorcode, Tricky, UA and Underworld. The festival will take place on five concurrently running stages, and will have restaurants, outdoor bars, a flea market and camping facilities. . .

BLAIR FISCHER, HEIDI SHERMAN, RICHARD SKANSE, JAAN UHELSZKI(April 13, 1999)