LAMBCHOP, Kurt Wagner's experimental Nashville collective, are to play York Barbican Centre on March 27 in one of only seven dates on next year's British tour.

Part alternative country band, part rustic soul revue, part American roots chamber orchestra with a Talking Heads tendency to noodle, Lambchop last performed in York in May 2002 at the Grand Opera House.

That night Wagner was accompanied by no fewer than 12 players, and at one point the guitar count rose to seven. To this day, a close-up observer swears that one of those guitarists was oblivious to his instrument not being plugged in, instead looking a picture of contentment.

Next year's visit will tie in with the release of Lambchop's follow-up to 2002's Is A Woman album. Not one follow-up, but two. A brace of albums, with the call-and-response titles of Aw C'Mon and No You C'Mon, will be available only as a twin-set CD and LP from February 9 on the City Slang/Labels label. Between them they comprise 24 tracks recorded during 2003.

As the separate names indicate, Wagner insists the darker Aw C'Mon and more playful, upbeat No You C'Mon are not a double album but "separate entities bound together in a simultaneous release, birthed by the same creative team".

"The origins of this concept are rooted in the idea of writing a song per day over extended periods of time that varied from weeks at a time to months in succession," Wagner says. "This lasted from the summer of 2002 through the winter of 2003. My idea was to simply sit down and write one complete song each day.

"This sounded easier than it turned out to be, but the process allowed for the opportunity to make creative decisions quickly and decisively, thereby keeping things fresh and, for the most part, short. It was one of the most enjoyable creative periods of my life. For the first time I had the freedom of uninterrupted time."

Next spring's gig is so hot off the presses that its announcement has come too late for inclusion in the Barbican brochure for early 2004. Indeed news of the booking emerged from Lambchop's people and not the Barbican, whose staff seemed somewhat taken aback when York Twenty4Seven rang for more details.

Lambchop's tour publicist, the splendidly named Line Oddland, says tickets will cost £15. Watch this space for a further update.

Updated: 15:06 Thursday, December 18, 2003