Okkervil River to Play as Roky Erickson’s Backing Band on New Album, True Love Cast Out All Evil; I Struggle to Make Meaningful Connection With Roky Erickson Outside of the First Four Minutes of High Fidelity; I Question My Own Dedication to “The Pop Canon” [Pitchfork]

Mysterious Drawing of a Small Man Hanging Out Under Woman’s Dress Somehow Indicates Joanna Newsom May or May Not Have a Record Coming Out on February 23rd; My Last Sentence Remains Almost Impossible to Decipher (But I Hope It Is True) [Gorilla vs. Bear]

MySpace Music Announces Track List For Almost Alice, Which is an Album of Quasi-Christian Angst Pop Inspired by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Designed to Be Sold in the 15 Remaining Hot Topic Franchises That Haven’t Yet Fired All Their Employees; Owl City, All Time Low, and 3Oh!3, and Avril Lavigne All Appear On It [Myspace]

Stream the Jangly “Can’t Explain,” From Swedish Euro-Mope-Pop Band Shout Out Louds…Come to Eureka-Type Realization That “Euro-Mope-Pop” Best Abbreviates to “Europe”…Get Psyched on Your Own Stream of Consciousness. Work, Shout Out Louds’ First Album Since 2007, Released February 23 [Spin]

Julian Casablancas Says Strokes Are Working Day and Night on New Album; Prefers “Ramen Noodle Soup” to “Diner Food;” Wears “T-Shirts;” Elsewhere, New York Magazine Publishes Senselessly Banal Article About Julian Casablancas [New York Magazine]

Stream “Cranberry,” the First Single off New Zealand Psych-Pop Outfit The Ruby Suns’ Upcoming LP Fight Softly, Which is Deliriously Tribal and Oscillating, and Really Quite Good. No Joke. [Pitchfork]

Stream “End Times,” the Title Track off Eels’ Upcoming Album End Times (Released Next Tuesday), Which Made Me Feel Terribly, Terribly Sad, is Beautifully Written, and Sounds As If It Could Only Have Been Performed By a Heavily Bearded Version of Mark Everett [Stereogum]

M.I.A. Drops a Possible Taste of Her New Album, Called “There’s Space for Ol Dat I See,” That is Absolutely Awful [Gorilla vs. Bear]

compiled by Max Sebela