Dan Deacon Went to the Hospital and Cancelled Shows Due to Extreme Pain in His Leg From Nonstop Touring; He’s Feeling Better, and Hopes to Reschedule All of His Shows. We’re Rootin’ For You Dan! C’mon, You Can Do It! [Pitchfork]
Watch Bob Dylan’s Video For Christmas in the Heart Cut “Must Be Santa,” In Which Dylan Adorns a Santa Hat and Resembles an Intoxicated Member of Twisted Sister…So, Uhh, Ring in the Holiday Cheer, the Bob Dylan Way, I Guess [Rolling Stone]
Extremely Authentic Scottish Emo Band The Twilight Sad Robbed at Gun Point While on Tour…Robbers Most Likely Confused Band With Frightened Rabbit, as that Band Sounds Identical to Twilight Sad, But Are Probably Asking For Some Petty Theft (That’s Right Frightened Rabbit Frontman Scott Hutchison, I’m Calling You Out) [Stereogum]
Former Neutral Milk Hotel Multi-Instrumentalist Julian Koster is Willing to Come to Your House and Sing Christmas Songs…With a Saw (I’m Ever So Tempted to Call them “Sawngs,” But That Sounds More Like a Gucci Mane Thing Than a Whimsical Holiday Treat) [Brooklyn Vegan]
Spin Puts up Sweet Photos From the First Stateside Cranberries Reunion Show; I Wonder If I’m Strangely Fascinated With the Cranberries, or Just Really Appreciate Yodeling [Spin]
Jack White Announces Plan to Produce An Album for Reigning “Queen of Rockabilly” Wanda Jackson (You Know, I Got to Thinking About It, and I Don’t Think She’s a Real Queen) [NME]
Bjork Writing Song About Moomins, Moomin Ancestry, and General Moomin Culture (Hopefully Loaded With Moomin Hi-Jinks…You Are Right to Be Confused as to What Moomins Are) [Pitchfork]
Stream Girls Playing a Bunch of Songs in Dallas, Finally Realize Band Called “Girls” Features Not a Single Female Performer, Look to Friends For Confirmation of the Humor in This, Realize You Are Mind Bendingly Unobservant [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Stream New Song From New York’s Own (Via New Jersey) Real Estate, “Dumb Luck,” Whjich is As Excellent a Song as Any Other Real Estate Track (I Have No Joke Here. Real Estate is a Great Band) [Stereogum]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream Previously Unreleased Track From the Late Great Arthur Russell, “Come to Life,” Recorded in the Late 70s, Which Is Quite Lovely [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Stream New Track From Chicago’s The Lawrence Arms, “Demons,” Which Is Teeming With Midwestern Values (Which Really Just Means It’s Emotive, Non-Blushing Pop Punk); Ask Yourself When The Hell Spin Started Releasing “Exclusive” Tracks From a Local Chicago Band [Spin]
Fantastically Indie-fied Charity Compilation Dark Was the Night, Which Was Released in February, Raised Over $650 Thousand For AIDS Awareness [Pitchfork]
Arcade Fire Working on New Album For 2010? TwentyFourBit Lays Out The Evidence, Forgetting the Fact That Win Butler Has Said Over and Over Again That They Are Currently Writing Material For New Album [TwentyFourBit]
Stream First Official Them Crooked Vultures Song (Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones (For The Youngins, That Dude Was In Zeppelin)) Track, “New Fang,” Which Has Guitar So Filthy I Need To Take a Shower; Them Crooked Vultures Released November 17 [Pitchfork]
The Always Innovative Sufjan Stevens To Release “Album” Next Year, Which Will Contain “Songs,” Instead of the High Conceptual Art Pieces Rooted in the Folklore of the 50 States That Have Become So Blasé; Elsewhere, All Albums Contain Fucking Songs, Sufjan [The Tripwire]
NME Quotes Jarvis Cocker: “Pulp Could Reunite for Glastonbury 2010;” Elsewhere, Jarvis Cocker Never Said This In the Referenced Interview; I Make Toast to Poor Music Journalism (And to the Hope That Pulp Actually Does Reunite, Cheers) [NME]
Stream Weez(y)er Collaboration, “Can’t Stop Partying” Off Weezer’s Upcoming LP Ratitude in Which You Can Literally Hear Lil Wayne Lighting a Joint, Which is Risky Considering The Man Is Going to Prison [Idolator]
compiled by Max Sebela
R.E.M. Reveal Details for Live at the Olympia Album [Pitchfork]
Built To Spill Reveals Tracklist, Cover Art for New Album, There Is No Enemy [Pitchfork]
Stream New Os Mutantes Track, “Anagrama” [Stereogum]
Still Bummed About That Stormy Pool Party? …Trail Of Dead Announces Tour, Hits New York In September [The Tripwire]
Weezer Sinks Even Lower With Incredibly Stupid Album Title [Pitchfork]
Luckily Some People Are Good With Nomenclature. Looks Like There’s A Sampler Out From Ghostface’s Wizard Of Poetry! [Prefix]
Murdered: Samuel Ferguson, Journalist Who Broke Rick Ross Correctional Officer Story [Prefix]
Online Retailer Insound Collaborates With Designer Mike Perry To Create “Insound 10 Classic,” A Series Of Products Featuring Bands Spanning From The Voidoids to The Promise Ring [The Tripwire]
Seems Like Weezer’s Creating An Uproar. SPIN Lists Their Picks For Worst Album Titles Of 2009…Thus Far. (Say What You Will, SPIN. I Think I Love The Name Stretch Your Skull Cover And Smile) [SPIN]
by Erin Sheehy
Billy Corgan Debuts New Song and New 19-Year-Old Drummer At Sky Saxon Tribute [Pitchfork]
Groundbreaking Choreographer Merce Cunningham Dies [Brooklyn Vegan]
New Tour, New Album For Islands [The Tripwire]
Okay, Forget That Business About The College Dropout. Kanye West Performs at Foundation Concert, Hopes to Combat High Dropout Rates [Stereogum]
Charles Manson Looking to Collaborate With Fellow Inmate Phil Spector. Stop Me Before I Write Something Tasteless Like “Deadly Duo!” [Prefix]
Frank Black Shoots Down Rumors of New Pixies Material [Prefix]
Glastonbury 2010 Ticket Registration Open Already [NME]
Loincloths Are So Cool. Watch Motel Motel’s New Video For Proof [FREEwilliamsburg]
SPIN Lists Their Picks For 20 Best Albums of 2009…So Far [SPIN]
compiled by Erin Sheehy
Weekly Review
Thank god, finally, we can hear the Grateful Dead spliced and diced, backed by spastic jungle-cum-calypso beats. We never thought we’d see the day. Nor did we ever think we’d see a Manhattan prep-school girl make Top 40 history. But sometimes seeing (Paul McCartney playing on top of the Ed Sullivan Theater, Ne Yo sobbing on stage), or reading (Spencer Pratt’s offensive interview with SPIN), or eBay surfing (for posters of Stone Roses singer Ian Brown), or streaming (Modest Mouse’s new honky-tonk inspired single), is believing.
Speaking of streaming…we are out at Pitchfork’s annual music festival in Union Park and did you know that you can, yup, stream it, live? Catch today’s, the last day’s, acts right here, right now! We’re off to go check out the rest of the bands in the flesh (teeheehee, muhaha), but we’ll be happy to share with you are thoughts and reactions once we return to our fair city.
by Elana Jacobs
