Blog: So it goes...

- Black Lips, S/T (LP reissue on clear vinyl) - Joan as Police Woman, To Survive - My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges - N.E.R.D., Seething Sounds - Supergrass, Diamond Hoo Ha - Twilight Sad, Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did

Wednesday, June 11 - Iron & Wine at First Avenue Thursday, June 12 - Aimee Mann at Minnesota Zoo - Gogol Bordello at The Cabooze Saturday, June 14 - Lightspeed Champion at The Entry

Radiohead has been soundchecking a version of 'The Rip' during their current summer tour but haven't yet included it on an actual set list. Maybe at Lolla. This also happens to be my favorite track off Portishead's Third album. Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

i'm trying to post from my cell since i'm out of town. John and I saw Retribution Gospel Choir and Mark Kozelek last night @ Varsity. Retribution was fantastic...they played just about every track from their album. Eric Pollard was especially impressive on drums. Kozelek followed by washing us in acoustic sounds and his haunting voice, but alas, it was just too mellow after gettin' revved up by Retribution...he sounded good and all but we couldn't stick it out and left before his set was up. Poor form, I know.

Just as the release calendar was beginning to look sparse after a strong first half, out comes several announcements from across the indie universe. Keep an eye out on those torrents for... The Walkmen - You & Me (Aug 19) Calexico - Carried to Dust (Sept 9) Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling (Sept 23) Deerhoof - Offend Maggie (Oct 7) The high profile leak of the week goes to Coldplay's Viva la Vida . It could be coincidence but only a day later and [...]

PopMatters has posted a nice little feature article and interview with Portishead, who returned triumphantly to the music scene this year with their Third LP. And since you asked, yes, the album is incredible. If you're gonna tell me that trip-hop is SO last decade, don't bother. This isn't trip-hop. It's still Portishead (i.e. Beth Gibbons' voice, cinematic, dark as hell), but there's little in the way of hip-hop beats to be found this go-round. I haven't mentioned it before, but Third is easily my pick for AOTY so far, even [...]

The schedule for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival was released this morning. The schedule, not the line-up, is typically the make or break of a festival. Luckily, not too many conflicts for ACL, except for on Saturday evening. First we have The Black Keys vs Iron & Wine. Then the headliner face-off is Robert Plant/Alison Krauss vs Beck. I've been especially excited to see Robert Plant live but it'd be hard to not go for Beck in a festival atmosphere. The rest of the entire schedule works out fine for our [...]

It's been exactly a year since I first saw Yeasayer live and first heard the fantastic song that is '2080.' I honestly can't remember the last time a tune stuck with me for this long. Seeing as I can't get enough of it, here's a groovy version recorded by Pitchfork.tv this past winter on a cold Brooklyn rooftop.

Bo Diddley, guitar hero, blues legend and innovator of one of the most recognizable and imitated guitar styles in the history of rock (i.e. the 'Bo Diddley beat'), died today at age 79 . The list of his those he influenced would be enormous, but I'll namecheck The Rolling Stones and The Who for starters. In fact, I took this History of Rock 'n Roll class in college and the instructor had us listen to Bo Diddley back-to-back with The Who's 'Magic Bus' and it was astonishing how similar they sounded.

Kurt Cobain's remaining ashes were reportedly stolen from Courtney Love's house in Los Angeles! This is disheartening news. Bizarre and just plain wrong. Can there be a market for this sort of thing? However, I couldn't help but laugh at one insightful NME reader's response to the news: "Does anyone know where Keith Richards was the night of the robbery?"

The Hold Steady - Stay Positive JTM Grade: 85% Stay Positive , the fourth full-length from The Hold Steady, doesn't reinvent the wheel so much as showcase a band in its prime, hitting us in full stride with perfectly crafted rock 'n roll. The Hold Steady aren't a rock band, they are a "rock 'n roll" band and willfully embrace every connotation that suggests. They revel in their bar-band aesthetic and low-brow approach. Yet, who are we kidding? They're hipsters and their fans are, too. [...]

Can't get enough of Spencer Krug? Me neither. Check out Spencer and co. in Sunset Rubdown mode for the most recent Black Cab Session . And while you're at it, there's a helluva good catalogue of prior sessions to discover as well. Jovial participants include DCFC, Spoon, Okkervil River, The National, New Pornos and even Daniel Johnston!

She's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward is Him. Together as She & Him they'll be in Minneapolis on Aug. 7th at First Avenue. She & Him's debut album Volume One came out in March and is a great little piece of nostalgic pop, proving that Zooey has the goods, unlike Scarlett who tries oh so hard. 'Course anyone who saw Elf already knew Zooey had a purdy voice. The word at SXSW was that Zooey had a case of visible nerves when performing live but always in an endearing way, and [...]

In honor of Bob Dylan's 67th b-day, here are my Top 15 songs from his enormous catalogue. No big surprises I'm afraid... 15. I'm Not There (from I'm Not There OST ) 14. Hurricane (from Desire ) 13. All Along the Watchtower (from John Wesley Harding ) 12. A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan ) 11. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid OST ) 10. Mr. Tambourine Man (from Bringing [...]

Surprising but welcome news from the Austin band Okkervil River. Pitchfork has reported that they're already set to release the follow-up to last year's awesome Stage Names album. Titled The Stand Ins , it's due on September 9th from Jagjaguwar . This is what I like to see from bands. An album a year. Okkervil is on tour but no Twin Cities date. However, I will be able to catch 'em for the first time at Lollapalooza and then later at ACL. Looking [...]

Everyone's fav, Manchester United will defeat rival Chelsea 2-1 in today's UEFA Champions League final held in Moscow Watch. You'll see. I know what I'm talking about.

Literally. Tom Waits has revealed that he's been cast to play the role of The Devil himself in the upcoming Terry Gilliam-directed The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus . The film currently still in production recently gained notoriety for featuring Heath Ledger's final role. News of Devil Tom was released in yet another meta-publicity announcement, this one in the form of an interview with himself posted on the Anti- Records website. He's a character, that Tom. If you've already forgotten or just never took the time, I urge you to go here to [...]

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A detail-oriented friend of mine happened across a random Minneapolis concert date posted on Yeasayer's MySpace page and after a bit more research, I discovered that indeed it is true. The Current and Free Yr Radio are co-sponsoring a Yeasayer gig on July 30 here in Minneapolis. No word on the venue yet or any other details. In fact, so far I haven't heard any news of this from The Current and they usually promote the hell out of these things. I'm sure a formal announcement will come soon, if [...]

Islands - Arm's Way JTM Grade: 75% Nick Thorburn and The Unicorns' Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? is a perfect album. Too perfect as it turns out. Those damn expectations will forever be looming in the background for me. I desperately want Nick's Islands to repeat that same magic, and I'm always let down. Not fair at all, I know. Islands is a natural extension of The Unicorns. Nick is progressing and definitely going somewhere...he has no [...]