Too.

Fucking.

Cold.

The Smoking Gun brings you the LA coroner’s report on Elliott Smith’s death.

Yay to Death Cab for releasing a new single for “The New Year”. Boo to Death Cab for b-siding it with a previously released track from You Can Play These Songs With Chords and a Photo Album demo. Giving completists something of value just too much trouble for you, is it?

I picked up the first season of The West Wing on DVD last night, so I can spend the weekend hibernating in my little hobbit-hole with my favorite fictional White House. Double-sided DVDs always confuse me – I never put it in right side up the first time.

Luckier than the average bear.

np – Portastatic / Autumn Was A Lark

Late update today, I was at a meeting out of the office all morning. Yeah, work is interfering with blogging. That’s gotta stop.

It’s been a while since I checked in on Conan O’Brien’s Celebrity Secrets. Pure gold – here’s a current favorite:

“Whenever I am considering a role I always ask two questions. Does the story contain a strong female character, and will my character at some point nail that ass.” – Patrick Stewart

Bryce Goggin, who has worked with Pavement, The Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr, is producing the new Luna album, due this Spring. Could this herald a looser, fuzzier feel for Dean and co?

Considering I’ve only just decided that I want to own DVDs (like in the last 48 hours), the publication of NOW’s 50 essential DVDs is well-timed. Not that I’m trying to impress anyone with my movie collection… that’s what the CD collection is for!

The best in music criticism in 2003. From House Of Hotsauce.

np – Ride / Waves

Probably one of the worst-kept secrets in indie rock lately is that Matador will be releasing a new record from legends Mission Of Burma in May, 2004. Roger Miller, Clint Conley and Peter Prescott have been recording their first new record in 22 years in Boston with Bob Weston. Expect extensive touring to support. This is a GOOD thing, yes it is. Full news release from Matador here.

Glasgow’s Franz Ferdinand was brought to my attention by Sean from House Of Hotsauce. They’re pretty interesting in that de rigeur angular post-punk new-wave sort of way that the kids are all gonzo over these days. He’s got some live mp3s on offer on his website, about halfway down on the left, or grab “Darts of Pleasure” from their website here. Why is this relevant? They make their Toronto debut February 23rd at the Horseshoe, $10. That’s why.

Pitchfork’s review of The Essential Bruce Springsteen functions as much as an album-by-album capsule history of The Boss as it does album assessment. I definitely still qualify as a newbie to his work, and it’ll take me a while yet to absorb all the material. I too wish that “I’m On Fire” had made the cut. I had no idea he wrote “Hungry Heart”. I thought that was Loverboy for some reason.

24 is back from holiday hiatus! Huzzah! This is more like it. Eurotrash arms dealers, Jack pleading for his life (“I can’t die! I can’t die! Out here in the woods! Like a dumb animal! I can’t die! Look in your heart!”) and the return of everyone’s second-favorite femme fatale turncoat she-devil, Nina (Number one being that lesbian assassin near and dear to our hearts, Mandy Mandy Mandy). Methinks the producers felt the rumblings from the faithful about the relative lameness of recent storylines and decided to give the people what they want – namely, Nina. Otherwise, still not feeling the Palmer storyline – ooh, powerful wheelchair-bound shadow cabinet wants him to fire his brother! Yawn. Double yawn for marital strife between the first couple of CTU.

Trying to use a little mind over matter to fight off the cold weather, popping one of the summeriest albums of recent years in the discman. Doesn’t work.

np – Luna / Romantica

Does anyone know if the colour images from the Mars Spirit rover are online anywhere? Or do I just need to keep checking back here?

The Matthew Sweet Japan-only album I was all agog over a few months ago, Kimi Ga Suki, is finally getting a North American domestic release on January 20. This is the album that reunites Sweet with the Girlfriend-era band, and it’s some of his best work in years. This is good news for those who don’t want to shell out $40-$50 for the import. Also good news is that his new album Living Things is scheduled for a May/June release.

File this one under “finally” as well – one of my favorite movies ever, The Commitments, is getting the deluxe double DVD treatment this year. I was really disappointed when it finally came out on DVD last year but was a lame fullscreen, no bonus goodies version. The deluxe set has commentary from director Alan Parker, a making-of documentary, a look back at the band today, videos, songs, etc. Good show. Look for it March 16.

Low are assembling a box set of rarities of b-sides which “will contain 3 cds full of stuff and a dvd with the videos and marc gartman’s documentary, plus a 32 page booklet”. As of December 19th of last year, the band was hoping for a summer release but Insound already has A Lifetime Of Temporary Relief: B-Sides And Rarities scheduled for a March 2 release. While sooner is better than later, I will believe the Mormons on this one. They are also recording a new full-length album for Fall release.

Calexico’s still-untitled follow up to Feast Of Wire will be out April 6th.

Ray Davies of The Kinks was shot while chasing down a purse-snatcher in New Orleans on Sunday night. It wasn’t serious, and he was treated and released from hospital.

Neil Gaiman brings us up to speed on the status of his lawsuit against Todd McFarlane. Complete with 39-minute mpg of court proceedings!

I re-watched David O Russell’s Three Kings last night, and besides being reminded what a brilliant movie it is, I was struck by how frighteningly current it still is, despite being set over a decade ago.

Bush In 30 Seconds – the finalists. Watch some of these. The shaking sensation you’re feeling throughout your body? Yeah, that’s rage. Or maybe despair.

np – The Delgados / Hate

Picked up a neat compilation on the weekend, Beyond Nashville: The Twisted Heart Of Country Music. It’s a double-disc that seeks to document the history and present of the alt.country/y’alternative/americana movement. The first disc covers the forebears of the movement, with tracks from Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard amongst many others while the second disc covers current artists (Ryan Adams, Son Volt, Alejandro Escovedo and Lambchop, as a sample). There’s a great variety of stuff on tap for fans of the genre. There’ve been a couple more albums in the series, Further Beyond Nashville and Way Beyond Nashville which have even more eclectic tracklists. They’re imports, but worth seeking out if you’re into the twang.

Radiohead live mp3s, covers, etc. From LHB.

I finished watching season three of Six Feet Under yesterday (thank you, Kazaa) and was glad that a somewhat drab season ended on a more interesting note. When does season four kick off?

Everyone who comes here for the cover mp3 of the week owes one Mark Fisher a hearty thanks. As I’ve mentioned before, my own stash of material was starting to dry up a little, and Mark has donated a large collection of very cool stuff to the archives, and they’ll all be getting a turn in the spotlight throughout the upcoming months. It’s like someone bequeathing a lifetime’s collection of Hustler to the public library. Yes, it’s that good. Thanks.

Okay, holidays are over. I expect everyone to be back to full speed, hard at work posting interesting links and news bits for me to filch. Chop chop, people!

np – Steve Earle / Train A Comin’