The observant will have noticed that I’ve mentioned I’m going to be in Europe for a while this month. I will, indeed, be in the Old Country starting next Sunday for a fortnight – yours truly will be partaking in a good old fashioned cruise with my dad around the Baltic Sea, hitting no less than seven countries. On days I’m not in either Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Gdansk or Oslo, I’ll be whooping it up playing shuffleboard with Isaac and Gopher.

This has been brewing since February, but it’s only just hit me that I’m actually doing this – and I’m getting excited about it. This is a Europe not many people I know have seen, and while a cruise may seem like an odd way taking my first-ever trip to Europe, you can’t fault its efficiency for getting around. For shore excursions, I’ll be playing straight-up tourist and sticking with the tour group, so if you’ve got some little out-of-the-way coolio place in Helsinki you think I just have to see… maybe next time. My overwhelming fear is wandering off, losing the group and missing the boat. I mean, I’m sure there’s worse things in the world than being stranded in Sweden, but all things considered I’d rather make it home on schedule.

Getting away will be a welcome respite from my soon-to-be-ex work. It’s still a little weird to be in the office when I know I’m leaving, so the getaway will be welcome. I am bringing my laptop along and the ship is wifi enabled, so I expect I’ll be able to check in throughout the trip. Blogging it as I go is much more preferable to trying to sum it all up with some uber-post at the end. And there will no doubt be lots of photos, the best of which I’ll Flickr.

The live Wilco album appears to have been given a release date of November 1. No further details at present, but it’s probable that it will be a double set with CD and DVD packaged together. Update: They’re now saying on Via Chicago that the Nov 1 date is premature and that it will actually be a little later than that.

Links du Largeheart du jour – The Scotsman gets a primer on the dirty South from the Drive-By Truckers and SFGate talks Okemah with Jay Farrar of Son Volt.

Check out the video for Doves’ new single “Sky Starts Falling” in RealVideo, courtesy of Cliptip, who just posted a slew of updates.

A couple show announcements courtesy of For The Records – Art Brut at Lee’s Palace on November 14 and Freakwater at the ElMo on October 22.

Pernice Brothers are doing their bit to assist in relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina by making their rare but oft-traded 5-track Sandwich EP available for download – with artwork – from their bargain centre for a minimum $5 donation to the Red Cross.

Alex Chilton is okay.

np – On! Air! Library! / On! Air! Library!