Fans of Champaign, Illinois’ Headlights should be aware of a new EP that the band have rather quietly released – Keep Your Friends And Loves Close Keep The City You Call Home Closer is a collection of songs recorded at radio and internet sessions over the last little while and is available only on tour and online at Polyvinyl. A couple of the songs are taken from their Daytrotter session from January of this year, one of which you can hear below (The Des Moines Register also talks to Daytrotter’s Sean Moeller). There’s also some WOXY-born tracks and you can hear the session here as well as win copies of the EP.

They’re wrapping up a tour over the next couple days and sadly, this Pollstar listing of a Toronto show in May is untrue. The band is making plans to visit our fair city, however, in late Summer or early Fall so keep an eye out. So in the meantime, read this interview at with the band at Washington Square News and check out their first-ever video for “TV” – equal parts cute (the band is adorable), dangerous (that bike is not made for three!) and strange (what’s going on at the end there?).

MP3: Headlights – “This One”
Video: Headlights – “TV” (YouTube)
MySpace: Headlights

Some reasons to look forward to August – according to The Austin Chronicle, Okkervil River will release their as-yet-untitled new album on August 7 while The New Pornographers’ Challenger has been given a release date of August 21.

Some bits on bands coming through town in the next while:

eye talks to The Postmarks, playing a free show at the Amp’d Mobile Studio on Saturday.

You may have noticed I had a Howling Bells date in my calendar for next Saturday at a venue TBA – that was based on the fact that they were doing a post-Killers tour jaunt up the eastern seaboard and I was told that they wanted to book a Toronto show on that date. But with a week to go, it looks like that’s not going to happen and that the 27th in NYC will be the end of it. Maybe next time they’re on the continent/hemisphere.

Ted Leo talks to The Idaho Statesman, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Denver Post from the road. Leo’s at the Mod Club May 2.

Tickets for Fields’ show at the Amp’d Studio are now available – I’m glad these are early-ish shows because it’ll give me a chance to head up to the El Mocambo after and catch the just-announced Last Town Chorus show that same evening. Not entirely sure I will – that week is shaping up to be a bear – but it’s good to have the option. Fields’ Everything Last Winter is out May 8.

The International Herald Tribune profiles Feist, whose The Reminder is out May 1 and who plays Massey Hall on May 25 and 26.

Filter tells the story of The Rosebuds, who are at the Horseshoe on May 28 with Land Of Talk. It’s like a mini Hot Freaks day two revival! They’ve also got a World Cafe session on NPR available to stream.

The lineup for this year’s NxNE, taking place June 7, 8 and 9, isn’t going to be announced until May 8 but some info is already trickling out. For The Records has gathered up some of the names being bandied about and I can tell you that the lineup at Lee’s Palace on the Saturday will include Los Angeles dream-poppers Great Northern and Chicago’s medallion champions Urge Overkill. I had a copy of Saturation on cassette back in high school. This song was on it.

MP3: Urge Overkill – “Sister Havana”

And you’d best not get too worn out by NxNE because on June 11, Lee’s plays host to a rather odd but still sure to be excellent pairing – The Long Blondes and Nicole Atkins & The Sea. The former are a sassy, co-ed British buzz band whose debut Someone To Drive You Home gets a domestic release June 8 while the latter is a New Jersey native steeped in country and soul who impressed the heck out of me at SxSW. Be there. Tickets are $15, on sale April 25.

Wilco’s Nels Cline pays tribute to the late Kurt Vonnegut in The Age. Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky is out May 15 and they’re at Massey Hall on June 30.

The Telegraph talks to Cat Power, in town with the Dirty Delta Blues Band on July 10 at the Phoenix. Tickets $28.50, on sale Wednesday.

Monsters Are Waiting are opening up for Maximo Park at the Mod Club on July 14! Yay! Our Earthly Pleasures is out May 8.

Brooklynvegan interviews Bjork, whom I hadn’t listened to in a couple years until this weekend when I was reminded of just how weird and wonderful her music is – consider me very excited both for her new record Volta (out May 8 and streaming a track at her MySpace) and to see her at the first day of Virgin Fest on September 8. And as for the day two headliners, Smashing Pumpkins, apparently the interview process went well and the vacancies have been filled because rumour has it that someone named Ginger Reyes will be playing the part of D’arcy Wretzky/Melissa Auf Der Mar and Jeff Schroeder will be trying to make people forget about James Iha. We’ll have to see how this goes.

And finally, the lineup for this year’s Ottawa Bluesfest has been announced and holy smoke. If this took place over the course of a weekend instead of over 11 days, it’d be hands down the destination of the Summer. But even spread out over a week and a half, it’s an embarrassment of riches. Bob Dylan, Sarah Harmer, The White Stripes, George Clinton, Blue Rodeo, Kanye West, Cat Power, Built To Spill and Metric only some of the bigger names on the lineup. It’s crazy. JAM! talks to one of the organizers about getting the lineup together.

Thanks to Bradley’s Almanac for pointing out this rare update on goings-ons in the House Of Love. They’ll be reissuing their seminal self-titled debut – Creation, not Fontana – on September 3 despite the fact that the entirety of the record was put back into print as part of 1986:1988 – The Creation Recordings back in 2001. That compilation also includes all the material mentioned in the second reissue in the news item, which raises the question… why? Obviously to tie in with their performance of the whole debut album as part of the ATP/Don’t Look Back series on September 13 in London, but they’ve already gone to this well before. Most everyone who’d want this stuff has got it, don’t they?

Of course, those that control the band’s catalog have never shied away from re-releasing the same material in different forms in order to drive the fans mad. Consider the 2000 release of The John Peel Sessions 1988-1989 which, as the title implies, collected the band’s Peel sessions from the Terry Bickers era into a release that could well be my favourite HoL release of all. And then last year saw the inexplicable release of the double-disc The Complete John Peel Sessions which, again as the title implied, were the band’s complete Peel sessions – including the first disc of the 2000 collection in its entirety. Like a sucker, I still bought it and the second disc makes it worthwhile – the band’s later material is generally dismissed as sub-par, but in these versions they’re at least played with an unexpected degree of ferocity. But the point is, I now have a copy of that first Peel sessions disc that I don’t need… anyone want?

While The Creation Years collection was quite thorough (thus making the upcoming reissues rather redundant), the follow-up The Fontana Years is rather less meticulous. In attempting to distill four albums and their respective b-sides down to a two-disc collection, key tracks from the Fontana House Of Love album (which is pretty much essential start to finish) are omitted and it also fails to bring together all the era’s rarities making it frustratingly unnecessary.

And even though their archives are being raided again and again and the band had been defunct for 11 years or so, they’re still apparently an ongoing proposition. Besides the retrospective concert, they’ve been working on a follow-up record to 2005’s comeback album Days Run Away which while decent, was a bit of a disappointment to those who expected the chemistry between Bickers and Chadwick to still be explosive, even after fifteen years apart. Like myself. But those were unrealistic expectations and if they can keep putting out records with songs as good as “Kit Carter”, “Gotta Be That Way” or the title track on them, I’ll take it in a heartbeat.

But looking once again to the past, watching the band’s old videos does provide some evidence as to why the band were never bigger. Guy Chadwick is not a handsome man. But the songs, oh the songs.

MP3: The House Of Love – “Shine On”
Video: The House Of Love – “Christine” (YouTube)
Video: The House Of Love – “Destroy The Heart” (YouTube)
Video: The House Of Love – “Never” (YouTube)
Video: The House Of Love – “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” – version 1 (YouTube)
Video: The House Of Love – “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” – version 2 (YouTube)
Video: The House Of Love – “Shine On” (YouTube)
Video: The House Of Love – “Beatles & The Stones” (YouTube)
MySpace: The House Of Love (unofficial)

Another legendary British act celebrating their past this year are The Wedding Present. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of their debut album George Best, they’re embarking on a UK-wide tour that will take the band back to the same towns they visited on the initial tour for that record in 1987. They’ve also got a box set coming out – The Complete Peel Sessions 1986-2004 – which will, as the name suggests, collect all the sessions they recorded for the legendary BBC host, and considering they were one of his favourite bands, there’s a lot. A dozen sessions spread out over six CDs, to be exact. The collection will also include interviews and various extras spanning the Wedding Present’s career. Released at the end of March in the UK, it’s supposed to be out April 24 in North America though through Sanctuary. The Guardian reminisces about the Wedding Present’s Ukranian folk music phase, which is represented by 13 tracks on the box set.

Also in the reissuing mood is Radiohead, who will be releasing their 2004 Australasia-only EP Com Lag (2+2=5)’ in North America on May 8. It contains a mix of non-album, remix and live tracks circa Hail To The Thief and while I sometimes wonder if Radiohead will ever put out a record that can make me interested in them again, I suspect that this won’t be it. And from the super-short clip of a new song they’ve posted at Dead Air Space (click on “HODIAU DIREKTION”), the new one won’t be it either (via NME).

Elvis Costello makes excuses to Billboard for allowing his back catalog to be reissued for a ridiculous third time in fifteen years. His point about making them digitally available so that fans can buy the tracks they don’t have individually is a good one, but overall it’s still stinky. Stinky, Elvis. Stinky.

Jarvis Cocker talks to Harp about his fondness for middle-aged women while ArtistDirect asks him about the making of Jarvis and MySpace. The Tripwire, meanwhile, presents presents a BBC feature on the making of Pulp’s “Common People”.

Idolator is offering up the first single from the new Manic Street Preachers’ new album Send Away The Tigers, out May 7 in the UK. I’d sort of written off the Manics after 2001’s scattershot and lacklustre Know Your Enemy but 2004’s Lifeblood was surprisingly decent and if this song is any indication, they could still have some gas left in the tank left. But the idea that Nina Persson’s love (she sings on the song and appears in the video) wouldn’t be enough for anyone is patently ludicrous. Musicrooms examines the album track-by-track and finds it to be pretty good.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough” (YouTube)

Spinner has a 3×3 feature with Maximo Park, whose Our Earthly Pleasures is out domestically on May 8. They’re at the Mod Club on July 11 – very excited for that show.

Aversion has an interview with Scotland’s Twilight Sad, who’ve been picking up some glowing reviews from Pitchfork and Stylus since coming through town a couple weeks ago. Kind of unfortunate for the band that the buzz didn’t start until they were halfway through their North American tour but better late than never.

When the original lineup of Dinosaur Jr announced that they were reuniting in 2005 to promote the reissues of their first three albums, it was a happening about as high on the “not bloody likely”-o-meter as you were going to find. The acrimony between founding members J Mascis and Lou Barlow was both legendary and well-documented (and hilariously so). But time and money heal all wounds so together with original drummer Murph, they set out on a deafening round of touring and managed to do so without killing one another.

And then they announced that they were breaking that cardinal (yet oft broken) rule of rock reunions – “thou shalt not record new material”. Normally this would be cause for great alarm (see: The Stooges) but considering that Dinosaur Jr was and always had essentially been the J Mascis show and J’s recent track record with The Fog had been pretty damn solid, it was news that one could actually get excited about. I’ll sidebar here and state that I’ve never been a Lou Barlow fan and by and large, I prefer the albums that followed his departure from the band after 1988’s Bug. No more numbers like “Poledo”? Aww, pity. But having the original lineup together again is far more marketable, and so come May 1, we’ll have Beyond to add to the Dinosaur Jr canon. And you know what? It’s pretty damn good.

First and foremost, it sounds like a Dinosaur Jr record – which is to say it’s overflowing with J’s relentless soloing – the man will solo relentlessly as long as he draws breath and probably for a good while after – and nasal, uber-slacker vocals. These are positives, in case that wasn’t clear. And credit where credit’s due – Barlow’s bass playing is more aggressive than I’d have thought him capable of and his two compositions are decent, with him thankfully having learned how to sing in the last 18 years. But even with him back in the fold, this doesn’t sound like a return to the their early days – it’s much more 90s than 80s-sounding. The production, though far from slick, is loads cleaner and much more reminiscent of the days of Where You Been. Again, a positive. It’s unlikely that there are any stone cold classic songs on Beyond, no “Freak Scene” or “Start Choppin'”, but the level of songwriting is consistently high and even they’re doing it for the money as they’ve openly confessed, they’re not phoning it in. A welcome return.

The band hit the road to support beginning next month and will be at the Phoenix in Toronto on June 8. This is a NxNE show and they’re generously allowing 100 badges and wristbands in – everyone else pays the $34.50 ticket price. The show’s an early one – doors at 6PM – so I’m hoping that even with the two openers (Awesome Color and Uncut), it’ll be over early enough that I can make it to Sneaky Dee’s for the whole Voxtrot show. Go go College streetcar! The festival has also booked Mascis for an interview with CFNY’s Dave Bookman at the Holiday Inn on King St for earlier that day, an event open to all badgeholders. I can’t help but laugh at the fact that one of their high profile speakers is a man notorious for not speaking at all. This could be worth attending if just to witness the sheer, epic awkwardness of it all.

Check out the first video from Beyond, guest starring Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and also his daughter, Coco Moore (she’s the blonde girl on guitar and looks exactly like her parents) and directed by the Flamingo Kid himself, Matt Dillon.

MP3: Dinosaur Jr – “Almost Ready”
Video: Dinosaur Jr – “Been There All The Time” (YouTube)
MySpace: Dinosaur Jr

Speaking of Sonic Youth, they’re been hard at work preparing the deluxe reissue of their seminal album Daydream Nation which will be out June 12 in a double CD or quadruple LP edition loaded with live, demo and unreleased material as bonus tracks. They’ll also be performing the album in its entirety as part of the ATP/Don’t Look Back series at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago on July 13. Lee Ranaldo talks to The Japan Times about revisiting their landmark album and their 25-year career in general while Daily Yomiuri talks to Thurston Moore about the No Wave scene in the 80s.

Harp gets Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino to play a little numerology with their new album 23 while The Ticker discusses said record with guitarist Amedeo Pace (though the piece also inexplicably declares Metric as a “western band(s) fronted by female Asian singer(s)” in its introduction. Yeahbuhwha?). Also head over to Uberdrivel who’s currently sharing MP3s of the band’s March 2004 session for KCRW.

TV On The Radio’s Gerard Smith gives Filter a tour of his New York City.

And across the river, The Straight talks to Ted Leo about the weight of fan expectations. I expect an awesome show when he plays the Mod Club on May 2. Or else.

PopMatters talks to Fountains Of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger about being a smart guy in a kind of goofy band while Harp gets him to sound off on the contents of their iPod. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 10.

More than any other band I can think of, the sound of Great Lake Swimmers is defined by their environment. Their self-titled debut was recorded in an abandoned grain silo and the music reflected that rural setting (though the crickets that open the record certainly helped the vibe) and the follow-up, Bodies And Minds, could be said to have a more spiritual flavour to it though equally austere, having been recorded in a church on the shores of Lake Erie.

The new record, Ongiara, is the band’s cleanest and most sonically impressive record to date, thanks in no small part to the environs of its origin – the Aeolian Hall concert hall in London, Ontario. While it doesn’t have the same enveloping reverb as the first two records, it makes up for it in how perfectly Tony Dekker’s voice and guitar are captured as well as the rich production and arrangements, markedly fuller than on past albums.

But for all the talk of the sonics, the real strength of Great Lake Swimmers has always been and remains the songs. Three records in, Dekker’s compositions haven’t changed that much – and that’s far less a comment about lack of growth than the fact that his songwriting was remarkable from day one and still is. And I hope that my interest in the evolution of the musical accompaniment to his songs doesn’t make it sound like I’m taking that for granted, because I’m not. Dekker has, over the past year as I’ve delved into his works, become one of my favourite current songwriters, local or otherwise. But if distinctions have to be made, I’d say that the songs on Onigara are more animated and outward-looking, with dashes of soft colours appearing in the sepia-toned beauty.

And to return to the theme of environments, it was an inspired decision to hold the band’s hometown CD release shows at the Church Of The Redeemer. I’ve seen a number of musical performances in a few of the churches on Bloor St, but this was my first at this particular house of worship and I think it sounded far and away the best. Sidebar – I was originally going to the late show and thought I had switched to the early show but as it turns out, I still ended up at the 9:00 performance (it’s a long story and not interesting at all). For these shows, the band elected to not have opening acts, instead they played an extended set with a lineup augmented by some stellar talent – Basia Bulat on backing vocals, pedal steel guitarist extraordinaire Bob Egan (formerly of Wilco and currently of Blue Rodeo), Owen Pallet on violin and Andy Magoffin who produced Ongiara, was doing sound and did such a marvelous job he deserves a mention.

Dressed in a beige, Cosby-approved sweater, Dekker led his band through material from all three records (and an encore cover of Neil Young’s “Don’t Cry No Tears” that I would LOVE to get a recording of) and everything sounded stunning. Everything. The performances were note-perfect, the mix perfectly balanced and the church acoustics everything you’d hope they’d be. It would be possible to go on at length (even moreso) about how good it sounded, so let’s just say it sounded better than you could possibly imagine. And though he was as soft-spoken as always, Dekker’s understated charisma was just as amplified by the setting – with the church full of friends, fans and well-wishers, it really did have the intimate vibe of being part of a large family. I’ve always felt that Great Lake Swimmers didn’t get nearly the attention and respect that other, more extroverted Toronto acts did and undeservedly so. The two sold out shows on Saturday night may well be evidence that that’s no longer the case and for that, I say it’s about time.

Or perhaps not – I can’t help noticing that besides the CBC truck out front recording the show, none of the city’s newspapers or media outlets appeared to be in attendance. For shame. For The Records has a review of the early show which sounds an awful lot like the late one, right down to the anecdotes.

Photos: Great Lake Swimmers @ Church Of The Redeemer – April 14, 2007
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Your Rocky Spine”
MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “I Am A Part Of A Large Family”
Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “Back Stage With The Modern Dancers” (YouTube)
eCard: Great Lake Swimmers / Ongiara
MySpace: Great Lake Swimmers

Tickets for The Postmarks’ show at the Amp’d Mobile Studio this Saturday night are now available and like all shows at this new venue/studio/marketing tool, they’re free. I find The Postmarks’ breezy lounge-pop to dwell on the enjoyable side of innocuous and am going as much to check out the setup of the room as much as anything else. Check out some media below and if you like it, go get some free tickets. Did I mention they’re free? The Miami New Times talks to Postmarks singer Tim Yehezkely who, despite the name, is very much a girl. Oh, and I missed out on the cover they made available of Ministry’s “(Everyday Is) Hallowe’en” late last year. Can anyone shoot me an mp3? Thanks.

MP3: The Postmarks – “Goodbye”
Video: The Postmarks – “Goodbye” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Postmarks

Back in February I posted as MP3 Of The Week a cover of Grizzly Bear’s “Knife” by local boys Born Ruffians, recorded during a radio session for KEXP. Well prior to starting work on their full-length debut, they gave the cover another shot in a proper studio and let Four Tet mix it. Give both versions a listen below to compare and contrast – I still sort of like the radio session one better. Sounds breezier.

MP3: Born Ruffians – “Knife”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Knife” (@ KEXP)

CBC Radio 3 has an audio interview with Land Of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell. PopMatters loves Applause Cheer Boo Hiss, you should too.

La Blogotheque continues their winning streak of Take-Away Shows with a session with The Shins, recorded on the streets of Paris. Wonderful. The OC Register has an interview with frontman James Mercer.

Chart talks to Maria Taylor about being on tour and working with Conor Oberst.

I came to the realization last Thursday that my relationship with the music of Uncle Tupelo and its offspring, Wilco and Son Volt, goes much deeper than just fandom. So integral were these bands to the development of my musical tastes that no matter how many times I’ve listened to their records, and that number is easily in the hundreds, they’re part of my musical DNA. And I like that. I came to this minor epiphany at a fortuitous time – while seeing Son Volt perform at the Mod Club.

To start, I’ll refer you to my comments from his October, 2005 show at the Opera House, the bulk of which are still true. A frequent knock on Jay Farrar, be it in his band or solo incarnations, on record or live, is that he’s boring. Being as biased towards the man as I am (see above), I’m duty-bound to argue the point but looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, I can certainly see that as being true. He’s not an animated performer nor an especially chatty performer. He shows up, plays his songs and plays them well, tips his hat (figuratively) and leaves. But really, it’s those songs that are the thing. While the Trace material is still untouchable, every subsequent album has had enough highlights that if collected on, say, a well-chosen set list, speaks loudly enough about Farrar’s songwriting catalog that he doesn’t have to himself.

This is true on their latest record The Search which is possibly Farrar’s strongest effort in a while. It’s still a bit draggy in parts but the high points are higher than those on his last few releases. The addition of those songs to the set (and the removal of some of his solo material) made for an even stronger show than last time, as did the addition of Derry DeBorja on keyboards which added some texture and atmosphere you just can’t get with a two-guitar/bass/drum lineup. I thought the other new addition, guitarist Chris Masterson (who replaced album guitarist Brad Rice who was himself replaced on the last last tour by Chris Frame) could have exercised a little more restraint in the leads – “Tear-Stained Eye” does not and never will need extra notes – but based on this performance and the new album, Son Volt Mk2 should put to rest the complaints surrounding Okemah that a Boquist-free Son Volt is no Son Volt at all.

And for anyone who complains that Jay is predictable, I direct you to the Clash/reggae-fied version of “Life Worth Living” in the encore. I can’t decide if it was a triumph or a tragedy, it probably depends entirely on your POV, but it was certainly unexpected.

The opening on this leg of the tour was Jason Isbell, not even a week removed from having to add “former” to his byline as Drive-By Trucker. He was backed by his band the 400 Unit who may have looked more like a skate-punk band from the suburbs but definitely had the chops to back up Isbell on his solo material. It was hard to find an angle from which to describe his new stuff relative to his DBT output – some songs sounded more classic rock, some more hard rock, some bluesier… I guess it just sounds like Isbell but maybe with wider margins. But beyond that the four new songs he played aren’t enough to accurately gauge what Sirens Of The Ditch is going to sound like – we’ll have to wait until July 10 for that. The rest of his set was comprised of a couple Truckers tracks (“Goddamn Lonely Love” and “Danko/Manuel”, both sounded sublime), a song from Patterson Hood’s last solo album (no hard feelings?) and for the finale, a cover of Thin Lizzy’s jailbreak which DAMN looked like fun to play.

The Globe & Mail also has a review of the show, Metro asks Jay about fellow St Louis resident Nelly and The Patriot-Ledger talks to him about The Search. and I just realized that Heath Ledger was IN The Patriot. WHOA.

Photos: Son Volt, Jason Isbell @ The Mod Club – April 12, 2007
Stream: Son Volt – “The Picutre” (QT)
Stream: Son Volt – “Circadian Rhythm” (QT)
Stream: Son Volt – “The Search” (QT)
MySpace: Son Volt

Billboard has an expansive feature on Wilco wherein they visit the band’s loft and how Jeff Tweedy’s headspace informed the writing and recording of Sky Blue Sky, out May 15. They also round up the various formats that the record will be released in – there’s the CD, CD with DVD of featurette Shake It Off, audiophile LP (which will come with a copy of the CD as well – yay!), an iTunes version with bonus track and CDs at “indie coalitions” (I assume they mean independent stores) will come with a 2-song bonus disc. Completists weep for joy, completists’ wallets, just weep. And they’ll be selling it at Starbucks, though no coffee shop-specific bonus goodies for them. They’re at Massey Hall on June 30 with plans for another North American tour in the Fall. They were just in Australia where The Age talked to Jeff Tweedy about the effect his mental health has had on the last few records. And finally, head over to Stereogum to see some little vinyl toys of the band which will be available soon and are really kind of creepy. I think it’s the Amish facial hair they’re all sporting.

Feist is queen of all (NYC) media – in extended pieces, The New York Times talks to her and The New Yorker talks about her. She’s also on the cover of the next issue of Under The Radar. Methinks this is just the beginning of the media frenzy that will envelop Ms Leslie when The Reminder is released May 1. She’s at Massey Hall May 25 and 26 and in addition to the video for “1234” that made the rounds last week, there’s a second official clip for “My Moon, My Man” now available – it’s just as dance-errific but also moving sidewalk-tacular (via All Things Feist which, if you’re interested in this stuff, should probably be your homepage for the next while).

Video: Feist – “My Moon, My Man” (YouTube)
Video: Feist – “1234” (YouTube)

To anyone who picked up Centro-Matic’s new EP Operation Motorcide, or is thinking about it, An Aquarium Drunkard has some interesting information about the the tracks that comprise the release – mainly that they were the songs excised from last year’s Fort Recovery, which was originally intended as a double album. He’s got the track listing of that release if anyone wants to go MP3-shuffling and hear Will Johnson’s unaltered vision. Not that you can hear a vision. Different senses. Like tasting a smell, you can’t do that either. Anyway.

The Boston Herald and Hartford Courant talk to M Ward as he prepares to set off on tour opening for Norah Jones. They’re at Massey Hall on May 11.

NWI.com talks to Chris Funk, Decemberist.

So you thought The Hulk was bad? I didn’t, radioactive poodles aside, but I was one of the few. Well bound and driven to make a Hulk movie that’s far less thinky and far more smashy, production is beginning on The Incredible Hulk this Summer – right here in Toronto and guaranteed to be 100% more incredible than its predecessor – and who’s going to be filling out the purple pants? Edward Norton. For reals. They’ll need a new tagline for the film though – I’ve seen Edward Norton angry and I do still like him. No comments from the actual Hulk in his blog, but I’m sure it’s coming.