Apologies for the mid-week housecleaning post, but real life is winning the battle for my brain right now and I can’t really think at the moment.

Billboard has details on the eighth volume of Bob Dylan’s consistently wonderful Bootleg Series – Tell Tale Signs, which covers has rarities and live recordings from his recent works will be out October 7 in a standard two CD or four LP set or in a fancy pants, super-pricey three disc set that comes with a hardcover book. Details at the pre-order site. Dylan is at Copps in Hamilton on August 20.

Daytrotter is featuring the tracks from a session with Margot & The Nuclear So And Sos that aren’t going to appear on their just-released The Daytrotter Sessions EP, which is available for sale (!) at the usual online outlets as well as at Think Indie-affiliated retail outlets. Call this set the Not Daytrotter Sessions, and between the two of them, they’re your best opportunity get acquainted with their new material before they roll into the Horseshoe on August 6. The new album(s) Animal! and Not Animal will be released on October 7. The Cleveland Free Times talks about the strange arrangement about the release of the album(s) with frontman Richard Edwards.

The Phoenix talks to Wolf Parade, in town at the Kool Haus on August 9.

Pitchfork interviews Constantines, set to play day one of V Fest, September 6 on the Toronto Islands.

Two Hours Traffic are back – again – for a show at Lee’s Palace on September 26, tickets $8.50. Those boys certainly do come through town a lot, though this time there’s a bit of an ulterior motive for being here… perhaps hoping to drive back to PEI with a giant cheque in the trunk?

Exclaim!, AOL Music Canada and Dose.ca profile Broken Social soloist Brendan Canning. He also gives Pitchfork a guest list of stuffs. And there’s another track from Something For All Of Us… available for grabsies.

MP3: Brendan Canning – “Churches Under the Stairs”

The Awkward Stage, whose Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights I reviewed last month, have created a video for every song on the album viewable at YouTube. Chart also has an interview.

The Long Blondes talk to Chart about how, circa Couples, none of them are couples any longer. The band is currently in drydock as guitarist Dorian Cox is still recovering from a stroke earlier this Summer.

Thanks to Antville for pointing the way to the winner of the contest to make a video for Lightspeed Champion’s “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk”. Super-cute.

Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk”

The Montreal Gazette talks to Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood. Radiohead are at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 15.

The Charlatans show at the Mod Club on October 10 has been cancelled. That listing lasted just long enough to get me sort of excited about the show. Thanks a lot.

NME, via YouTube, has a rather frank post-gig analysis with My Bloody Valentine in Benicassim. They’re at the Ricoh Coliseum on September 25.

Using the MBV reunion as a launching point, Exclaim! attempts to chart the history and legacy of shoegazing.

M83 have a new video. They’re at the Opera House on November 20.

Video: M83 – “Kim & Jessie”

I’m thinking about getting an iPhone. Is that stupid? I need a cellphone plan that’s more flexible than my current by-the-minute one since I’ve ditched my landline. I also need a new phone. I would like to not have to carry around a cellphone, PDA and iPod as I currently do. I would like to have it sync tidily with my Mac. I would not like to be locked into a 3-year contract with a company as on-the-record evil as Rogers (I’d go with Fido – minor/negligible diff but their evenings start earlier) but my objections to them are more in principle than anything. I could handle the contract term and cost without much difficulty. And it’s so shiny. Thoughts?