The GuardianSo yes, been away a little while – San Francisco was lovely, thanks for asking, I’ve just started putting up photos on Flickr – and yes, there’s a bit of a backlog of stuff to get through. But there’s also a dollop of jet lag to get over, so I’ll just ease back into this if it’s all the same to you.

We may as well start with the only thing that I actually listened to from all the RSS/Twitter/email items immediately: yesterday’s livestreamed Blur mini-concert from atop a London rooftop – the exact location of which was not revealed – wherein they debuted both sides of a new single to coincide with its digital release with the physical release by way of limited edition 7″ on August 6. That date, of course, coincides with their August 12 gig at Hyde Park which is meant to close out the Olympic Games but which many are speculating will also close out their career.

The band have been vague about their plans for the future beyond this single, the Blur 21 box set due out July 31, and the brace of small warm-up and big festival gigs that will lead up to the Hyde Park show; some quotes seem to unequivocally point to the band’s end, other explicitly contradict that finality (not that there’s any sort of symbolism in playing a London rooftop concert, no not at all). It leads one to think that they’re not so much being cagey about it as they genuinely have no idea what’s next, if anything.

And I actually kind of like that. The new tunes are solid, so there’s clearly some gas left in the tank, and if they choose to roll out a new single every now and again without all the weight of expectation, then it’s like a gift. And if that turns into an album and/or North American tour, well that’s cool as well.

The webcast of yesterday’s concert can be seen at The Guardian and rather nifty takes on the usually blah lyric video concept for each of the songs allow some decent streaming of the studio versions of the songs.

Lyric Video: Blur – “Under The Westway”
Lyric Video: Blur – “The Puritan”

Spiritualized have released a second video from Sweet Heart Sweet Light, and Blurt gets some insight on the clip from director Vincent Haycock.

Video: Spiritualized – “Little Girl”

Over at Gigwise, Nicky Wire of MSP expounds on why the Stone Roses is the greatest thing ever.

Pet Shop Boys are streaming a new song from their forthcoming album Elysium, coming September 17.

Lyric Video: Pet Shop Boys – “Winner”

Consequence Of Sound tracks down Emma Anderson of Lush to talk about their final album Lovelife and the nuts and bolts of why there hasn’t been a Lush reunion, though it’s interesting to learn how far along one has gotten.

Florence & The Machine have released another video from Ceremonials; pretty much every album should have been put out as a single by the time they play The Molson Amphitheatre on August 2.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “Breaking Down”

Summer Camp are streaming another track from their Always EP over at The Guardian, and don’t worry about what you might have heard about them going hip-hop on it – neither Jeremy nor Elizabeth tries to bust a verse, they’ve enlisted Odd Future associate Pyramid Vritra to do it for them. The EP is out next week, and apropos of nothing, Jeremy Warmsley lists off his fantasy band lineup for The Independent.

Stream: Summer Camp – “City”

Spin documents Charli XCX’s first foray to America, back in the Spring during SXSW. She’s back this Summer as part of the HARD festival at Fort York on August 4, and also talks to MTV Hive about her in-progress debut album, due out later this year. And oh, new vid.

Video: Charli XCX – “You’re The One”

The Line Of Best Fit welcomes Dry The River for a video session.

Los Campesinos! frontman Gareth Paisey follows up his musical salute to Housemartins/Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton with an interview at Drowned In Sound about his new opera Presents The 8th, in which Paisey has a part.

Sigur Rós have released another video from Valtari, though this one contains 100% less celebrity penis than the last one.

Video: Sigur Rós – “Rembihnútur”

Filter and Relix get to know Of Monsters & Men.

Southern Souls shares a session recorded with Revolver, recorded when they were in town for NXNE last month.

WarpNo question Stephin Merritt is a smart and fascinating guy, but I don’t know if he’s necessarily the kind of person you’d want to take psychoactive class A drugs with. Not that he makes much of a case for doing so on the original version of this tune from The Magnetic Fields’ 1994 album Holiday – I mean, the instrumentation is all fun and tinker toy-ish, but his trademark mono/baritone is about as euphoric as a dentist’s appointment. And those must have been in the director’s notes, because the version with Susan Anway on vox that appeared on last year’s Obscurities really wasn’t any chippier.

Sacramento dance-rock crew !!! rectified this somewhat on a 2005 12″ with “Take Ecstasy With Me” as the a-side and Nate Dogg’s “Get Up” on the reverse. It’s definitely dancier than the original and while it doesn’t get too mind-bendy, is a much more compelling invitation to and soundtrack for geting tripped out.

The Magnetic Fields made their return to synths earlier this year with Love At The Bottom Of The Sea. !!! are due out a new album – Strange Weather, Isn’t It is almost two years old now – but it won’t be out in time for their show at Lee’s Palace this Saturday night.

MP3: !!! – “Take Ecstasy With Me”
Stream: The Magnetic Fields – “Take Ecstasy With Me”