I had no idea when I made my quickie Spiritualized post back on Sunday that a) Jason Pierce was critically ill at the Royal London Hospital or b) I’d be making a second Spaceman post just five days later. According to the news update on Spiritualized.com, Pierce contracted advanced periorbital cellulitis with bilateral pnuemonia with rapid deterioration and required intensive care and c-pap for type 1 respiratory failure. I don’t know what any of that means, but it sounds like an awful time.

Billboard reports that Pierce’s partner, Juliette, posted on the Spiritualized.com message board saying that after “nearly dying twice in the last 2 and half weeks jason has now and fantastically made an alarming and brilliant recovery” and while he is “still fragile and really weak weighing in at maybe 8 stone (112 lbs)” and is now recovering at home. Needless to say, I’m enormously glad to hear that Pierce will be alright and best wishes for his quick return to good health. And I promise not to gripe for a new album for a while (even though it’s already written…). But in the meantime, the website has been updated with all sorts of goodies (for registered members).

One more Maria Taylor piece, this one from Chart. Still spots available on the guest list for tonight’s show at the ElMo! Email me if you want on – hell, never mind the skill-testing question. The answer was Little Red Rocket, for the record.

Somewhere Cold takes a few minutes with Explosions In The Sky to find out what they’ve been up to in 2005 so far and what’s to come. They’re re-releasing their debut How Strange, Innocence on October 11.

Paste talks to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats about… stuff.

PopMatters talks to Laura Cantrell, whom they call “one of indie’s premiere country singers”. Note to self – buy Humming By The Flowered Vine ASAP.

The Onion AV Club has an expansive interview with Dinosaur Jr gets some dirt about the breakup many moons ago and the reunion. I love how J’s responses are maybe two lines long while Lou and Murph go on for paragraphs. Lou Barlow has always struck me as the kind of guy who doesn’t shut up.

It’s nice to see Neil Young still knows how to taunt his fans. Check out the scrolling message from the man at the bottom of his webpage – first he says the new album, Prairie Wind, will be a CD/DVD set out September 20. That’s not the taunt. THEN he says Archives, Volume 1 to follow. Actually, there have been enough signs of the Apocalypse lately that could mean that hell is indeed freezing over – the Archives could well be on thier way. It’s the end days, folks. Kali Yuga. Smoke ’em if you got ’em.

np – Bloc Party / Silent Alarm

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