The latest issue of Rolling Stone once again features a grizzled old rocker on the cover, but since it’s a grizzled old rocker I like, I won’t complain. Neil Young’s mug will be staring out from the cover of RS for the next two weeks, and they’ve put together a few special online features in conjunction with it. The excerpt from the cover story they’ve posted online only covers well-worn territory of Young’s childhood, but hopefully the full article offers something more insightful. Which isn’t to say I’m going to buy a copy, I haven’t bought a copy of Rolling Stone in many many years and don’t think I could bring myself to do so now. The full piece will be online eventually.

A more interesting feature is their list of the best Neil Young songs you’ve never heard. Appropriately, I’ve never heard most of these songs save for “I’m The Ocean”, “Soldier” and “Stringman” but can attest that those tunes definitely stand up with anything else Neil has penned. Maybe I should make an effort to the rest of those listed, though that probably means I’d have to listen to Re*Ac*Tor… To roung things out, they’ve also dug up an old interview conducted by Cameron Crowe circa 1979. I haven’t gone through the whole thing yet, but it definitely looks like a piece worth taking the time to read, seeing as how it catches Neil on the cusp of entering his most… eccentric decade to date.

And finally, the website for the Jonathan Demme concert film, Neil Young: Heart Of Gold, doesn’t have much yet besides the trailer, but promises more content before the film’s theatrical release on February 11.

Stylus has given themselves a makeover for the new year and, well, it looks kinda Pitchfork-y. I was no fan of their old design, it was a real pain trying to dig through their archives to find old posts and whatnot, but the new look is rather uninspiring either. But at least they kick things off with a review of the reissue of Slowdive’s Just For A Day reissue, declaring it the cure for the common cold. I picked up the reissue at the end of last year and have to say, the remastering is quite nice – the old version was so quiet – but the bonus disc is worth the price of admission alone. I would have liked to get the double-disc edition of Souvlaki as well, but there are so few extras on there that I don’t already have (thanks to the bonus tracks on the original North American SBK edition) that I couldn’t justify it.

Billboard talks to The National about meeting and playing with Bruce Springsteen at a recent concert paying tribute to his Nebraska album. Brooklynvegan has pics and a review of the event in New York City last week. The Billboard piece mentions that the band will be doing “a short east coast and west coast run” of touring in late March. Man, how much do you want to bet that there’s going to be a Toronto date in the last week of March… when I will once again be out of the country. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I was in Estonia or something when The National was in Toronto back in September… I haven’t. Man.

The Journal News gets acquainted with Emily Haines of Metric. Via LHB.

Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater and Okkervil River fame tells Chart there’s no such thing as indie rock, just budget rock. The new Shearwater record, Palo Santo, is done and will be out in May.

Paste reports on the making of the butterfly-powered video for The Shins’ “Saint Simon”.

np – Dot Allison / Afterglow

Cat Power hasn’t necessarily rocked my world in the past, but the new album is totally winning me over. You can hear the whole thing on her MySpace page, and while I’m sure some will bemoan her moving away from the skeletally weary folk of her earlier releases, I for one welcome her adoption of fuller instrumentation and melodicism. The album is out next Tuesday, and the press machine is revving up. Australia’s The Age and New York Metro have interviews with the notoriously reticent Chan Marshall while The New York Times profiles both her and Beth Orton and reviewing their respective new records. Finally, keep an eye out for the first video from The Greatest for “Living Proof”, shot by Harmony Korine – Tim O Thompson reports that “it’s a bit racy”. You hear that? That was the sound of a nation of indie boys fainting.

And on the topic of Matador-affiliated, formerly press-shy indie royalty The Sunday Herald has an old-fashioned sit-down with Stuart Murdoch and comes away with an impressively expansive and in-depth interview with the Belle & Sebastian leader. And in addition to the release of their new album The Life Pursuit on February 7, there’s the release of Put The Book Back On The Shelf, an anthology of comics based on B&S songs. I am having trouble finding real accurate info on the release date – I’ve found listings for every week in February – but The Beguiling and Soundscapes seem fairly certain that it’ll be out by February 8th, because that’s the day they’re holding a release party for both the CD and the book at Andy Poolhall out on College St. Some of the artists will be in attendance, so it’s your chance to hang out with indie kids AND comic geeks… or show up with a bazooka and put us all out of our misery. You know you’d be doing us a favour.

And at the other end of the spectrum, some artists who have trouble keeping their gobs shut… Oasis are at the Air Canada Centre on March 20. Didn’t know they were on tour over here? Me neither, but there you go. The Arctic Monkeys, who have probably already sold out their show at the Phoenix the next day to Toronto’s infamous slavering Anglophiles, will open. Because, you know, they’re already here.

And also on March 20 – Six By Seven’s Club Sandwich At The Peveril Hotel gets a formal release but the band has 500 copies on sale now through their website, some even autographed. The release is described as “a mixture of high quality master recordings, demo’s and slightly unfinished masterpieces” and contains tracks that were intended for the follow-up to their swan song Artists Poets Cannibals Thieves, which never came to be. Did I ever post about my attempts to buy a copy of that album over eBay? I won an auction for a copy from some dude/shop in the UK and sent payment via Paypal. A couple weeks later, I get a package in the mail that certainly feels like a CD, but when I open it up, it turns out that it’s an empty jewel case with a 10 pound note in it along with a written apology that they couldn’t find the CD in their store so here’s my refund. Somehow paying me in a foreign currency and shipping it as a small parcel made more sense to them than just refunding my Paypal. Attempts to contact the seller just got me profuse email apologies, but no explanation as to what the hell they were thinking. And so I carry that ten quid around with me in my wallet as a reminder that, well, some people are just fucked. And I still don’t have a copy of the record.

And more news from the UK – Eamon Hamilton has left British Sea Power to concentrate full-time on Brakes.

24: I think it goes without saying that President Logan should be removed from office and replaced with David Palmer’s corpse. Or Sherry Palmer’s corpse. Or a potted plant. I wonder if the producers were given a directive to somehow come up with a President who makes the real one look good by comparison? And that kid is SO not 15 years old, though he does cry like a little girl. Oh look! Sam Gamgee in a suit! Silly hobbitses. The airport siege went pretty well, though I don’t really see what sort of threat the terrorists really were, considering that all they had in those explosive vests was confetti. And biohazard weapons? Yawn.

np – Chapterhouse / Whirlpool

I had grand plans to blog the season premiere of 24 last night in real time… and would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling kids and their dog – and if it had started at 9PM like I thought. So sadly, I’ll have to jump in an hour late. And for the benefit of all my readers outside North America who don’t get this season till later this year, most of this post will be presented in SPOILERVISION! (Note: Spoilervision not available to those on RSS feeds, TFT = Twenty Four Time). Highlight that shiznit to read. And if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read the comments. I can’t control what people write there.

8:57PM EST / 7:51AM TFT – Who’s chasing Chloe? What happened to Jack’s mullet? Who’s the dude in the chopper? Who’s Frank? Oh, going into the refinery probably isn’t a good idea. Man, for a professional killer this guy sure talks easy. What? Palmer’s dead? Palmer’s in a surgical cap? Yeah, like Jack was really going to take him to the hospital…

9:08PM EST / previously… – OH THANK GOD THEY’RE AIRING THIS AS TWO EPISODES. “Previously, on 24” are the sweetest words in the English language. So Palmer shot, Michelle dead, Tony critical, Jack a bad stepfather. Got it.

9:09PM EST / 8:00AM TFT – HEY, THAT’S JACK! He wouldn’t shoot Palmer. They’re bff. And what is it with this show and stringy-haired whiny boys? Like Audrey’s brother last season. And wait a sec, are men fighting over Chloe? Okay, Edgar’s not really a man, but…

9:19PM EST / 8:14AM TFT – Okay, this kid is so gonna die. And that totally wasn’t Palmer’s corpse. His hand wasn’t wizened and he’s not the guy in the surgical cap. Yeah, guy. Jack/Frank has a daughter and she’s hot. But her boyfriends tend to lose limbs, so stay clear. Man, Jack is so cool. Wayne’s got a gun on him and he’s checking his email.

9:42PM EST / 8:37AM TFT – “Do not shoot! Just chase him on foot and yell instructions in a threatening yet informative manner!”

9:53PM EST / 8:47AM TFT – So nice to see that President Logan is still a twerp. The crazy wife is just gravy.

9:59PM EST / 8:58AM TFT – Oh yeah, those guys with the shades, big coats and duffle bags are discrete. Not suspicious at all… Okay, so subtlety wasn’t really part of the game plan, what with the firing AK47s into the ceiling. Oooh, evil Secret Service! Who didn’t see that coming?

…And that’s it for tonight. Not a bad start, I guess. I like how they seem to be deliberately killing off or otherwise incapacitating a lot of the old characters, maybe to force themselves to come up with new ideas to get out of the corners they’re sure to back themselves into as the season progresses. Oh, and it turns out that I’m able to get west coast channels with the old digital cable box, so I was able to catch that first hour last night after all, just three hours later. Yeah, the “Previously…” was pretty much all I needed, though I guess Palmer really is dead and that’s Tony holding court in the ER.

And more 24 press – The Boston Globe previews the upcoming 24 hours in the life of Jack Bauer, The New York Times goes behind the scenes with the production and marketing strategies of the show, the Associated Press talks to members of the cast and crew about what to expect (and not expect) while USA Today finds out how fans keep up with the breakneck (and often ridiculous) pace of the show.

And if last night’s premiere wasn’t enough Kiefer to get you through to tonight’s ep, check these out.

Though it apparently leaked some time ago, there are finally official details about the long-overdue new Built To Spill album. You In Reverse will be out April 11 and there’s a track from it streaming on their MySpace page and it’s almost nine epic minutes long. The song, not the album. Billboard has more deets.

A couple noteworthy shows newly scheduled for Lee’s Palace – the Destroyer/Magnolia Electric Co bill has been confirmed for March 25 and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are in town on April 8. Hopefully they’ll have figured out how to keep their guitars in tune by then. And Brooklynvegan reports Art Brut will be at the Horseshoe on April 1, which is odd since the last time they were here, they played Lee’s – a show they report on their website was broadcast on Ryerson radio’s “Wired For Sound” show back in December. And entirely Lee’s Palace-unrelated, Beth Orton will tour her new album The Comfort Of Strangers to the Carlu on April 6. You can watch the video for the first single, “Concieved”, on her website.

File under: irony – Kevin Shields want the neighbours to keep the racket down.

np – Charlotte Hatherley / Grey Will Fade

Dungen / Stadsvandringar (Astralwerks) Listening to this reissue of Dungen’s first album, made available in North America thanks to the success of their latest Ta Det Lungt, I have to wonder. Would people over here be as gaga about this record if Gustav Ejstes were singing in English rather than his native Swedish? Because listening to this collection of psychedelic, hippy-dippy aural patchouli, I can’t imagine Ejstes is singing about anything besides mystical badgers or pirate unicorns. It doesn’t sound at all unpleasant, but not especially remarkable and it sounds suspiciously like good soundtrack music for flower weaving. I mean, flutes? Flutes?!? No codpiece music for me, thanks. Dungen @ MySpace

Boards Of Canada / The Campfire Headphase (Warp Records) I have never been an electronic music guy. Too much of the time when I listen to it, I find myself getting impatient, waiting for something to happen. And I understand that’s just as much my problem as it is the music’s. In the case of Scotland’s Boards Of Canada, the journey seems to be just as important as the destination – or to be a little less cliched and metaphorical, the sounds used are just as important as the songs themselves. They find very pleasant and soothing combinations of laid-back beats, samples and sounds and then just let the run, creating perfect soundtracks for low-impact activities. It’s easy to just close your eyes and let the music carry you away, but it’s kind of weird to open your eyes fifty minutes later and realize you’re still in exactly the same place. Boards Of Canada @ MySpace

Sailboats Are White / Turbo! (Let’s Just Have Some Fun) Wavelength described this Hamilton quartet as “Big Black meets Black Flag” and while I can neither confirm nor deny these comparisons since I barely know either act, I can say that Sailboats Are White are buzzsaw abraisive, spastically tempoed and full of screechy, mealy-mouthed vocals. But perhaps despite their best efforts, there’s usually some sembalence of melody underneath it all and the keyboard lines are kinda nice. I fully expected to hate this album, but don’t really. That said, I don’t think I’ll be listening to it again. MP3: Sailboats Are White – “Veto” MP3: Sailboats Are White – “Mutiny Disease” MP3: Sailboats Are White – “Let’s Set Up North On Fire” Sailboats Are White @ MySpace

np – Low / Trust

I’m having a little trouble typing this morning. Towards the end of Bluescreen’s set at the Horseshoe last night, I dropped my pick during a bout of particularly frantic strumming and had to make do with my fingers for a while and now have a lovely blister on my right middle finger (“I got blisters on me fingers!”) to show for it. But such is the cost of rock.

Last night was the culmination of over a month of moderately intense rehearsals and crash-course song-learning as I stepped in on guitar duties for the CD release party for Bluescreen’s second album, A Survival Guide To Mishaps And Losses. The bill was definitely a family affair, with Fjord Rowboat (featuring Bluescreen’s other guitarist), In Support Of Living (featuring Bluescreen’s old guitarist) and Raised By Swans (featuring Bluescreen’s producer). But nepotism aside, all the bands fit terrifically together with each act represented a different wavelength of the space-rock/shoegaze spectrum – similar enough in style to appeal to the same audience, but different enough to not get tedious.

I’d been told that the other time I saw Fjord Rowboat was one of their worst shows ever, and after seeing them again last night, I’m inclined to agree. This time their old-school shoegaze, recalling Ride and Chapterhouse, came across leaps and bounds better. Better sound, better performance, better energy. They were graciously giving out free CD-R singles to anyone interested but if you weren’t in attendance (and shame on you if you weren’t) then you can download the tracks here.

In Support Of Living certainly took the title of lushest (that’s a lower case “L”) act of the night, with a seven-piece lineup playing over top of some densely arranged samples. As with Fjord, I enjoyed them a lot more than when I saw them last June. Then, they seemed very loose and free-form – this time, while they still had a very ambient vibe, they were much more structured and song-oriented. No doubt the addition of a vocalist helped out greatly in that department. If I were to draw more shoegaze parallels, I’d put them alongside late-era Slowdive (or maybe their Morr Music disciples) with a dash of less goth-y Cocteau Twins.

London’s Raised By Swans recalled the more modern brand of space rock, akin to acts like Doves or maybe moments of Elbow. Very Mancunian, anyway. I’d been told by a few sources that they were excellent, but hadn’t done any preliminary research to see what to expect. If it wasn’t our show, I’d have said they were highlight of the night. Delicate, dramatic and just great overall. I wish I’d remembered to get one of their CDs…

As for Bluescreen? I think we played pretty damn well, if I do say so myself. It’s all a blur when you’re onstage, but people clapped, cheered, danced, shouted things… all pretty good signs, I think. I managed to not fuck up in the spots I expected to (but did find some new spots to botch up) but all in all – no complaints. It had been so long since I’d played live (over a year and a half, I think) that I was a bundle of nerves right up until we got onstage but once we got going, it was over before I knew it. Playing live is always a blast and when it’s combined with a good audience, well shit. It don’t get much better than that.

And now it’s done and band’s future is a little hazy (geography issues) so I’m a little sad, but god it’ll be nice to have some of my time back. Two to three rehearsals a week really takes a chunk out of one’s free time, let me tell you. Thanks to everyone who came out last night, it was really appreciated – I think the night went well beyond anyone’s expectations. I have photos from the first three acts and would like to thank my lovely assistant for keeping the pics coming for our set. And again, thanks to everyone – audience, bands, sound and visuals people, Horsehoe folk, for a great night.

np – various artists / Almost You: The Songs Of Elvis Costello