There’s been a dearth of Mojave 3 news to report this year, but thankfully that drought appears to be ending. Neil Halstead has provided Mojave3online.com with a sneak preview MP3 from what will be the new M3 album, due out hopefully around March of next year. Says Neil:

“Trk is called “Big star baby” and will be on the new record. The version I’m sending is a rough version of the tune and is really a moniter mix, but we hope you like it

The record is coming on good now. We have got Victor Van Vugt to mix the record for us. He’s worked with Beth Orton, Nick Cave and a few others. The mixes he’s done so far sound awesome ( he hasn’t mixed big star yet)…way better than the mixes we were doing..were having a few problems in the studio in cornwall. There was a mouse invasion over the summer and we never quite recovered”.

Seeing as how it’s still an early mix, it’s probably premature to review the track in too great depth, but it’s a compact, jaunty number that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Out Of Tune – it’s certainly poppier than your typical Mojave 3 track. Have a listen:

MP3: Mojave 3 – “Big Star Baby (demo)”

The only other bits of remotely M3-related content I can add is a reminder that the Slowdive reissues are out in a couple weeks, on November 14.

The New Pornographers wrapped up their Twin Cinema tour last week with a bang – literally. Bassist John Collins’ appendix burst after the show in Chicago, necessitating the cancellation of the last couple shows of the tour in Minneapolis and Madison. There is a pre-appendicitis piece on the band at the The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Bugmenot) and Glide also has a feature story.

Okkervil River’s Will Sheff insists to NOW that he’s not the black sheep boy. Really. Go see Okkervil River at Lee’s on Monday. The Torontoist week in shows thus decrees. So far, none of the other local rags have given Okkervil any love. Fools, fools!

Here are the photos from Tuesday night’s Spoon/Mary Timony show. And as a reward for waiting, check out some Gimme Fiction videos, including the new one for “Sister Jack” which SF Weekly pans in their piece on indie rock videos available around the internet. You know, some links would have been helpful. Jerks.

Tilly & The Wall are currently in the studio recording their follow-up to Wild Like Children… and they’re blogging the experience.

Being There looks at the immeasureable influence of Bob Dylan, including a look at his peers, forbears and followers.

The Pitch gives a shout-out to my MP3 of the week feature. Thanks!

np – Rob Dickinson / Fresh Wine For The Horses

It’s always interesting to see a band twice in a short span of time, especially when they’re touring the same album. Case in point, Spoon, who had been through town just five months ago in support of Gimme Fiction. Last time through they put on a good show, though it took them a little while to find their groove. I don’t remember how early on in the touring schedule that show was, but I was curious to see what effect the intervening months of constant performances had had on the band and their sound.

I don’t know if it was the world touring or just the last couple days of travel that did it, but last night something was definitely different with the band. Thanks to the Vegoose festival, Spoon had a most roundabout itinerary, playing Detroit on Saturday, Las Vegas on Sunday and then arriving in the Big Smoke on Monday night for last night’s Toronto show. Now I try to avoid London, Ontario as much as the next guy but routing your tour through Nevada to do so is proabably a little excessive… either way, apparently Spoon was quite well-rested for last night’s gig, and the rest must have done them good because they played the best show I’ve ever seen them put on. I’ve only seen them three times, sure, but it was still the best of those, hands down.

The set list didn’t seem too different from what they played in June, maybe a little heavier on the catalog material, but the execution was excellent. They found their edge from the get-go and didn’t let up – I found a certain raggedness and maniacism in their performance that I didn’t see last time, and it definitely suits them. The extra energy on display really engaged the crowd as well, which was a pretty good size considering the band has been through town not long ago at all. The cozier stage of the Phoenix over the Opera House probably helped as well, and it was good to see that the bassist, at least, had taken my advice from last time and was moving around the stage quite a bit, offering some dancing support to Britt Daniel and his happy feet. But whatever the reason, I will have to amend my one-line synopsis on Spoon live from “they put on a good show” to “they usually put on a good show, but sometimes they put on a GREAT show”. QED.

Support for this tour was Mary Timony, a bit of an odd choice. I’d not heard any of her solo stuff, but did have a couple of Helium records back in the day. I didn’t really get on with them, but I had ’em. Anyway, I wasn’t going to let the fact that she was playing this date and not American Music Club sour me on her set prematurely, but I am still a little grumpy that AMC are joining the tour in just a few days. Anyway. The Mary Timony band, as she called them, was actually just Mary and a drummer – sort of a reverse-gender White Stripes configuration though more informed by prog than the blues. Though both Mary and drummer boy could play quite well, they weren’t exactly lockstep – sloppiness was evident at more than a few points. Luckily for them, it actually sort of added to the performance rather than detract. Both of them seemed to be having such a good time that it seemed kind of unsporting to call them on falling out of time with one another here and there, and it did slowly come together in time for set closer “9×3” which featured a terrific bit of back and forth jamming. Mary was particularly animated on stage, coming oh so close to a windmill or scissor kick, but never quite following through. If she had, that would have made the set.

And yes, there are photos. No you can’t see them now. Come back tomorrow. Update: Okay, we got photo action happening now.

The National tell The Daily News how they all gave up cushy day jobs in the name of rock. All hail. From Largehearted Boy.

Kevin Drew tells CMJ that there is absolutely no particular reason that Broken Social Scene’s Broken Social Scene is called Broken Social Scene.

Being There offers an dummy’s guide to the world of Guided By Voices. GuidedByRobertPollard.com is a fansite that endeavours to do the same. RobertPollard.net is the new home on the web for all things Bob, including news of the release of Suitcase 2 this week and the release of his first proper post-GBV solo album From A Compound Eye on January 24 of next year, courtesy of the good people at Merge.

Alas, poor Splendid. You will be missed.

The AP (via The Globe & Mail) gets a sneak preview as to what we can expect from this Sunday’s live live live debate episode of The West Wing. Sounds awesome – I am hoping that mid-episode both candidates bring out surprise new running mates. Rick Schroder for Jimmy Smits and Mike Farrell for Alan Alda. That would rule. I would vote for the M*A*S*H* ticket, GOP or not.

np – Catlow / Kiss The World

Poptones poses their always entertaining “Questions Of Doom” to Belle & Sebastian mastermind on their website. As reported last week, Belle & Sebastian’s new album The Life Pursuit will be out February 6 in the UK and be preceded by a single on January 16. And in the meantime, Revolution In The Head has another batch of B&S covers for your listening pleasure. The “Billie Jean” cover reminds of how sublimely they covered The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” two years ago at Massey Hall, and how I’ve never found a recording of either that show or any show where they tackle that gem. Anyone got it?

Spoon tells the Freep it’s good to be back home after touring abroad this Summer. Technically, they’re abroad again tonight, in Toronto for a show at the Phoenix. They just flew in from Vegoose in Vegas late last night/early this morning, hope they get some rest!

Jeff Tweedy continues to talk to Billboard, this time about the new Loose Fur album due in the Spring and upcoming recording sessions for a new Golden Smog record due, well, whenever.

The BBC is offering the video for the title track of the new Elbow album, Leaders Of The Free World. I hope you’ve all noticed the little contest banner up in the corner? It took me nearly 10 minutes to put together, so I do hope you appreciate it. The Elbow haikus are coming in, I’m looking forward to picking the best two and posting them for all to see. And scoff. Video link via Torr.

Want to hear a stream of one of the songs members of Pulp and Radiohead are contributing to the soundtrack for Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire? Click here. They also appear as the Wyrd Sisters in the film, which is out Friday November 18.

Sufjan-mania has spread across the Atlantic. It’s like the bird flu. The Guardian profiles the 50-statesman. Via Largehearted Boy.

Exclaim! speaks briefly with Rogue Wave but makes up for the brevity of the article with one big honking picture.

Choose-your-own-adventure Homestar Halloween!

np – Drive-By Truckers / The Dirty South

For a band that had originally said they were going to keep a low profile in 2005, Explosions In The Sky are certainly keeping busy. Just this month, they released not one but two records – a reissue of their long sought-after and out-of-print debut How Strange, Innocence and the contribution to Travels In Constants mail-order series, a mini-album entitled The Rescue.

It’s interesting to compare and contrast the two releases, seeing as how they’re documents of the band at the very start of their careers and in the right now, yet were recorded in somewhat similar fashions. As the liner notes for How Strange, Innocence state (they’re printed directly on the face of the CD), the band had been together for just seven months before it holed up and produced this album in just four days from recording to mastering. Their green-ness is definitely evident in listening to the album, especially if you’ve heard their later works. The compositions aren’t nearly as focused and while there are moments that foreshadow where they’re going, it sounds mostly like a what it is – a new band feeling out their new surroundings and exploring.

The Rescue, on the other hand, oozes confidence. Even under the limitations put on the recording sessions (apparently wrote and recorded one song a day for eight days), there’s a unity and commonness of purpose within the band that’s tangible. The musical chemistry hinted at in the first record is in full effect here. In addition to their core guitar/bass/drum sound, there are also some ambient vocals and piano flourishes which, while seemingly minor, do add a new dimension to the EITS sound. If The Rescue is any indication of where EITS are heading, they’re following the natural evolution of the post-rock instrumental band wherein they discover there’s much more interesting territory to be explored in beauty than aggression. Whenever the new album comes out next year (someone said Fall?), expect it to be a scorcher.

In the meantime, check out a track from How Strange, Innocence:

MP3: Explosions In The Sky – “Look Into The Air”

And while legit mail-order pressings of The Rescue are all sold out, thanks to the magic of the internet, it’s still available to those who want a copy… and the band is fine with it. Quoth EITS:

“We can only assume that it will be available on various file sharing sites soon, so please feel free to download it. We don’t mind.”

And there you go. They will have copies with them on tour this Fall, but their schedule is limited to the UK, a couple European shows and a pair of shows in NY and LA… not much use for most of us (or me, anyway). That’s why I have no qualms about posting the YouSendIt link from which I downloaded my copy. I don’t know how long these things last, but if it goes dead anytime soon, let me know – I still have the .rar file on my desktop.

Bob Mould likes Swervedriver. Bob is taking a short break, having just finished his full-band rock tour, but will be back on the road the second week of November doing the solo acoustic thing.

MusicTAP has details on next year’s Richard Thompson box set. Cleverly titled RT: The Life And Music Of Richard Thompson, the set offers five discs of completely rare and unreleased recordings from throughout his career as well as a 160-page (!) book. Those are some mighty liner notes. The collection is out February 6 – check out the full press release here.

A cryptic message has appeared on the Wheat website… “everyday i said a prayer for kathy and made a one inch square – 2006”. Can you say hiatus over? Sweet. Oh, and does anyone have the complete Nude version of Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second? I’ve only got three or four of the tracks and would like to track down the whole thing. I know it’s out there.

Rogue Wave talks to The Daily Vanguard about recording Descended Like Vultures.

np – Yo La Tengo / Prisoners Of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs: 1985-2003

Aberdeen City / The Freezing Atlantic (Dovecote Records) Despite their name, Boston’s Aberdeen City don’t sound British, or try to sound British, and for that, I thank them. Well, bits of them sound British, but bits of them sound like everything – I don’t remember the last time I heard a band that reminded me of so many things at once, and yet managed not to sound like a slavish imitator or fashion chaser. Drums flirt with post-punk disco beats, guitars echo, buzz and bubble with shoegazey textures, the vocals are earnest in that sorta-emo way and everything has a modern rock-esque radio-friendly sheen. Brad Parker’s vocals are strong but are somewhat lacking in the melodic sophistication department. However, the overall musicianship and production helps pick up the slack. Overall, The Freezing Atlantic is a pretty slick little debut – especially for their first long-player. There’s room for improvement but if they can fulfill some of that potential, they could be a band to watch. Nice album art, too. MP3: Aberdeen City – “God Is Gonna Get Sick Of Me” Aberdeen City @ MySpace

The Twin Atlas / Sun Township (Tappersize Records) The Twin Atlas are a duo based out of New York and Philadelphia who have been happily churning out albums of folkish indie rock since 2000. Sun Township is their sixth full-length in that time, a prodigious output to be sure, but don’t mistake their prolificness for Pollard-esque (lack of) quality control. While ultra-compact at ten tracks and under half an hour, Sun Township is a lush, sparkling jewel of a record from top to bottom. Sean Byrne and Luke Zaleski’s voices and instrumentation wrap you up like a warm blanket. Sun Township is like a concetrated dose of Summer on a plastic disc, just the thing to fend of the approaching Winter blahs. MP3: The Twin Atlas – “Roll On”> The Twin Atlas @ MySpace

Luigi I was trying to pick a band randomly from my MySpace friends to listen to, but it turns out that I knew a bit about Atlanta’s Luigi after all. Singer/guitarist Michelle DuBois used to be in Ultrababyfat, who also used to feature one Britta Phillips on bass. Ms Phillips, of course, went on to lay down the low end in the dear, departed Luna and while Ultrababyfat soldiered on a little while longer, they eventually called it a day and DuBois formed Luigi. Based on the three songs up for preview on their MySpace page, Luigi continues to deliver punchy, hook-laden, guitar-driven power-pop not that far removed from UBF. DuBois’ voice has a perfect blend of sweet and ragged, and it makes for some excellent boy-girl harmonies with the singing, Y-chromosone-sporting members of the band (I won’t pretend to know which of Scott Rowe and Johnn McConnell are singing what). The band has just released their second album, Found On The Forest Floor. MP3: Luigi – “Wash It Down” Luigi @ MySpace

np – Wilco / A.M.