I’ve been living with My Morning Jacket’s Z for some time now (it’s in stores today), though it hasn’t gotten as much rotation as some stuff simply because the security on the promo copy won’t allow it to be imported into iTunes, thus limiting the amount of spins it gets at work to approximately zero. I could use the player that the disc itself installs, but nuts to that. Anyway, that there? Digression. Back to business. I have still managed to spend a goodly amount of time with the new album and you know what? I still don’t know what I think.

It’s quite a departure from both the southern rock of It Still Moves and the reverb-drenched atmosphere of At Dawn – devotees of either record will probably find something to like and dislike about the new record. It’s certainly a bold move on the band’s part, thanks at least in part to some personnel turnaround and the addition of two new memebers since their last studio record as well as working with legendary British producer John Leckie. An eclectic record to be sure, it sounds like a stylistic dog’s breakfast but somehow very right at the same time. Individually most of the songs are good to excellent, but as a whole I can’t tell if there’s no flow or if it’s so deep that I just haven’t tapped into it yet. There’s little doubt this album is a grower – it just hasn’t hit full bloom with me yet, but I’m willing to bet that it will, sooner or later. Whether it’ll be soon enough to convince me to shell out the $30 to see them at the Guvernment on October 19? Magic 8 ball says: unclear.

Linkage – You can see an electronic press kit which includes an artfully-presented look at the making of the album. Reviews are starting to trickle in and they’re pretty positive so far. On the press side, Reuters has a short-ish piece on Z, PopMatters has a more expansive feature and Velocity Weekly gets them to play dress-up. They’ve also gone to the trouble of scanning a feature story in the new issue of Filter and they like R Kelly.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab tells Exclaim! that “indie” ain’t nothing but a word.

Free Williamsburg talks to Mac McCaughan of Portastatic, who says Superchunk isn’t dead yet. Via Largehearted Boy.

All the Bob Dylan hoopla has resulted in a tenfold increase in sales, at least in the UK. It’s interesting to note that HMV in Canada made good on it’s promise to remove all Dylan stock from their stores in protest of him giving Starbucks exclusivity rights to his Live At The Gaslight album. Funny they’d make such a stink over a record that you can now find in every used CD shop in the city for $10.

NME has soundbites on what to expect from a couple of 2006’s most-anticipated albums, new releases from The Flaming Lips and The Arcade Fire.

Apologies to anyone who was hoping to find a review of the Posies show at Lee’s last night. I had some other stuff to take care of and really, I just wasn’t feeling up to it. And if you’re thinking I’m too old to handle two shows in two nights, talk to me after this weekend – three in four, yo. Yeah, two are early shows – what of it?

np – The Cardigans / Long Gone Before Daylight

There’s not too much to be said about Bob Mould’s return to the world of touring rock music that the media hasn’t already covered (and which I haven’t already linked – like this Pulse Of The Twin Cities piece). Sufficed to say that for me, personally, this would be my first time seeing Bob since Sugar played an incredibly improbable show at my university waaaay back in 1994 (it was one of two Canadian shows on the File Under: Easy Listening tour – one in Toronto, one in Waterloo. Whoever was booking shows for the university back then, I still owe you a beer), so I was fairly excited about it.

Even though that Sugar show is eleven years into the past, it’s still the best point of comparison I have for last night’s show. For starters, a lot of the material was the same – Copper Blue formed a pretty large bulk of the set list. True to his word, Mould’s setlist drew on all periods of his career, starting out with Sugar’s fuzzed-out power pop, segueing into his more contemplative recent and late-80s solo material and of course, those Husker Du songs which hadn’t been played in so very long (in Toronto, anyway). When the Huskers portion of the set arrived, it opened not with a rush of punked out fury that some might have expected or hoped, but instead with the Candy Apple Grey dirge, “Hardly Getting Over It”. THEN came the punked out fury as “Could You Be The One” whipped the entire crowd into an instant frenzy.

The crowd was an interesting one – as you might expect, it was definitely an older bunch who had probably grown up with Bob’s music. One fan whom I talked to seemed shocked I’d only seen Bob live once before and never with Husker Du, for which my excuse was that I was in grade school at the time and probably wouldn’t have gotten in the clubs. I still don’t think she was satisfied with that answer. Another guy decided that it would be punk-appropriate to start spitting geysers of beer onto the audience during “Hoover Dam”, to which Bob responded quickly by spraying a mouthful of water right back onto him. He seemed tickled by the gesture.

It was interesting to be able to compare and contrast the different phases of Mould’s musical career all played together like that – though all stylistically distinct, they’re still remarkably consistent. Of course, it helps that they were all delivered at absurdly high volume via Mould’s intense, buzz-saw guitar. Mould himself was also looking impressively lean, fit and quite happy, often wearing a big grin on his face and he playing and moving with an energy that would put many younger artists to shame. He even talked to the crowd – saying “thanks” a few times and introducing the band. Eleven years ago, I think he said “thanks” once, and sullenly at that. His band definitely deserved props – bassist Jason Narducy did a fine job of covering the vocal parts for Grant Hart/Greg Norton/Dave Barbe and locked in super-tight with drummer Brendan Canty, also of Fugazi. If I’ve any complaint, it was that it was SO loud up front that sometimes it would take me a goodly portion of the song before I caught a familiar riff or lyric that allowed me to identify it. I suspect I was in the minority there, though, as most of the crowd roared with approval with each opening note.

Locals Uncut have been opening for Bob on this leg of the tour, with this hometown show being their final stop. Though they’ve been around a while and have some profile, I’ve never heard them before. Like, never. Turns out they’re fairly adept at the heavy rock thing. Couldn’t hear the vocals for shit so I could only judge based on the instrumental end of things, but they were alright. They got some moves and some hair. The could go places.

Back to Mould – I was happy to see the Sugar-era Lake Placid Blue Strat Plus still in action. To get the Huskers-era Ibanez Flying V back into service was probably too much to ask for… and it’s probably either been sold or destroyed by now. And on the souvenier front, I got a shredded pick which Bob threw right in front of me. Sweet. And of course, there’s photos.

Exclaim! has a piece on the wealth of high profile Canadian indie releases coming out this Fall. It’s worth noting that the big board at Soundscapes last night said that the Broken Social Scene record was delayed until next week. Is the big board correct? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t be the big board if it wasn’t worthy of the title. We’ll find out tomorrow if and when the anguished cries of the indie kids denied their Broken Social love ring out around town. But they can console themselves with the delayed-from-last-week Metric album. Update: Apparently manufacturing delays have pushed back the release in Canada, but it’s still out tomorrow in the US. Bah.

Quick show announcement – Portland’s Joggers and GoGoGo Airheart are at Sneaky Dee’s November 14. I got an advance copy of The Joggers’ A Cape And A Cane a little while ago and am still formulating thoughts – but I can see these guys getting big regardless of what I think. They’re already getting some buzz, so if you’re all about staying ahead of the cool kid curve, this could be one for your calendar.

One Superman Returns teaser trailer, coming up.

Oh look – the CBC lockout appears to be ending. I’m not surprised – as I’ve been telling everyone who’ll listen (which is no one), there was no way the lockout would continue past the start of the NHL season (aka this Wednesday). No way, not with their biggest money maker coming back after a year away. It’s like the garbage strike a few years ago. They suddenly reached an agreement a couple weeks before the Pope arrived for Pope-fest – just enough time to clear the mountains of trash off the streets before the pontiffs and pilgrims (and their pilgrim dollars) came to town.

np – Sea Ray / Stars At Noon

Grandaddy / Excerpts From The Diary Of Todd Zilla (V2) Some two plus years have gone by since Modesto, California’s Grandaddy released Sumday – since then, there have been some rereleases of old material and one of those weird mixtape compilation CDs, but no properly new material. The Diary Of Todd Zilla rectifies that situation as a stopgap before the release of their next full-length next year. An EP clocking in at just over 30 minutes, Diary is a perfectly-sized portion for those who enjoy their Grandaddy in smaller doses, like myself. I’ve always had some difficulty maintaining interest through an entire album, so the seven tracks here don’t overstay their welcome. Anyone wondering if their sound has evolved at all while they’ve been away need not worry, this is the Grandaddy you know and love. There’s spacey, lightly stoned anthems about technology built on fuzzed guitars and thrift store keyboards, all seasoned with Jason Lyttle’s plaintive whine and served up in both speeds, fast and slow. It’s actually a little surprising how by-the-numbers the material is, you’d have thought that with the time off they’d be trying something new. Perhaps they’re saving the groundbreaking stuff for the album.

Silversun Pickups / Pikul (Dangerbird) Silversun Pickups make their debut with the Pikul EP which marrys tense riff-rock with atmospheric production touches in a manner not unlike fellow SoCal-ers Autolux. Brian Aubert’s hoarse vocals skirt with grating but with further listens become easier to take. Bassist Nikki Monninger’s sweet harmonies help take the edge off and when she takes lead vocals, as she does on the delicate “Creation Lake”, it’s positively delightful. The songwriting is a little too much on the lumbering, dirgey side but lead single “Kissing Families” is quite solid and hopefully proves to be the rule and not the exception. Their debut album is due out next year.

np – Elbow / Leaders Of The Free World

October already?

Comic Book Resources has a 13-page sneak preview from the third volume of Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness, due out December 14 (or thereabouts). The fact that the first page of the preview is a double-page spread of the interior of (pre-renovation) Lee’s Palace makes me happy. According to creator Bryan Lee O’Malley’s blog, the cover they have up (and I have) is still a rough mockup. Scott Pilgrim also has a MySpace page… I haven’t heard anything more about the Edgar Wright-helmed Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life movie, but this newsitem makes it sound like it’s still an ongoing concern.

I’m not sure where my Scott Pilgrim trade paperbacks have gone. I hope I lent them to my brother.

Have you missed the Sufjan posts? Sure you have. I assume Stevens’ roadshow passed through DC just recently, because The Washington Post has a pretty straight bio/interview while The Washington Times takes the spiritual angle in drawing parallels between Stevens and C.S. Lewis.

Chart discovers Bob Mould no longer hates alternative rock.

Exclaim! profiles Metric.

The Guardian surveys the UK’s tastemakers about what the “next big things” will be. Odds are, I will hate every one of their picks. ‘Cause I’m contrary like that.

Junkmedia has clips from the forthcoming live Pixies DVD, Pixies Sell Out, out next week.

Zoilus lends his voice to the Bob Dylan commentary chorus, addressing points made in the Slate article I linked earlier this week.

Just two episodes into the new season and SF Gate is already writing (another) obituary for Arrested Development. I want to call them crazy, but sadly they’re probably more right than wrong. People are stupid. That’s all I have to say.

I’ve moved webhosting yet again, hopefully for the last time. I’ve gone with the highly-recommended Dreamhost, and things seem to be running pretty smoothly now. Let me know if you find anything amiss, though.

np – Idlewild / Warnings/Promises

It is doubtful you’ll find any articles or reviews regarding Neil Young’s Prairie Wind that don’t include the words, “mortality” or “aneurysm”. Understandable, since most of the record was recorded in the week between Neil’s being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm this past March and the surgery to remove it and that experience certainly informs the record. Now just a few weeks shy of his 60th birthday, he talks about that difficult period with Time in an expansive and revealing interview (via Salon’s Audiofile). Philly.com (Bugmenot), USA Today and NorthJersey.com all have pieces set at Neil’s performances at the Ryman in Nashville in August that touch on the same themes and Canada.com talks to Neil about the new album and where it came from.

NOW talks to Jon Auer in advance of The Posies’ show at Lee’s Palace on Monday. The Metro Times does the same for their Detroit show. Though it’s been on my concert calendar for some months now, I still don’t have tickets. I have this strange premonition that I won’t be able to make it and don’t want to get stuck hanging onto a ticket. Maybe I’ll get tickets at the door… To anyone who’s seen them on this tour – are we talking lots of old stuff or are they actively trying to push Every Kind Of Light? This review of a show in Philadelphia the other night is encouraging.

And to play six degrees of Ken Stringfellow – Paste documents the resurrection of Big Star, whose In Space is not doing well critically. And Stylus reconsiders REM’s Up, running it through both their Playing God and On Second Thought features. I’m inclined to agree with them that Up is far better than it was expected to be – everyone thought that Bill Berry’s departure would spell the end of the band and yet they managed to come out with one of their best albums of the decade. No, the horrible decline started with the NEXT album.

Drowned In Sound talks to Sigur Ros.

Carl Newman of The New Pornographers disputes the band’s status as a “supergroup” to Sign On San Diego. “Supergroups are supposed to come out of bands that are popular”. The man has a point – I think it’s safe to say that The New Pr0ns have raised the profiles of each member’s individual projects far more than the converse is true. Via Largehearted Boy.

Check out the trailer for Shining – surely the feel-good film of the holiday season.

Congratulations to Neil Gaiman on having his new novel Anansi Boys debut at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. You’ve come a long way from writing biographies for Duran Duran.

np – The National / Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers