American Music Club have given their website a shiny new makeover. They’ve also released details of a new compilation of singles, demos and b-sides cleverly titled 1984-1995 coming out March 1. It’s only available on their website and at shows and is going to be a very limited edition. I think there’s enough material on it that I don’t have to make a purchase worthwhile. They’re doing a small US tour in March that’s hitting major cities only, but will hopefully be touring the new record a little more throughly. I’m still remembering how amazing Mark Eitzel’s way too short set opening for Low a few years ago was. I get tingly at the notion of a full AMC show. Tingly.

Six By Seven have pushed back the release of their new album as they’ve gotten Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev fame (amongst countless others) to mix the record. Fridmann worked with the band previously, remixing “Candlelight” for the EP of the same name. That single also had another Fridmann connection, featuring a cover of Mercury Rev’s “Young Man’s Stride”. Which, I might add, I have been desperately seeking for some time now. If you’ve got it…

Of The Record has posted mp3s of a Pernice Brothers show in London at the Borderline. Exact date unknown, but it’s from just before the release of The World Won’t End. Plus: Sound quality is really good. Minus: No “7:30”. There’s also a recent Quasi show up for grabs.

Stolen Wine Social indie pop night in Toronto this PM. I want to start a pool as to how many Belle & Sebastian songs they play. Submit your guesses in increments of 10.

Finally, some confirmation of something I’ve suspected for a while now – The writers of 24 have no idea what they’re doing. This comforts me for some reason.

Some of the funniest shit ever – Zug.com decides to try some Viagra. From Stereogum.

np – Mojave 3 / Spoon And Rafter

Holy shit, major technical difficulties on the part of my webhosting yesterday. I was down far more than I was up, unfortunately. Obviously I’m not very happy with it, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt as they’ve been pretty much rock-solid for me for the year and a half I’ve been with them. They told me they had a hardware problem, apologized profusely and things seem to be back up to snuff now, though.

Release dates for Rachel Goswell’s (Mojave 3) solo record Waves Are Universal and the lead-up EP The Sleep Shelter are confirmed. The short-player comes out April 26 and the full-length May 17, both on 4AD. These dates are for the UK, there’s no word of a domestic North American release yet. Also, the second North American tour in support of Spoon And Rafter, which was supposed to happen this month, has been put on ice but the band reassures the faithful that this is not an ill omen about the future of the band – they will be releasing a fifth album on 4AD.

The Cultural Gutter is a new site run by a few Toronto columnists about the “geeky triumvirate of science-fiction, comics and videogames”. eye did a piece on them and their site launch this week, and not just because they’re eye columnists. Okay, maybe that’s the only reason.

I was listening to Catherine Wheel’s Adam And Eve last night for the first time in ages. Man, what a great record – I listened to it constantly in fourth year university. Such a shame that after the uneven follow-up Wishville, they just went on indifferent hiatus. The website hasn’t been updated in four years. Alas.

Not much going on today. I’m going to take a nap.

np – Ivy / Realistic

…That’s a line from Pop Will Eat Itself’s “Can U Dig It?”. I first heard that song on MuchMusic of all places in like 1989 or 1990, and comic book geek that I was (was? Am, more like), I thought, “wow, comic book reference” and felt all warm inside.

But you know, it’s true. I am reading Alan Moore’s Voice Of The Fire, his first novel (originally published in 1996 and reprinted just recently), and am struck by how natural, how accomplished his storytelling acumen is – even without the aid of an illustrator. Especially when compared with my nearest frame of reference for comic book scribe-turned-prose writer, sentimental fave Neil Gaiman, whom I felt needed a few novels to start feeling really comfortable in the medium. Even now his writing still feels like it could be an adaptation of a comic book or television script. That’s not a criticism as much as an observation. Moore, though… he’s got the ideas and style to be a truly heavy hitter in either format.

In brief, Voice Of The Fire is a collection of stories all centered around Northampton, England, spanning thousands of years. Each chapter is set in a specific timeframe, from 4000 BC through late 20th Century, and even written in a style you imagine to be representative of the era. And while on the surface the stories seem to have little in common, threads and ideas from the past creep into the future. It’s subtle – if you’re not paying attention you may miss it, but it’s quite masterful. I’m not done yet, just about to start the AD 1705 chapter, but I’m very anxious to see how it all comes together.

While reading this book, I came to marvel that this was the same guy who wrote some of the greatest works in comic books of the modern era: Watchemen, V For Vendetta, Miracleman, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Swamp Thing (which I’ve never actually read, but which I’ll be investigating soon). To say he’s the most influential writer in the medium over the past two decades is an understatement. I use Gaiman as a point of comparison only because he’s a writer whose stuff I’ve followed since his earlier days on Sandman and whose voice I have a pretty good ear for – I’ve read almost everything he’s written, I’d say. Gaiman has a tendancy to reuse the same themes and archetypes in his work – it’s almost all uniformly excellent, but I can spot his work a mile off. He’s like a guy with an almost unhittable slider. Moore can throw everything masterfully – he can fool you with a change-up, overpower you with a fastball or confound you with a knuckler. The man’s imagination seems to have no bounds, and it’s something to experience. Okay, maybe I’m being a little effusive in my praise (and baseball analogies), but I’ve just now been struck by how big this guy’s shadow is. And not just literally.

Obviously I’m not telling any comic fans anything they don’t already know, but I just needed to stand up and say, “yeah”. I’ve got a stack of books to get through after this one, but I’m anxious to revisit Watchmen again. Can anyone fill me in on other essential reading from the man’s bibliography? As mentioned earlier, I haven’t read any Swamp Thing. Or From Hell. How is his recent work under the America’s Best Comics imprint? I hear good things about Top Ten. I don’t know. I need guidance. And I need to get my Miracleman collection back from home.

And in more comic book news, Joss Whedon will not be taking over New X-Men from Grant Morrison – instead he’s getting his own title, Astonishing X-Men, while New X-Men will be dropping the prefix and be back to just X-Men with Chuck Austen taking over that title (what a turnaround in creative teams – from the best X-Men writer in years to the worst) and Chris Claremont returning to the book that made him famous, Uncanny X-Men. Confusing? Yeah, which is why I’m not paying any attention to any of them except Astonishing and if that doesn’t grab me right away, then my shopping list will just get that much shorter.

Batman: Intimidation casting news – Liam Neeson is in as villain Ra’s Al-Ghul, and Morgan Freeman is Lucius Fox, a high-ranking employee of Wayne Enterprises. In other words, Neeson = bad guy, Freeman = good guy. Filming starts next month. Update: Variety has made a correction – Neeson will not be playing Ra’s Al-Ghul. He has been cast as Henri Ducard, a friend and mentor to Bruce Wayne. Which leaves the role of villain still open…

Post Parlo will be re-releasing Volume IV of thier Home series, which featured new tracks from Britt Daniel of Spoon and Conor Orbest of Bright Eyes. It’s short – only four tracks – but they’re good. Not good enough for the gougers prices the out of print disc had been getting on eBay, but good.

Pieces on Franz Ferdinand from eye and NOW. Isn’t it odd how one of Toronto’s entertainment weeklies spells its name in all caps while the other is all lower case? Weird. Franz Ferdinand are at the ‘Shoe this Monday. Anyone else going?

A reunited Sebadoh, comprising Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstien, comes to the Horseshoe April 23 (Tickets $13.50) while Joel Plaskett plays Lee’s on the 16th of April, ducats $12.

Sorry about the late update. Technical difficulties.

np – Superchunk / On The Mouth

The Cardigans’ Long Gone Before Daylight, was released everywhere else in the world last year but finally comes out in the US May 25. It’s easy to dismiss them as twee one-hit wonders, but kitschy Sabbath covers and “Love Fool” aside (and that’s still a brilliant pop song – for the record), I think they’re still worthy of your attention. Their last album Gran Turismo was a bit of a snoozer, but the new one is very good. It’s very downbeat, residing on the right side of polish and sophistication, and carries over much of the country influence Nina Persson discovered with her A Camp project. It’s got some real heart to it. The production and musicianship is excellent – it sounds great – and Persson’s voice has got a very convincing weariness about it. Others have dismissed the record as bored and lifeless – and while I can understand that point of view, to each their own. Either it connects with you or it doesn’t, but I say it’s worth a listen to make your mind up yourself. Watch their video for “Live And Learn” here, if you like visuals. And with Nina, who doesn’t want visuals? Damn, almost made it through without commenting on Persson’s hottness. Oh well.

Calexico’s odds-and-sods EP Convict Pool is out April 6, and you can get their cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or” at Touch & Go’s website. Skinny from The Slatch.

Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow are busy fellows. In addition to their Posies reunion album out this Summer, Billboard reports they will also be getting together with Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens to record the first new Big Star album since 1978’s album-that’s-not-really-an-album, Third/Sister Lovers. And to top it off, Stringfellow’s solo follow-up to Touched is due out in July and Auer’s solo record Songs from the Year of Our Demise is still working out label details before it can be released. And oh yeah – Stringfellow is also working on the new REM album. The boy likes to work. Info from Coolfer.

Burned By The Sun has taken it upon himself to offer audio downloads of every band on the bill at Coachella. Awe-inspiring. Go listen.

Happy 1st anniversary to the hippest hipsters in Columbus, OH – Donewaiting.com.

Fontifier is a neat service that converts your own handwriting into Windows or Mac fonts for a reasonable $9. Or, if your handwriting is identical to Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev, you can download a font set of his handwriting here, gratis. Info from Derek.

Conan has apologized to the people of Quebec.

Twenty-Four – Hmm. Boring, boring, more boring, even more boring, excruciatingly boring, EXCITING! But then the only character responsible for making things exciting is dead. Which means more boring coming up. And Kim’s hair is looking even worse than before, if that’s possible.

np – Papas Fritas / Pop Has Freed Us

The Pixies are serious about this reunion business. How serious? They finally have a website. Whoo. It looks official, but there’s a strange air of third-partiness about it. From Burned By The Sun. Strange thing – I had a dream last night that the Pixies announced another tour date, April 1 in Toronto, and I had to decide if I wanted to pay $260 for tickets. This says two things two me – 1) My subconscious is trying to play April Fool’s day tricks on me and 2) my subconscious is really really bored. Who dreams about concert announcements? Gawd, maybe I do need to get out more.

Wheat are making their national television debut on March 1 on Last Call With Carson Daly and March 2 on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Polaraid says: “Do not shake it like a Polaroid picture”. From Donewaiting.

Spent pretty much all of last night holed up in the rehearsal space recording. I think it went pretty damn well, with me taking about 50 takes not because I kept fucking up but because it wasn’t sounding exactly as I wanted. And while about 48 hours ago I wouldn’t dare claim that I could play slide… well, I can at least fake it now. Woo-hoo.

I am trying to grow my hair out, and haven’t been to a barber in over two months now. I think I’ve hit that infamous ‘looks shitty no matter what you do’ phase. Which is good in that at least now I have an excuse.

Slow news day, so I talk about my hair. Lets hope it doesn’t come to this again.

np – Old 97s / Too Far To Care