Wilco’s set this Sunday night (August 31) opening for REM in Missoula, MO will be webcast starting at 8:30 CST (9:30 EST). The Quicktime player needed to hear it will be available on the Wilco website later this weekend. They will be heading back into the studio after a pair of hometown shows in Chicago after September 18 and 19 to work on the new record… which pretty much means that the faint hope that Decibels Per Minute – or whatever the new disc would be called – would be released in 2003 are pretty much nil.

More acquisitions – the new Sloan disc and the final Posies album, Success. Pop pop pop. And comics: on the intense recommendation from Vic, I got Johnny The Homicidal Maniac : Director’s Cut and the Vertigo trade paperback, Fables : Legends In Exile. Fables was okay, a lot straighter and less elliptical than I’d expected.

Goddamn packing is alot of work. I have much crap. Much much much crap. I think some extra-strong Glad bags are in order.

np – Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham / Sonic Souveniers

The Star has an article on Neil Gaiman in advance of his signing at Chapters Paramount tomorrow afternoon. I find it ironic that the story is entitled “Author stays out of the box” since if I don’t get to go see him tomorrow, it’s because I will be putting things into boxes…

I mean packing. I will be packing.

EMI Canada has set up a Fountains Of Wayne minisite at www.whoisstacysmom.com. There’s not much of note except an opportunity to enter a contest and to watch the video for “Stacy’s Mom”, which I still think is as creepy as it is funny, but unintentionally so.

The Anti-Blog Blogger is calling it quits after just a week. Poor guy never even got out of New York. Alas.

In half an hour I am on holidays, which will be spent moving and waiting around for various service repairmen to come by and give me the basic necessities of life. What fun.

np – The Tyde / Twice

A productive (and expensive) after-work yesterday. Got tickets for Calexico, My Morning Jacket, Fountains Of Wayne and Beulah. Found used copies of Neil Young’s On The Beach and the not-officially-released-till-October Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham EP of remixes by Sonic Boom, Sonic Souveniers. And to top it all off, my copy of Steve Earle’s Train A Comin’, courtesy of eBay, was waiting for me when I got home. Nice.

According to the Barsuk website, Death Cab’s Transatlanticism will be available “in standard cd format as well as the new ‘Super Audio’ hybrid cd format”. I only have a regular old CD player. I can’t help but feel a little inadequate. Oh yeah, tickets for the Oct 16 show are $15 at all the usual outlets.

np – Danny Michel / Tales From The Invisible Man

Mate an album on Worth1000.com. Classic, classic. Linkie from Kyle.

What does former Hellblazer scribe Warren Ellis think about the Keanu-fied film version of Constantine? Find out here. “I think Reeves is an interesting choice…” Very diplomatic, Warren.

And apparently this guy is earmarked for the title role in the new Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman flick. I guess they figure that other comic book adaptation did pretty well casting an accented unknown named “Hugh” in a major role, but going through this guy’s photo gallery, I dunno…

Just over a week away and I have no confirmation at all that the September 6 rescheduled date for Radiohead is legit – sorry. They’re going to be back in North America in October, NYC on the 9th, 10th and 14th in particular. Is the Amphitheatre even still open that late into the season? I can’t imagine how the organizers would handle moving the show to another venue. It would be bedlam. Bedlam, I say!

Decade Of Rad: Top 10 Movies Of The 80s. Gymkata!!!

np – Steve Earle / El Corazon

Napster returns in cartoon form! While I have zero to nil interest in the new service, I give those behind it props for a fun marketing campaign.

More Weakerthans love, this time courtesy of the Star. Someone explain to me why an album that’s getting such a major push in this city is available only as an import? Maybe they’ll had copies on sale at their free show at the ElMo this evening. Not that I was there… but I drove by. People out on the street were listening to the show. It was nice.

I went to Ikea tonight to scout out prospective furniture purchases. Had to reevaluate some stuff I had picked out because the corner desks were MUCH larger than I had expected. Too much so. So on the plus side, I will be getting a cheaper desk – a smaller desk. And some other stuff. I dunno, it’s impossible to figure out what I need until I actually get what I already have into place.

Speaking of moving, I got the wonderful news from my condo that I can’t have the service elevator on Monday, on account of it being a holiday. This is problematic because Tuesday, everyone who was going to a) offer me use of their van and b) help me move, will be back at work or otherwise unavailable. I’m going to call tomorrow and talk to the management about this, but I don’t expect them to be flexible. This moving will end up being a multiple-day affair, then. I have a contingency plan in place, it’s not a great one, but it should do if that’s how things shake out. Someone said to me that moving is the most stressful period in a person’s life, after death and divorce. I’m beginning to believe it.

News – Ticketmaster has Fountains Of Wayne listed at the Horseshoe on September 18… I think the ‘Shoe is a little small for a band as established and getting as much radio play as FOW, but I guess it’s happening thusly. I will have to be on the ball to get tickets for that one ($13.50 a pop).

np – Jeff Mangum / Live At Jitter Joe’s