Frank YangSo here we are on the first day of Virgin Festival 2009 and what’s everyone talking about? The headliners of Virgin Festival 2008 – Oasis – and the fact that Noel Gallagher has quit. Illness was blamed when the band cancelled their headlining slot at the UK’s V Fest last Sunday, but this time the official word is there was “an altercation” between Noel and brother Liam and that Noel walked out on the band on the eve of a show in Paris, with all subsequent European dates cancelled.

Now normally when 1/5 of a band leaves, it doesn’t necessarily mean the band is done but when that individual is the primary songwriter, it doesn’t bode well. But on the other hand, Noel has quit the band at least twice before – or was it thrice? – so there’s as much reason to think that it’ll be temporary as not. But until word comes that the Gallagher brother have reconciled or at least realized that they have no marketable skills besides being in Oasis, let’s reflect on happier times for the band like the one depicted in the photo – taken shortly after Noel was attacked onstage in Toronto last year.

Video: Oasis – “Don’t Look Back In Anger”

In more positive superstar British frontman news, Exclaim reports that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke will be releasing a super limited-edition solo 12″ single on September 22. And when they say super-limited, the mean it. Word is there will be only 4000 copies allotted to North America and only 300 in Canada.

Check out the first track from Bad Lieutenant, the new outfit let by former New Order frontman Bernard Sumner and backed up by Harvey Keitel and Nicolas Cage. Wait, what?

MP3: Bad Lieutenant – “Sink Or Swim”

Billboard talks to James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers about their new record Journal For Plague Lovers, which has a September 15 North American release date and will bring the band back to this side of the Atlantic for the first time in a decade (not counting that gig for Castro in Cuba in 2001), including a date at the Phoenix in Toronto on October 4.

The Manics’ Nicky Wire, along with Emmy The Great, Micachu’s Mica Levi and a host of others awash in indie cred talk to The Guardian about their favourite top-40 pop songs.

Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan talks to Spinner about jamming with Wilco during their show together in Brooklyn earlier this Summer. Yo La are in town on October 3 in support of Popular Songs, out September 8, and are Wilco here for two nights at Massey Hall not a fortnight later on October 14 and 15.

Spinner has an Interface session with The Dodos. The Time To Die is out September 15 and they are at Lee’s Palace on October 17.

And apparently Pixies played a warm-up club gig in Hamilton last night at the Casbah, to around 150 lucky folks, thus ensuring they are properly warmed-up for their oughta-be-headlining-but-not slot at V Fest tonight.

Brittany GrayTo call the Wheat story a long and winding one would be more than a little bit of understatement. I’ve made following the band something of a spectator sport over the years so when word came out that they band – whom you could never take for granted still existed let alone were working – had a new album coming out, a follow-up to 2007’s tentative and uneven but wholly welcome Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy And Made A One Inch Square, I reached for the popcorn.

I got a taste of the new material at SxSW in March at a performance that you couldn’t call flawless – the complexities of trying to recreate the new material live with just a trio were evident and the new stuff didn’t immediately file itself in the “win” column – but did nicely showcase the band’s joie de vivre at simply making music. The actual new record, White Ink Black Ink, out next Tuesday, maintains that sense of joy but delivers the material much more confidently – unsurprisingly, this is a band more comfortable in the studio than on the stage. Ink follows the template laid down by Kathy, with the same sort of restless creativity and messy enthusiasm but whereas the ADD left Kathy feeling somewhat distracted, Ink comes across as a more fully realized and crafted record – still meandering but with more purpose and even when it doesn’t know where it’s going, it gets there with more vim and vigor.

So on its own merits, Ink is an enjoyable bit of art-pop but for a long-time fan such as myself, it’s impossible to consider it without wondering how it compares to their early highwater marks, Medeiros and Hope & Adams. And the simple fact is, objectively or subjectively, it doesn’t because it can’t. Wheat have left that the hazy, slow motion aesthetic of their salad days far behind, and even if that period did yield superior songs – I think that’s fair to say – it’s obvious they’re very much occupied and enthused about working in the now, and Ink is evidence that the new direction might yet yield gems as rich as their earlier period. Asking them to go back would be like asking the beautiful wallflower who finally got the courage to step out on the dance floor, as awkward as their moves might be, to return to the shadows. It’s not going to happen, and probably shouldn’t anyways.

Express Night Out gets a track-by-track guide to the album from Scott Levesque and Brendan Harney. There’s also an EPK video to watch, if you are so inclined.

And because I happened to get two copies of the album for review purposes – three if you count an early CD-R, four if you count the digital version – I will happily give one away to a reader. If you’d like it, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want the Wheat” in the subject line and your full mailing address in the body and get that in to me before midnight, July 24. Contest open to whomever.

MP3: Wheat – “Changes Is”
MP3: Wheat – “H.O.T.T.”
MP3: Wheat – “El Sincero”
MySpace: Wheat

Penguin Books has an interview with Joe Pernice about his forthcoming novel It Feels So Good When I Stop, out August 6, and you can now read an excerpt from it. Pernice will be at the Dakota Tavern on September 24 to play some songs from the soundtrack and read from the book – tickets are $18.50 and go on sale tomorrow.

Daytrotter welcomes Blitzen Trapper back for their third? fourth? millionth? session. They’ve also released a new video from last year’s Furr and have chats with Decider and The Daily Iowan.

Video: Blitzen Trapper – “Black River Killer”

JAM and Pitchfork talk to The National’s Bryan Devendorf and Bryce Dessner, respectively, while Decider looks at how Matt Berninger draws on Charles Bukowski for inspiration. And Pitchfork is streaming the band’s contribution to a forthcoming tribute album to Ciao My Shining Star, a tribute album to Mark Mulcahy coming out September 29. I will freely admit I have no idea who Mark Mucahy or Miracle Legion are/were, but they’ve got some heavyweight fans.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews St Vincent. She is at the Horseshoe on August 8.

Baltimore City Paper spends some time with hometown kids Wye Oak, whose rather lovely second album The Knot is out next Tuesday, July 21. The band also compiled a mix tape for Magnet.

The AV Club talks to Mark Olson of The Jayhawks.

The Riverfront Times talks to Son Volt’s Jay Farrar and gets the scoop on a forthcoming Jack Kerouac-themed collaboration between he and Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.

FFWD has an interview with Bruce Peninsula, who’ve just scheduled a date at the Horseshoe for October 1.

Neko Case discusses her songwriting process with The Kansas City Star.

The Dodos aren’t waiting for their new album Time To Die to leak well before its September 15 release date – they’re streaming the whole thing right now on timetodie.net and Pitchfork has an MP3 available to download. They will be at Lee’s Palace on October 17.

MP3: The Dodos – “Fables”
Stream: The Dodos / Time To Die

Daniel Johnston is hitting the road this Fall, including an October 17 date at the Mod Club – tickets $27.

Our Noise is the forthcoming book documenting the first 20 years of Merge Records, and in advance of its September 15 publication date, it has received a swanky website. Tangentially, Pitchfork is streaming the a-side to Superchunk’s recent limited edition 7″ single.

Annabel MehranIt’s been a long week – I hope you’ll allow me to decompress with some much-needed link dumping.

And it’ll begin with St. Vincent, who wrap an extensive leg of North American touring tonight in Brooklyn before spending July in Europe in support of her second album Actor. Then come August, it’s back onto the highways of America for a short northeastern jaunt which will wrap with an August 8 show in Toronto at the Horseshoe, a gig which perplexingly isn’t yet sold out, so if you’ve been dithering about whether to go or not, the following should these video sessions with Ms Clark which surfaced over the past week should certainly nudge you off the fence, and if you’ve already got the date saved, they’ll serve to simultaneously whet and appease your appetite to see St Vincent live.

Her Lake Fever Sessions set sees her dazzling in a solo acoustic setting, while the inaugural “Cemetary Gates” series at Pitchfork TV sets Clark and her band in a Brooklyn graveyard (well, in a church in a graveyard), plugged in and presumably with a mandate to wake the dead. She was also on Letterman last night, performing “Marrow” – it’s probably too much to hope that the horn section is coming on tour with her – and You Ain’t No Picasso posted up an interview conducted a few weeks back in Kentucky.

Video: St Vincent – “Marrow” (live on Letterman)

Oregon Public Broadcasting welcomed Neko Case to their studios for a session and interview. Her tourmate Jason Lytle just released a new video. Both are at Massey Hall on July 14.

Video: Jason Lytle – “It’s The Weekend”

SpinEarth talks to Emily Haines of Metric.

Patterson Hood discusses his new solo record Murdering Oscar with Paste and The Washington Examiner. You can currently stream the whole thing at Spinner.

Stream: Patterson Hood / Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)

Aquarium Drunkard and Paste talk to Jay Farrar about Son Volt’s new record American Central Dust, out July 7.

Acoustic Guitar asks Elvis Costello about his acoustic guitar (and other stuff). Costello is at Massey Hall on August 28.

Also at Massey Hall, this show on July 11, is Steve Earle. He has a Q&A with Magnet.

Interview talks to Swedish singer-songwriter Anna Ternheim. She has been added to the bill alongside Loney Dear and Asobi Seksu at the Horseshoe on October 13. Her new record Leaving On A Mayday will be out in North America on August 11.

MP3: Anna Ternheim – “To Be Gone”

eye talks to Casey Mecija of Ohbijou, who are playing the Opera House tonight.

Woods have a date at Sneaky Dee’s on August 8.

MP3: Woods – “To Clean”
Video: Woods – “To Clean”

Lemonade and Cale Parks will be at the El Mocambo on August 24.

MP3: Lemonade – “Big Weekend”
MP3: Cale Parks – “One At A Time”

Here’s a peculiar bill – The Happy Mondays and The Psychedelic Furs are teaming up for a North American tour this Fall, including a stop at the Kool Haus on October 14. I call it peculiar because the two acts were hardly contemporaries and probably wouldn’t have shared the same fanbase even if they were. But I guess they have the demographic now – nostalgic Anglophiles who wish they were twenty years younger.

They’re here in a couple weeks on July 9 opening up for Beirut at the Phoenix, but since that gig is plum sold out, The Dodos have announced a full North American tour for this Fall in support of their new record Time To Die, out September 15. Their tourmates will be kiwis The Ruby Suns and the local stop will be October 17 at Lee’s Palace.

MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”
MP3: The Ruby Suns – “Tane Mahuta”

MySpaceWhat do you get when you have a pile of random news and links, not a lot of time and definitely not enough caffeine in your system? A post like this.

NME reports that British prog-rock space cadets Muse have announced the release of their fifth studio album, The Resistance, for September 14 with massive world touring to follow. I had thought they might feasible V Fest Toronto headliners, following their shiny red-jumpsuited performance at the first edition in 2006 but they seem to have all their record promotion ducks in a row with the US U2 support dates and the European headlining dates – any visits to Canada will probably come much later.

But there is some V Ontario news – the dates and one of the acts performing have basically been confirmed thanks to Mute Math’s MySpace – they’re listed as performing at V Fest Toronto on August 29 and 30.

The Dodos will release their third album Time To Die on September 15. Expect to hear some of the new material when they open up for Beirut at the Phoenix on July 6 9.

The duo of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss have reconvened as Quasi have a new, still-untitled record in the can. Look for it to have a name by the time it comes out on October 27.

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips confirms to the BBC that their new record will be a double-disc affair entitled Embryonic and is targeted for a September, though more likely later in the Fall release. He also gives a video interview to Clash. Hey, maybe they can headline V Fest. They still technically owe us a show.

Drowned In Sound has a two-three-part interview with Manic Street Preacher Nicky Wire. NME quotes bandmate James Dean Bradfield as saying that their next album will be a more upbeat affair than their current release, Journal For Plague Lovers.

The New Yorker salutes Sonic Youth, who have released a video from The Eternal. They are at Massey Hall on June 30.

Video: Sonic Youth – “Sacred Trickster”

NPR interviews Elvis Costello, who will be at Massey Hall on August 28.

Bowerbirds are showing off a second MP3 from their new record Upper Air, due out July 7. They will be at Sneaky Dee’s on July 14

MP3: Bowerbirds – “Beneath Your Tree”

Her Acid Tongue album was released last Fall, but Jenny Lewis has only just released a first video from it.

Video: Jenny Lewis – “Black Sand”

Decider interviews The Decemberists, playing a date at the Kool Haus on August 4.

Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis talks about American Hardcore to The Quietus. Their new record Farm is out next Tuesday.

Magnet has a Q&A with Bob Mould, who is playing guest editor at their website this week. He and his band have a date at the Mod Club on October 5.

Interview interviews An Horse.

Mille-Feuille talks to Anna-Lynne Williams of Trespassers William about her various musical projects.

JAM has an interview with Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker.

Decider has a talk with Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes.

Charleston City Paper has an extensive feature on Band Of Horses.

Washington City Paper talks to John Stirratt of Wilco. Wilco (The Album) is out June 30.

The Quietus examines the thespian endeavours of David Bowie.