AmazonI don’t think that Pete Doherty and I have very much in common – my drug habit is very much under control, thank you for asking – but it would seem that our list of musical idols shares some overlap. After all, if I were to itemize my guitar heroes 1-2, they’d probably be Bernard Butler of Suede and Graham Coxon of Blur, the former of whom produced The Libertines’ very first single “What A Waster” and the latter of whom was enlisted to play guitar on his 2009 solo album Grace/Wasteleands. So should it ever come to pass that we were locked in a room together, I suppose we could talk about that.

Coxon’s relationship with Doherty, at least musically, goes back further than that though, as he turned up to play “Time For Heroes” live with Doherty as early as 2004 and covered said tune in a visit to BBC’s Live Lounge in Fall of that year. It was released commercially as a 7″ b-side to “I Can’t Look At Your Skin”, one of his own solo singles circa 2006’s Love Travels at Illegal Speeds, his sixth solo record.

His eighth solo record A+E is out this week; DIY talks to him about the record and The Telegraph finds out about his fashion sense. Pete Doherty is, against all odds, still alive and not in jail and though The Libertines reunion hasn’t done much since 2010, with both Doherty and Carl Barat turning their attention to less lucrative solo pursuits, they technically remain an ongoing concern with both occasionally promising/threatening to do something again in the near future.

MP3: Graham Coxon – “Time For Heroes”
Video: The Libertines – “Time For Heroes”
Video: Pete Doherty with Graham Coxon – “Time For Heroes” (live 2004)

Frank YangTaking into account how incredibly efficient I was at catching my must-see bands of SXSW on the first day of the festival, I knew that it was a very real possibility that come Saturday night, I’d have nothing left that I wanted to see… and that was almost the case. Thankfully I’d kept a few things in my back pocket and either skipped earlier in the week for just such a scenario or had been putting off for Canadian Musicfest the following week. It’s called planning, folks. And if those contingencies didn’t work out, well I could just sit back and survey the chaos brought on by the final night of the festival, the return of the University of Texas students after spring break and St. Patrick’s day all converging on 6th St.

London’s Michael Kiwanuka might well have found his way into the spotlight in his own time, but getting named as BBC’s Sound Of 2012 certainly expedited the process. So rather than play one of the festival’s smaller, more intimate clubs for his SXSW debut, he was here on one of the biggest stages at Stubb’s amphitheatre and while it’s possible or probable that something cozier would have better suited him, the way he was able to fill the night sky with just his voice, acoustic guitar and accompanying bassist was remarkable. It’s a simple, time-tested recipe and perfectly suited for Kiwanuka’s romantic, folk-soul songwriting; I admit to being a bit surprised that the BBC went with something so traditional for their usually musically forward-looking honour, but kicking back and just luxuriating in Kiwanuka’s warm vocals, it’s tough to form a good argument against it.

From there it was a necessary to try and navigate the bedlam of 6th – oh, the sea of wobbling people dressed in green – and back to Latitude 30 where odds were I was just going to park myself for the next few hours. First up were Clock Opera, whom I’d seen way back on Wednesday and would be the only repeat act of the week. And it’s just as well because though this was probably the exact same set that I’d seen at The Mohawk, this performance was better in every sense. The crowd was more enthusiastic, the sound was bigger and cleaner, the setting much more atmospheric and the band much tighter. It’s probably no surprise that their last show of the fest was better than the first – there’s a sweet spot for bands at SXSW playing multiple showcases where they’ve settled into the rapid-fire showcase groove before beginning to fall apart from fatigue; Clock Opera hit it just right. Anticipation for their debut Ways To Forget, out April 23, remains high.

Sometimes the drive-by showcase dynamic of club festivals isn’t suited to appreciating certain bands, and they’re unfairly dismissed in favour of something more immediate. Fortunately for Django Django – who formed in Edinburgh but now reside in London – they manage to impress and intrigue while remaining inscrutable such that you may not fully understand why you want to hear more of them, but you do. I did, at least. The built an unfussy kind of art rock – conveniently collected on their self-titled debut – on a deep, inescapable groove full of odd turns and angles and littered with all manner of synths and percussion. As said, it’s not immediately pop but the treasures that lay just beneath the surface are evident; it’s music you may be surprised to find yourself intensely dancing to, but dance to it you will.

Next up was supposed to be someone called Maverick Sabre – a very superficial investigation didn’t make it seem the sort of thing I’d be particularly interested in, but someone had just bought be a whiskey so I opted to hang out for a bit. However, it became clear that it wasn’t going to be what I expected when, instead of a band setup, they wheeled a DJ table onto the stage and at the top of the hour, rather than some hip-hop/r&b the room filled with some heavy electronic beats. It turned out that Sabre (Maverick?) had to cancel and was replaced at the last minute by London-born/Manchester-raised Callum Wright, who operates as D/R/U/G/S. It’s a bit of a shame that I spent about half his set trying to figure out just what was going on and who this was, because he was pretty damn good.

I was actually a bit torn as to whether to stick around for Slow Club, since I’d just seen them in Toronto less than a month prior. That’s one of the peculiar things about SXSW – you’ll find yourself actively avoiding the bands you know and love because it means not discovering something new. But given that there was nothing else on offer that hour calling my name and I was already sitting right there, I let inertia win the day. The early part of their set was mildly calamitous with falling mic stands, failing guitar straps and broken microphones but they took it all in stride and it all became part of the fun; the band was simply too good to be deterred. It was something of a condensed version of the Toronto show with the older material scrapped in favour of focusing on Paradise and the new material earmarked for a forthcoming EP, but all delivered with gusto and enthusiasm by Charles and Rebecca. Such a lovely band.

Avoiding the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day seems like pretty obvious advice but for whatever reason, I did the opposite to close out the festival and hit up Friends Bar, which was hosting a lineup of all-Irish acts in order to see Belfast’s And So I Watch You From Afar. That’s right – even though I probably could have just given a hobo $5 to punch me in the face for the same net effect, I instead went to an Irish bar at 1AM on St. Patrick’s Day on the final night of SXSW to see a really loud, aggressive rock band. But at least I saved the $5. Now I’d listened to their 2009 self-titled debut and like to think I had an idea of what to expect, but rather than some variant of post-rock, it was more a kind of instrumental metal with some hardcore punk and even a touch of traditional Irish folk sprinkled on top – to wit, lots of insane riffing, pogoing around the stage, dueling guitar leads and at least one broken bass string. Then factor in the falling-down drunk crowd moshing, lurching and jigging and you’ve got something akin to mayhem. It was actually fun for a little while to be in the middle of – it certainly wakes you up – but eventually I fled to the fringes of the crowd and then out onto 6th to watch the rest from the street.

And then I left. Seeya, SXSW. Seeya, Austin. And thank goodness I’m done with festival coverage for a while. OH WAIT.

The Guardian talks to Graham Coxon about his new solo record A+E and are also streaming the whole thing ahead of its April 2 release date. And not to be outdone, The Quietus chats with Damon Albarn. No Blur insights are offered on either side.

Stream: Graham Coxon / A+E

Belle & Sebastian have released a video for their Primitives cover, taken from the Late Night Tales, Vol 2 compilation that’s just out today.

Video: Belle & Sebastian – “Crash”

DIY has a feature on and video session with Blood Red Shoes. Clash also has a feature.

Richard Hawley has offered up a stream of the first taste of his new record Standing At The Sky’s Edge, out May 7. And dare I say someone is getting their rock on? Yes, I do believe I do.

Stream: Richard Hawley – “Leave Your Body Behind You”

Keane are coming to town to promote their new album Strangeland, out May 7, and they’re bringing Mystery Jets, who’re putting out their own new album Radlands on April 30. Hm, that’s a whole lot of “-land” titles. Anyways, the Toronto date is June 19 and tickets are $45 in advance.

Stream: Keane – “Silenced By The Night”
Stream: Mystery Jets – “Someone Purer”

The big/best news of yesterday was that Sigur Ros would be releasing their sixth solo album on May 29, entitled Valtari, and if that wasn’t enough, they also released the first video from it. Now all we need is a Toronto live date to go with the Montreal Osheaga appearance in August, yeah? Word is that this is a more ambient kind of record than 2008’s Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust; the first preview certainly seems to bear that out.

Video: Sigur Ros – “Ekki Mukk”

Paste examines how Of Monsters & Men became Iceland’s biggest musical export since, well, Sigur Ros. The Georgia Straight also has an interview and Rolling Stone has a video session recorded at SXSW. Their debut My Head Is An Animal is streaming in whole at NPR ahead of its release next week and they play The Phoenix on April 12.

MP3: Of Monsters & Men – “Little Talks”
Stream: Of Monsters & Men / My Head Is An Animal

Exclaim reports that The Raveonettes will release a new, four-song EP entitled Into The Night on April 24 – they’re also hosting the widget that lets you trade your email for an MP3 of the title track. A new album should be out later this year.

The Jezabels have released a new video from Prisoner; they’re at The Mod Club on April 18.

Video: The Jezabels – “Rosebud”

The Stool Pigeon, Vogue Australia, and Stuff interview Pip Browne of Ladyhawke. The new album Anxiety is out May 28.

Frank YangAs I understand it, conventional wisdom is that Leap Day should be taken as an opportunity to try something new. But seeing as how prior to this year I’ve never thought of February 29 as anything more than an extra day of Winter every four years, I don’t feel bad that I spent it seeing a band I’ve seen many times before – Scotland’s The Twilight Sad, in town in support of their third album No One Can Ever Know.

“Trying something new” points should still be award for showing up early for opening act Odonis Odonis, who despite hailing from Toronto I’d not heard before the took the stage. A little research revealed that they were in fact labelmates with The Twilight Sad, being signed to the UK’s esteemed Fat Cat imprint for their debut album Hollandaze; this would normally be a good indicator of quality, but I recall another Toronto outfit signed to Fat Cat – Ten Kens – whom I was totally unimpressed with. And as it turns out, Odonis Odonis is the project of a former Ten Kens member. So. It’s probably just as well that I didn’t know that beforehand because I likely wouldn’t have given them a shot, and as it turned out, I liked them better. Relatively, at least. The trio either took a garage/surf-rock thing and buried it under noise layers or art-rock or took a noisy, art-rock thing and gave it a garagey/surfy friendly vibe – the coin flipped a few times over the course of their set. It was pretty loud and heavy, either way, and by the time it was over, I think the scorecard tipped in favour of tuneful over discordant, but just barely.

As noted in my review, No One Can Ever Know certainly found The Twilight Sad trying something new – synth-rock. An unexpected move given their signature sound to this point had been James Graham’s inconsolable bellow over Andy Macfarlane’s massive guitars, but one that works surprisingly well. So while I had a pretty good idea of what to expect of the band live by this point, I was curious to see how this new dimension would be incorporated into the show.

Taking the stage to a slow, pulsing synth tone that could well have been a fire alarm, they opened with No One‘s “Kill It In The Morning” – about half the set was comprised of new material, the rest split evenly between Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters and Forget The Night Ahead – and made it clear that though they had the same five-piece lineup that opened for Mono last time through, Martin Doherty’s keyboard responsibilities – while certainly more important this time out – were not going to supplant Macfarlane’s six-string duties anytime soon. The synthetic sheen of the new material was given a proper steel wool scrub courtesy of Macfarlane’s Fender Jaguar and Marshall stack and made loud, fuzzy and loud. Did I mention loud?

The combination of their old sound and new was quite a potent one, the resultant chaotic squall with a mechanical pulse coming across as more urgent and menacing than ever before and proving the new direction did not come at the expense of old strengths. At some points, the mix fell out of balance and Graham’s vocals – no wallflower of an instrument – were buried under the tumult but it always managed to right itself before becoming an issue. It was also interesting to see how far Graham has come as a frontman, his lurch-dance moves providing a welcome bit of onstage activity relative to his bandmates.

The show moved with a steady but unrelenting momentum for just over an hour, Graham taking the time to sincerely thank everyone for coming out to see them and promising a return visit soon before finishing with a scorched-earth double-shot of “And She Would Darken The Memory” from Fourteen Autumns and “At The Burnside” from Forget The Night Ahead. There was no encore, but there didn’t need to be; that was the proper finish.

Exclaim also has a review of the show.

Photos: The Twilight Sad, Odonis Odonis @ Lee’s Palace – February 29, 2012
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Another Bed”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Kill It In The Morning”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Reflection Of The Television”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Cold Days From The Birdhouse”
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy”
MP3: Odonis Odonis – “Ledged Up”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “Another Bed”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “Sick”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “The Room”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “Seven Years Of Letters”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “I Became A Prostitute”
Video: The Twilight Sad – “And She Would Darken The Memory”
Video: Odonis Odonis – “Ledged Up”
Video: Odonis Odonis – “Blood Feast”
Video: Odonis Odonis – “Mr. Smith”

Nick Lowe returns to town with a full band for a show at The Phoenix on April 23, tickets $34 in advance and there will be limited seating available. It’s in support of last year’s The Old Magic, from which Lowe has released his first music video in almost two decades – NPR premiered it alongside a conversation with Lowe about the tune.

Video: Nick Lowe – “Sensitive Man”

Finally apparently getting over her fear of playing venues appropriately sized to her fanbase, Laura Marling has announced a June 17 visit to The Phoenix, the final date of a Summer tour. Tickets will be $25 in advance.

Video: Laura Marling – “All My Rage”

Daytrotter has posted a session with Noah & The Whale.

Interview and The Quietus interviews Beth Jeans Houghton, whose Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose is up to stream in whole at Spinner; I wrote this record up a month ago – but the North American release was just this week. But to make up for the delay, there’s a new video!

MP3: Beth Jeans Houghton – “Dodecahedron”
Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Atlas”
Stream: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny / Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose

Arctic Monkeys have released a new video for a non-album track. They’re at the Air Canada Centre opening for The Black Keys on March 14.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “R U Mine?”

The lead single from The Wedding Present’s new album Valentina is now available to download. The record is out March 20 – North Americans can preorder the LP version over here – and they play The Horseshoe on March 25.

MP3: The Wedding Present – “You’re Dead”

The most appealing part of the new Belle & Sebastian-curated Late Night Tales compilation coming on March 26 – the band’s cover of The Primitives’ “Crash” – is now available to stream.

Stream: Belle & Sebastian – “Crash”

Also out March 26 is In Time To Voices, the new record from Blood Red Shoes; Artrocker talks to drummer Steve Ansell about the new album.

Allo Darlin’ have released a new video from their forthcoming album Europe, which will be out on April 17.

Video: Allo Darlin’ – “Capricornia”

In conversation with producer Stephen Street, Louder Than War learns that the Blur back catalog is in the process of being remastered for reissue in the near future. And the video from Graham Coxon’s new solo record A+E for which he was soliciting dance audition clips is now live; the album is out April 26.

Video: Graham Coxon – “What’ll It Take”

Pitchfork reports that Hot Chip have completed work on their new album and will release it under the title of In Our Heads on June 12.

Summer Camp has released a new video from their debut album Welcome To Condale.

Video: Summer Camp – “Losing My Mind”

Le Blogotheque has posted a Take-Away Show with Anna Calvi, while Time Out talks to her about her forays into the fashion world and The Music Network inquires about her music.

The Quietus talks to Stuart Staples and David Boulter of Tindersticks about their new record The Something Rain.

DIY talks dating with Charles and Rebecca of Slow Club.

aux.tv gets Los Campesinos! to provide a running commentary of their video for “By Your Hand”.

The Quietus checks in with British Sea Power, presumably working away at their next album.

The Line Of Best Fit salues Black Cab Sessions on the occasion of their 100th episode, and we (I) salute The Line Of Best Fit on the occasion of their fifth anniversary. The Guardian also marks the occasion by picking their five favourite performances.

Black Arts PRGraham Coxon has come up with a pretty clever way to get the word out about his forthcoming eighth solo record A+E, which is due out on April 2. Sure, the giving away a free MP3 from the album via a mailing list at DIY is pretty standard these days, but still effective. Soliciting dance auditions from fans to get a chance to star in the first video is also a fun strategy. And the three video trailers he’s released so far? Also effective if you’ve got some cachet and people are interested enough to watch – I think Coxon qualifies.

But the best way to get the words “Graham” and “Coxon” on peoples’ lips is to give an interview to The Daily Record wherein you basically guarantee in as many words that there will be a new Blur record while discussing your new record and your band’s upcoming appearance at the Brit awards. This carries a bit more weight than if, say, Alex James were saying it because Coxon is the one who basically ended Blur back in back in 2002 when he walked out on the recording of Think Tank. The other three carried on with that album and tour, but for many – myself included – it wasn’t Blur without Coxon, thus making his return to the fold in 2009 and the ensuing triumphant reunion tour that much sweeter.

If there’s any caveat about getting too excited about this pronouncement, it’s that Coxon was also the one who wanted aforementioned reunion tour to continue on – presumably with a return to North America – but Damon Albarn’s commitments to his zillion other projects put the nix on that. But one remains hopeful that where there’s smoke, there’s fire and eventually a new Blur album – with loads of tasty Coxon Telecaster and no world music beats – will emerge. And they will tour again.

Update: Pitchfork gets Damon Albarn on the horn and he’s cagier about what’s going on with Blur.

Well-timed, Filter has dug up a Think Tank-era cover story on the band as part of their tenth anniversary archive dig and DIY looks at the band’s 1997 self-titled effort – fifteen years old this week – helped kill Britpop.

Trailer: Graham Coxon / A+E Part 1
Trailer: Graham Coxon / A+E Part 2
Trailer: Graham Coxon / A+E Part 3

Noel Gallagher has released a new video from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Video: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – “Dream On”

Drowned In Sound, The Stool Pigeon, The Line Of Best Fit, and Clash all mark the release of Field Music’s new album Plumb with interviews.

Daytrotter welcomes Blood Orange to their studios for an interview.

Having just made an MP3 from the album available to download last week, Tindersticks have gone all in and their new record The Something Rain is available to stream ahead of its release next Tuesday, February 21.

MP3: Tindersticks – “Frozen”
Stream: Tindersticks / The Something Rain

The Guardian are streaming the new Slow Club single, taken from last year’s Paradise. Hear it live at The Rivoli this Sunday, February 19. The West Australian has an interview with the duo and the non-couple, amongst others, offers some Valentine’s Day reminisces for DIY.

Stream: Slow Club – “The Dog”

Drowned In Sound and Stereoboard chat with The Twilight Sad.

Los Campesinos! have a new video from Hello Sadness. There may be pole dancing.

Video: Los Campesinos! – “Songs About Your Girlfriend”

As a salute to the team of Russian scientists who’ve dug into an Antarctic lake that has been sealed in ice for 15 million years or more and not unleashed prehistoric monsters to devastate the modern world (I hope), Fanfarlo are streaming a new song that appears only as a bonus track on deluxe editions of Rooms Filled With Light. Also, a second live session video intended to get people excited for the record has just been posted. It’s out February 28 and they play The Mod Club on March 24.

Stream: Fanfalro – “Vostok, You Are Waiting”
Video: Fanfarlo – “Tightrope” (live session)

Head over to Clash to see a couple of live session videos from Trailer Trash Tracys.

There used to be a time where “European version” meant that there was at least some frontal nudity. Loney Dear must not have gotten the memo, as the European version of the new video from Hall Music trades the footage of the forlorn, masked skateboarder of the Nort American version released just last month for a pair of attractive people embracing at the seaside. Okay, then.

Video: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues” (European version)
Video: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues” (North American version)

The Independent gets Niki & The Dove to unplug for a video session while Digital Spy declares the pair “ones to watch” with a short interview.

DIY gets to know the people behind Sweden’s lovely Labrador Records.

Frank YangIf it were possible to discuss Beady Eye and their debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding based strictly on their musical merits and not their backstory, then it would be a fairly short conversation: alright-enough Brit-rock, hardly re-inventing the wheel. But taking into account that the band comprises 4/5 of the final lineup of Oasis, less chief songwriter Noel Gallagher, extra scrutiny is unavoidable. Which is unfortunate since despite the band’s – well, Liam Gallagher’s – insistence that they’re going to be the biggest band in the world, they don’t aspire to much more than solid, meat-and-potatoes rock’n’roll. And in that, especially considering the younger Gallagher’s rather unspectacular songwriting efforts in Oasis, Different Gear is surprisingly decent, with a good dose of swagger and energy and thankfully fewer than expected cringe-worthy lyrics. After all, Liam has never pretended there was a poet underneath the gruff exterior; Noel was the sensitive one.

While Beady Eye have hardly set the world ablaze with their debut, they found it worthwhile to bring it across the Atlantic for their first North American tour starting this past weekend in Chicago and landing in Toronto’s Sound Academy on Monday night. It would be the first time Liam would take a stage here since Oasis’ final assault-interrupted performance at V Fest 2008, and clearly the faithful had been waiting – the giant Union Jack flag waving from the balcony and random chants of “Liam!” a few of the signs that the band were on friendly turf. And really, it’s a rare sort of crowd who sings along en masse to The Jam’s “That’s Entertainment” over the PA, isn’t it? When the lights dimmed a few minutes later than the scheduled start time – it wouldn’t have done to not let the final bars of The Stone Roses’ “I Am The Resurrection” not ring out, after all – the cheers went up and out strode Liam Gallagher in appropriately ridiculous Union Jack topcoat and his more conservatively dressed compatriots and we were away.

Opening with “Four Letter Word”, Gallagher in his familiar nose-on-the-mic, arms-behind-his-back post and picking lyrics off a teleprompter, the first thing you noticed was that they were loud. More specifically, Gallagher was loud – heinously so. It was as if his monitor mix was being fed into the house by accident, so much louder were his vocals than the band that it was like hearing someone singing at the top of their lungs to music playing on their earphones. Thankfully within a few songs it was sorted somewhat – or fleeing to the back of the venue made the difference – and the remainder of the set was entertaining in a steady head-nodding sense. Each song from Different Gear as well as a couple of non-album tracks and one new composition was aired out, each with its own staging and adhering closely to their studio versions. And while it obviously wasn’t the context I’d ideally like to have seen, it was good to see Andy Bell back on guitar and taking a few solos in person.

Without that much material on hand and a sworn oath to not delve into the Oasis songbook, it wasn’t surprising that the main set was over in less than an hour, closing with “Champagne Supernova”-like psychedelic slow jam “The Morning Son” before returning for a two-song encore that brought the show to a respectable length. Throughout, Gallagher conducted himself with an interesting combination of confidence and humility, as though he still believed that he was fronting the best band in the world but understood that he had to prove it; this solid showing was a good start. Will Beady Eye, as their song declares, “stand the test of time like The Beatles and The Stones”? Not likely, to be honest, but at least they’ve bought themselves some of that time to get there.

Metro, The Grid and Shortlist have typically entertaining interviews with Gallagher and his bandmates. Chart, examiner.com and JAM also have reviews of the show.

Photos: Beady Eye @ The Sound Academy – June 20, 2011
MP3: Beady Eye – “The Roller”
Video: Beady Eye – “Millionaire”
Video: Beady Eye – “Four Letter Word”
Video: Beady Eye – “Bring The Light”

Loads of new videos making their way across the pond over the last few days. Let’s sum up.

Amor de Dias has a new clip from Street Of The Love Of Days. Alasdair MacLean and Lupe Núñez-Fernández are also playing guest editor this week at Magnet starting with a Q&A and submitted a guest list of inspirations to Critical Mob.

Video: Amor de Dias – “Wild Winter Trees”

The latest single from Anna Calvi also comes with a video.

Video: Anna Calvi – “Desire”

The previously mailing-list-sign-up-only video for the new Slow Club single is now available for all to see. It comes from their second album Paradise, which is out September 12 – NME has details.

Video: Slow Club – “Two Cousins”

Friendly Fires have confirmed their Fall North American tour which includes the make-up for the cancelled Toronto show, now taking place October 23 at The Phoenix. The Georgia Straight and Black Book have interviews with the band and oh yeah, there’s a new video from Pala.

Video: Friendly Fires – “Hawaiian Air”

Yuck have a new, kind of disturbing clip from their self-titled debut. RTE has an interview with the band.

Video: Yuck – “Shook Down”

The new clip from Noah & The Whale’s Last Night On Earth is appropriately slick and cinematic. And nice dance moves, Charlie. Creative Loafing has an interview.

Video: Noah & The Whale – “Life Is Life”

The Joy Formidable’s Big Roar has yielded a new video, which proves their affection for ’90s alt.rock extends to video aesthetic.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “A Heavy Abacus”

It’s not a proper promo clip, but people will still want to see this live video of Radiohead performing a new, non-album track. It’s taken from their upcoming From The Basement webcast, which I believe will be aired on July 1.

Video: Radiohead – “Staircase” (live)

Some news from components of Blur; Clash checks in with Graham Coxon on the state of his next record while The Guardian has a feature on the many projects of Damon Albarn, including an opera about John Dee and a tease about possible North American Blur dates next year – hello Coachella?

Summer Camp have turned to Pledge Music to garner financing for their debut album, and have put together some very neat and entertaining rewards for various pledge levels. The real reward, of course, will be a record of wonderful pop music like the track “Nobody Knows You”, which they’re trading for your email address, but if you want to walk away with Jeremy Warmsley’s bass guitar, well that can happen too. Clash talks to Elizabeth Sankey about the new album and fundraising efforts.

Clash quizzes Emmy The Great about this, that and the other thing.

Laura Marling has announced the September 13 release of her third album A Creature I Don’t Know. She talks to Spin a bit about what to expect and The Line Of Best Fit has more specifics. The record is already available to pre-order.

Bella Union has announced details on the debut album from Newcastle’s Lanterns On The Lake, who rather beguiled at SXSW. Gracious Tide, Take Me Home will be out on September 19 in the UK – the first MP3 from it is available to have and the hold now.

MP3: Lanterns On The Lake – “You’re Almost There”

The Quietus talks to The Horrors and gets a track-by-track breakdown of their new record Skying, due out July 12. They play Lee’s Palace on September 27.

Spinner, HitFix and The Mirror talk to Guy Garvey of Elbow, finally coming back to town for a show at the Sound Academy on September 28.

Pitchfork filmed a short James Blake film at Primavera last month; Blake is at The Phoenix on September 30.

The Daily Record asks Glasvegas frontman James Allan where he’s living nowadays while Rab Allan talks to Metro.

Spin is streaming a second preview track from the new Ladytron album Gravity The Seducer, due out September 13.

Billboard, BBC and The Quietus talk to Patrick Wolf about his new record Lupercalia while The Fly has an acoustic courtyard session with the artist.

Interview interviews Kate Bush.