Will WestbrookGuys, in case it wasn’t obvious, running a music blog that tries to update daily is hard work. So when something comes down the wire like, oh, a Neutral Milk Hotel reunion, it’s not the sort of low-hanging fruit one passes up, even if everyone and their mother is reporting it. And so even though you’ve surely already heard, Jeff Mangum – having confirmed via his 2011 solo tour that people do indeed still care about his old band – has gotten Scott Spillane, Julian Koster, and Jeremy Barnes to reform the In The Aeroplane Over The Sea lineup and commit to tour dates this Fall.

Presently, those tour dates number only five – two predictably at the 40 Watt Club in the band’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, one reasonably in Asheville, North Carolina, and two more bizarrely in Tokyo and Taipei. More will surely follow – one doesn’t open the door to something of this magnitude to just immediately shut it – but certainly not before those Athens dates in late October. And might this be paving the way for some new recordings…? Hey, one internet-breaking announcement at a time, alright?

MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – “Holland 1945”
MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – “Song Against Sex”

PopMatters talks to Tobin Sprout of Guided By Voices about their fourth post-reunion full-length English Little League, out as of today.

She & Him have let NPR stream their new album, the cryptically-titled Volume 3, a week before it comes out on May 7. They kick off the Toronto Urban Roots Fest at Garrison Commons on July 4.

Stream: She & Him / Volume 3

Spinner has a feature interview with Charles Bradley, who leads his Extraordinaires into The Phoenix on May 11.

Consequence Of Sound has details on a new Wild Nothing EP entitled Empty Estate due out May 14, a video from which has been made and released into the wild.

Video: Wild Nothing – “A Dancing Shell”

Spinner talks to the Berninger family about the Mistaken For Strangers documentary about The National, which features and was directed by brothers Matt and Tom. The new National album Trouble Will Find Me is out May 21 and they play Yonge-Dundas Square for NXNE on June 14.

Though he’s mainly focusing on his new record The Low Highway, as in this interview with Spinner, Steve Earle talks to Billboard about revisiting his past with the release of a box set collecting Train A Comin’, I Feel Alright, and El Corazon – the albums that got me obsessed with Earle in the first place – as well as a live album in Live at the Polk Theater and a live DVD in To Hell and Back, circa 1995 and 1996 respectively. The five-disc Steve Earle: The Warner Bros. Years set will be out June 25 and you can stream one of the Polk Theatre tracks below.

Stream: Steve Earle – “The Devil’s Right Hand”

The Fly has a feature interview with Parquet Courts, coming to town for a gig at The Horseshoe on July 17.

Of Montreal took to Kevin Barnes’ Tumblr to announce the completion of their new album Lousy With Sylvainbriar, scheduled for release this Fall.

Janelle Monáe talks fashion with MTV Hive. Her new album The Electric Lady is due out sometime this year.

In conversation with Spin, TV On The Radio reveal they’re working on a new album and it won’t be for Interscope.

NPR has a video stream of The Flaming Lips performing Yoshimi live, in its entirety, back at SXSW in March.

Yours Truly has a video session with Caitlin Rose.

The Black Angels stop in at The Alternate Side for a video session and interview.

NPR chats with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine.

John ShearerThe era of the touring festival has by and large given way to massive destination and regional festivals – it seemingly being easier to bring a bunch of bands and tens of thousands of fans to one place than it is to bring a bunch of bands to hundreds of thousands of fans in a bunch of places – but sometimes a touring bill is so impressive that it warrants a fancy name of its own. And the bill of Bob Dylan, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, and Richard Thompson which will be hitting amphitheatres across North America this Summer is one of those bills; ergo “AmericanaramA”.

Even though he’s the headliner and by far the biggest act – though if there was justice in the world, Thompson wouldn’t be far behind – Dylan is also the biggest question mark on the lineup. As I mentioned last Summer when the Fall tour in support of his latest album Tempest, Dylan is not someone who suffers nostalgiasts lightly and based on the tweets I saw the night of that Air Canada Show about people walking out after just a few songs, his penchant for rendering his songs nigh unrecognizable live remains undiminished. So caveat emptor, but also know that each of Wilco, My Morning Jacket, and Richard Thompson are also absolute known quantities at the other end of the spectrum – they’re incapable of putting on a bad show, even if they’ll most likely be allotted much less than their usual marathon set times.

So whether that math is persuasive enough to convince you to shell out the $49.50, $69.50, or $89.50 for reserved seats or $35.50 for lawns to see them at The Molson Amphitheatre on July 15 is between you and your accountant. But don’t forget to factor in the cost of an “AmericanaramA” t-shirt. The presale goes Saturday, April 27 Tuesday, April 30, at 10AM, with the regular onsale following on Friday, May 3, at 10AM.

MP3: Bob Dylan – “The Times They Are A-Changin'”
MP3: Wilco – “Whole Love”
MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Heartbreakin’ Man”
MP3: Richard Thompson – “The Sights & Sounds Of London Town”

Austin shoegaze aficionados Ringo Deathstarr have made a date at The Shop Under Parts & Labour for June 3 in support of their second album, last year’s Mauve. Tickets for the show are $7 in advance.

MP3: Ringo Deathstarr – “Imagine Hearts”

Aussie-fronted Swedish electro-pop up-and-comers Kate Boy have slated a short North American tour that includes a Toronto stop at Wrongbar on June 9. Tickets are $12.50 and if you need to catch up on some of the buzz behind them, there are these features at Pitchfork and Billboard.

MP3: Kate Boy – “Northern Lights”
Video: Kate Boy – “In Your Eyes”
Video: Kate Boy – “Northern Lights”

There was both curiosity and concern when London’s Still Corners canceled their North American tour in support of the forthcoming Strange Pleasures, out May 7, and the reasons for the itinerary change was made clear yesterday – instead of headlining their own Summer tour, they will supporting CHVRCHES on theirs. Exclaim has the new dates, which still include a Toronto date – June 12 at The Hoxton – but raises questions about their participation in NXNE. On one hand, even though that CHVRCHES date falls on the first night of the festival, there’s no sign that it will be associated with it at all – get your $16 ticket while you can – but on the other hand, they’ve got two off days before they need to be in Montreal so there’s technically no reason that their previously-announced June 14 NXNE showcase can’t still happen. Anyways.

MP3: Still Corners – “Berlin Lovers”

With a new album out in Change Becomes Us, British post-punk legends Wire will be at Lee’s Palace on July 10, tickets $25. There’s interviews with the band at Rolling Stone, PopMatters, and Rock Cellar.

MP3: Wire – “Dot Dash” (live)

Born Ruffians will be playing a presumably free show at Harbourfront Centre on July 13 as part of their Sound Clash festival thing.

MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”

Guelph’s Hillside Festival announced their 2013 lineup this year, and if you were interested in seeing the likes of Fucked Up, Colin Stetson, Diamond Rings, Hayden, Jim Guthrie, Lee Ranaldo, METZ, The Sadies, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, or World Party (!) with easy access to swimming, camping, and drum circles, then Guelph Lake the weekend of July 26 to 28 is probably where you want to be. If you hate hippies, you may want to reconsider.

Further cementing the possibility that he might just be homeless, Josh Tillman will bring Father John Misty back to town for his fifth show in 15 months, this time headlining the Danforth Music Hall on August 3 with Minneapolis’ Night Moves as support. Tickets will run from $15.50 to $19.50, depending on floors or balcony.

MP3: Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”
MP3: Night Moves – “Headlights”

With the new Guided By Voices album English Little League out next week, April 30, the five lead-up 7″ singles have been conveniently collected into a single Soundcloud playlist, and while The Quietus has collected all of the b-sides, as well.

Stream: Guided By Voices / English Little League sampler
Stream: Guided By Voices / English Little League b-sides

Deerhunter have put their new album Monomania up on NPR to stream before it comes out May 7.

Stream: Deerhunter / Monomania

MTV Hive talks to Robert Levon Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club about his relationship with his late father. BRMC are at The Kool Haus on May 9.

Exclaim, Creative Loafing, The Island Packet, and Charleston City Paper interview Charles Bradley, in town at The Phoenix on May 11.

Mudkiss checks in with Nicole Atkins, who continues work on her third album Slow Phaser, due out later this year.

Janelle Monáe has made the first track from her new album The Electric Lady available to stream, and Erykah Badu has helped her do it. The record is due out later this year.

Stream: Janelle Monáe (featuring Erykah Badu) – “Q.U.E.E.N.”

CBC Music and Exclaim have interviews with Steve Earle about his new album, The Low Highway.

Sam Beam of Iron & Wine discusses his new album Ghost On Ghost with Clash.

Elle profiles Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, covering topics including her brush with breast cancer, the end of her marriage to Thurston Moore, and what’s next.

Chan Marshall of Cat Power discusses her personal style with MTV Style.

As much as I love Galaxie 500, they’ve never struck me as a band that required multiple books to be written about them. Of course, Dean Wareham’s Black Postcards obviously had its bias, so maybe Temperature’s Rising – Galaxie 500: an oral and visual history – released last week and featuring input from all three members – will be more balanced and accurate. And if not, it will at least be larger and offer more pictures.

Carlie ArmstrongNot much stays fresh after 30 years, particularly something as fleeting as creativity, and not even a band that’s as stylistically rangy as Yo La Tengo is immune to the of feeling of repeating themselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as their last release – 2009’s Popular Songs – was an enjoyable summation of everything Yo La Tengo has done well over the past three decades or so, from concise poppers to sprawling rockers on the x-axis and quiet to loud on the y, but didn’t really offer much as a jumping-off point for where they’d could go next.

As it turned out, the “where” would be Chicago, to work with John McEntire of Tortoise, rather than Nashville and Roger Moutenot, who had been behind the boards for every one of their records since 1993’s Painful – that’s their last seven releases. And while it’s not necessarily clear that a change in producer would have that drastic an effect on a band that’s as assured in what they do and how they do it as Yo La Tengo, if they were looking to come away with something different, it’s reasonable to say that the fruits of those sessions – Fade, out tomorrow – accomplished that.

The songs still follow the familiar Yo La Tengo templates, but the presentation feels compressed. Not in the technical studio sense of being less dynamic, but it’s not hard to imagine bookend tracks “Ohm” and “Before We Run” stretching past the 10-minute mark on other records instead of being constrained to their relatively concise six-and-change running times here. And those are the longest tracks on the album – almost everything else clocks in at under five minutes. Not to get too hung up on matters of time – what’s more remarkable than the fact that the whole thing could be dubbed onto a single side of a 90-minute cassette is that it seems to have been done without compromising any of the band’s trademark atmospheric indulgences or rushing their gentler, languid tempos.

On the quiet side, “Two Trains” exists in a sumptuous, phase-shifted dream-state, and “I’ll Be Around” hums along, carried by whirring organs and Ira Kaplan’s fingerpicked guitarwork, yet maintain enough presence to avoid becoming pretty aural wallpaper, and at the other end of the spectrum, “Well You Better” and “Paddle Forward” are welcome additions to the crunchy pop nugget section of their songbook. Fade may not necessarily break any new ground for the band – that may well be mathematically impossible for them at this point – but it does offer a fresh perspective on much of what they do best.

Spin and DIY have interviews with Ira Kaplan. They’re at The Phoenix on February 9.

MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Stupid Things”
Video: Yo La Tengo – “Ohm”
Video: Yo La Tengo – “Before We Run”
Stream: Yo La Tengo / Fade

It’s not as good as, say, her own tour in support of a new album, but it’s worth noting that Nicole Atkins will be in town on February 25 opening up for Eels at The Phoenix.

MP3: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”

And if you missed the post addendum last week, Low have announced a local date in support of their new record The Invisible Way. The album is out March 19 but they’ll be here a few days earlier, on March 16, at The Great Hall. Tickets for that are $18.50 and on sale now.

MP3: Low – “Just Make It Stop”

Chelsea Light Moving – aka Thurston Moore’s new post-Sonic Youth band – will be at Lee’s Palace on March 31 in support of their self-titled debut, out March 5. Tickets are $19.50, details on the release available at Matablog and there’s quite a bit of the new record available to preview; spoilers – it sounds like Thurston Moore.

MP3: Chelsea Light Moving – “Burroughs”
MP3: Chelsea Light Moving – “Frank O’Hara Hit”
MP3: Chelsea Light Moving – “Empire Of Time”
MP3: Chelsea Light Moving – “Groovy & Linda”

Los Angeles electro-pop outfit Fol Chen will be at The Drake Underground on April 7 in support of their new album The False Alarms, due out March 19.

MP3: Fol Chen – “Cable TV”
Stream: Fol Chen – “200 Words”

Good news for those anticipating/dreading the auction later this week for the new Replacements benefit EP, Songs For Slim; while that limited edition of 250 will still be auctioned off to raise money for former ‘Mats guitarist Slim Dunlap’s medical bills, a regular edition of the recordings will be made available for sale to the general public. Details on that at Consequence Of Sound.

NPR interviews Christopher Owens, whose solo debut Lysandre is out tomorrow and who hits The Mod Club this Friday night.

NPR has got the whole of the new Widowspeak album Almanac available to stream ahead of its January 22 release.

MP3: Widowspeak – “Ballad Of The Golden Hour”
Stream: Widowspeak / Almanac

Hit up Consequence Of Sound to hear a stream of a track from the new Guided By Voices EP Down By The Racetrack, due out January 22. Their next full-length English Little League will follow on April 30.

Stream: Guided By Voices – “Copy Zero”

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Caitlin Rose, whose second album The Stand-In is out February 25 and who plays The Garrison on April 5.

Charles Bradley has given his second album Victim Of Love an April 2 release date. Details over at Exclaim.

The Flaming Lips have announced plans to release their 1997 mind-fuck opus Zaireeka as a vinyl reissue for Record Store Day this year, which is to say April 20. Which sounds great but when you factor in the fact that you’d not only need four turntables instead of the original issue’s quad-CD player setup, but you’d need to swap sides and records for each disc… yeah. No.

Memory Tapes have released a new video from last year’s Grace/Confusion.

Video: Memory Tapes – “Sheila”

The Alternate Side has a studio session with Dinosaur Jr.

Glasswerk have a video session with Crooked Fingers.

Elle Canada has an interview with Janelle Monáe.

Popmatters talks to Wild Nothing’s Jack Tatum.

PulpHope everyone had a nice holiday. Just popping my head up to clear the decks before taking seasonal cover once again. Because despite very little technically happening over the last few days, a few noteworthy things floated their way up to the top of the internet, not least of which is a new old song from Pulp.

Though the safe return to port of the S.S. Coachella last week marked the band’s final engagement for the foreseeable future, they don’t go back into hiatus without some parting gifts. Passengers on the cruise were given gift cards with download codes which as of Christmas Day were redeemable for a new recording of an old song; “After You” had existed in demo form for many years, but recorded properly in November and given finishing touches on the cruise itself by James Murphy before being released to the cruise passengers, and then via Consequence Of Sound, onto the internet at large. The exact vintage of the tune is unclear but it certainly sounds like it predates their Common People/This Is Hardcore/We Love Life golden age, but hey. New! Old! Pulp! Happy! Christmas!

Stream: Pulp – “After You”

Wild Beasts have also offered up something from their archives, a track from the sessions for last year’s Smother.

Stream: Wild Beasts – “Stray”

Frightened Rabbit celebrated Christmas by giving away a holiday-themed track to their fans. Too late to make the caroling rounds this year, but an easy pick for your Christmas mixes next year. Their new album Pedestrian Verse is out February 5 and they play The Phoenix March 31.

MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “She Screams Christmas”

In what may the musical equivalent of constantly hitting refresh on the FedEx package tracking page, many were all agog about the announcement that My Bloody Valentine had completed mastering their new album, and while it seems unlikely that they’ll make good on Kevin Shields’ promise to release it this year, it’s done – as in out of Shields’ hands – and that much closer to being a reality. Exclaim has some specifics and design house IMeUs has some of the artwork that they submitted for consideration for the album’s packaging.

Radiohead Bonnaroo is a site that was set up to share a soundboard recording of Radiohead’s 2006 headlining set at said festival, though for a working download link you’ll have to hit Consequence Of Sound or, by now, your friendly neighbourhood bit torrent site.

Slicing Up Eyeballs have premiered a new Pet Shop Boys b-side, taken from “Memory Of The Future”, the latest single from Elysium.

Stream: Pet Shop Boys – “One Night”

Under The Radar interviews Django Django; they’re at The Opera House on March 12.

Wild Honey Pie has a video session with Daughter.

Editors frontman Tom Smith talks to The Daily Star about recovering from the departure of guitarist Chris Urbanowicz and their plans for their next album.

The Deer Tracks also offered up a Christmas gift to fans in the form of an unreleased track in both MP3 and video form. Their Archer Trilogy Pt. 3 full-length is due out on February 12 and there’s an interview with the band at MTV.

MP3: The Deer Tracks – “Bucket Of Sunbeams”
Video: The Deer Tracks – “Bucket Of Sunbeams”

Low are streaming the first taste of their new album The Invisible Way, out March 19.

Stream: Low – “Plastic Cup”

Under The Radar has details on the fourth (!) Guided By Voices reunion album – English Little League is coming April 30. Ready yourself.

Hey, you know Color Me Obsessed, the Replacements documentary from a few years ago that featured no appearances from or music by The Replacements? You can now watch all two hours of it online. If you want.

Video: Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements

CBC Music talks to Japandroids about their killer 2012.

NOW has a video session with Evening Hymns.

The lineup for the third installment of Fucked Up’s Long Winter series has been announced – hit the Great Hall on January 11 for sets from Buck 65, Picastro, Moon King, and more. Cover is PWYC.

Carlie ArmstrongSo here’s one last housecleaning post before basically winding down for the holidays. Which isn’t to say I won’t pop back next week, but let’s not assume so.

Happily, Yo La Tengo have made it easy to wrap things up – whereas most quiet down in December, the trio traditionally have their busiest run of the year thanks to their eight-night run of Hannukah shows at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. The combination of a tiny room and ridiculously cool opening acts and special guests have made the events instant sellouts, so those of us who don’t reside in or around the New Jersey area can thank NYC Taper for doing their best to document and share the proceedings.

This year, they captured seven of the eight shows and have made them all available to download, so when you’re sick of Christmas carols, pick one and turn it up. And if you want more, Matablog reports that special mix CDs compiled by the band from their own record collections and made available at the shows will be put on sale online today and tomorrow with all proceeds going to Norton Records, whose Brooklyn warehouse was basically destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Update: And night six is up. Collect them all!

Looking ahead to the January 15 release of their new album Fade, a new video from the record was just released – yes, it’s a time-lapse of a tree not entirely dissimilar to the one on the album cover; it serves as a nice companion piece to the “Before We Run” clip released last month. There’s also a short interview with Ira Kaplan about the new record at DIY, and a gentle reminder that the band are in town at The Phoenix on February 9.

And to keep it seasonal, here’s the Jan Terri cover that led off their 2002 Merry Christmas From Yo La Tengo EP. Because it’s fun.

MP3: Yo La Tengo – “Rock’N’Roll Santa”
Video: Yo La Tengo – “Ohm”

Exclaim has some details on the new Guided By Voices EP coming in the new year. It’s called Down By The Racetrack and will be available as of January 22.

Fast Company Create talks to J Mascis and mixer John Agnello and Village Voice to Lou Barlow about why the Dinosaur Jr reunion has been so successful.

Earlier this week, Bob Mould stopped by Reddit for an “Ask Me Anything” session. On March 1, he stops by The Horseshoe for face-tearing rock session.

Some show announcements before people stop paying attention entirely… American lo-fi soul saviour Cody ChesnuTT brings his 2012 release Landing On A Hundred to Wrongbar on February 10, tickets $19.50 in advance.

Video: Cody ChesnuTT – “Till I Met Thee”

Nashville’s Caitlin Rose is at The Garrison on April 5 as part of a Spring tour in support of her new album The Stand-In, due out February 25. A couple of tracks from the record are available to stream.

Stream: Caitlin Rose – “No One To Call”
Stream: Caitlin Rose – “I Was Cruel”

Brooklyn’s Caveman aren’t saying much about their follow-up to last year’s debut Coco Beware besides that it will be out this Spring, but they’ve already announced a tour to promote it. Look for them at Lee’s Palace on March 1, tickets $10.50.

MP3: Caveman – “Easy Water”
MP3: Caveman – “Thankful”

Memphis’ Lucero have graduated to the big rooms – the March 26 date of their Spring tour, still in support of this year’s Women & Work, will have them at The Phoenix. Tickets for that are $20.

Video: Lucero – “Women & Work”

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Sharon Van Etten’s secret show in Brooklyn last week and The Sydney Morning Herald a short interview. She’s here at Massey Hall on March 23 opening up for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

She & Him get animated in a video for last year’s A Very She & Him Christmas, confirming that releasing a Christmas album is one of the best business decisions – if also one of the worst artistic decisions – a musician can make.

Video: She & Him – “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”

The 405 talks to Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing.

It shouldn’t be a point of surprise – they were due – but it’s still exciting that Yeah Yeah Yeahs have confirmed a new album will be out in the Spring via Twitter.

Bat For Lashes have released a third video from The Haunted Man. The Guardian talks to Natasha Khan about her 2012.

Video: Bat For Lashes – “A Wall”

Interview and The Village Voice talk to METZ.

Not sure why it took so long, but Modern Superstitions’ solidly garage-rocking self-titled debut is now available to stream. And buy.

MP3: Modern Superstitions – “Bad Habit”
Stream: Modern Superstitions / Modern Superstitions

Stereogum goes record-listening with John O’Regan of Diamond Rings. The Calgary Herald also has an interview.

That’s it, hopper’s about empty. Have a happy and safe holiday season everyone.