They’ll probably continue to be referred to as a “Matt Pond-offshoot” or “Ex-Matt Pond”, and that’s fine, but it really doesn’t do Audible justice. Folks who know about the Philly music scene will tell you that Audible’s Mike Kennedy is one of the most active and most talented musicians in the city, and his reputation goes far beyond that of the title “Ex-Matt Pond” player. But anyway. Audible’s first proper full-length, Sky Signal will be out on Polyvinyl on January 25th. The first 3 tracks are from that one, the last 2 are not:

So I was rooting around for mp3s by the Jewelled Antler Collective’s Skygreen Leopards, being that they have a couple of releases out on Jagjaguwar in coming days. I found a track of their Donovany strummin’ over at Soft Abuse:

I also found another good jangle-jangle from that Human Television record:

For those interested, there’s an mp3 available from the upcoming Momus record, Otto Spooky:

Witness a freshly-permed Steve Bays yelping out a new Hot Hot Heat song over at their site. (via hyperkinetic).

Yeah, McLusky broke up, and you know what? I’m actually happy about that. I like that “Not Fade Away” approach. As it stands now, they have an impeccable catalog, and a big fat period on the end. I’m happy in the same way I’m happy that the past 7 years haven’t brought us 5 sub-par Neutral Milk Hotel albums to tarnish the greatness of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. But I sense a huge digression coming on, so I’ma stop right there.

Anyway, I do remember a great joke that McLusky bass-player Jon Chapple told the last time they were here:

What’s the difference between an SUV and a hedgehog?

A hedgehog has a bunch of pricks on the outside.

I guess the Unicorns are done too? Although I am a little skeptical, considering that Paul noted this last Friday, but then decided it was probably only a joke. ?

Stereogum pointed out a few tracks from the upcoming Archer Prewitt record, Wilderness:

Sweet Miles Kurosky shirt. (via kathrynyu.)

Prediction: In one month’s time, you will not be able to swing a dead cat without hearing some music critic gushing over that new Antony and The Johnsons record. I also predict it will far outsell anything Secretly Canadian has ever released, including those last few Jason Molina records.

I think I forgot to mention that Get Him Eat Him posted a new lil’ ditty recently:

Brooklyn Vegan pointed out these tracks from the C86-y Austin band Voxtrot:

The Crystal Skulls sound pretty decent to me. Their album Blocked Numbers is out on Suicide Squeeze on March 22nd.

Denison Witmer had a new record out last year, but I had no idea, since it was released under the name “The River Bends”. He’s got another one coming out early this year (Sufjan guests), but for now, here’s a track from that River Bends record:

There was also a new Skating Club record in ‘04 that I didn’t know about, called The Unfound Sound. Here’s the title track: