I had no idea that this post from 8 months ago would turn out to be so prescient. No, I’m not talking about my first rant about Too Many Indie Music Festivals, I’m talking about my compare-and-contrast between Hemstad and Detektivbyrån: Italian label Black*Kitten is releasing a Hemstad/Detektivbyrån split 7-inch on June 21st. Limited Edition of 500.

Envelopes, who I like very much, just recently started offering a free live version of their latest single, “Smoke In The Desert, Eating The Sand, Hide In The Grass.”

::: Envelopes – Smoke In The Desert… (Live XFM/Camden Crawl) :::

Their new one, Here Comes The Wind, should be out on Brille pretty soon. You can hear some of the new tracks over at their Myspace.

Frightened Rabbit, who I also like very much, will be back stateside again in June, for a one-off(?) show, at the Mercury on June 24th. I don’t know if they ever ended up deciding to sign with Fat Cat, or Domino or whomever, but I’m sure we’re almost certainly indebted to Chris Newmeyer again for making this upcoming show happen. Self-Starter also recently sponsored a digital-only Frightened Rabbit live EP, recorded at Urban Outfitters during SXSW.

States Rights just put out their latest comp, Grown Zone, and it’s a big one; a 38-track double-dong, featuring all new tracks from SR friends and family, such as White Rainbow, Okay, Jason Anderson, and Jib Kidder.

Btw, I’ve heard Jib Kidder’s newest album, All On Y’All, and it is completely insane. Cross your fingers that States Rights will be putting that one out, too.