Check out a couple tracks from the upcoming Thermals album, Fuckin A,
over at that Self-Starter kinda-secret mp3 page. (via Catherine).

Spoon’s new record won’t be out til next year, but they’re
touring soon regardless. Of course, *of course*, there’s conflicting
information regarding a Columbus date.

Spoon Tour Dates:
06.18 - Norman, OK @ Opolis
06.19 - Lawrence, KS @ Wakarusa Festival
06.20 - Columbia, MO @ Blue Note
06.22 - Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
06.23 - Madison, WI @ The Annex
06.24 - St. Louis, MO @ The Duck Room
06.25 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
06.26 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners
06.28 - Columbus, OH @ Little Brothers
or
06.28 - Nashville, TN @ 12th and Porter
or
06.29 - Nashville, TN @ 12th and Porter
06.30 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
07.01 - New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf
07.31 - Carrboro, NC - Merge 15 Yr Anniv.

Man, I have been rocking that Ponys record.
“10 Fingers, 11 Toes“,
you know?

I wasn’t so into the Ambulance Ltd stuff I heard back when their EP came out, but I think I’ve finally come around. They got some catchy shit.

Not recommended for those allergic to Twee, Sprites have a new EP out,
called Bionic Hands. Here’s the title track:

Apparently, that band Hefner broke up, but there’s
a newer almost-the-same-band spinoff called The French. Here’s a zip(?) of an mp3:

And in the interest of trying to stop the Jay-Z Black Album Remix Epidemic (aka H.O.V.A.B.A.R.E.), I’m
offering up this totally new mash-up suggestion, free of charge. Remixers, run with it:

Matador has posted a second A.C. Newman mp3:

And if you’re really interested in following the solo efforts of New Pornographers, you may want
to also investigate New Pornies guitarist Todd Fancey’s new album, just out
on March Records.

Also, forgot to mention it, but jtb pointed out that the new live
MMJ EP, Acoustic Citsuoca, is out now. It’s
supposedly a recording of a “Halloween concert held at the Startime Pavilion in Braintree, Mass”, but
it’s apparently a selection of songs from various shows, and mostly Jim James solocoustic ones.
Here’s a list of stores where
you can pick it up. Sounds like there’ll eventually be a vinyl version out on
Badman, but they ain’t no date as yet.

Speaking of dates, the word on the street is that Spoon’s next
one (”The Beast And Dragon Are Adored“) won’t make it out this year, you’re going to have to wait til
January of ‘05. For now, you can console yourself by listening to
Britt Daniel’s solo London show from
this past Tuesday.

Syd Barrett studio outtakes,
including “Dark Globe”, “Word Song”, “Birdy Hop”, and “Milky Way”. From LHB.

The Golden Apples Of The Sun is a
comp put together/designed by Devendra Banhart, which
includes tracks from Iron & Wine, Little Wings, Coco Rosie and others. Limited to 1000, it’s available exclusively
through the Arthur Magazine website. via Pitchfark.

And give yourself 5 bonus points if you can distinguish between Charlie, Vincent, and Devendra.

You’ve probably been streaming A
Ghost Is Born for a while now (and especially digging that Krautrocky number), so you
might as well go ahead and pre-order
the damn thing. If you pre-order now, you’ll be entered to win a pair of VIP tix to
the fall Wilco show of your choice. Plus also, you can add an exclusivo-design t-shirt for
another 10 bucks. The regular price is $25. A three pack of Hanes beefy T’s at Target is like 9 bucks.

jtb says that The Arcade Fire
have been signed to Merge. Cool. I had heard it was
going to be Absolutely Kosher, but what the hell do
I know.

The Caribbean, the other band that makes
songs with the aid of the USPS, have a new EP out called William Of Orange. Here’s the
titular track:

Order it from You Know Who and you’ll be entered in a contest
to win the original cover artwork for the disc.

A new record of slowish expery mental songs by Havergal,
titled Elettricita, is out this week on Secretly Canadian. If this sounds like your
sorta thing, you can check out this mp3 from the album:

Also, I highly recommend checking out this older (title) track, from his first album, Lungs For The Race (2001):

And yeah, I do think his voice sounds like Isaac Brock’s.