LHB has a good-quality XFM recording of Jeff Mangum doing “Gardenhead, Leave Me Alone“.

Magpie has posted some live versions of the Hidden Cameras‘ “I Believe In The Good Of Life”. You can get the studio version here.

A coupla downloads I hadn’t noticed before over at the Parasol site:

Buddyhead has news on my favorite guilty pleasure, Hot Hot Heat. And I quote:

“The heat got a little too hot for Hot Hot Heat’s guitar player. While recording their new album in L.A. the dude recently quit the crappy band. Good move junior!”

Some good new releases this week, like the new Pinback, and the new Buckner.

I saw Buckner last week in Pittsburgh, with Dolorean and Damien Jurado. I swear, I thought Jurado was going to kill the drunk obnoxious hippie that kept screaming during the songs. When said hippie was finally being led out, he shouted something like, “My name’s John Smith. Singer-Songwriter.” Jurado glared at him and replied, “My name’s Damien Jurado. Singer-Songwriter, Backyard Wrestler.”

Classic.

Spirit Of Orr’s Quiet Weather Series #4: Destroyer/Black Mountain is out. Get it here for $5, or take advantage of the special and get all 4 QWS 7-inches (also featuring Greg Weeks, [[[VVRSSNN]]], Moviola, Handsome Family, and Eyesinweasel) for a mere $12.

The Black Mountain Druganaut 12″ is also just on Jagjaguwar now.

Also, if you haven’t already, definitely check out that disc from Black Mountain-offshoot The Pink Mountaintops. There are some great tracks on there.

Drew sent me notice about Get Off The Internet And Vote dot com. Prove that you voted on November 2nd, and you could win a prize pack filled with cool crap, like a ton of t-shirts, buttons, and even 2 CDs by the enigmatic Kompressor.

On a similar note, there’s a rumor rumbling around Columbus that if you prove you voted at Little Brothers on Election Night, you’ll gain free admittance to an as-yet-unannounced Nada Surf concert.

The Austin City Limits 30th Season TV schedule is out (thank you, Tim), and hot damn, it looks good. I’m a look out for:

11/20 - Elvis Costello
12/11 - Spoon/Kweller encore
12/18 - Flaming Lips/The Shins
1/8 - Wilco/Bright Eyes
1/29 - The Pixies

Robyn Hitchcock’s Spooked came out this week on Yep Roc. It’s a collaboration with Nashville’s David Rawlings and Gillian Welch. Mp3:

Go read Robyn’s “Spooked Manifesto” and dig that “Miss Ohio” sychronicity.

Matador has “officially” posted all the info on Matador at Fifteen, and here’s a track:

Clem Snide’s new record The End of Love is due out in February. Thanks lhb for the tip-off.

Stereogum
points us to Bedroom
Dancing’s post featuring Ben Folds and The Divine
Comedy covering the Flaming Lips’ “Race For The
Prize”. (The squirrelly British DJ you hear sounds to me like
Steve Lamacq).

The new Dolorean disc, Violence In The Snowy Fields, is out this week, and the tracks I’ve heard sound damn good:

Dolorean’s on tour right now with Buckner and Damien Jurado. Check local listings.

Plus also, Big Ticket has the title track from Shake The Sheets up right now.

Frank has noted that we can expect a new Pernice Brothers record in Jan or Feb of ‘05. There’s apparently also a PB DVD slated for next month.

Frank’s Chromewaves crony (517.chromewaves.net, aka) My Mean Magpie, pointed out a cover of the Monkee’s “Cuddly Toy” by The Bicycles, but lo and behold, there are actually 3 tracks on the Bicycles’ site, and guess what: they’re *all* good.

Magpie also recently added a great-sounding Andrew Bird show to the Live Music Archive.

Darnielle talks a little bit about his upcoming record over at the Philly City Paper (thx lhb).

Coming soon to a used bin near you: The Spongebob Squarepants movie soundtrack, featuring new tracks by The Shins, Wilco, Ween, The Flaming Lips, and others. Out November 9th.

Transvestite malcontents wreak havoc in the Hidden Cameras‘ “I Believe In The Good Of Life” video.

And check out Cory’s dancing spin move in the Communique “Poison Arrows” video over at Lookout.

New mix is up. Thanks to Gregory @ Unpopular.com for this month’s banner.