Pens – “High In The Cinema”
(h/t Needle Drop)

Joe Perez

Ducktails – “Wishes” From the new Landscapes LP, out 8/3 on Olde English Spelling Bee. Pre-order at Insound.

Download an awesome mix of (pretty-much) exclusive tracks put together by Friendship Bracelet, as the first entry in their “Friendship Bracelet Club” series. It includes songs from Julian Lynch, Dem Hunger, Jeans Wilder + more, and it can be downloaded painlessly right here.

Three new releases from Mexican Summer have just become available: There’s a 12″ from San Francisco’s Young Prisms, a 12″ from LA Smell denizens Bipolar Bear, and a 7″ from John Carpenter (who did not direct Escape From New York but does take “cues from Scott Walker, Echo and the Bunnymen, Roy Orbison, John Cale and Early Roxy Music”). All are limited to 500 copies and are available for order here on the Mexican Summer Myspace.

Young Prisms – “Weekends and Treehouses”

And on 8/29, Mexican Summer’s sure-to-be-mind-blowing mini-festival “Party In The Pines” goes off in the woods at Big Sur, and features Ariel Pink, Dungen, Gang Gang Dance, Farmer Dave Scher, Kurt Vile, Saviours, Vietnam, Wooden Shjips and Woods. Tickets here.

In this YouTube video, Nick Cave reads chapter 11 of his new novel, The Death of Bunny Munro.

Drowned in Sound interviews The Duckworth Lewis Method about their new record, a self-titled concept album about cricket.

DiS: Sport is one area which isn't really explored too much in music, aside from the odd Half Man Half Biscuit song or whatever. Do you think it's neglected?

NH: It's funny, somehow the two things are very difficult to marry up successfully, the mentality of the sportsman seems to be the antithesis of the artistic mind. They have to be incredibly single minded and not be able to think creatively to be able to do all that stupid exercise. In a way there'll be plenty of books and films about various sports because there is high drama in it, but cricket has had so little music written about it, it's insane, but we're not claiming that this is a terrible sin that has to be righted...it gives us a little niche, though.

Radio Free Europe points out "post-Soviet" musicians in the U.S. music scene, including the multi-talented singer-songwriter (and LHB favorite) Alina Simone.

The Louisville Courier-Journal profiles the city's local music blogs.

DJ Spooky remixes Terry Riley's classical composition, "In C."

Pitchfork interviews members of Sunn O)))).

The Rawking Refuses to Stop! lists its favorite albums of 2009 (so far).

Autumn de WildeI can’t help think that if you were to drug each member of Wilco with a different and unique blend of psychotropic drugs mixed with a 40 of tequila, blindfolded them, spun them around three times and then handed them instruments they didn’t even know how to play, they’d still ungodly tight and be able to play off each other with the instincts of a sea turtle returning to the beach form which it was spawned. This is what you get when you assemble such prodigious talents and have them tour relentlessly. This is Wilco’s blessing, and also Wilco’s curse.

Read more at Chromewaves →

MP3: Wilco – “Red Eyed and Blue” (live in Chicago, February 2008)
MP3: Wilco – “I Got You” (live in Chicago, February 2008)
MySpace: Wilco

The Singing Lamb has an interview with Jenn Grant.

Arctic Monkeys have rolled out their first video from album number three, Humbug. It’s out August 25.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Crying Lightning”

Over at Bombsite, Dean Wareham details his process for creating the score to Andy Warhol’s …13 Most Beautiful films which Dean & Britta have been touring in support of the last while.

Artrocker talks to Amy Turrnidge, aka The Theoretical Girl, whose debut album Divided is due out August 17.

MP3: The Theoretical Girl – “Rivals”

Like A Stuntman “On Repetition We Are” Listening to this song on repeat — I know, how appropriate! — and trying to come up with some way to write about it, I realized that the best way to describe it was probably the cheapest, i.e., this sounds like Merry Post Pavvy era Animal Collective attempting to write their own Gary Glitter song. It’s got the simple repetitive hooks, but its stomp and momentum is muted and washed out with quasi-Beach Boys vocalizing and hazy synthesizer washes. The more I hear this song, the more I focus on the oscillating synth tone at the center of the piece, and its odd chilling effect on the arrangement. The composition is dynamic, but that hum makes everything seem frozen and out of time, much in the way a strobe light can make any movement seem slow and choppy.

Pre-order it from Amazon.