Deep Elm Records is selling 20 CDs for $23.99 ($29.99 outside the US).

The Los Angeles Times profiles the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and the controversy that surrounds the institution).

Glide interviews singer-songwriter Mike Doughty.

Musically, you've made both big and subtle changes over the years. Each time, it seems that fans and critics react strongly. Is that frustrating or encouraging or a little of both?

Generally what I find is that people like what I was doing two years ago. So right about the time I put out Golden Delicious, everybody was into Haughty Melodic and right about the time I put out Haughty Melodic everyone was really into Skittish. So it takes people a minute to catch up and unfortunately, I often react to them without being smart enough to realize that it's gonna take a minute for people to come around to whatever is new. I did this record mostly acoustic, because I think that's what my audience was looking for. I think they wanted more like the Skittish type vibe and I hope that I don't put it out to a lot of handwringing that I should've made another Golden Delicious.

PopMatters interviews legendary film score composer Ennio Morricone.

According to the Guardian, REM and Pearl Jam have joined a campaign to close Guantanamo Bay.

NME reports of a disagreement among the Strokes about songs for the band's next album.

Vampire Weekend - “Horchata”If you can get over whatever kneejerk class rage this band may inspire in you — UGH OH MY GOD HOW DARE THESE BLUE BLOOD IVY LEAGUE PRICKS BRAG ABOUT DRINKING RICE MILK WITH CINNAMON THOSE IMPERIALIST GENTRIFYING YUPPIE PREPPY HIPSTERS AND THEIR BOAT SHOES AND THEIR ASCOTS AND ARE THEY TRYING TO IMPRESS ME BY USING THE WORD ‘BALACLAVA’ IT AIN’T WORKING ON ME, RICHIE RICH!!!!!! — you just might notice that this is an extraordinarily sweet, sentimental, and empathetic pop song. There is so much kindness in the very sound of Ezra Koenig’s voice, and even more in the gentle, subtly shifting contours of his melodies. The arrangement is a collection of familiar, comforting sensations, but the sounds contrast in interesting ways, evoking a feeling not unlike noticing something new about an object or place you’ve seen almost every day for years of your life. When the chorus comes and Koenig sings “Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten,” it feels exactly like you’re getting something back, and discovering something new about it in the process. The song is sophisticated and carefully composed, but it’s all in the interest of expressing a feeling and a thought with clarity and precision. They aren’t being show-offs, they are just very articulate young men.

Pre-order it from Amazon.

Jacuzzi Boys – “Planet of the Dreamers” Miami’s Jacuzzi Boys (not to be confused with Beaver Boys) have dropped 7-inches for HoZac, Rob’s House, and Needless, but are now poised to release their first 12″ — the No Seasons LP — this month on Florida’s Dying. Check ‘em.

(Thx to Weekly Tape Deck for the heads-up)

NPR is streaming in its entirety REM's new album, Live at the Olympia.

Free at Amazon MP3: the 16-track CMJ 2009: The Bands, The Music, The City, Vol. 3.

The Burlington Free Press interviews singer-songwriter Andrew Bird.

Clash Music reports that the Rakes will break up after their upcoming tour.

On Sale for $3.99 at Amazon MP3: the 26 -track New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love And Rockets

NME reconsiders the Strokes' album, Is This It?

Beck's Gig Finder is an iPhone app that pulls nearby concert information from Last.fm based on your location.

The New Zealand Herald News profiles singer-songwriter Lloyd Cole.

Wired's Underwire blog profiles Three Mile Pilot.

Merging sci-fi, horror, military manuals and vintage videogame Star Control, Three Mile Pilot’s challenging art-punk never really had a chance to explode before the trio fractured around the turn of the century.

This two-song 7-inch contains the first new music from Three Mile Pilot in more than a decade. Now the band is crawling from the music-industry wreckage on the back of its sonic descendants — laptop-poppers Pinback and Systems Officer and goth-folkies The Black Heart Procession — and clearing the launch pad for a Three Mile Pilot comeback in 2010.

Make Major Moves interviews St. Vincent's Annie Clark.

Holiday Shores – “Up On The Roof” Live for Fader