Through a gross oversight, I somehow neglected to mention last month that our ol’ pal Prairie Cat (aka Cary Pratt) just recently released his brand new album, It Began/Ended With Sparks, and you should absolutely, positively go buy it at once from the Fuzzy Logic shop.

MP3: Prairie Cat – “Given Up”

The Hidden Cameras – “Underage”

Kate McGarrigle - “Proserpina (live at Carnegie Hall)”

This is a very sad song. There are a few reasons it's here.

First, because Kate McGarrigle is alive again, every time I listen. “Proserpina” was recorded in London less than two months ago; she is joined by family, surrounded by friends. Her son, Rufus Wainwright, callled the Carnegie Hall show “the greatest performance of her life.” There she is, right there, singing as she's always sung, or perhaps even better, a voice of wildflower and thorn. She sings with her sister, Anna, and her children, and her niece; her new grandson, scarce weeks old, squirms in a hospital not far away. Even from there, I am certain, he can hear the harmonies.

I also share this song because it was a new one, written by Kate at the end of her life, toward the end of a long illness. Yet this is not a song of the expiring, of the slowing heart: it's a work of strong beauty, of brave melody and deft singing, with (dare I say it) a magnificent hook. "Proserpina" is not about falling away, but about coming home.

And she sings it triumphantly. She is already very, very sick and yet still she is Kate, wry and caring, unflinching. Earlier in the concert, she describes the story of Proserpina, of Persephone - a grim legend. Someone in the crowd calls out, (warmly but) sarcastically: "Merry Christmas!" For Kate there is no flutter of hesitation or embarrassment: there is only laughter. She and the whole great room laugh. As the McGarrigle sisters have always known, these things (sorrow, joy) go together.

Now, with streets swept of snow, with too much sadness in this city's new young year, I listen to both the sad songs and to the happier ones. We all strain to hear the harmonies.

[goodbye, Kate McGarrigle / buy / website / video of "Proserpina"]

(We're very glad to still have you here, Anna.)

Man/Miracle - “Back of the Card” “Back of the Card” spends a lot of its time in a zone mined by post-punk fans and Talking Heads disciples, but even after a decade’s worth of that sort of thing, it still comes out sounding fresh and fun. Some of that comes from some clever twists: A vague hint of country twang early on, and a sudden yet somehow kinda gradual meltdown into clattering, droning noise at the end. It hits a comfortable sweet spot, but it doesn’t settle for giving you exactly what you expect. Nicely done.

Buy it from Man/Miracle.

The New Pornographers have announced their next album, Together, to be released May 4th.

Eye Weekly interviews Lou Barlow.

Low's Alan Sparhawk talks to the New Haven Advocate about his other band, the Retribution Gospel Choir.

"Over the years, I find that I'm more of a chameleon than I'd probably want to admit," he says with a laugh. "When I'm with people, I feed off of what they're doing, and if they're the kind of people that are going to an extreme place, then I find that exciting. I'll go there and see what's possible. When I'm with Mimi, she has really a strong presence, and that sets the tone for Low. No matter what I write, when I'm around her playing, it's going to have a certain tone. With these guys, it's definitely different. Eric is a dynamic drummer; he reminds me of Keith Moon. He'll go out as far as you want to go. And that draws certain things out of me that maybe aren't there with Low.

Matador Nights lists 50 music sites that matter.

Flavorwire reviews Patti Smith's new memoir, Just Kids.

Seattle Weekly interviews Smith about the book.

Xfm previews 20 bands to watch in 2010.

The Quietus interviews members of the original lineup of Killing Joke about the band's reunion.

Drowned in Sound lists its top 10 Nordic music albums of 2009.

The Low Anthem play a tiny desk concert at NPR Music.

Swedish duo First Aid Kit give Drowned in Sound a track-by-track analysis of their debut album, The Big Black & The Blue.