Phil HarderI was going to skip posting today entirely but a few choice bits came up on the radar that merited a quick mention – most notably, the announcement of Bettie Serveert’s Autumn North American tour that had been promised since their latest album – the surprisingly rowdy Pharmacy Of Love – was released back in March.

It’s a bit surprising that their tour routing doesn’t take them through Vegas for Matador 21 – they released three terrific college rock-defining records on the seminal label back in the ’90s and I thought for sure that their Fall visit would be timed to coincide with the anniversary festivities, but hey, I’m perfectly happy to see them closer to home.

MP3: Bettie Serveert – “Semaphore”
MP3: Bettie Serveert – “The Pharmacy”
Video: Bettie Serveert – “Deny All”

Paste catches up with Tokyo Police Club.

The Deli features Fang Island.

Band Of Horses have released a new video from Infinite Arms.

Video: Band Of Horses – “Laredo”

The Los Angeles Times gets She & Him to compile a musical mixtape dedicated to California.

The Posies will release a new album entitled Blood/Candy on September 28. Blurt has details.

Tim Burgess of The Charlatans talks to NME about their forthcoming album Who We Touch, out in North America on September 14.

Spinner continues to talk to The Joy Formidable.

Tour dates for the Guided By Voices "classic lineup reunion tour have been announced.

The Boston Globe profiles Sleigh Bells.

The music on the group's debut album, "Treats" (N.E.E.T./Mom + Pop), which came out this spring, torches the conventions of both indie snobbery and clean pop tastes. Combining laser-blast guitars from the noisier corners of punk, Krauss's icy vocals, and pep-rally stomps copped from cheap electric beat stations, it lacks the delicate experimentation that most music critics have recently fawned over. This stuff might have more in common with Lil' Jon than Animal Collective.

The Guardian lists pop music's "undersung" heroes.

State lists its top 25 albums of the year so far.

On sale at Amazon MP3: 4 Ike Reilly Assassination albums for $2.99 each.

Jeffrey Eugenides talks to the Guardian about the sequel to his novel Middlesex.

Kristin Hersh talks to the Irish Times about her new (and innovative) album and book release, Crooked.

"The idea came about out of frustration, really. I didn’t agree with a recording industry that stated that removing the dollar sign from the music equation (ie the cost) would result in the devaluing of music. I don't think you can devalue real music, but it was only a matter of time before the CD itself was devalued – it's just a piece of plastic. It's not a valuable object in itself, because music can only be measured in terms of its impact. I embraced that by giving music away, but many people want a shareable, tangible object they can hold. For me, it has to be intrinsically valuable, and a book still can be."

White Hills – “Glacial”