Elizabeth WeibergA note: I’m presently barely conscious after staying up way too late the other night doing the Polaris post-game, so I’m just going to start tossing up stuff that’s been collecting in the hopper over the last few days until I pass out.

And we’ll kick off with a new batch of fully realized, produced and presented songs from the inimitable John Vanderslice, collected under the title of Green Grow The Rushes. It’s being given away for exactly zero dollars in both high-quality MP3 and uncompressed WAV format over at his website. Why? Because he’s got these songs he wants you to hear and because he’s great. But if you want to thank the ‘Slice in some monetary way, perhaps pick up a copy of his last full-length Romanian Names? It’s not quite as free but still a great record.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “Thule Fog”
MP3: John Vanderslice – “I’ll Never Live Up To You”
ZIP: John Vanderslice / Green Grow The Rushes

Exclaim has some details on the new Iron & Wine album, entitled Kiss Each Other Clean and due out in early 2011.

Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis chats with The Washington Post.

The Thermals have released a new single from Personal Life which, in the parlance of our time, means that there’s a new MP3 to download.

MP3: The Thermals – “Never Listen To Me”

The Line Of Best Fit and Spinner talk to Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of The Posies. Their new record Blood/Candy is out September 28.

The Boston Herald talks to drummer Bob Nastanovich of Pavement. NYC Taper has also got a recording of their Williamsburg show to share.

Spinner serves up an Interface session with Drive-By Truckers.

R.E.M. has completed work on album number 15 and are targeting a Spring 2011 release for it.

Drowned In Sound talks to Will Sheff of Okkervil River about working with Roky Erikson on this year’s True Love Casts Out All Evil.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Spoon’s show in the teeny tiny Cake Shop last week.

The new Deerhunter record Halcyon Digest is streaming at NPR in advance of its release next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace the Opera House on October 19.

Stream: Deerhunter / Halcyon Digest

The AV Club, American Songwriter, The Boston Herald, Pinnastorm, The Awl and NPR have interviews with Superchunk. NPR is also streaming their show in Washington DC last week and NYC Taper offering downloads of the Brooklyn show.

The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Interpol.

Pavement @ Williamsburg Waterfront 9/19/2010
Cut Your Hair / Date With IKEA / Rattled By The Rush / Ell Ess Two / Grounded / Frontwards / Shady Lane / Unfair / Perfume-V / Fight This Generation / Silent Kid / Box Elder / Stop Breathin’ / Two States / Father To A Sister Of Thought / Heckler Spray / In The Mouth A Desert / We Dance / Summer Babe / Fin / Stereo // Spit On A Stranger / Trigger Cut / Starlings Of The Slipstream / Gold Soundz / Kennel District / Range Life

When I saw Pavement at the Pitchfork festival back in July, it was a very intense experience. I would’ve been freaking out no matter what, but my energy level was pushed to an extreme by a large and very enthusiastic audience. Pure fanboy bliss. This show was a lot more mellow. There were definitely a lot of people having a good time, but this wasn’t a crowd of excitable superfans. It was more just like a normal show. Which is weird, right? I may be seeing Pavement play almost every day this week, but it’s not like you get to see a Pavement show every day. My theory is that all the hardcore people will be at the Central Park shows, which were the first reunion tour gigs to go on sale a year ago, and this Williamsburg show was for the less committed stragglers. This was a great gig and I had a wonderful time and got to see the band perform songs I’d never seen them do before, but I’m looking at this one as a warm-up. The main event begins tonight.

Memorable moment: During “We Dance,” Bob brought out Stephen’s wife Jessica, and danced sweetly with her on the right side of the stage. After the song, Stephen said “That was for Jessica Hutchins. She put out on that one.”

Pavement - “Box Elder” (Live in Hollywood, 4/24/1994) I don’t think I ever appreciated “Box Elder” as much as I did Sunday night. It’s a simple, compact tune, and aside from a couple strange lines, one of the most direct songs Stephen Malkmus has ever written. It’s from their very first 7″, and it begins a theme that carries on through Malkmus’ most recent material: Hey, I’m moving on, can’t stick around here. Gotta keep going. See ya. This tour is about as sentimental as Malkmus gets, and well…he certainly doesn’t seem that way up on stage. “Box Elder” resonated with me because I was connecting its desire to move on with someone else, but maybe I was also tapping into something in Malkmus’ performance — he’s here and present, but he’s got his eyes on the exits, and ready to go somewhere new.

Buy it from Amazon.

Folked-up Michigan trio Breathe Owl Breathe release their new full-length, Magic Central, next week on Hometapes. But we’ve got it right here right now for you via Listen@MBV, and it’s a-streamin’ away. Click up there and enjoy.

And of course, Hometapes has also kindly given us a copy of the lovely opaque pink vinyl to give away! So just enter your email below:

NPR is streaming the new Neil Young album, Le Noise (out September 28th).

The 2010 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian albums was won by Karkwa's Les Chemins de Verre.

C-Notes profiles Best Coast.

"The reason I write such simple lyrics is because I want them to be relatable to people,” says Cosentino. "I don't have anything against metaphor, poetics, and fancy-schmancy language. I could easily write a song that's really obscure, and nobody would understand the references, and they would have to sit there and try to figure out what it means."

The Awl spends a weekend with Superchunk.

Clash interviews singer-songwriter Toro Y Moi.

The Huffington Post lists 10 new music artists to watch this fall.

Creative Review points out Mewgatz's latest album, Love Songs and Car Boot Electronica, which comes with a 16-page Jeffrey Brown comic.

The Daily Swarm notes that Sound Fix, an independent Brooklyn record store, is up for sale on Craigslist.

At Aquarium Drunkard, Ben Crum of Great Lakes talks about writing the band's latest album, Ways of Escape.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner talks to Niteside about his new book, Please Take Me off The Guest List.

Urlesque lists the 16 best websites to hear free music.

The Guardian is streaming No Age's Everything in Between album (out September 28th).

Dusdin Condren

Sharon Van Etten - “One Day” A woman sits at her writing desk. There is a peregrine falcon stuffed on the wall above her. She lives beside the train station and the train roars in several times a day, fluffing the falcon's feathers. Her rooms smell of coal-smoke and imported oranges. The woman has written two sentences on her writing-paper and she sits staring at them. Dear ----, it begins, My heart is a crooked thing. Her mouth is a trim line. She has already set aside the thought that she wishes she could begin the letter, Dearest ----. That thought is locked in a wood cupboard. Now she is looking at the next line, the one about her heart. She worries that it sounds needy, or strange. When she chose the image she meant "crooked" in the way that keys are crooked, at the place where they meet a lock. She meant "crooked" in the way that a ship is crooked, asymmetical if seen in profile. She is proud of her crooked heart. She thinks it is something to fall in love with. She wonders if ---- will ever see this; if ---- will ever in fact be dear.

[Sharon Van Etten's beautiful new album, Epic, is streaming at NPR, and please, please pre-order it.]

Read more at Said the Gramophone →

The A.V. Club interviews Jeremy Gara and Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire.

Muzzle of Bees shares a compilation of New Zealand music.

OMD's Andy McCluskey talks to BBC News about the band's reunion.

BBC News interviews former Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry about his musical influences.

Jenny and Johnny visit The Current studio for an interview and live performance.

Drowned in Sound interviews OK Go's Damian Kulash.

Cover Freak is an mp3 blog dedicated to cover songs.