The all-around excellent Damien Jurado and the all-around excellent Richard Swift spontaneously recorded a covers album, featuring songs by the likes of Bill Fay, John Denver, Kraftwerk, Yes, and more… and it’s free.

“Other People’s Songs Vol. 1” is a collection of covers recorded on the weekend of August 21-22, 2010 (with the aid of a four-track cassette recorder and a Coles-4038 ribbon microphone). It is available to you (the world) via the inter-webs for FREE.

Our friends at the Free Music Archive just tipped us off to this thoroughly awesome Clinic live session for FMU from back in 2001. Dig it:

and, of course, don’t forget to check out the new set the band just did last weekend.

Wavves – “Post-Acid”

Vic Godard – “Blackpool”Back in 2001/2002, the brilliant Vic Godard collaborated with acclaimed author Irvine Welsh on an ill-fated musical production, titled “Blackpool.” Plagued with problems, the show unfortunately came and went very quickly (only 6 performances), but the songs have proven to be longer-lasting. And thus has Vic recorded and released the new Blackpool EP– 4 songs from the “burlesque and gaudy, vaudevillian, dirty” Blackpool production. Pick it up directly from Vic via his Myspace.

And keep an eye out for the new Vic Godard full-length, We Come As Aliens, later this year.

El Guincho – “FM Tan Sexy” From Pop Negro, out 9/14 on Young Turks.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profile My Morning Jacket.

The Chicago Tribune profiles the Socialists, a Smiths cover band made up of elementary school students.

PopMatters interviews Laura Burhenn of the Mynabirds.

The Montreal Gazette profiles Land of Talk's Elizabeth Powell.

The A.V. Club uses R.E.M. and Guided By Voices as examples in an article about the pleasures of lyrical ambiguity in music.

New York magazine interviews Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes.

At Nerve, KCRW DJ Gary Calamar lists five albums you should be listening to right now.

Are you a touring musician? Like Taco Bell? Enter the Feed the Beat competition and become one of 500 bands receiving $500 in Taco Bell gift certificates.