I know I've beaten up the Charlatans in some of my past reviews, but I am excited to hear that they are playing their debut album, 'Some Friendly, in full at the Roundhouse in London.  The show takes place on May 31 and will celebrate twenty years since the album came out.  I would really like to see them do the same for 'Between 10th and 11th' which was my favorite Charlatans album.

Last week, we reported exclusively that the fine folks at Daytrotter would be unveiling a session from our favorite Scots, The Trashcan Sinatras.  Well, all week went by... and no session.  We contacted Sean Moeller at Daytrotter, who informed us that the Trashcan session, which was recorded last summer, was delayed at the last minute by request of the band to coincide with the release of the next Trashcans single... so look for it in the coming weeks.

Ticketmaster (ticket broker) and Live Nation (concert promoter) are set to join and create a new company, Live Nation Entertainment, now that the Department of Justice has approved the merger.  If you read the press releases, everyone is claiming how this is a "win" for consumers.  But if you talk to any consumers or independent concert promoters, the merger is anything but.

The new company is set to manage everything about the concert industry, selling tickets, managing performers, promoting shows, and even selling concessions.  But it's not a complete win for the new venture, Ticketmaster must sell a small subsidiary to a sports promoter and also share its ticketing software with AEG Live.  The DoJ thinks that this will increase competition and thus reduce prices for us fans.

The real problem is that Ticketmaster has an exclusive contract with most major concert venues across America.  And those contracts won't expire for another five to ten years.  So until then the venue's won't be able to switch to a competiting ticket service.  And for those of you that remember, this issue was looked at by the DoJ back in the 90's when Pearl Jam took up the cause.  And of course, nothing was done.

What's funny is the relationship that the govenment has to these two giant companies.  On the board for Live Nation is the Hollywood agent, Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm Emanuel, who is Obama's cheif of staff.  Ticketmaster had Julius Genachowski on the board until he resigned to become the chairman of the FCC.

Bottom line is that while the average ticket prices have doubled in the last ten years, don't expect them going down anytime soon.

Of Montreal have done the impossible -- they've figured out a way to become even WEIRDER.  This week is the dawn of a quick east coast mini-tour for Kevin and the gang, and last night was the tour opener at the Highline Ballroom.  Most fans expected the tour to be a testing ground for tracks from the band's forthcoming album, due in the fall.  Those fans were right.  In fact, one of the tracks -- the innocently-titled "Teenage Unicorn Fisting" -- is already making its way around the Youtube circuit.  Some fans were hoping for a cameo from Solange Knowles, Beyonce's little sister and outspoken Of Montreal fan.  Those fans were right. Solange jumped onstage and duetted with the band on a cover of The Jackson Five's "I Want You Back."  What NO fans were expecting was Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon (Dammit, Janet!) hopping onstage to spank the hell out of some guys in pig costumes.  Go re-read that last sentence.  We're not making it up.  Don't believe us?  Stereogum has the whole thing on tape.

Spiritualized made one of the greatest albums of all time with 1997's, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space and will play the album in it's entirety at the ATP Festival in England on May 7th-9th.  The festival is currated by Matt Groening and also includes Iggy & the Stooges, The xx, Built to Spill and more. 

Late last year Sony reissued the album and it came in the usual variety of formats and special editions that Spiritualized is known for.  The reissue did include two bonus CD's with alternate versions and some outtakes that didn't make it on the original album.

We've got it on pretty good authority that later this week, Daytrotter will be unveiling a session taped in the late summer from The Trashcan Sinatras -- and seeing as how Excellent Online was with the band during the session, you can expect to hear a previously unreleased track that the band was still working through at the time of recording.  Pretty cool stuff.

Mogwai's Burning will be screening in England later this month.  It's a live film that has been directed by Vincent Moon and Nathanaël Le Scouarnec.  Vincent Moon has directed videos for R.E.M. and made the National documentary, A Skin, A Night.  The duo together have directed a live movie for Arcade Fire as well.  So Mogwai are in capable hands.  Check out the seizure inducing trailer below, make sure you turn it up!

The National will be releasing their followup to 2007's amazing Boxer in May of this  year.  They are currently mixing the album and original had the goal of making a "happy" record, but that quickly fell apart.  They are also touring with presale tickets going on sale across the US today. 

Daft Punk has been working on the soundtrack to the upcoming sequel for Tron, Tron:Legacy.  Several blogs have been reporting that this is a brand new leak of the track but it was actually leaked several months ago.  I found one reference to the previous version over at djMe, the main difference is that this new version is twice as long but they sound similar.  Hit 'read more' for the track.

The linup for Coachella was announced today and it's full of surprises and the usual reunions.  Jaz-Z is headlining Friday which is pretty non-Coachella-like and surprising.  He's headlining with LCD Soundsystem and Them Crooked Vultures (the rock supergroup consisting of John Paul Jones [Led Zepplin], Dave Grohl [Nirvana], and Josh Homme [Queens of the Stoneage]).  Other Friday highlights are a reunited Public Image Limited, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grizzly Bear, She & Him, and Grace Jones (?!?!).

Saturday is headlined by Muse, Faith No More and Tiesto.  And also has MGMT, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, 2ManyDJ's, Z-Trip, the XX, Mew, Raveonettes, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Camera Obscura, and a bunch of other little bands that I have yet to discover.

Sunday is headlined by ORBITAL!  Okay, not really, but they are the headliners in my mind.  Gorillaz, Pavement and Thom York take the top three spots.  You also have Phoenix, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone (?!?), Yo La Tengo and about two dozen bands to round out the lineup.

This looks like a good year.  I was looking to cut a day or so out of the lineup to save some money but there are some great "must-see" bands on each day.  After last year I was questioning if I should go again and it looks like I'm going to be sweating along with the rest of you out in the desert for one more year.