Normally we don't take the time to tell you guys when a cool band is showing up for five minutes on some talk show or another, but tonight is a bit of an exception, as the stars are aligning for some serious televised goodness. First off, Conor Oberst is bringing BRIGHT EYES to the mainstream tonight with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Then flip it over to the Jimmy Kimmel Show to catch THE RAVEONETTES. Then, swing your dial to the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson to catch KASABIAN. Then go to sleep because you'll be tired from all that channel flipping.

Oh thank goodness The Magic Numbers are finally gaining a bit of momentum. Their debut single 'Forever Lost' has been getting airplay on Radio 1, Radio 2, XFM and 6Music... with a live session in the works for next week's Zane Lowe show on Radio 1. They new single will be hitting UK store shelves soon (May 23) with the album shortly after on June 13. If you still haven't gotten a grip on the harmonious love that's about to overtake the UK with the release of this record (oh yeah... I am so unbiased) you can take a peek at their new video for Forever Lost illustrated, directed and all around loved by Pete Fowler. (For different video feed see the band's website.)

The NME has a tracklisting for the forthcoming debut record:

Mornings Eleven, Forever Lost, The Mule, Long Legs, Love Me Like You, Which Way To Happy, I See You, You See Me, This Love, Wheels On Fire, Love Is A Game, Try

Today is a bit of a busy day for US new releases with new records coming from the likes of New Order, Tim Burgess, The Mountain Goats, The Eels, The Caesers, Ben Folds and reissues from Super Furry Animals, Elvis Costello, The Cure... but there's an artist to watch out for releasing her debut cd today you might not have heard of... Feist. Feist is Canadian songstress Leslie Feist who managed enough starpower at SxSW last month to draw out half of the on-air staff of BBC Radio, both Erlend and Erik of Kings of Convenience, Frodo Baggins (err I mean Elijah Wood) and half of the industry's A&R reps to an afternoon open air performance... in a howling rainstorm. The hype around her new record, Let It Die seems well placed as she's got a tremendous voice and modern-day-lounge-star-in-the-making presence that will definitely bring a few green-eyed monsters out of hiding. This may be her first full length record but she has already collaborated with the likes of Broken Social Scene, Peaches, Gonzalez and the aforementioned Kings of Convenience. Look out for her at a venue near you alongside British Sea Power.

Just happened to catch this one on the radio today... our fave Scottish indiepop band, the legendary TRASH CAN SINATRAS, who are currently meandering their way around the States on their second US tour in support of last year's excellent "Weightlifting" record, are playing live tomorrow...

On Air America Radio!

Don't know exactly when the session will be on, but the Trashies WILL be the special guests of Janeane Garofalo on Friday's edition of "The Majority Report." The show airs at different times on different Air America affiliates, but most stations carry it live in the late afternoon/early evening hours.

Once again trying to align themselves with indie cool, iTunes has arranged a promotion in conjunction with THE WHITE STRIPES. Available TODAY as an exclusive download, you can be the first on your block to hear the new White Stripes single, "Blue Orchid." It's available exclusively through iTunes (or your nearest free-music-off-the-internet haunt within 24 hours, most likely.) The single officially comes out in May, and the new White Stripes album, "Get Behind Me, Satan," is due worldwide the first week of June.

UPDATE: If you wanna hear the track NOW, a streaming version is now available

The DECEMBERERISTS have made their video for "Sixteen Military Wives" available to download via BitTorrent. BitTorrent is one of the latest peer-to-peer file sharing protocols and has gained significant popularity in recent years. The Decemberists decided to use the protocol because their video was never going to air on MTV or VH1 and using the Internet was the only way for it to be seen. This is an older story, but I just found about it on Wired. More information about downloading the video can be found on the decemberists.com.

UPDATE: I just saw the video and it's actually pretty good. It has a real Wes Anderson/Rushmore feel to it. I highly suggest downloading it.

It was the must-see tour of last year... and they're taking it back on the road. Legendary 4AD band THE PIXIES spellbound audiences around the world when they reformed to tour last year in Europe and America. If you didn't have a chance to see them the first (err second) time around they've just announced three weeks worth of US dates to kick off at the end of May. They'll be playing mostly festivals and outdoor venues from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast.

A rather sad announcement today from THE DELGADOS...

The Delgados, influential figures in Glasgow's independent music scene for over 10 years, have announced that they are to amicably disband. The reason has been put down to the departure of their bass player Stewart Henderson who informed the band in the New Year that he did not wish to make another album. The Delgados have always been known as uniquely collaborative songwriters and as such, it was decided that the band could not continue without all of its original members.

The Delgados leave behind them 5 critically acclaimed albums including The Great Eastern, Hate and last year's Universal Audio. Their two principal songwriters Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward will be pursuing individual projects and drummer Paul Savage will continue production duties at the band's Chem19 Studios in Hamilton.

The four friends will continue to run their record label Chemikal Underground in this, its 10th Anniversary year, with releases scheduled for Malcolm Middleton, Mother & The Addicts and Arab Strap. They are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported The Delgados over the course of their career.

We would especially like to thank all of our fans for your wonderful support. Don't be too upset everyone...get a massive carry out, turn the stereo up and play your albums at full volume.

A bit torrent site with a focus on live recordings, easytree.org, shutdown today because their Internet Provider received legal threats from the RIAA. Easytree was a great source for live recordings and my impression was that the site only had recordings by artists who agreed their live material could be distributed over the Internet. Radiohead, Mercury Rev, and a handful of others were bands that allowed their shows to be taped and traded for free. So I'm not very clear why their ISP would receive legal threats.

Lou Barlow
Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
March 26, 2005

It's hard to say why Lou Barlow isn't the biggest star in alternative rock. Hell why isn't he a mega pop star? He certainly has the song craft and the melodies. Lou Barlow could be the most overlooked of all great singer songwriters of the past 20 years. Being the leader of Sebadoh, Folk Implosion as well as a part of the early Dinosaur Jr. has not really done much to make him the star that he should be. This is precisely why his tour itineraries often include venues such as the VFW Lodge and the Cask & Cleaver in some tiny town in the middle of nowhere.