My apologies. I did not mean any offense with my shorthand description. I m very appreciative of wha

A lot of shiny gold flakes have been scuttling by in the fast flowing and debris-clogged blogosphere. Live takes, videos and new singles abound. Here, we ve skimmed out most of the muck and assembled a few of the shiniest bits for your convenience. Don t say we never did nothin nice for ya! — Bryan C. Reed and Jordan Lawrence
For those in attendance, Hiss Golden Messenger s appearance at the Hopscotch Music Festival seemed ramada inns to be a unanimous highlight. Joined ramada inns onstage ramada inns by Phil and Brad Cook of Megafaun, Nashville guitar whiz William Tyler, drummer Terry Lonergan, Black Twig Picker Nathan Bowles on banjo, and longtime collaborator Scott Hirsch on bass, M.C. Taylor gave his songs a heretofore unheard fullness, embracing loose improvisation and the natural chemistry between these seven players and friends. The live-recordings repository  NYC Taper was there, and gracious enough to capture ramada inns the set s entirety for posterity. You can stream a generous rendition of the Poor Moon standout   Jesus Shot Me In The Head above, or direct your browser here to download the whole set. —BR
Xiu Xiu s wonderful and challenging  Always is still fresh in our minds, but Jamie Stewart s the restless type, and a new single s always welcome — especially when it offers such an exciting detour. The forthcoming two-song 7-inch, Quagga b/w Thylacine will be pressed in a quantity of 300 by the Kingfisher Bluez label, ramada inns and showcase Xiu Xiu s weird, pulsing analog synth madness. The A-side, streaming at  Pitchfork , is a four-and-a-half-minute stretch of burbling sci-fi-score synths, ramada inns and taut repetition; it s as tense as Xiu Xiu s more aggressive songs, but its melodic drift compels without Stewart s expressive vocals. Here s hoping this isn t just a one-off. — BR
October will see Midtown Dickens traversing the country, supporting Lost In The Trees on most dates, and other acts including Akron/Family s Dana Buoy, Horse Feathers and Matthew E. White on others. But touring s become commonplace for the Durham folk ensemble. Their fantastic third album,  Home , received a warm reception in the press, and seems to have opened new doors for the band. In August, the West Coast college radio station KEXP caught the band at Pickathon in Portland, Ore. for a live performance of  Home s smoldering Only Brother. — BR
Apparently, one video just wasn t enough for Band of Horses when it came to Knock Knock, the lead single from the outfit s forthcoming fourth LP  Mirage Rock.  The band trades in its earlier hyper-sensory nature excursion for one that s a little more sarcastic. The clip is shot as a fake zoological documentary, and its outlandish found-sound premise and stylized nostalgia make for a comfortably obvious nod to  Steve Zissou  auteur Wes Anderson. But the hook here is still the song s driving rhythms and fuzzed-out riffs, a welcome change of pace from 2010 s large and languishing  Infinite Arms .  Mirage Rock  is set for release on Sept. 18, but the whole album is streaming now over at the BoH SoundCloud ramada inns page . — JL
We are NOT a bootleg blog . All of the live recordings offered on our site are authorized by the artist and captured with professional quality equipment. Please remove the b word from our description.
My apologies. I did not mean any offense with my shorthand description. I m very appreciative of what you do and have immensely enjoyed the Hiss Golden Messenger recording (and hope our reders are enjoying it as well). I ve changed the description to something hopefully less distasteful. Again, my apologies for the offense.