Alright, so this news is hot and not completely confirmed, but I thought it was definitely worth posting. Grape Juice Records and Afternoon Records (which is run by Sliver's very own Ian Anderson) are putting together an indie-rock festival that will span six nights and two different Twin Cities venues. Appropriately, the event will be known as the 45 Degrees North Music Festival, and it will take place from September 5 to September 10.

Grape Juice and Afternoon are still hammering out the details, but the line-up is looking killer so far. Here's what's in the works:

Night 1: First Ave
P.O.S. (pending)
Heiruspecs (rumored)
Cecil Otter
Big Quarters
Kill the Vultures

Night 2: First Ave
Dillinger 4 (pending)
Cardinal Sin or Building Better Bombs or Awesome Snakes (pending)
Chariots
Eric Swanson

Night 3: First Ave (pending)
The Gossip
Erase Errata
+ TBA

Night 4: Triple Rock
A Whisper in the Noise (rumored)
Harp and Finial
Jai Henry and the Minneapols Henrys
Aneuretical

Night 5: Triple Rock (2 shows)
The Plastic Constellations
The Belles of Skin City
God Damn Doo Wop Band
One for the Team

Night 6: Triple Rock
Coco Rosie (pending)
Passions
Superdanger
Fort Wilson Riot (pending)
It From Bit

Uffda. There's a lot of "pending" and "hopefuls" in the current line-up, but I'm confident that when everything's finalized, it's gonna be hot, hot, hot. More news on this soon.

An exclusive version of "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" is available for download on iTunes. Pretty sweet. The EP includes a handful of unreleased b-sides and live versions of the track. Below is the track listing.

The Youngest Was The Most Loved EP:
01. "The Youngest Was The Most Loved"
02. "If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me"
03. "A Song From Under The Floorboards"
04. "Ganglord"
05. "The Youngest Was The Most Loved (Live From Manchester Apollo) "
06. "The Youngest Was The Most Loved (Live From Gateshead) "
07. "The Youngest Was The Most Loved (Live From Grimsby) "
08. "The Youngest Was The Most Loved (Live From Manchester Opera House) "

It breaks my heart to write this, but according to a post made on their web site earlier today, Sleater-Kinney has gone on indefinite hiatus.

"After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus.

The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings. We feel lucky to have had the support of many wonderful people over the years. We want to thank everyone who has worked with us, written kind words about us, performed with us, and inspired us.

But mostly we want to extend our gratitude to our amazing fans. You have been a part of our story from the beginning. We could not have made our music without your enthusiasm, passion, and loyalty. It is you who have made the entire journey worthwhile."

Granted, "indefinite hiatus" doesn't exactly mean "we're done forever," but it also doesn't exactly sound good.

For more information, visit www.sleater-kinney.com.

Although This Harness Can't Ride Anything doesn't come out until October 10 on Suicide Squeeze, I'm excited about it now. Recorded by Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine), this record is destined to be an aptly tasty follow-up to 2004's We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers. For those who are as nerdy as I am, here is the track listing they just released:
1) "This Harness Can't Ride Anything"
2) "Water Planes In Snow"
3) "We've Got To Keep Running"
4) "Islands Sink"
5) "Mansioned"
6) "I Need A Friend With A Boat"
7) "Blankets Like Beavers"
8) "Landlocked Lifeguards"
9) "Stolen Mountains"
10) "Trophies For Hire"

Two in one day, what are the odds. But the truth of the matter is that this one might actually be worth seeing. A documentary at heart, this film chronicles the resurgence and past failings of the psychedelic Brazilian outfit. Click here to check out the trailer.

Believe it or not, the troubled dance-band of the north has made a short film entitled Scummy Man. It was directed by Paul Fraser (of Dean Man's Shoes fame). I honestly have no idea if it's any good, but rumor has it that it captures something special, or at least British.

So it turns out that Beck is going to make a hip-hop record, or at least, a hip-hop-ish record. Oh wait, hasn't he been doing that for the past ten years, except for his brief detour into the sad, folk-rock world of Sea Change? Well, maybe. But now he will be making a real hip-hop album this time, honest. I'm not all that surprised really, in fact, I think he might just do it right.

"Before we started," Beck stated. "Nigel [Godrich, the album's producer] said he wanted to do a hip-hop record. And in a way it is, and in a way it isn't. It has hip-hop songs, and my previous work with him was Mutations and Sea Change, these sort of introspective records, and so this new one is sort of bringing those two worlds together" (LimeWire).

More news as the release date approaches.

Early last week, British rock-rag NME reported that indie-dance darlings The Go! Team are hoping that Kevin Shields, reclusive rock genius of My Bloody Valentine fame, will produce their next album. Surprisingly, it's not out of the question: Shields has already remixed two popular Go! Team songs, "Ladyflash" and "Huddle Formation," and he has championed the band to the British press in the past.

Parton told the NME that he would be perfectly content to just get Shields involved: "We're looking to get him onboard in some capacity. I'll probably just send him the album and say, 'What do you think? What are you gonna do on that?' and he'll come in and make some noise, get his tremolo arm out and rip it up like that. He always said he wanted to do a garage version of The Jackson 5, and he saw that in us."

Shields notoriously disappeared after the release of My Bloody Valentine's revered "Loveless." Depending on what you choose to believe, Shields was either unable to cope with the pressure of following up the landmark record and fizzled out, or, according to others, he simply lost interest in the recording process. After years of silence, Shields finally emerged from his London cocoon in late 2003 to contribute a few tracks to Sophia Coppolla's Lost in Translation soundtrack. The Go! Team remixes are his latest, if slight, foray back into the rock world.

source: http://www.nme.com/news/23192

Domino Records is set to release the new Will Oldham album, "Then Letting Go," in early September. Before the album drops, Oldham's also going to throw down a hot 7" single, "Cursed Sleep," which will feature the titular track, as well as two other new songs, "The Signifying Wolf" and "God's Small Song."

Oh yeah, Oldham's using his Bonnie "Prince" Billy moniker for all these releases, so don't go looking for the new "Will Oldham" record--that would be silly.

Do you like to dance in front of the mirror and pretend you're a rock star? Do you like to dress up like Karen O? Do you want to try and convince pretty punk rawk girls that they should dress up like Karen O? While you film them? We thought so, and now you have your chance. For their next single and video, "Cheating Hearts," the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have asked fans to do their best imitation of the band. The only requirement is that you use the song "Cheating Hearts" as the catalyst for your rock star spasms, and that you submit (and postmark) your creation by June 12. After that, the band will take the best entries and stitch them together to create a music video. The band expects their fans to put them to "shame," so go crazy and get your ugly mug on MTV.