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Modest Mouse announced that they will be releasing their new album on March 20. It’s titled and will be coming from Sony BMG / Epic once again.

Their single Dashboard has been all over the internet the past few weeks to create some buzz for their new album release. You can listen to it on their site ModestMouseMusic.com.

Modest Mouse’s new album will be released on “double 180 gram vinyl, CD, and limited edition CD with deluxe slipcase and 32 page booklet.” Also, if you’re an iTunes kind of person and choose to download it from there, you get Dashboard in your library immediately. Yippee…

The Sasquatch Music Festival, which is scheduled for May 26 and 27 over Memorial Day weekend has just announced their list of performers. The list is preliminary, so things could possibly still change. However, that’s usually just a disclaimer.

So, for the list…

Saturday, the 26 of May…
Björk
The Arcade Fire
Manu Chao Radio Bemba Sound System
M.I.A.
Citizen Cope
Neko Case
The Hold Steady
Grizzly Bear
Ghostland Observatory
Electrelane
Two Gallants
The Slip
Loney, Dear
Aqueduct
The Thermals
Viva Voce
The Blow
Gabriel Teodros

Sunday…

Beastie Boys
Interpol
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Spoon
Bad Brains
Ozomatli
Dandy Warhols
The Black Angels
Mirah
Tokyo Police Club
Money Mark
St. Vincent
Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter
Smoosh
Common Market
Helio Sequence
Minus the Bear

It’s a pretty decent lineup, but honestly, I don’t think it really compares to last years offering. Last year featured Sufjan Stevens, Ben Harper, Death Cab for Cutie, Matisyahu, Jamie Liddell, Iron and Wine, and the Shins! Granted, it is nearly impossible to follow a lineup with those artists.

Sirius has announced they will buy larger satellite radio rival, XM Radio in a stock deal worth $4.6 Billion. The purchase would put XM Radio’s total valuation 21% higher than its current stock price of $14.

The merging of the two satellite radio giants has really been inevitable since their conception. I remember watching CNN two years ago and they were already talking about how the exit strategy for both companies must include a buyout or merger if they want to survive. I also remember seeing an interview with one of the CEOs over a year ago, and rumors were already flying about a merger. Of course, the CEO shot them down, but it has just seemed unavoidable.

You don’t have to take my word for it, because here are some old posts that confirm the ramblings.

January 2005: Endgadget talks about a potential merger that would be shutdown by the FCC.

June 2006: Sirius CEO shuts down any ideas surrounding XM buying Sirius or any potential merger, saying he’ll be gone if it happens. He does say that a purchase of XM Radio would be okay though. He’s a man of his word. Story from Gizmodo.

February 2007: Today’s story. It looks like it’s going to happen, but who really knows the way these companies move and shake. The FCC could still get in the way of the deal.

It’ll be kind of interesting to see how this all plays out. I personally don’t think satellite radio is here to stay, so I’m interested to see what’s going to happen if the industry starts trending downward.

So…the Grammys were last night. I saw the Police reunite, but got bored after that. So unfortunately, I waited until this morning to hear how the supposed biggest night in music went last night.

Well, it didn’t go so well for the good guys. I was hoping John Mayer would’ve taken down a few more awards, especially away from The Dixie Chicks. Actually, I wish anyone would’ve taken some awards away from the Dixie Chicks. Ugh..But besides the Dixie Chicks, the not too terrible Red hot Chile Peppers took down alot of awards.

Besides John Mayer, I was really hoping Imogen Heap would’ve gotten best new Artist, but Carrie Underwood took that down. Also, Death Cab For Cutie, Keane, Coldplay, Thom Yorke, and Eminem’s Shake That (guilty obsession) lost in their respective categories. Shux.

But below is a large list of winners from the night. Read the rest of this entry »

Sufjan has recently reviewed a live performance of fellow Asthmatic Kitty artist My Brightest Diamond. Yes, Sufjan actually wrote this review himself. As I’m sure I’ve expressed before, Sufjan Stevens can do whatever he wants.

Let me warn you, his surprisingly entertaining essay on the My Brightest Diamond Performance does get a bit long at five well developed paragraphs. But if you’re a big Sufjan fan, you’ll only gain more appreciation for who he is after reading it.

Enough of my ramblings, It can be found in full here.

Not too long ago, Sufjan Stevens and My Brightest Diamond made the news together when it was announced they’ll both be playing at the Music Now Festival. The Music Now Festival is looking pretty salty this year as it’s hosting several indie artists I am fond of.

Among the ranks include Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond, Sigur Rós Protégés Amiina, David Cossin, Clogs, Pedro Soler, and Irena and Vojtech Havel.

The Shins’ new album Wincing the Night Away grabbed the number two spot on billboard’s top 200 albums. This is unheard of for most indie albums, especially albums from indie rock artists like The Shins.

The Shins‘ new album has been highly anticipated, and it has definitely lived up to expectations. The entire indie music scene seems to be taken aback by this massive debut for the indie rock outfit. Subpop Records‘, the Shins’ label, previous highest album ranking on Billboard was #79. Yeah, this is a big deal for the label as well.

Their leading single Phantom Limb, which has been all over the internet before the album release, has found its way into the top 20 of Billboard’s Modern Rock chart as well.

So am I surprised of the Shins massive debut? Yes and no. Yes, because it just never seems to happen. Indie music doesn’t seem to be allowed to grab the top rankings. I was expecting Billboard to lie about the rankings before they would actually put an indie artist at the top like they have.

But then on the other hand, I can’t be surprised because The Shins are down right good. Their sound definitely has mainstream potential similar to what Death Cab For Cutie had as well, so I can understand how the mainstream has embraced them. DCFC got some playtime and headed over to Dreamworks, and The Shins will probably find themselves in a similar position now. Let’s just hope that The Shins will not follow DCFC’s lead, and that they’ll stay with Subpop.