Canadian singer/songwriter Jim Guthrie and ex-Unicorns/current Islands bandleader, Nick Thorburn, have teamed up as Human Highway to release Moody Motorcycle, apparently named after an obscure Neil Young-directed film, for Suicide Squeeze. It’s a good album, and you can read my review here.

Julian Koster’s Music Tapes (part of the Elephant 6 collective) has a new album out on Merge, Music Tapes For Clouds and Tornadoes. A single listen will clue you in to his past work with Neutral Milk Hotel, but even with all his attention to antiquated recording techniques and bizarre instrumentation (singing saws, seven-foot metronomes), it’s not as good as you want it to be. Decide for yourself, and read my review for Blurt here.

Apse is a band whose members are based in Cape Cod and the Outer Islands, of all places, but listening to their expansive, epic new record, out now on ATP Recordings, it kind of makes sense. Guitars sweep like ocean squalls over pounding bass and drums, while Robert Toher’s unique vocals surface over instrumental passages, separating Apse from like-minded bands like Mogwai. Read my review for Blurt Magazine here.

I reviewed the Pete Seeger documentary, The Power of Song – now out on DVD – for Lost at Sea. This is an interesting doc, detailing the life and times of one of folk music’s most iconic figures. I think it could have taken more chances than it does, by including things like Seeger’s reaction to Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival. Read the review, see the movie, and judge for yourself.

New Glaciers of Ice column is up, my monthly hip-hop roundup for Lost at Sea. This month, the bad outweighed the good, but I guess that’s to be expected in the over-saturated world of album releases.

Stephen Frears‘ 2003 TV film, The Deal, about the political relationship between former and current British PM’s Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is being released on DVD tomorrow. You can read my review here.

One of my favorite records of 2008 is The War on Drugs‘ Wagonwheel Blues. Read my review here.

Talked with Mr. Angus Andrew of Liars for a article for Spinner this past Friday about their forthcoming tour with Radiohead, making videos, and their next album. Read it here.

I have an article running in this week’s LA Weekly about the Scion mix CD series, specifically the company’s relationship with LA Riots and IHeartComix’s Franki Chan. Read it here.
(The Weekly site is jacked up from time to time, so hopefully this works when you click on it.)

A new print of Jean Luc-Godard’s 1963 film, Contempt, is screening at the Nuart in West LA this week, and will be showing in other cities throughout the country over the summer. Go see it, it’s a masterpiece. But first, read my review here.