Today's Hotness: Thom Yorke, Stars, Rain Is Wet

>> If, like us, you were puzzled by this link at Radiohead's Dead Air Space blog, Stereogum has tracked down this explanation at Radiohead fan site GreenPlastic.com. Apparently The Eraser is the name of the once-rumored and now actualized (apparently NME has secured confirmation) Thom Yorke solo record. The set was produced and arranged by longtime Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich and is apparently heavily geared toward "beats & electronics." The loop at The Eraser web site sounds more like something Colleen would throw together, but whatevs. The set contains nine tracks and will be released July 11 on XL. Could XL also be in the running to issue the forthcoming Radiohead set? Incidentally, Dead Air Space also indicated that it was the death of Radiohead drummer Phil Selway's mother that caused the band to postpone a live date in Amsterdam earlier this week.

>> According to this Billboard piece, Canadian baroque pop luminaries Stars aim to begin writing material for a new record in September and hope to enter the studio in January to record the follow-up to its roundly excellent 2005 release Set Yourself On Fire. Of course, the very same article says Stars co-fronter Amy Millan will be touring in support of her forthcoming solo set Honey From The Tombs in late September and October, so who knows how much writing will get done in September. Millan's folk-influenced set streets at the end of the month in Canada and in the States in August.

>> According to a brief MySpace bulletin, Michigan based indie trio Rain Is Wet is either broken up or on hiatus. Which is too bad, because their track "Concept" is one of the favorite random finds we ever made on the MySpace.

>> Swedophile Chromewaves points to this page which links to a video for The Concretes AM Gold popper "On The Radio," among others. Seriously, how charming is this band?