Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady, Will Oldham, [ingenting]

>> Because the struggling new media goliath laid us off almost four years ago and we like to hold grudges sometimes, we try not to link to AOL content unless there is a very good reason. Well, there is a good reason today, as one of AOL's many tentacles has an exclusive on the new video for The Hold Steady's "Chips Ahoy." We are enamored with the clip, moreso than we usually are with music videos. This is primarily because we think band leader Craig Finn does an awesome quasi-Howard Cosell in the clip. And the bit where he's broadcasting and the camera pans out to reveal Finn's waist-deep in the swimming pool? Classic (but pre-dated by a decade by the same gag in Kam Fong's "Roger And Rerun" video). On the whole the clip for "Chips Ahoy" has a very Huey Lewis and the News sort of vibe (for those of you old enough to remember that act's classic mid-'80s vids), but that's not a bad thing. Check it out here. Interesting observation: AOL also had an exclusive on the MP3 for the new Lemonheads tune "No Backbone." Is there a larger AOL/Vagrant marketing deal in place here? Inquiring minds want to know. Confidential to Bald Bull: hit my inbox with the 411.

>> Here's a bit of follow-up to "American Hardcore." H-Dawg From Accounts Receivable tipped us off to this profile of Boston's own Straight Edge Hank, who was featured in the film (read our review here). Hank Peirce, as he is known to most folks, is now a reverend with a church just outside of the city, but he logged thousands of miles back in the day as a roadie for bands including Slapshot (whose record Sudden Death Overtime has one of the toughest covers ever printed). But, as the article concludes, Peirce "is God's roadie now." A nice little profile.

>> If you haven't been to the art house or ordered a record from Insound lately then you may not have seen this trailer or gotten a promo postcard for a forthcoming film starring enigmatic indie rocker Will Oldam, a/k/a Bonnie "Prince" Billy. We usually have a little trepidation about seeing films fearturing rockers we idolize because we've been burned so many times before. But "Old Joy" has been winning awards and earning rave reviews, and we have to say that the trailer sold us. The soundtrack provided by Yo La Tengo certainly helps, and bolstered our high hopes for the film.

>> Because we've enjoyed both pre-release MP3s from the record we think it is worth pointing out that Labrador is now taking orders for Swedish indie pop phenom [ingenting]'s new record Mycket Väsen För Ingenting here. Haven't heard any of their tunes yet? Here are a couple MP3s courtesy of the label [right click and save as].

[ingenting] -- "Släpp in solen" -- Mycket Väsen För Ingenting
[ingenting] -- "Punkdrömmar" -- Mycket Väsen För Ingenting

>> Speaking of buying stuff and MP3s: If you didn't register the press blip caused by Insound.com's Save The Album marketing campaign earlier this week, then perhaps you don't know that this is the week the online storefront intends to begin selling albums in the MP3 format. We previously wrote about the initiative here.

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