This Is Our 500th Post.

Originally we thought it would be funny to just state that this is our 500th post and leave the post at that, you know, blow off the milestone. Sort of Replacements-ian humor, if you will. But the Good Doctor's YLT video the other day got us thinking about whether we had any video to share. Then we remembered TymMac sent us a digital rip of Kam Fong's "Roger And Rerun" video, shot circa 1995. Yours truly appears in the video (as "man kidnapped from raft in pool, thrown against van, face duct-taped, etc.") along with a number of other hometown luminaries to which we refer here often. We seem to recall posting this video as a Quicktime download a while back, but now with the advent of YouTube we're able to just throw it up at the top of this item. No more commentary. Just watch the rock.

Today's Hotness: Texas Is The Reason, Sparklehorse, Clinic

>> Second-wave emo fans rejoice: flash-in-the-pan hardcore act Texas Is The Reason will reunite for a single show Thanksgiving weekend. The band will play Irving Plaza. Not a lot more details out there, but there are plenty of snarky comments here and here. Texas Is The Reason released a single full length before breaking up. The record, in our opinion, didn't really live up to the promise of the first single. We can remember someone amazedly saying to us back in the day that they had only played 40 shows before they were signed.

>> Following up on the link to All Songs Considered the other day, here's another stream of new Sparklehorse. The band's long-awaited third long player Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of The Mountain streets Sept. 26. The set includes collaborations with Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips and Danger Mouse. Have a listen to "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" in one of two tasty flavors of streaming media: RM | WM.

>> We enjoyed watching this new and spooky video for Clinic's "Harvest." Definitely worth watching. And the tension of the droning strong driven by pulsing bass and scritching guitar is delicious. Kudos, Clinic. Here are some links: RM | QT | WM | YT

>> While we're sharing up video, here is the link to the second promo "trailer" for the forthcoming Bonnie "Prince" Billy set The Letting Go. That Mr. Oldham certainly is an unusual fellow. The Letting Go streets Sept. 18.

>> This is interesting: according to info pointed to by Coolfer here, the forthcoming Microsoft Zune digital music doohickey will come pre-loaded with tunes from Serena Maneesh.

Free Range Music: Cities In Dust MP3s

Every now and again you get tired of the sounds of the day: you've listened to your 10th or 11th unsolicited freak folk MP3 of the evening while your wife is watching the same episode of "Gray's Anatomy" for the 10th or 11th time. And then something really refreshing jumps out at you. Turns out that this evening we were craving rock n' roll and we didn't even know it. We found out when we downloaded some tracks from Hamilton, ON-based rockers Cities In Dust. The quartet's long-player Night Creatures, released June 15 on Paper Bag Records, is full of potent, yelly rock. You can stream the entire album at this link, but we've got links to some smokin' MP3s you can have for your very own below.

The track "Save The Last Dance" slams through the door with punchy, chunky bass and just doesn't let up for any of its three-and-a-half minutes. As you might guess from its name, the tune "Chop Chop You're Dead" is no less affecting, although the guitars step to the fore a bit more. We think you're going to like it. Cities In Dust plays a date in New York City Sept. 13, for those of you living there who have no plans that night.

Cities In Dust -- "Save The Last Dance" -- Night Creatures
Cities In Dust -- "Chop Chop You're Dead" -- Night Creatures

Cities In Dust | MySpace

Today's Hotness: The Decemberists, TV On The Radio, Sparklehorse

>> The promotional machine that will drive The Decemberists' forthcoming major label debut The Crane Wife is cranking up, and you can stream the accordion-tastic strummer "Summersong" from the new set at one of the following tasty links: RM | WM. The Crane Wife streets Oct. 3 on Capitol, and the band embarks on a month's worth of live dates Oct. 17. Massachusetts dates including a Halloween show at The Calvin in Northampton and a show at The Orpheum Nov. 4. Finally, here's a link to YouTube video of something called The Crane Wife Photo Shoot; it's pretty self-explanatory, but also entertaining and relaxing. Check it out.

>> Brooklyn-based art rockers (we hate that term) TV On The Radio have sprung the video for the excellent track "Wolf Like Me" from the band's forthcoming tour de force Return To Cookie Mountain. You can watch the video here, but frankly we think the live YouTube video we posted a few weeks ago is far more compelling. We're just not so into when a band works the funny angle, which TVOTR does a little bit here. Incidentally, if you've followed our extended diatribe against Amazon.com regarding the online storefront's failure to deliver a promised (by the band and Amazon) pre-release album stream of Return To Cookie Mountain to people who pre-ordered the record, we still haven't received any satisfaction. We pre-ordered the record Aug. 24, and have yet to be given access to such a stream, despite the fact Amazon this afternoon announced a TV and movie download service (you'd think they'd fix one thing before biting off another). What we have received is lots of friendly emails from customer service reps. The most recent email came Sept. 4. We strongly suspect that the first time we hear this record will be when the pre-order arrives on our desks. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Bezos. Return To Cookie Mountain streets next week on Interscope.

>> Dirty On Purpose points us to NPR's All Songs Considered page, which in addition to Dirty On Purpose's "No Radio" features streams from the aforementioned TV On The Radio (maybe NPR can help out Amazon with their album stream problem?), Yo La Tengo and Sparklehorse. Check out the streams here -- we're really saying "yes" to the Sparklehorse tune "Knives Of Summertimes."

Today's Hotness: Marie Antoinette, Junior Boys, Richard Buckner

>> The double-disc soundtrack for the forthcoming Sofia Coppola flick "Marie Antoinette" looks awesome. Granted, we have most of the songs already. But can you ever hear Joy Division/New Order's "Ceremony" too many times? The answer is no, although we recommend alternating the track with liberal doses of "Processional" as well, because the tracks complement each other so perfectly. The soundtrack also includes The Cure's "All Cats Are Grey." It's as if Coppola asked us what our favorite songs are and put them in the movie. If only she included New Order's "Leave Me Alone." Anyway, Billboard has details and the full track listing for the soundtrack here. If you are in Philly in the middle of October you can check out an advance screening of the film at the second annual Philebrity Weekender, four days of music and et cetera featuring luminaries such as Dr. Dog, Yah Mos Def, Pearls & Brass and a host of others to be named later. More details here, and then scroll down a bit.

>> Hey, you can stream the forthcoming Junior Boys record here via the Philebrity player this week. Hot dog! The Canadian duo's record So This Is Goodbye will be released by Domino next week.

>> We hope you've been enjoying Richard Buckner's comical and incisively written tour journal that is being posted sporadically at Merge Blog as much as we have. Here are posts one and two. Skip steps one and three. Okay, that is a pretty irrelevent reference here...

>> L.A.-based psych rockers Darker My Love, one-time aspirants for the coveted Show Us Yours #3 slot (which as you know ultimately went to Relay) and whose debut we reviewed here in July, are finally heading to the East Coast. Tripwire has the tour dates here.

Review: Evangelicals | So Gone [MP3s]

Perhaps because of the band's name, we keep waiting to have some sort of larger revelation about Evangelicals' very engaging set So Gone. But besides thoughts along the lines of "damn, this is really good," this is the best we can do right now: geography and notoriety make The Flaming Lips an obvious referent for the music of Evangelicals. One listen to the latter band's tune "Another Day (And Yoor Still Knocked Out)" or the deleriously enjoyable "Here Comes Trouble" makes that apparent. However, we think fellow Oklahomans Evangelicals' free-wheeling, everywhere-at-once compositions and pop vocals also suggest a kinship with contemporaries such as Islands as well as indie pop legends Eggs. Evangelicals' appropriated AM Gold sounds (as heard in "Diving," for example) give a perceptible nod to the pop that likely influenced Eggs; the "ahs" of "Hello Jenn, I'm A Mess" (which is currently streaming at the band's MySpace hacienda along with "Diving" here) sound almost lifted off of Eggs' Bruiser.

While Eggs, the Lips and Evangelicals all have an affinity for pastiche, the sonic truth about Evangelicals probably lies somewhere betwixt and between the aforementioned acts. Evangelicals' So Gone, released by Misra June 6, seems pulled almost fully formed from band principal Josh Jones' head. Over the course of about a year Mr. Jones and his cohorts (drummer Austin Stephens and Kyle Davis) recorded So Gone (and much of an unreleased follow-up) and played 40 shows. The record is a kaleidoscopic ride across daisy-chained hooks and imaginative production. The band is currently touring with Swedish shoegazers Serena Maneesh, but we think a more appropriate tour partner would be the more sonically left-field Icy Demons. We guess beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, check out the tour dates and two MP3s linked below.

Evangelicals -- "Here Comes Trouble" -- So Gone
Evangelicals -- "Another Day (And Yoor Still Knocked Out)" -- So Gone

[buy So Gone from Insound here]

09/07 -- Washington DC -- Warehouse Next Door
09/08 -- New York NY -- Bowery Ballroom
09/09 -- Brooklyn NY -- Sound Fix Records
09/10 -- Boston MA -- The Middle East
09/12 -- Montreal QC -- Main Hall
09/13 -- Toronto ON -- Lee’s Palace
09/15 -- Oklahoma City OK -- Zoo Ampitheater
09/16 -- Minneapolis MN -- 7th St. Entry
09/19 -- Seattle WA -- Neumos
09/20 -- Portland OR -- Berbati's Pan
09/21 -- San Francisco CA -- Bottom of the Hill
09/22 -- Pomona CA -- Glass House
09/23 -- West Hollywood CA -- Troubadour
09/26 -- Denver CO -- Larimer Lounge
09/27 -- Lawrence KS -- Bottleneck
09/28 -- Denton TX -- Rubber Gloves
09/29 -- Dallas TX -- Good Records
09/30 -- Houston TX -- Proletariat
10/01 -- New Orleans LA -- Republic
10/02 -- Atlanta GA -- Drunken Unicorn
10/03 -- Carrboro NC -- Cat's Cradle
10/04 -- Falls Chruch VA -- State Theatre
10/09 -- Columbus OH -- Andyman's Treehouse
10/10 -- Grand Rapids MI -- The Intersection
10/11 -- Dayton OH -- The Roi
10/12 -- Bloomington IN -- The Hospital
10/13 -- Chicago IL -- Schubas
10/20 -- Norman OK -- Opolis
10/21 -- Austin TX -- Emo's

Today's Hotness: Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Yo La Tengo, Handsome Furs

>> Stereogum here relays details of the new Daytrotter session with Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The session includes our all-time favorite Palace jam "New Partner," from what must be the best album of 1995, the astonishingly good Viva Last Blues. The Elvis Presley/Willie Nelson influence on the song is patently obvious, but would you believe Mr. Oldham claims there are elements of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" in the tune as well? We'll have to listen to it again. Check out the session here, and make sure to read Daytrotter Sean's thoughtful and amusing interview with Will.

>> We've been neglecting our Beat Your Ass Season Pass, the Matador promo vehicle for the forthcoming Yo La Tengo record that streets Sept. 12. We've neglected it to such an extent that we didn't know until this afternoon about the video wall, a series of clips of various people saying "I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass." While that is funny in and of itself, and while promoting our friend's work smacks of non-objectivity, we have to say our friend The Good Doctor's clip is hysterical. Check it out here or at YouTube here.

>> This was news to us: according to this interview at BrooklynVegan, Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner has a new side project called Handsome Furs that purportedly sounds like Jesus And Mary Chain. Handsome Furs is currently recording its debut in a studio Wolf Parade recently built in an apartment formerly inhabited by Arcade Fire's Win and Regine. Additionally, if you'd care to see Wolf Parade play a festival show, your opportunities may be dwindling. The band has been pondering swearing off large festivals after fulfilling such commitments in Austin, Texas and Iceland.

>> Three more new Pernice Brothers tunes are now streaming at the band's web site here. The songs are "PCH One," "Zero Refills" and "Microscopic View." The first tune is apparently about the erstwhile popular television program "CHiPs." Remember when people used to watch TV? That was cute.

>> Northampton, Mass.-based folk rockers Winterpills are in the midst of recording their second set, according to the band's MySpace. The band began sessions Aug. 29 with five songs and is already up to 17. Winterpills plan to post a video diary of sorts documenting the recording at its site in the near future. The act next take the stage Sept. 16 supporting Vashti Bunyan in Shelburne Falls, MA. More details at the band's MySpace dojo and web site.

>> Speaking of Western Mass., a MySpace bulletin from sublime indie poppers Surefire Broadcast informs us of the forthcoming Popfest! New England 2006. The three-day event takes place Oct. 6-8 in Northampton, where we attended the Loud Music Festival for a few years running in the early- and mid-'90s. Other acts performing include Human Television, Palomar, Bunnygrunt and The Snow Fairies. A three-day pass for all the shows runs $30, which sounds like a pretty great deal. Check out the full line-up and other details here.