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Photo by Ryan Muir

As our news editor Amy Phillips noted in her ATP New York review today, My Bloody Valentine frontguy Kevin Shields sat down with The New York Times over the weekend at Kutsher's Country Club to gab about the band's recent tours, the plans for that forthcoming album, and what else might be next for the rejuvenated Valentines.

Kev notes that, for the band's recent tours, they've spent £200,000-- $366,000 U.S.-- on equipment. He also admits to owning "hundreds" of effects pedals, but only using a mere 30 on stage. 

Shields explains that a recent look through the MBV archives around the time of the remastering work on Loveless and Isn't Anything revealed some things in his notoriously costly, largely unfruitful mid-1990s sessions of which he had been unaware: namely, that the stuff he was working on for the band's third album was actually pretty damn good.

Shields now intends to complete work on those tunes, which will presumably take the form of that new album he promised way back when. There's also talk of new recordings to come this fall, likely once the band's North American tour wraps. The whole article is worth a read if you've got the time, even if it does come from a totally non-journalistic organization.

That tour, by the way, will bowl over Toronto tomorrow night (September 25) before heading toward Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Uptown and downtown are about to collide in a fantastically awesome way. In a video interview with RollingStone.com taped over the weekend at ATP NY, Sonic Youth guitarist/vocalist Thurston Moore revealed that he is collaborating with Jemina Pearl, former frontwoman for Tennessee teen punks Be Your Own Pet, on a cover of the Ramones' "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker". The cover has been commissioned by the fabulously trashy television show "Gossip Girl", which chronicles the lives and loves of ridiculously over-privileged high schoolers on the Upper East Side.

When asked by Rolling Stone how he planned to spend his ATP downtime after performing his 1995 solo album Psychic Hearts as part of the Friday night Don't Look Back extravaganza, Moore replied, "Kim [Gordon]'s gonna show up pretty soon, and Jemina, my friend who sings in Be Your Own Pet, is coming up with her. She's gonna come up with me tomorrow to Massachusetts, and we're gonna record 'Sheena Is a Punk Rocker' for 'Gossip Girl'. [laughs] So you know, the fun never stops."

Oh yes indeed, the fun never stops.

This is certainly not the first time that Sonic Youth have crossed paths with teen TV drama. Thurston, Kim, and their daughter Coco Gordon Moore cameoed on "Gilmore Girls" in 2006, and the SY song "Genetic" appeared on the "My So-Called Life" soundtrack in 1995. It also isn't the first time that "Gossip Girl" creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, have commissioned cool covers for a high school soap opera. The team behind "Gossip Girl" is the same crew that was behind the sorely missed (OK, maybe just by me) show "The O.C.", which featured Lady Sovereign covering the Sex Pistols, Band of Horses doing the New Year, and Pinback doing Black Flag on one of its soundtrack compilations.

No other info about the Thurston/Jemina "Sheena" cover is available right now, so we don't know if the song is going to be commercially available, or if it will even appear on the show. But if it does, I sure hope it's during a scene involving Blair, Chuck, and a limo.

Hamilton County, Ohio-- home to Cincinnati-- will certainly prove one of most hotly-contested areas in the nation come election night. The former Republican stronghold has shown signs of a Democratic slide in recent elections, and this fall could very well see the populous county help tip the scales Barack Obama's way on a national level.

With that in mind, a couple bands whose Ohio roots run deep will join forces October 16 at Cincinnati's Fountain Square for a free concert in support of the Obama/Biden campaign they're calling "Vote Early Rock Late". The Breeders and the National-- whose Obama support is already well-documented-- will perform, and during the proceedings, buses will transport registered voters between Fountain Square and the Hamilton County Election Headquarters to cast an early ballot. (Presumably for Obama, but you do what you want.) Note that early voting starts September 30 in the Buckeye State, and in quite a few other states soon. Vote early and, uh, often.

The show is actually the only date the Breeders have lined up at the moment, but the same doesn't go for the National, who have a few dates through the fall in the States and Brazil. Thanks to reader D.T. Tobias for the concert tip.

Photo by Matt Ziegler

As promised, Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins will ThePastEmbrace on an extensive "20th Anniversary Tour", set to kick off November 1 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The month-long jaunt includes several two-night stands in larger North American cities, plus a four-night run in the Pumpkins' home base of Chicago. About damn time, you guys! Fans who hit up both nights in a given city are promised two completely different sets, and the Pumpkins have even come up with totally hokey names for these alternating sets: "Black Sunshine" and "White Crosses". Black5un5h1ne is so my new AIM screen name.

For each of the cities with just one Pumpkins anniversary gig, the band "plan[s] to deliver a unique one-off set," according to a press release.

As previously reported, the Pumpkins are also embracing both the future, with new song "G.L.O.W." set to debut in an add-on pack for the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour video game, and the recent past, with that DVD chronicling the band's reunion residencies due November 11.

Back here in the present, the group has a gig at Neil and Pegi Young's Bridge School Benefit on October 26, and a performance of "G.L.O.W." on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" scheduled for October 24.

Photo by Ryan Muir

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead singer/guitarist Conrad Keely probably shouldn't have done this interview when he did. After spending the afternoon on the phone with publicists, I was told that the band was busy finishing something up, and would need a few more minutes. We finally connected, but I was halfway through the chat before Keely let me know that Trail of Dead were at that very moment in the studio, just about an hour away from the completion of the the band’s sixth LP, the follow-up to 2006's So Divided. (The new album will be preceded by the preview EP Festival Thyme, out October 21 on the band's own Richter Scale imprint of Justice Records in America and on Superball Music overseas.)

There's still plenty to be done on the disc before its planned January release. Keely needs to break out the pen and get to work on the album artwork, and the thing doesn't have a title yet. But just about everything else is all set. We spoke with Keely about Trail of Dead's current sound, the benefits of leaving Interscope, working with Yeasayer, and the proper way to make an ambitious record on a shoestring.

Contrary to the title of his band's new album, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James has some pretty decent urges, too. One of those urges is to play a show benefiting Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and that's just what he'll do on October 8.

That night, at Schubas Tavern in Chicago, James will play an all-acoustic set for anyone willing to pay $100 per ticket. Preceding James' performance will be a reception with Obama campaign chief of staff Jim Messina.

To purchase tickets to the event, visit this link right...here.

My Morning Jacket are on the road right now, with dates scheduled through the end of the year.

...And the Oasis injury saga continues. It turns out the "bruising" Noel Gallagher suffered from being pushed at a gig by a kind of embarrassingly old dude is more serious than the band originally thought.

According to a post on the Oasis website [via Idolator], "A CT scan has now revealed that Noel suffered three broken and dislodged ribs in the attack, and he has been advised by his doctor that he will not be able to perform for at least another week."

The result is three more cancelled shows, late September dates in Paris, Cologne, and Bodelva, England. However, "All three shows will be rescheduled, and fans are advised to retain their tickets pending further announcements."

On the bright side, Oasis' UK tour in support of the forthcoming Dig Out Your Soul is still a go. The tour begins on the record's U.S. release date, October 7, which happens to be the day after the album comes out in the UK.

Neo-tribal Brooklyn set Gang Gang Dance and neo-Van Halen axe-murderer Marnie Stern will join forces for a brief North American tour this fall. Stern is stepping out in support of the October 7 release of This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That on Kill Rock Stars. If you pre-order the album from the KRS site, you get a limited edition coloring book by artist Bella Foster, who created the album art.

As for the Gang, their Saint Dymphna is due October 21 on the Social Registry in North America and on Warp October 20 in the UK, Europe, and Australia.

Before the two shall meet, Marnie's got a single date at New York's Silent Barn September 27, while the Gang have dates in Japan, the UK, and a few in North America with Of Montreal before they get acquainted with Ms. Stern.

Hey, remember that Wilco/Fleet Foxes cover of Bob Dylan-penned Band staple "I Shall Be Released" that we ran in live video form over in Forkcast a few weeks back? Perhaps you watched it and thought, "Damn, I sure wish I had a nice compact MP3 of this goodness to put on my portable music playing device and play next time I go someplace that doesn't have YouTube."

Well guess what? Wilco hear ya, and we'd like to think that's why they're currently offering a free MP3 download of the selfsame cover with the selfsame Fleet Foxes over at their website [via The Onion's A.V. Club]. Okay, so it's not the exact same version we Forkcasted-- that video came from Spokane, Washington, while this MP3 was recorded live at Bend, Oregon's Les Schwab Amphitheater on August 23 of this year-- but I'm sure it will do.

Ah, and the catch: to gain access to this free MP3 download, Wilco ask but one simple thing of you. You must pledge "to vote in the 2008 Election" (and give your email address). What happens if you're not of voting age or live in a country that doesn't have an election this year (or, uh, ever)? Well, I'm sure Wilco will forgive you for lying about your pledge.

For those wishing to go the extra mile, Wilco encourage you to consider donating to Feeding America. Swell guys, that Wilco. Catch them opening a bunch of shows for Neil Young later this fall.

Hey Boston, if there was ever a night to break out that "I <3 Nerds" T-shirt and dump the disposable contacts for those dusty old black hornrims, tonight's it. This evening, Weezer, Tokyo Police Club, and Angels and Airwaves kick off their fall North American tour at Beantown's Tsongas Arena. With plenty of fan-submitted ephemera to blast on screen-- and, of course, more than their fair share of hooky irono-pop to break out at any moment-- Weezer and company will lead the charge for the next month, like the pied pipers of pocket protectors they are. In other news, stereotypes can be cruel.

Just a week after the tour comes to an end in Atlanta, Weezer will reportedly hit the studio with producer Jacknife Lee to start crafting their follow-up to this spring's Red Album [via Billboard.com]. Meanwhile, Tokyo Police Club will knock out a few dates they've got lined up after their opening stint is through, and they've got a remix contest going on over on their MySpace page.