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They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I say covers records are just a wee bit overdone. An album of Willie Nelson covers as interpreted by Phosphorescent, however? Uh, where do I sign up?

To Willie, Matthew Houck's full-length follow-up of sorts to 2007's lovely Pride, finds the songwriter putting his distinct stamp on 11 Nelson originals-- and not the obvious ones. Houck reportedly probed deep to come up with his source material and emerged with what the liner notes call "an unabashed musical love letter" and what the press release calls "a glorious hangover of an album." Shucks, you people should do music crit.

Dead Oceans will deliver this musical love letter on February 3, and it's apparently only the first of two Phosphorescent albums coming our way soon. For now, though, Houck is finalizing his plans to tour "everywhere" in the months to come. Really, dude? Like, everywhere everywhere? Even the moon?

Whether you're trying to momentarily forget the current economic climate or the literal wintertime one that's raging outside right now, boy does Asthmatic Kitty have the thing for you!

The lovable label has launched a website full of yuletide diversions, which is in no way whatsoever a cleverly disguised ploy to sell copies of Sufjan Stevens' Songs for Christmas box set (teehee). There's an adorable 8-bit video game based on lyrics from Stevens' songs (challenges include shoveling snow, lighting candles, and yes, calling Grandma), ornament designs you can print out and color, no fewer than two music videos for "Put the Lights on the Tree", a full stream of the box set, and, ah yes, the chance to play dress-up with Sufjan's likeness. Only slightly less creepy than Devendra!

Best of all, you can send your Sufjan masterpieces to your friends, and view others' in the gallery section of the site. Our personal favorite thus far comes from one Brett S. Really captures the spirit of the season, doesn't it?

Photo by Brad Love

There's a restless sort of wayfaring spirit at the heart of just about every War on Drugs song, like frontman Adam Granduciel can't wait to cast off the stationary life and hit the road.

Whether that's true or not, Granduciel and the War on Drugs are on a brief Midwest-East Coast tour right now, with a European jaunt scheduled for February and March 2009. The trek, which launched last night, is on the back of this year's quite good Secretly Canadian album Wagonwheel Blues.

Photo by Ingrid Z

Battles, the Battles, Mountain Battles, and now, Battle, the fourth full-length from noted pusher of envelopes Patrick Wolf. The Wolf-man is all set to unleash his follow-up to The Magic Position this coming spring, but the big news today-- beyond the record's title-- is the unique-ish manner in which young Patrick is releasing it.

You may recall that Wolf has started his own label, Bloody Chamber Music, named in homage to novelist Angela Carter's matter-of-fact description of the heart. BCM will indeed release Battle, but not without a little help from the person reading this news article right now. Hey, that's you!

Wolf and his Bloody Chamber Music have teamed with Bandstocks, a website and music-funding model that asks fans to put their money where their, er, ears are. It's pretty simple, really: If you like an artist and wish to see that artist continue making music, and you would like help bankroll the process, well, you can purchase "stock" in said artist via Bandstocks. In return, stockholders apparently get a share in the profits from sales of the resulting music, plus that thing you like keeps on existing, which makes Bandstocks just like a grassroots microcosm of the capitalist economic system, but with music, and no bailouts. And something called "Sexy Marvin".

For a little more insight into what to expect from Battle, Patrick has shared this little video blog entry, rife with album teasers and the news that a second companion album-- possibly called Battles of Love?-- is also on the way. Check it:



Perhaps 2009 will also see the release of the long-awaited Patrick Wolf DVD, and/or the fruits of the man's Patti Smith collaboration? A guy can dream, anyway.

The incomparable Polly Jean Harvey has announced on her website that she will return with a new album next year. On March 30, Island Records will release A Woman A Man Walked By, a collaboration between PJ Harvey and longtime co-conspirator John Parish. As previously reported , it's being billed as the follow-up to the extremely underrated 1996 Harvey/Parish album Dance Hall at Louse Point. (Via NME.com )

Photo by Jason Bergman

On December 1, Fucked Up posted to their blog, "Nothing new to report, maybe check back in a few days when something interesting may have happened?" Well, it's a few days later, and something interesting has happened: The Canadian Common Life chemists announced a tour.

No 12-hour marathon shows are scheduled, just a bunch of good old-fashioned North American and UK dates. At various stops on the tour, Fucked Up will play with Vivian Girls, Pissed Jeans, Mika Miko, the Bronx, and AIDS Wolf.

The trek begins January 16 in Ottawa. For the moment, however, Fucked Up have a run of December dates in Europe.

Each and every year, avant garde composer Philip Glass gathers a few pals at Carnegie Hall to give it up for the past, present and future of the nation of Tibet, with a concert benefiting the New York City institution Tibet House. It's usually quite the big to-do, and the 19th Annual Tibet House Benefit Concert, taking place February 3 at the storied concert hall, is no exception.

Glass has brought together the National, Vampire Weekend, and punk icon Patti Smith and her daughter Jesse for the event, with more artists expected to join the festivities soon. [Via Brooklyn Vegan]

Say it ain't so, Joe: Coldplay have issued a response to a lawsuit filed against the band late last week by six-string scientist Joe Satriani, who claims the UK megastars ripped off his "If I Could Fly" for their "Viva la Vida". And what do you know, they're standing their ground.

Quoth a statement on Coldplay's website [via Billboard.com], "With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations. If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him."

They continue, "Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song 'Viva la Vida'. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors." Well that's nice, dudes, what about the real victim in this whole mess: that one Brooklyn band?

Billboard.com also points to a recent Musicradar.com interview with Joe Satriani, in which Joe the Guitarist waxes emo about the alleged act of plagiarism: "I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much."

He also says some less corny things: "Everybody assumes I'm trying to go after these guys in Coldplay, as if I'm doing this with malice. That's the furthest thing from my mind. I'm just doing what I need to do as an artist, to protect what's mine, to protect those feelings I put down in song.

"I did everything I could to avoid a court case with this situation. But Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know. But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important. I think everybody should feel that way."

Both plaintiff and defendant then took baths in enormous pools full of money.

Regardless of the actions of any little guitar player guys, Coldplay are all set to tour the bejesus out of 2009.

Photo by Kii Arens

Perpetually snarling singer and songwriter Brody Dalle has returned from the ashes of the Distillers with a new band called Spinnerette. The band will release a digital EP called Ghetto Love via their own website on December 11; the EP will hit iTunes on December 16.

In addition to Dalle, Spinnerette features fellow ex-Distiller Tony Bevilacqua, Jack Irons (formerly of Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Alain Johannes, who is in Queens of the Stone Age with Dalle's husband Josh Homme.

When Bradford Cox wants to stray from the Deerhunter herd, he has his Atlas Sound project. And when guitarist Lockett Pundt wishes to do the same? Enter Lotus Plaza. Frequent patrons of the so-called Deerhunter blog will already be familiar with the act, but Pundt is all set to step out in a big way with his debut full-length under the Lotus Plaza banner.

The Floodlight Collective shines its way into stores March 23 (a Monday, yes) courtesy of those purveyors of all things Deerhunter-related, Kranky. The 10-track offering features guest drum-work from Bradford Cox on a tune called "Different Mirrors", and mixing and some production from Brian Foote of Kranky labelmates Nudge. The rest is all Pundt.

No word yet whether Lockett will rock it in the live setting as Lotus Plaza, but when the album drops he'll be in the midst of a sizable Deerhunter European tour.