2008 has yet to reveal its true heavy hitters release-wise, and it's just as well: I haven't even had time to absorb a thousand or so top ten lists, my own personal reflections on 2007, and my expectations for the new year. Even so, there is a handful of intriguing things this week, provided you like Various Artists. Typically, I'm into Various Artists only when the compilation features new, unreleased and / or collaborative......

Hey, did you hear that Google bought YouTube? No? Well, then go buy some records. Damien Jurado And Now That I'm In Your Shadow (Secretly Canadian) October's releases seem to be in touch with the temperature drop (however small) and shift of mood. Damien Jurado's latest offering is the perfect example: dark, sparing treatments on the decline of romance in the Midwest, a disagreement between friends in the back of a pickup truck, and......

New albums by Guillemots, Hot Snakes, and the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack...

Sale information on wristbands for SXSW will be announced by the Austin Chronicle in this Thursday's issue -- we'll have it posted here as soon as we find out! Arab Strap - The Last Romance Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not Asylum Street Spankers - Pussycat: Bootleg Series V.2 Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - The Hidden Land Billy Bragg - Box Set V.1 Billy Bragg -......

Some more new music for the week to get you through the weekend... Deathray Davies – The Kick and the Snare This Dallas based sextet delivers their best record yet, full of power pop hooks and catchy indie-rock fun. I bet Weezer wishes this was the kind of record they would have released last week. We will enjoy blasting this in our car during those hot summer days to come. The Deathray Davies are......