Oh, how I’ve missed Kim Deal. The Breeders will be releasing a new record in April, entitled “Mountain Battles.” You can listen to one of the new songs on their MySpace page.

“Title TK,” their last LP, was a work of genius. Totally ignored by music fans, but easily containing some of Kim’s best songs. What I’ve heard from the new record sounds equally as good — definitely more in the “Pod” vein than “Last Splash.”

Now if only that Pixies reunion record will ever come together …

This song is over ten years old, but look at the audience reaction. New Mountain Goats record out in February — huzzah!

Imagine Carter USM and Heavenly having a kid. That kid would be Los Campesinos, who I believe are from Wales:

“I never cared about Henry Rollins … I never cared about Ian MacKaye …”

Great stuff.

I never heard of Palomar before I saw an online ad for their new record, but darn it if they’re not continuing the stylistic legacy of some of my favorite bands — namely Heavenly, Velocity Girl and Tsunami. I just picked up their new record, “All Things, Forests” on eMusic and I can’t turn it off.

Here’s a video:

One of my favorite records this summer is the National’s “Boxer.” Sort of like Interpol crossed with Bauhaus minus the pretension.

Here’s a clip of them playing the song “Fake Empire” on David Letterman:

Years ago, I remember going into the University of Maryland book store and religiously picking up PUNK PLANET, which in those days was the kind of newsprint zine that turned your hands a charcoal gray. I’d sit in my old Chevy Malibu station wagon in the College Park metro parking lot and read PUNK PLANET while I waited for Tina to get off work. I was crushed when they stopped carrying PP, and desperately sought out another store that carried it.

I also remember sitting in my boss’ office, chatting with editor Dave Sinker on the PUNK PLANET chat room, while nervously hoping that she wouldn’t walk in to find me on her computer. I was so surprised that he knew about RESTAURANT FUEL (the ‘zine, not the blog), and that he actually liked it! I was a huge fan of PUNK PLANET, and that meant a lot to me.

Over the years, PUNK PLANET grew to be a thick magazine full of great independent reporting, interviews and reviews. I can’t say that I read it as often as it should have, but I’m proud to say that PP reviewed every record, ‘zine and comic book I ever produced. Its death more or less signifies the inevitable demise of the ‘zine movement of which I was a part. An era really has come to an end, never to return.

One forgets in the age of the internet just how difficult it was to get information on independent music, ‘zines, books and comics. PUNK PLANET was as valuable for its advertisements as it was for its actual content. I remember going through all the ads, picking out records I thought sounded good and mailing off checks direct to the record labels in the hopes of finding something I liked. This was before online record stores, when the only way you might hear a record was sending off an order cold from an advertisment in a magazine, or being lucky enough to see a band live. PUNK PLANET was a place to get information about all kinds of indie media.

Nowadays, we have the internet. In 1996, PUNK PLANET was almost all we had. Even though I haven’t read it regularly in awhile, I’m definitely going to miss it.

I’m currently enthralled by “Boxer,” the new LP by The National. Think post-goth, new-wave-inflected indie rock. I’m reminded somewhat of Bauhaus, if Bauhaus were a serious band and not a brilliant joke. This from a recent convert to Peter Murphy and company. The music is slow, building with emotional intensity, but it’s subtle — it’s not in your face. It grows on you. Fans of Interpol, The Stills, Stellastar, etc. should like them.

I saw them open for Arcade Fire a few weeks back and in some ways they were more exciting than the headlining band. They were definitely a nice surprise. And yes, Emusic has all their records available to subscribers, so they’re practically free. Download now.

It occurs to me now that I’m a parent and acquainted with the insanely popular, though largely invisble genre of “children’s music,” that 90’s indiepop was nothing more than children’s music packaged for adults.

Take, for example, the work of one Mr. Justin Roberts. View here.

$500 says that this song would have been huge at the NYC Popfest back in 1996.

This morning, my iPod decided to play Nirvana’s “You Know You’re Right” and The Promise Ring’s “Happiness is all the Rage” back to back. Wow, talk about cancelling each other out — we have Kurt Kobain’s final song, in which he promises that he will “go away from here,” and Davey VonBohlen’s boundless optimism with “I got my body and my mind on the same page, now honey happiness is all the rage.” Possible the weirdest shuffle playlist ever.

I think the Earth may have stopped turning — if only for a split second.

Pitchfork reports that Isaac Brock, front man for Modest Mouse, cut himself with a pocket knife several times while on stage at a recent show.

I can’t describe how sad this makes me feel. I am a big fan of Modest Mouse, and the thought of Isaac imploding like similar artists before him as he approaches a supernova of stardom is very disheartening.

I suppose the lesson here is that artists — true artists who channel themselves through their work — are often very troubled people. Art is often an expression of depression and other issues. I hope Isaac gets better — his unique voice is too important to lose.