Bad Books is a collaboration between Manchester Orchestra and Kevin Devine (Miracle of ’86). Here’s their first video which has that old timey tv show set vibe, that might bring to mind the video for “In Bloom” by Nirvana.

Among other things, their website asks “Is this a cause for celebration?” I would have to answer “overwhelmingly”. Britpop darlings Pulp have announced on their website that they will be reuniting to play shows next summer. The line up includes all of the original members of the band, who have not been on stage together since 1996. The only official dates are two: Friday, May 27 at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain and Sunday, July 3 at the Wireless Festival in London’s Hyde Park. I will now begin saving money for a plane ticket to London for next summer, just in case they do not announce any U.S. dates.

Coliseum’s new video features bears, lots of split blood, horror clips and cat fights, don’t show this to your Aunt that likes cute kitten videos. The song “Skeleton Smile” features Bonnie Prince Billy and is off Coliseum’s stellar House With a Curse which was released earlier this year.

The opening track of Cloud Nothings upcoming self-titled full length finds their garage pop-punk sound with slightly better production values. Look for the new record January 25th, 2011.

For the next 5 weeks, I’ll be presenting you with what I think are the best 25 books to come out in 2010, 5 books per week. Let me know if I’ve left out anything that you loved, or if you’ve read something on this list that you hated.

Here are the best books that published January through April 2010.

1. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (Hachette) Pub date: January 12
From the bestselling author of The Historian comes the story of Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist with a passion for his painting hobby. Marlow’s orderly world is turned upside down when a famous and tortured painter attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. Under the influence of this disturbed, yet silent artist Marlow succumbs to his desire to learn the man’s secrets and finds himself falling far beyond his professional and ethical boundaries.
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Slayer will be releasing the World Painted Blood 7″ with a previously unreleased track, “Atrocity Vendor,” as part of a special limited-edition single for Metal Club. The 7″ comes in a clear clear sleeve on blood red vinyl and will be available in select record stores on Black Friday (Nov. 26th). Visit Metal Club for more info on where to pick it up.

There is some top secret shit going on in the video for “Pow Pow” by LCD Soundsystem including exchanges of documents in ritzy clubs, heavily bearded body guards, Freemason imagery shooting from hands, brass knuckles and a room that looks like The Black Lodge from Twin Peaks. The video stars the lovely Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air, Scott Pilgrim).

Watch a video of Ben Gibbard and wife Zooey Deschanel performing “I’ll Never Find Another You” by The Seekers at The Crocodile in Seattle on Wednesday night.

Check out two more videos from the show, including a Radiohead cover and new Death Cab for Cutie song, at Pitchfork.com.

I may be in the minority, but I think Philip Selway’s album Familial is amazing and a welcome relief from Radiohead’s experiments with all things electronic. It’s smooth and slow, but never dull or simplistic. Like a dark Donovan, Phil plays his melodic, unselfconscious tunes as though he has nothing to prove, which he doesn’t. He’s in one of the biggest bands in the world so he’ll be all right if this doesn’t work out for him. The quiet and bald Selway emerges from behind the drumkit with songs that are completely original, only occasionally reminiscent of some spookier Radiohead songs. Give it a listen.

In order to promote his first solo effort, which was released on August 30, 2010, Phil held a contest in conjunction with Indaba Music. He asked fans to remix his song “Beyond Reason”. The creator of the best remix will receive $500, signed copies of Familial, and Spinner.com will give away the winning track as a free download this month.

The Village Voice interviewed Phil back in August for their music blog, Sounds of the City. The interview reveals some surprising information, like the fact that Phil didn’t let the other members of Radiohead hear his songs until his album was mastered.

Illustrator/musician Keaton Henson has posted a video showing the process of creating 120 hand drawn / hand sewn limited edition album packages. The video is really nicely shot and displays the tremendous amount of effort poured into the release. Henson’s music would be appreciated by fans of Owen, Kevin Devine or Ben Gibbard.

A new post-punk jam called “Damaged” from Erase Errata‘s recently released 7″ that also has the b-side “Ouija Boarding”. The song features Christina Files (Shellac’s soundperson) on analog synths. Hopefully, this means a new full length is forthcoming.

Buy the 7″ from Kill Rock Stars.

A few weeks back Spin posted a tribute album to Bad Religion titled Germs of Perfection. Unfortunately, most of the covers fall flat, but Frank Turner, Ted Leo and William Elliot Whitmore do nice folk renditions of some Bad Religion classics. Polar Bear Club does a great Bad Religion impression and for better or worse the comp let’s us know that Guttermouth is still an active band. Download the full comp here.

Really?

This neat little synth would be the perfect addition to your new glo-fi chipwichhouse wave band. It features 6 modes including Vibrato Synth, Harmonic Sweeper, Two-Octave Arpeggiator, Octave Cascade, Mono FM Synth and FM Arpeggiator. Check out a demo video and more photos below.

You can buy it for $175 over at Critter and Guitari though they are currently on backorder. More photos below.
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This track by Nihiti has that urgency of early Arcade Fire or Wolf Parade and it’s heavy drum and bass give it a unique bounce and swagger. The song is cool and the album art by Viktor Timofeev is rad, check that out after the jump.

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