img src= http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/20070907blocParty.jpg title= Bloc Party class= blogPhoto The 5:00 slot at a href= Http://www.virginfestival.ca/toronto target= new title= V Fest V Fest /a tomorrow remains vacant and now curiosity is superseding whatever mild anxiety I was feeling on behalf of the organizers. What are they going to do? Maybe Richard Branson will come out and tell some jokes, though I've seen nothing to indicate that he'll even be around like he was last year. Under other circumstances I'd say that a href= http://www.blocparty.com target= new title= Bloc Party Bloc Party /a - kicking off their North American tour tonight in Chicago with an off day tomorrow before hitting Montreal on Sunday would be a perfect fit. br / br / Yeah, they have their own show at the Ricoh at the end of the month (the 28th) but no one's going to not go to that and come to this instead - however, the flip side is that probably no one's going to buy a ticket at the 11th hour if they were added and so the cost of paying the band would basically be recouped via good PR (or the lack of negative PR of having no one play that slot). And anyway, I'm sure that it'd probably be a logistical nightmare to squeeze an extra show at this point, or so I'm assuming - I've no idea how that stuff works and I'm just thinking out loud. Most likely a href= http://www.miauk.com/ target= new title= MIA M.I.A. /a will get moved back into that slot and a smaller local band will be added earlier in the day. And many people will complain but life will go on. And yeah, V Fest lineup spotting has become something of a hobby/obsession of mine in the past couple weeks. I'll be sad when it's all over. br / br / But with their return to our shores, Bloc Party are making the interview rounds. A href= http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/music/mmx-070905-chicago-music-blocparty,0,3043712.story?coll=mmx-music_top_heds target= new title= Metromix vs Bloc Party i Chicago Metromix /i /a get Kele Okereke to describe his booty as ample while a href= http://www.hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=12913 target= new title= Hour vs Bloc Party Hour.ca /a talks to him about a href= http://search.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?pfrom=90804 =INS32621 target= new title= A Weekend In The City i A Weekend In The City /i /a and Matt Tong compliments a href= http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/4904/news/music/bloc_party_talks_touring_crisps target= neW title= Paste vs Bloc Party i Paste /i /a on America's generosity when it comes to morphine dosages, and a href= http://www.musicrooms.net/cm/live/templates/?a=5373 z=5 target= new title= Music Rooms vs Bloc Party Music Rooms /a reports that in addition to touring, the band has been hard at work on album number three and will be releasing a stop-gap single in the interim. br / br / And speaking of singles, they recently released a video for i Weekend /i single number three. br / br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=D4_G7LxJacY target= new title= Hunting For Witches Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches (YouTube) /a br / br / a href= http://www.thestar.com/Special/article/253602 target= new title= Toronto Star vs V Fest i The Toronto Star /i /a has a full-bore festival preview with guides and interviews with artists playing this weekend, big and small. br / br / A href= http://www.razorlight.co.uk/ target= new title= Razorlight Razorlight /a , who dropped out of last year's V Fest as well as a href= http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2007/03/0212.cfm target= new title= Chart vs Razorlight cancelling their last Toronto show /a at the last minute will be back to disappoint with a show scheduled at the Phoenix on November 11. Anyone want to lay odds that it'll actually happen? Maybe they can get Babyshambles to open. br / br / And now we turn our attention from the UK to Texas. A href= http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=6139 target= new title= Harp vs Eisley target= new i Harp /i /a profiles a href= http://www.eisley.com target= neW title= Eisley Eisley /a , the family that plays together. Their new one a href= http://www.amazon.ca/Combinations-Eisley/dp/B000RHRGIA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/702-2146973-5536821?ie=UTF8 s=music qid=1189136822 sr=8-2 target= new title= Combinations i Combinations /i /a is pleasantly loud and rocky in all the places that a href= http://www.amazon.ca/Room-Noises-Eisley/dp/B0006ZOV5E/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/702-2146973-5536821?ie=UTF8 s=music qid=1189136962 sr=8-3 target= neW title= Room Noises i Room Noises /i /a wasn't, but without giving up the sweetness that makes them so endearing. A href= http://blog.filter-mag.com/filter/2007/08/filter-tv-eisle.html target= new title= Filter vs Eisley FilterTV /a has a video interview with the band and you can see the vid for the first single from the new record below. br / br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1zeQF07EK4 target= neW title= Invasion Eisley - Invasion (YouTube) /a br / br / a href= http://www.okkervilriver.com target= new title= OR Okkervil River's /a Fall tour has them on the west coast and A href= http://www.straight.com/article-108527/okkervils-almost-famous target= new title= Georgia Straight vs OR i The Georgia Straight /i /a talks to Will Sheff about their degree of fame and a href= http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=410795 category=22153 target= new title= Portland Mercury vs OR i The Portland Mercury /i /A predicts even more for them. Fame, that is. And a href= http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6811837 target= new title= Denver Post vs OR i The Denver Post /i /a has an interview. Okkervil are at Lee's Palace on September 21, a show that's damn close to sold out if it isn't already. br / br / And also out west right now are A href= http://www.spoontheband.com Target= new title= Spoon Spoon /a - a href= http://www.canada.com/cityguides/victoria/story.html?id=19b9af95-5d3c-4068-bd61-98bdb0bde491 k=74939 target= new title= CAnada.com vs Spoon Canada.com /a talked to drummer Jim Eno in advance of their show in Victoria while A href= http://www.westender.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=49 cat=44 id=1059078 more=0 target= new title= WEstender vs Spoon i The Westender /i /a chats with Britt Daniel. br / br / A href= http://www.iheartmusic.net/serendipity/index.php?/archives/892-The-great-Great-Lake-Swimmers.html target= new title= IHM vs GLS I Heart Music /a has posted the CBC Radio 3-recorded audio of one of a href= Http://www.greatlakeswimmers.com Target= new title= GLS Great Lake Swimmers' /a Church Of The Redeemer shows a href= http://www.chromewaves.net/index.php?itemid=2599 title= Chromewaves vs GLS back in April /a . It's not the full show and I can't tell if it's the early or late show and the audio is recorded a little too hot - the A href= http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/concert/Great-Lake-Swimmers-2007-04-14/ target= neW title= CBCR3 vs GLS CBCR3 /a audio is somewhat cleaner (though not downloadable). Great Lake Swimmers play the Phoenix on September 29 and A href= http://www.stereosubversion.com/interviews-features/great-lake-swimmers/ target= new title= STereo Subversion vs GLS Stereo Subversion /a has an interview with Tony Dekker. br / br / And a router update for those interested the Apple Store replaced my unit in under 3 minutes yesterday which was very nice of them, and I got the new one hooked up and running and all seemed well. Then this morning no router. Thankfully an unplug/replug was enough to get it discoverable again, which is more than its predecessor could say but obviously still troubling. Now the odds of me having two bum units from two different stores are pretty slim, so I'm thinking there's a problem on my end after all. Only common denominator? My USB drive, which is FAT32 partitioned into two drives and according to the tech specs, the Extreme can only support a single-partition FAT32 drive, never mind the fact that it was able to mount both partitions no problem last night. It must have changed its mind overnight and died? I don't know. But for now, since I don't have time to call up Apple support again, I'm going to run the router without the USB drive and see if I ever get more than a few hours of life out of it. If it remains stable, I'll blame the drive and get a new one, format it in Apple's file format and transfer all my crap over. If not well fuck. ...read full story