-- On September 7, Critical Mass will release a tribute album dedicated to space-rock greats Hawkwind. In Search of Hawkwind features tracks from fuzz-pedal abusers like Mudhoney, Bardo Pond, Acid Mothers Temple, Kinski, Moon Duo, and White Hills trying Hawkwind songs on for size.

-- Belgian disco duo Aeroplane will release their new album We Can't Fly September 27 on Wall of Sound in the UK. We awarded Best New Music distinctions to the title track; hear it at the Playlist.

-- Knit-hatted Brit balladeer Badly Drawn Boy is about to return with his first studio album in a few years. The End will give It's What I'm Thinking: Photographing Snowflakes, the first album in a planned trilogy, an American release on October 12. In the UK, it's out October 4 on One Last Fruit.

-- The Ooh LA L.A. festival brings a whole mess of French dance music to Los Angeles September 30 - October 2 and San Francisco October 3. Sebastien Tellier, Kavinsky, Turzi, Acid Washed, Gotan Project, and others will participate.

New Orleans-bred, New York-based cult rapper Curren$y makes supremely bleary rap music that sounds great when you're stoned, partly because you can always be pretty sure he was stoned when he made it; check the BNM'ed album Pilot Talk for evidence. Rising Mississippi MC/producer Big K.R.I.T. is a Southern rap traditionalist, and his tracks come with a full-bodied organic thump that captures some of that same haze. Smoke DZA made a mixtape with this cover. So it makes sense for all three of these rappers to link up for the aptly named Smoker's Club tour, which crosses North America next month.

MP3: Matthew Dear: "Slowdance (Bear in Heaven Remix)"

We like most everything about electro-pop guru Matthew Dear's sultry and mysterious new album, Black City. We've already given it Best New Music honors and put not one but two tracks in our Playlist section, and now we'd like to turn your attention to a remix of another highlight from the record, "Slowdance".

Art rockers Bear in Heaven add some fizzy funk to the gurgling original, and you can download the remix above and listen to Dear's version below:

In the new video for Röyksopp's percolating instrumental "The Drug", three girls in airbrushed t-shirts wander around a skull-strewn apocalyptic landscape. This, naturally, turns into a surreal, hallucinatory, narrative-free horror movie, complete with assault rifles, white wolves, and kids with horribly mutilated faces. Noel Paul and Stefan Moore direct, and their cinematography game is absolutely on point. Watch the video below or at Pitchfork.tv.

Front page photo by Kirstie Shanle; photo on this page by Mitch Manzella

If you missed Arcade Fire's triumphant August 5 webcast of their show at Madison Square Garden-- or just want to relive the experience all over again-- the whole thing is officially available on-demand for the next 24 hours. (Via Merge.) Watch the 94-minute broadcast directed by Terry Gilliam below or at YouTube:

If you've followed Matthew Dear over the years, then you know he doesn't like to stay in one place for very long. Even as a primarily electronic artist in the early 2000s, Dear hopped from label to label, switched aliases often, and made everything from steely microhouse to harder Detroit techno. But his biggest departure was 2007's Asa Breed, the record where he stepped out from behind the decks and reached for the mic. Black City is a consolidation of the strengths displayed through his career, and could be his best record to date.

When Arcade Fire turned the all-or-nothing intensity of Funeral outward on Neon Bible, otherwise propulsive songs were bogged down by the occasional overblown arrangement or pedantic political statement. You'd figure an album bluntly called The Suburbs that focuses on The Way We Live might repeat some of Neon Bible's worst tendencies. Instead, it's a satisfying return to form, proof that Arcade Fire can still make grand statements without sounding like they're carrying the weight of the world. The bulk of The Suburbs focuses on quiet desperation borne of compounding the pain of wasting your time as an adult by romanticizing the wasted time of your youth. But as bleak as the lyrics are, they're buoyed by the band's leanest, loosest songwriting yet.

The New Orleans rapper's long and strange career path leads to this lush, languid, and inviting LP. Like friend and frequent collaborator Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y has become one of the dominant voices in the rap underground by making a form of unassuming stoner-rap that owes virtually nothing to J Dilla. And with Pilot Talk, he gets his moment. Pilot Talk finds Curren$y working almost exclusively with 90s New York producer Ski Beatz-- an unexpected but inspired collaborative pairing. Musically, Pilot Talk is a warm, low-key affair. Ski's tracks can be breathtakingly gorgeous without ever getting in Curren$y's way.

California's Bethany Cosentino delivers on the promise of her noisy early singles with a richer-sounding album that highlights the power of her voice. While retaining her knack for pining pop hooks and lovesick lyrics, Crazy for You finds Cosentino expanding her scope ever so slightly: The album is a meditation on the stickier hooks of classic indie pop, with slight detours into surf-rock and countrypolitan balladry, and is gorgeously produced, slathering honey over every song and letting them drip-dry in the sunshine.

On his third album, the influential R&B singer/songwriter comes into his own as an album artist, getting over on his impeccable sense of craft. Here, it no longer feels as if The-Dream is splitting the difference between his pop star ambition and a large cult of admirers. With Love King, he's broken down the detachment that made him such a popular songwriter to follow his personal musical vision, and it's taken him to a place only he could find.

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-198713314/bonamassa-feedback-letter-editor.html
June 1, 2009... Great piece on Joe Bonamassa. I've been a fan for the last seven years, and the dude has never let me down in his shows, tonally or inspirationally. This piece brings front and center just how aware he is of his gear, his tone, his approach, and the importance of delivering a quality...Read more

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-198713315/legends-among-us-feedback.html
June 1, 2009... Thank you for featuring two of my favorite guitarists: Joe Bonamassa and Joe Louis Walker. As I read the latest issue, I couldn't help think how fortunate we all are to be able to see B.B. King and Buddy Guy live. There are so few of these great bluesmen left. To think that Joe Bonamassa and...Read more

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-198713312/noize-editor-selfishness-american.html
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SO THE SMUG AIG SUITS FELT THEY deserved bonuses for such "stellar" performance that us taxpayers had to bail their asses out of financial ruin. Bravo. This is the kind of detached, me-me-me arrogance that thrives in a society where bling, power, and oversized...Read more

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-198713316/brad-rap-feedback-letter.html
June 1, 2009... Not that Brad Paisley needs me or anyone else to defend him, but geez, give it a rest already. Mr. Paisley was obviously just being funny--and entertaining--during an interview. He's an entertainer, in addition to being an all-around guitar virtuoso, songwriter, singer, etc. He was making a...Read more

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-198713313/letter-month-feedback-letter.html
June 1, 2009... Joe Bonamassa--Working Class Hero? Only if you consider the Bushes and Kennedys part of the working class. Geez, his stage setup alone is worth more than my cars. His recording setup is worth more than my house. He's got great taste in equipment, but nothing I'm likely to be able to afford in...Read more

Mere months after Rolling Stone named Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" one of Best Songs of the 2000s, the singing half of to duo, Atlanta rapper-gone-crooner Cee Lo Green, now finds himself in contention for the best track of 2010 with the viral, retro-soul sensation "Fuck You." It's been a long musical ...

Apple may have taken aim at Twitter and Facebook by revealing their new music-based social network Ping at a conference earlier this week, but another competitor may be on the horizon: Google could be launching their own digital music service by year's end, industry sources tell Reuters. Google is considering ...

In the new issue of Rolling Stone, we go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of Mad Men, the winner of three consecutive Outstanding Drama Series Emmys. In this exclusive bonus from our cover story, writer Eric Konigsberg sits down with the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, to discuss ...

Having been arrested on drug charges in Los Angeles early yesterday, T.I. now must return to Atlanta and face a judge to determine whether the incident was a violation of the rapper's parole. If so, he may have to return to prison just seven months after he was released. "It's ...

Apple may have taken aim at Twitter and Facebook by revealing their new music-based social network Ping at a conference earlier this week, but another competitor may be on the horizon: Google could be launching their own digital music service by year's end, industry sources tell Reuters. Google is considering ...

Mere months after Rolling Stone named Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" one of Best Songs of the 2000s, the singing half of to duo, Atlanta rapper-gone-crooner Cee Lo Green, now finds himself in contention for the best track of 2010 with the viral, retro-soul sensation "Fuck You." It's been a long musical ...

Guns N' Roses encountered more drama on their European tour last night, with Axl Rose storming off stage at Dublin's O2 Arena after he was pelted with bottles from the crowd. Fans had been forced, as at many recent GNR shows, to wait over 90 minutes for the band to ...

Having been arrested on drug charges in Los Angeles early yesterday, T.I. now must return to Atlanta and face a judge to determine whether the incident was a violation of the rapper's parole. If so, he may have to return to prison just seven months after he was released. "It's ...

In the new issue of Rolling Stone, we go behind the scenes with the cast and crew of Mad Men, the winner of three consecutive Outstanding Drama Series Emmys. In this exclusive bonus from our cover story, writer Eric Konigsberg sits down with the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, to discuss ...

Guns N' Roses encountered more drama on their European tour last night, with Axl Rose storming off stage at Dublin's O2 Arena after he was pelted with bottles from the crowd. Fans had been forced, as at many recent GNR shows, to wait over 90 minutes for the band to ...