Unless you’ve been living under a virtual rock—or maybe you just don’t like Wilco; we’ve heard some people fit that description—you already know that the new Wilco album, cleverly titled Wilco (The Album), due June 30 on Nonesuch, is streaming at the band’s website. But now you know, just in case you didn’t … No Depression (The Magazine) may no longer exist as a bi-monthly publication, but that’s not stopping the rag from putting on the first No Depression Festival on July 11 in Redmond, Wash. The all-day event will feature Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, Patterson Hood & The Screwtopians, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Justin Townes Earle and other Americana acts. Tickets are on sale now here. Download Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter’s “LLL” … The Walkmen head to Portugual for a July 18 Superbock Superrock festival gig. They might want to consider talking to their booking agent because they have to play Chicago’s Pitchfork Festival the next day. The band’s other U.S. dates include the Austin City Limits Festival on October 2. Download “In The New Year” … Echo & The Bunnymen‘s classic 1984 LP Ocean Rain will be shot into space June 13, going along with Bunnymen superfan and astronaut Col. Timothy L. Corpa to the International Space Station. “Now it’s official,” commented typically modest frontman Ian McCullough, “we are the coolest band in the universe.” Not so surprisingly, the stunt coincides with the Ocean Rain boxed set coming out May 30 … Ska legends Madness resurface July 7 with The Liberty Of Norton Folgate (Yep Roc). It’s the band’s first record of original material since 1999’s Wonderful, and it would be wonderful, indeed, if it includes nothing that sounds like “Our House” … If you’re into the intstrumental stylings of Los Straitjackets, Yep Roc has a deal for you: the All Access Virtual Box Set featuring 10 of the band’s records in one tidy digital package. With the $55 price tag, you can also get the group’s new LP, The Further Adventures Of Los Straitjackets. The first 250 orders receive an exclusive backstage-style laminate … Stuart Murdoch (pictured) of Belle And Sebastian has a new project that is certainly ambitious: God Help The Girl (Matador), a “story set to music” out June 23. Fey, sweater-wearing fans can order a subscription to the project here; it includes two seven-inches, a deluxe CD or LP, a 10-inch LP and an instant stream. Download “Come Monday Night” … “Summertime Clothes,” the second single from Animal Collective‘s Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino), drops July 7. It features the album version plus three funky remixes for the kids. Download “My Girls (Dave Wrangler Remix) … In news that is either pathetic or cool, depending on your views on Guitar Hero and the increasingly lame Aerosmith, fans who prove just how well they can shred on Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will actually get to open shows in each city on the band’s tour this summer with fellow relics ZZ Top. Let’s ponder this: Now we’re at the point where you don’t even have to play a real instrument in order to perform in an arena, while some of our favorite artists who write and play their own songs struggle to fill small clubs. Now that’s progress.
