New music from Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - "Levi Johnston's Blues"

We've mentioned the highly anticipated new album Lonely Avenue featuring the music of Ben Folds and the words of Nick Hornby a number of times before. As the release date slowly approaches, Sept. 28, we now have a track from the album to share with you.

Stream "Levi Johnston's Blues" from the album below and yes it's exactly what you think it is. It is Nick Hornby's take on the saga of Levi Johnston's life during the time when Sarah Palin was chosen as John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election. The lyrics of the chorus include actual passages from Levi Johnston's MySpace page which was deleted long ago. Enjoy.

Check out more details of Lonely Avenue here.

Superchunk to release "Digging For Something" 7'

You don't have to wait until the September 14 release of Majesty Shredding to get a taste of the new Superchunk album. The band will release the first single from the album, "Digging For Something," on multi-colored 7" vinyl on July 13. It feature a non-album b-side titled "February Punk." You can pre-order the release here.

And wait, there's more. You don't have to even wait until July to hear the single. Stereogum is streaming "Digging For Something" right now. Click here to give it a listen. Listen closely and you'll hear John Darnielle singing background vocals on the choruses.

Check out more info on Majesty Shredding here and check out the band's new tour dates below.

Stream new Arcade Fire songs "The Suburbs" & "Month of May"

Arcade Fire teased the two songs featured on their new 7" single last week, but now the full tracks have surfaced. After the break below, you'll find full streams of both "The Suburbs" and "Month of May," due out on June 1. The volume of "Month of May" is low, so you'll need to crank the volume on it. The "Month of May" stream has been updated to a louder, better sounding version.

"The Suburbs" is a beautiful, jangly pop tune while "Month of May" is a fast, driving punk-esque tune. They're both quite good. Hopefully, we'll have news about a new full-length soon, but for now, enjoy these songs.

New Spoon album gets earlier release, single out tomorrow

Spoon's new album Transference which we first told you about a month ago will be out a week earlier than we originally reported. The album's release has been pushed up to January 19 and the first single "Written In Reverse" will be released digitally tomorrow, December 1. You can hear the single now stream the single now below thanks to the folks at NPR. The single will be released on 7" vinyl with an exclusive b-side titled "Mean Red Spider" on January 5.

Also, that's the album cover of Transference to the right there thanks to the folks at Stereogum. Check out the track list in our previous post and check out the band's current tour schedule below.

New music from Conor Oberst song - "Slowly (Oh So Slowly)"

Conor Oberst's second solo album titled Outer South is due out on May 5 via Merge Records. You can stream one of the new songs titled "Slowly (Oh So Slowly)" now on Oberst's website. It's a groovy little tune.

Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band have a few tour US dates scheduled for April as well as sets at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Milwaukee Summerfest in June. We're still hoping the band will be playing the XX Merge Fest this summer. Check out the upcoming dates below.

[UPDATE: More dates added.]

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band dates:
04.09.09 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown [Tickets]
04.10.09 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
04.11.09 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up
04.12.90 - El Paso, TX - Barnett Harley Davidson (Hands of Love & Hope Benefit)
04.13.09 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre [Tickets]
04.14.09 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
04.15.09 - Pomona, CA - Glass House [Tickets]
04.17.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella Music & Arts Festival
06.17.09 - Colorado Springs, CO - The Black Sheep [Tickets]
06.18.09 - Telluride, CO - Telluride Bluegrass Festival
06.19.09 - Moab, UT - Star Hill [Tickets]
06.20.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Library Square
06.21.09 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory [Tickets]
06.23.09 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theatre
06.24.09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue [Tickets]
06.25.09 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
06.26.09 - Omaha, NE - Anchor Inn
06.28.09 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club [Tickets]
06.29.09 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note [Tickets]
06.30.09 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall [Tickets]
07.01.09 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop [Tickets]
07.02.09 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater
07.03.09 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to play Artsplosure 2009

This year's Artsplosure Festival in downtown Raleigh will feature live music from those swingin' cats known as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy according to Pollstar. This year's festival will mark the 30th year of the festival celebrating the arts in Raleigh.

This year's event will take place on May 16 and 17 and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are set to play on the 17th. We don't have any other details yet, but we'll keep you updated.

Listen to a classic Big Bad Voodoo Daddy song below.

"You & Me & The Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)"

New Green Day - "21st Century Breakdown"

Check out this new song from Green Day's new album 21st Century Breakdown which made it's way to YouTube today. It's for the title track from the album which sounds kind of cool though it's really hard to say with the less-than-stellar audio quality. Either way, check it out below.

21st Century Breakdown will be released in May via Reprise Records.

[UPDATE: A new video has made it's way to YouTube.]

Stream The Verve's new single, "Love Is Noise"

Last week we reported (with some skepticism) that The Verve will release a new album on August 19 August 26 in the US. This will be the band's first album since 1997's Urban Hymns.

The Verve debuted their new single "Love Is Noise" on BBC1 today and now you can stream the song via the band's MySpace page. It's a groovy little pop song that reminds me of the defunct Irish via Boston band Rubyhorse. Check out the song and let us know what you think with a comment.