Weekender : unacceptable in the 80s

Firstly, can we just qualify that this particular last.fm tag is nothing to do with us?

FREE MUSIC: Still on the SXSW mp3s, which we expect to be covering for quite some time yet, Art In Manila are the new band of Orenda Fink, formerly of Conor Oberst-associating Americana dreampop duo Azure Ray, and are playing as part of a ridiculously strong Saddle Creek/Memphis Industries joint showcase on the Saturday of that week also featuring Field Music, Tilly And The Wall, the Pipettes, Tokyo Police Club and Cursive. Our Addictions is more than a little Rilo Kiley, a bit Veruca Salt, and very any good.

HEY YOU GET OFFA MYSPACE: Cwmbran's Gethin Pearson And The Scenery will no doubt be called the Welsh Bright Eyes before long. In British terms he/they would fit neatly next to Frank Turner or Johnny Flynn, but his particular DNA shares something of Conor Oberst's smartly heartfelt melodic alt-country/Greenwich Village folk for the indie kids approach, right down to the vocal vibrato, although there's echoes of Johnny Cash and the lo-fi antifolkers. Pearson himself describes his songs as being about "nothing, something, no-one, everyone, anything and everything all at the same time", whatever that translates to.

VISUAL REPRESENTATION: News of a Joe Meek film documentary, Something I've Got To Tell You, has been doing the rounds for some time - we might even have mentioned it here before - but it's now awaiting proper release after a showing in London earlier this month curated by, and here's a complete lack of surprise, Bob Stanley - here's the trailer. The last part of Radio 2's fine documentary series about the man and his methods is this Tuesday, and this upswing in interest has encouraged us to head for the vaults. The Tornados are well represented, for one, even if their big moment Telstar is only available in a duff live version, although the bit rhythm guitarist George Bellamy's son Matt ripped off for the intro to Knights Of Cydonia should be just about audible. They had other hits, and we guarantee you'll see little as strange as the video to 1964's Robot this week, while All The Stars In The Sky, complete with Shadows guitar moves, came after bassist Heinz left to go solo to record the likes of Live It Up. Don't overlook that Meek, as well as being the innovator of legend, was really a beat pop man, the Honeycombs' Have I The Right being a number one as well as giving the rhythm guitarist a chance to look far too excitable. Lastly we find Law And Order by the Outlaws, an instrumental outfit made from regular sessioneers including Ritchie Blackmore and Chas Hodges from Chas & Dave.

VIRAL MARKETING: The Kaiser Chiefs' album Yours Truly Angry Mob is out today, and you can make your minds up yourselves with live versions from 4 Music and their Radio 1 gig of Heat Dies Down, The Angry Mob and Highroyds. Plus, because we like you, a French TV cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine. A camera on the bass! But of course!

FALLING OFF A BLOG: More celebrity blogging this week with the Mystery Jets' own Behind The Bun House, including mp3s and updates on what they're up to.

EVERYBODY GET RANDOM: We mentioned yesterday that the mysterious nature of the Human Knives EP is somewhat compromised by the person behind it explaining exactly who he is on its Myspace. What they do is House Of Tracks, an idiosyncratic monthly Flash magazine which tries to get away with reviewing the self same EP while professing ignorance in its current issue alongside reviews, thinkpieces, random nonsense and interviews with the Noisettes, the 1990s and Good Shoes. The previous thirteen issues are all fully archived too, and we particularly admire the Mixtape feature, a list of bands' favourite songs which throws up the odd pleasant surprise, not least Pennie, the shouty Automatic keyboardist, namechecking Jake Thackray.

IN OTHER NEWS: You're nobody without a podcast these days, which explains Manchester Music Speaks, which appears to be a brainwave by the Greater Manchester tourist board. Six local names will be dropping off their localised thoughts between now and May, starting with Mike Joyce and promising John Robb, Peter Hook, Liam Frost and, distressingly for those of us who'd hoped for some level of musical knowledge, someone the site refers to as Guy Harvey.

IN OTHER OTHER NEWS: Is this why we haven't had a Prefab Sprout album for a while?