The Arcade Fire is set to take on the dust bowl that can be Randalls Island. The show takes place October 6th, so the weather may be better than for some of the summer shows. The Fire are bringing some friends along for the ride. Wild Light, Les Savy Fav, Blonde Redhead and LCD Soundsystem will share the bill.

You may recall us featuring Demander back in January. The New York trio are still going strong and the buzz will likely only increase this fall as they join both the Hold Steady and Art Brut on the road for a series of shows and then going abroad for some dates with New Model Army. Just before hitting the road the band will release their new cd The Kindness of Ravens on October 2nd. Check out some tunes and get all the tour scoop on their Myspace page.

Mink, the New York based power-gritters, are hitting the road with Perry Farrell's Satellite Party (who we caught in Austin). Sounds like a great matching of high energy bands and worth seeing. Their new self-titled record, produced by Sylvia Massy (Tool, Red Hot Chili Peppers) & Chris Shaw (Dylan, Wilco), came out yesterday. You check out Mink's video for the "Talk to Me" over on YouTube and get the show dates on their MySpace page.

Mp3 Offerings:
They Might Be Giants (new record out now): "Careful What You Pack"
Cannonball Jane (this is not the Adrock remix): "Take It To The Fantastic"
Division Day (starts of good, not sure about ending): "Tigers"
Tim Williams (new record in October): "Novel"
The Hot Springs (another Montreal act to watch): "Headrush"

The Decemberists are hitting the road for what they are calling "The Long and Short Of It" tour. The name refers to the idea that the band will play longer songs on some nights and shorter songs on others. The band will play two nights in each city so seemingly you could go to both shows and see two entirely different sets. Laura Veirs, who appears on The Crane Wife, will open.

Natalie Merchant and some friends are banding together to help the homeless. A benefit cd titled Give US Your Poor features new songs by Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Madeleine Peyroux, Sonya Kitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Merchant, Michelle Shocked, Keb’ Mo’ and others. Merchant even recorded a song written by 15-year-old Nichole Cooper when she was homeless. You can check out a clip from a related documentary here. The record comes out September 25th on Appleseed Recordings.

Labels: Arcade Fire, Art Brut, Bruce Springsteen, Demander, Mp3s, The Decemberists, The Hold Steady, The Hot Springs