Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Hold Steady and KT Tunstall all contribute songs for SERVE2, a charity compilation put together by Hard Rock International (remeber the Hard Rock Cafe?!?!). All net proceeds from the record will benefit World Hunger Year, a nonprofit organization fighting hunger and poverty in America and around the world. Many of the tracks on the record are live and most are previously unreleased.

Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü fame has signed to Anti- Records. Mould is working on a new disc to be released in February (talk about advance promo!) and will feature another old schooler - Fugazi’s Brendan Canty - manning the drum set. Mould is also out on tour now promoting Circle of Friends, which is a DVD shot live at one of my favorite venues, the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. The tour (dates here) features a screening of the film, an acoustic set from Mould and an interview "in front of the audience" (the PR person wrote that as if someone besides the audience will be asking Mould questions, which would be a bit odd in today's interactive society).

My friends over at Wednesday Records announced that Jon McKiel has finished his debut record for the label. Jon and the band recorded The Nature of Things at the old Fort Apache studios (Pixies' "Come on Pilgrim," Radiohead's "The Bends," and Dinosaur Jr.'s "Green Mind") in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The record was mastered by Noah Mintz (The Dears, Stars, and Broken Social Scene) at Lacquer Channel in Toronto, and will be released in the U.S. in early 2008. Meanwhile, McKiel is finishing up a Canadian tour swing and you can get the remaining dates and hear more songs (in addition to the stellar track below) from the new record on his MySpace page.

Division Day (from Beartrap Island): Tigers
Division Day (Depeche Mode cover): Enjoy the Silence
Division Day (Sponge cover): Plowed
Debbie Harry (Soul Seekerz remix): Two Times Blue
Robbers on High Street (from Grand Animals): Crown Victoria
John McKiel (from Nature of Things): War On You
Poison Control Center (from Glory Us EP): Glory Us
Hellogoodbye (from Serve2): Baby It's Fact (Live From New York, NY)
British Sea Power (from Krankenhaus? EP): Atom

Cutie pie Jennie Owen Youngs is heading out on tour with Sean Hayes that includes a stop in Philadelphia's World Cafe Live on Tuesday October 30th. Get all the dates here and if you haven't seen it yet check out Jenny's funny send up of Nelly's "Hot In Herre" complete with a little "Global Warming" message. Al Gore would be proud! As much I'd like to see Jenny "take off her clothes" I kinda dig this school girl outfit. It's gettin' hot in here indeed.

In case you missed it, here is a video of Bloc Party debuting their new single "Flux" on Conan O'Brien. The single is a preview of a new EP and will also be available on a re-release of A Weekend in the City, both of which are set to hit stores on November 20th. For those international travelers out there, you can catch Bloc Party at the Iceland Airwaves Festival on October 20th or catch them back in the UK on one of several fall dates they have lined up in the Old Country.

Labels: Bloc Party, Jenny Owen Youngs, Jon McKiel, Mp3s