- Sufjan Stevens's new record Illinois was scheduled to come out yesterday, but Asthmatic Kitty has stopped all sales to sort out the legal issues around the Superman image on the cover. (I believe they're removing it.) This sort of thing would be a setback for any label; for a small indie with presumably limited resources, I have to think it's catastrophic. Best of luck to them. (And I guess my presale copy is now officially a collector's item - see y'all on eBay!) My initial reaction to Illinois was that Greetings From Michigan did it much better, but the more I listen to the new record, the more it stands on its own. I still think all the sprawl (in name and in song) works against it, but I do like what I hear.

EDIT: I wasn't being serious with that eBay comment, but check out how much people are paying for the original cover - crazy!

EDIT 2: Looks like it's back on sale. Pitchfork has more details.

- More Sufjan - apparently he has three albums of Christmas music that have never been released. Download all of them at Irresponsible Journalism.

- According to Playlouder, Conor Oberst called the late John Peel a "cokehead" from the stage of Glastonbury last week - that would be the John Peel stage, no less. Classy, Conor. (Though he did later apologize.)

- Speaking of Mr. Peel, 2ManyDJ's turned their recent Sonar Festival set into an unspoken tribute to him by climaxing their set with the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks," Peel's oft-declared favorite song. Earplug has more on that set and the rest of the Barcelona festival - sounds like it was a blast.

- Pitchfork's Jess Harvell recently gave the latest Optimo mix CD Psyche Out an 8.2 rating, saying "the last twenty minutes of this mix are maybe the most exciting thing I've heard this year." Me too.

- Pitchfork also filled in the gaps in my Kompakt news from last week - they've got the tracklisting for the Total 6 double disc, due on August 15, and they report that DJ Koze's full-length will be out on September 12 and called Kozi Comes Around (grabbing the lead for Worst Album Title of '05). Unrelated, they've also got details on the new Deerhoof full-length, called The Runners Four and due on October 11. Can't wait to hear it.

- Pearl Jam and Sleater-Kinney will be playing Atlantic City's Borgata on September 30 and October 1. Strange, but I'm down.

- File under freaky - check out "Rubber Johnny," a cool (and unquestionably weird) new short film from Chris Cunningham using music from Aphex Twin. Sean Collins found this, calling it "real nightmare material."

- MMM reports that the Chemical Brothers will be headlining the Ultra New York festival in Central Park on September 16. Also on the lineup - Paul Oakenfold (or, as we call him, Jokenfold), Danny Tenaglia, Erick Morillo, and Timo Maas. I've seen the Chems DJ a couple times but never a live set, so this is tempting. Advance tix are on sale now - $50 is steep though.

- Two new interviews with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are up at Tiny Mixtapes (where they talk about all the hype around them and much more) and Yeti Don't Dance (via BV). From the YDD piece, I learned that "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" - the song I like the most on their debut - also happens to be the only song they've written as a group.

- Via CSTB, check out Greece's own Melodic Warrior. Someone get this man a contract!