- Fugazi has made 10 more shows available for purchase on CD, bringing the size of their live series to 30 gigs in total. Included in the new batch is their 11/4/02 show in London - their "last show played to date." I'm glad they say "to date" - it suggests more shows to come. Seeing as I loved my tape of their Maxwell's gig on the Red Medicine tour to the point of almost wearing it out, I need to motivate on getting one of these.

- Serena Maneesh were briefly Pitchfork's new favorite band last year, but never seemed to get much momentum or attention beyond that. Are they good? Either way, I'm probably going to check them out at the Mercury Lounge on January 21 (tickets) - but more for Asobi Seksu's opening set. This is Asobi's first show in a while, and they're all done with their new album Citrus (which I hear is awesome). Can't wait to hear the record and the new songs live.

- My most anticipated January release: the Delta 5 reissue Singles & Sessions 1979-1981, out on Kill Rock Stars on January 24. KRS has "Now That You've Gone" (MP3) available for download - not my favorite of the tracks I've heard, but still good.

- A two-disc DFA remix compilation is slated to be released this spring, and it will likely be as good as the singles compilation DFA Compilation #2. The list of great DFA remixes is long and, as seen with their recent Hot Chip and Goldfrapp mixes (both fantastic), still growing. I can't get enough of that Goldfrapp mix.

- More DFA news - they're remixing a previously unreleased Arthur Russell electro track called "Springfield," which should be out in the spring on Audika. Audika is also soon releasing First Thought Best Thought, a 2 CD compilation of Russell's instrumental and orchestral music (some of which is previously unreleased). Check Banana Nutrament for more - Steven Knutson from Audika discusses the details in the post comments. (I'll be checking BN more often now - if I had read his Sunday post in time, I would've caught a performance of Russell's music that night at the St. Marks Church!)

- I'm a huge Spiritualized fan, especially of the early stuff, but their second record Pure Phase is probably my least favorite of their LP's. A few songs aside, I've just never gotten into it. Stylus's Ian Mathers lays out his case for the album in this On Second Thought piece, calling it "maybe the quintessential Spiritualized album." He makes some interesting points, but Mathers loses mucho credibility in my book when he starts knocking Lazer Guided Melodies as being "pallid," "homogenous," and virtually worthless - strong words that completely miss the mark on SPZ's strongest release, and one of my all-time favorites. The LGM hate makes me suspicious of his Pure Phase sell, but I'll give it another crack. My lack of appreciation for it has always somewhat befuddled me.

- For any NYC Matmos fans out there, I highly recommend their January 20 show at Joe's Pub (tickets). They don't come east often. When I saw them before the release of The Civil War, I was worried it might be a boring show of two guys clicking play and sitting back. But it was anything but boring - they creatively recreated their samples and sounds with instruments and other objects on stage, stitching their songs together piece by piece. They'll do the Joe's Pub show with So Percussion and with a new album due on Matador in May.

- If you haven't done so yet, I suggest you grab the Yura Yura Teikoku song I posted in the Check It section on the right yesterday. They rule.