Tuesday Link Dump

Just noticed a serious backlog of bloggerly stuff on the menu. So in the interest of cleaning my plate for dessert, here's a good old-fashioned link dump.

First up, James Kochalka has the opportunity to live out a lifelong (8-bit) dream, but he needs our help.

Ditto our pals at Big Heavy World, who could use a kickstart in their efforts for a new server.

Higher Ground just announced a Flynn MainStage show with Rodrigo Y Gabriela. Tix go on sale this Friday.

Though it doesn't come out for another week, the studio recording of Anaïs Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown has already been garnering some strong buzz. And the nice folks at Brooklyn Vegan have three tracks available for download, including my current favorite cut, "Wait for Me" with The Low Anthem's Ben Knox Miller and Justin "BonfuckingIver" Vernon. Be sure to scroll to the end of that post for a lovely YouTube clip of Mitchell and Bon Iver performing "Lovin's for Fools" in Paris in 2008.

BURNTmd's new single, "Let's Get Ill" hit the streets today and is available on iTunes.

File under "Just Because" … hipster puppies!

When I spoke with her last week, Neko Case didn't know that Matador had posted this awesome advance track from the forthcoming New Pornographers record. (And yes, I totally just name dropped Neko Case right there. But how awesome is it that this loosely qualifies as local music news?)

Speaking of music news that loosely qualifies as being local, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals have a track on Almost Alice, a compilation of music inspired by or thematically related to Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." GPN are in select company. Others appearing on the comp include Robert Smith, Franz Ferdinand, Avril Lavigne, Wolfmother and Plain White T's. Here's a video of the band performing their contribution to the comp, Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." Gotta say, Grace's performance is pretty slick. (Rimshot!)

I almost feel guilty about it, but I'm loving this new video from Mayer Hawthorne which pays tribute to my all-time favorite Temptations song. (On a personal note, as a young buck songwriter, I totally cribbed the lyrics from "I Wish it Would Rain" in a song myself.)

And last but not least, the Planning Commissioners Journal wants to know your thoughts on cell phones and driving. No, it's not a local poll. And there's no music hook here either. But since I've nearly been run over twice this week by chatty motorists in Burlington, I figured I'd pass it along anyway. Hang up and drive, dammit. And then go vote.