One gig I forgot to mention in London this weekend is part of the Strange Fruit club Upstairs at the Garage on Saturday night. It features NY indie-punk band (and new Poptones signing) French Kicks, ably supported by British Sea Power, £5, 8pm.

New releases next week:

The Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra - Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward (Kranky)
Stunning new album from Godspeed you Black Emperor offshot - ASMZ's sound is fleshed a bit more than on their debut last year - this is easily up to the standard of their parent band.
Billy Mahonie What Becomes Before (southern)
a huge leap forward from their debut album. Heavier, sharper and more focused. Interview on this site very soon.
Beachwood Sparks Once we were trees (Rough Trade)
new country psychdelia from LA's best kept secret - some members moonlight in the Tyde and Lilys

Re-issues
Goldfrapp Felt Mountain-limited edition (Mute)
A bit like they did with Moby, Mute have now included an extra cd with key remixes, new versions of album tracks and the cover of Olivia Newton John's physical (!)
Piano Magic Low Birth Weight/ Artists Rifles (Rocket Girl) - first two albums back out again, get them if you missed out first time.
Various - Mosh and Go (Fierce Panda) -  this cd contains both the mosh and go double packs released on fierce panda a few weeks ago. Features tracks from Jimmy Eat World, San Quentin, Stapleton, Kids Near Water, Jetplane Landing (ex-Cuckoo), Econoline, etc plus extra tracks from 100 Reasons, Seafood and Twist.

A couple of things...
First of all, the tube strike for tomorrow is off so you can go out and enjoy all those fantastic gigs on in London. One thing worth mentioning is 'LondonIndieNYC' - a benefit event happening at the Betsey Trotwood in Farringon (opposite the Guardian building). DJs from Strange Fruit and other London-based indie clubs will be joining forces across both floors of the venue...

Mrs Slowthrills has just phoned from Belfast to tell me how great Torgas Valley Reds were at the Belfest showcase gig in Katy Daly's.

Two good gigs to watch out for in London next week, both at the Garage, Highbury Corner.
Tues 16 Oct Superchunk + Wisdom of Harry +San Quentin (£8.50 adv)
Thurs 18 Oct Les Savy Fav (£7 adv)

Speaking of Superchunk, their new single 'Late Century Dream' is available as a free download from
Matador Europe's website (how do record companies make money again?!)

In case you don't already know, Belfest is happening (in Belfast, of course!) this week. All the details are here. The free showcases take place on 10th and 11th and feature Kidd Dynamo, Go Commando, Drat, Torgas Valley Reds, Desert Hearts, Basic and an awful lot more.
Haven't been around London much, therefore I'm pretty much out of touch with what's been going on. There are a lot of big gigs this week - Tindersticks at the Royal Albert Hall, Spiritualized, Sparklehorse, all on Fri 12, but then there's also a tube strike that day.
Also at the Royal Festival Hall there are some shows as part of the 'Mind Your Head' season - Hawkwind accompanied by Arthur Brown (!) and Graham from Blur (!!!) are on tonight (10th) with lovely Add n to x in support, and Faust will be more than likely setting fire to things at the same venue on Fri 12th.
One smaller show of interest is the first date in the Amazing Pilots residency at the Windmill SW2. It's on Sunday night (13th) and will cost £2 to get in. All I know is that they're originally from Northern Ireland and they come highly recommended. 'Rootsy' was how someone desribed them to me. I think that the residency will run every Sunday for a few weeks, and precedes their first releases on the very fine Easy Tiger label. More on them soon.
I'll be in Dublin this weekend, so I'm on the lookout for anything interesting to do there.

New releases this week:
Fugazi - The Argument. Yep, they've still got it.
Royksopp - Melody AM. Rough Trade sez "analogue warmth,the harmonies of film music and classical composers and the fatness of the eighties - stunning"
Pulp - The Trees/Sunrise. First single from the new Scott Walker produced album.