Here’s what hit the Bloggins newswire this weekend…

According to his Twitter, Neil Hamburger was forcibly removed from the Reading Festival after only 12 minutes… for his own safety. The crowd didn’t take kindly to Hamburger’s meta jokes, and Reading, supposedly, was close to a riot (of the non-laughter variety). Glad I’m not a betting man, because I would’ve put my money on riots being instigated by the clowns at the I Have a Nightmare rally in DC this weekend, not a variety show from America’s Funnyman.

Expanding CVs and MOs, Lightning Bolt and Dan Deacon just announced a brief tour together, kicking off at Buster’s in Lexington. No word on ticket price or start times, as Buster’s does not have the show listed on their calendar yet. You can go on and grip yr tixx for Dave Barnes and Citizen Cope, though. Neat! Is it me or does Citizen Cope look a little inbred?

Wanna see members of Louisville’s finest local bands join together to play some Phillip Glass style multi-movement prog/neo-classical/post rock brain simmer exercises? Yeah you do. They’re called Another 7 Astronauts, and the piece, written by JC Dennison of Lucky Pineapple and Dane Waters of Sapat and Softcheque, is The Golden Autumn and the Afternoon. Clear up a big block of time between 8 and 11 p.m. this Friday, September 3rd, and we’ll see you at the Glassworks Rooftop (815 W. Market – downtown Louisville).

The No Age album leaked this weekend, and it’s awesome. But if you’re truly interested in restoring honor, grip it from Sub Pop next month, as I plan to.

Harvest plans to release a new Syd Barrett retrospective called An Introduction to Syd Barrett. Proving to be more than a clever name, the compilation will be the first to feature both Barrett’s solo work and his songwriting during the first four years of Pink Floyd. The 18-track collection will also include the previously-unreleased 20-minute instrumental ‘Rhamadan’. More from the Brain Damage forum.

My birthday was Saturday. I did the opposite of restoring honor by getting loaded.

Early bird tickets for Cincinnati’s multi-venue Midpoint Music Festival are available if you feel like ballin’ on a budget. A three-day pass is only $39 (including access to a “very secret show”)! In addition, the full schedule is available on their website, boasting luminaries including (but not limited to) Van Dyke Parks, A Place to Bury Strangers, Best Coast, Surfer Blood, Shoenen Knife (!), Caribou, The Chain Gang of 1974, Male Bonding, Holy Fuck, The Strange Boys, and the return of The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, which you may remember as the band that was critically injured in a van accident en route to last year’s MPMF. Glad to see not only that everyone’s okay, but they’re giving it another go.

Speaking of Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino continues to prove herself to be the least interesting person who’s getting the most Internet attention. You like to smoke tree and play with your cat. We get it. Good job. No other thoughts on life though? No? Okay. No link, just Google “Best Coast” and “interview,” and you’ll get the gist.

Songs I’ve been jammin’…

MP3 :::
Secret Colours – Tomorrow Never Knows
Jackie O Motherfucker – Backyard Rauls Unisex Reprise
Whitesand/Badlands – False Prophets
Xinlisupreme – Murder License
Ween – I’ll Be Your Jonny on the Spot
Indian Jewelry – Vison
Holly Golightly – I Can’t Be Trusted
The Wedding Present – This Boy Can Wait
The Howling Hex – Annie Get Redzy