Liz Glover of Wonkette presents us with this brief, awkward interview with Ted Leo. The interview occurred outside of the Black Cat last week after Ted’s show with Against Me.

The remainder of Ted’s fall tour dates are below:

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Chicago’s Jason Seed Elixir Ensemble are a very peculiar band. Their list of recurring band members is so long I lost track attempting to count it. Fronted by singer and guitarist Jason Seed, their press champions them as the 2008 winner of the Independent Music Awards’ best “jam band.” Don’t take that phrase in the modern sense, which is still reserved for Phish fans. In the case of the Jason Seed, we’re talking about an exquisite blend of horns and strings. This is a unit that has been compared to artists ranging from Frank Zappa to Nick Drake and when you hear the Seed’s varied arrangements, you’ll understand such a broad statement. Seed’s vocals have a pleasant way of wrapping around the arrangements and he always knows when to step back and let his players have their moment. Helen Reich, who contributes her viola skills to the Seed, was nice enough to send over their 2007 effort, Where The Corners Meet, which I am currently basing this ramble on. Last month, the group released their third full length, 3. The album can be purchased independently now through CD Baby. Below you’ll find a great live video of the Seed performing “So They Say” from Where The Corners Meet.

In 2007, Ryland Bouchard announced that he was putting The Robot Ate Me name to rest. Bouchard released four full lengths as The Robot Ate Me, most recently 2006’s Good World. Since announcing The Robot’s death, Bouchard has been working on songs under his own name. Bouchard’s first release will be Seeds, an enormous box set that begins shipping on October 16th. Seeds is centered around four colored vinyl seven inches that amount to 18 tracks. The box set, which will be housed in a “wood holding box,” will be engraved, numbered, and is limited to 500 copies. Seeds also features two CDS, one with every song from the vinyl collection and another containing unreleased tracks.

To justify the $100 price of Seeds ($125 for those who order after October 15th), Bouchard is also including a book of some sort (illustrations by Daniel Gibson), a DVD, a t-shirt and carrying bag, a poster, and anything else he has lying around. Seeds was written by Bouchard and collaborator Kevin Michael Mayfield throughout 2007 and 2008 in Portland, Oregon. Bouchard is also accepting pre-orders for Dear Bird, an EP he recorded last month that he plans to ship in December. The entire EP, along with the first five songs from Seeds, can be streamed at his site. In case you were wondering, the EP is significantly cheaper ($6 + shipping). Bouchard will be on tour through January. Check his MySpace page for his extensive travel agenda.

Seeds: Part One
A1. Married To The Ground
A2. Another Day 1
A3. Woke Up Alone
B1. Loved A Girl
B2. Bye Bye Love 3

Seeds: Part Two
A1. Henry The Devil
A2. Born In The Middle
B1. Drinking
B2. No Hands No Clothes

Seeds: Part Three
A1. Tongues
A2. Sugar
B1. Sweetheart
B2. Golden You

Seeds: Part Four
A1. Awake All Night
A2. Another Day 2
B1. Lover
B2. Your Ghost
B3. Seeds

Dear Bird
1. Dear Bird
2. No Matter How Much
3. I Raise Voices
4. Wanna Die
5. The Saddest Day

The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle is one of the many who are fascinated by the “pay what you want” philosophy that many artists have been adopting over the last year. Darnielle has just posted Satanic Messiash, a new Mountain Goats EP containing four original compositions. Fans have the choice of downloading the EP in AAC (256 kbps), AIFF, FLAC, or MP3 (320 kbps) format. It is also up to them whether or not they choose to donate any money to Darnielle for the songs. For the record, I gave $3 to avoid feeling guilty. John is a good guy and these are great songs. I’d donate more, but I don’t have a legitimate job at the moment. In comparison to the recent Heretic Pride, Satanic Messiah is much more stripped down. Darnielle performed the songs himself and recorded them over the summer with the extraordinary Scott Solter at Baucom Road Studios in North Carolina. If you are interested in obtaining a physical copy of Satanic Messiah, 665 copies (Darnielle is keeping copy #666) have been pressed on a double 7″. Most will be sold on the Goats’ upcoming fall tour, but Darnielle reports that Beggars should have a limited amount available online.

The Mountain Goats will be at the 9:30 Club on November 6th with Kaki King. Darnielle will also reportedly be selling a vinyl EP that he collaborated on with King.

Satanic Messiah
1. Sarcofago Live
2. Wizard Buys a Hat
3. Satanic Messiah
4. Gojam Province 1968

Every two years, Matador Records greets us in the fall with a Pavement reissue filled with beautiful liner notes and too many bonus tracks for one to handle. This tradition began in 2002 with Slanted & Enchanted, continued in 2004 with Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, and last commenced in 2006 with my favorite Pavement release, Wowee Zowee. Well, it’s 2008 and it’s October, so I guess it is that time again. Matador has revealed plans for their deluxe reissue of 1997’s Brighten The Corners, which will be released on November 18th. This release is being coined the Nicene Creedence Edition. How Pavement-y! The full tracklisting of the 2XCD, which contains the usual blend of B-sides, rarities, radio sessions, and other junk, is available at the end of this post.

What I want to focus on is the amazing pre-order deal that Matador has put together for this reissue. As part of the sixth installment of Matador’s Buy Early Get Now series, fans that pre-order the set will receive a full stream of the album (on 10/10), two bonus tracks (one on 10/15, the other on 10/21, a free poster, and most importantly, an intriguing vinyl LP. This exclusive LP is Pavement Live, an unreleased Brighten-era concert that was intended for release by Matador and Capitol in 1998, but never dropped. Brighten has never received much play from me, and in fact, is the one Pavement album that I don’t own an actual copy of. However, it is safe to say I will be purchasing this reissue.

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