Last week was a full-on SoundCloud.com celebration. All five of the daily Downstream entries were sourced from SoundCloud, a fantastic service for sharing, discovering, and discussing music, and the subject of the week’s “MP3 Discussion Group,” Alphabet 1968 by Black to Comm, was likewise available for free listening via SoundCloud (albeit streaming, not download, it [...]

French musician Etienne Jaumet releases his debut full length record and gets a helping hand from legendary techno producer Carl Craig.

-- As part of their online charity auction, the Portland Mercury is selling an hour-long, one-on-one guitar lesson from Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk. The highest bidder will also get a new Epiphone Les Paul Studio guitar. As I'm typing this, the bidding is only up to $202.50, which seems pretty low. Proceeds go to Outside In, which helps homeless and needy people. Check here for all the details. -- The Chicago rock band Disappears-- which features Brian Case from the Ponys and 90 Day Men-- have signed to Kranky. The label will release their first album,

"Springtime just got a little sexier" would be the tagline to Air's upcoming March tour of North America if Air were lame. Air are not lame. But they are sexy.

So good news: the French twosome is ready to hit all sorts of big U.S. and Canadian cities for the first time in three years, in support of this year's Love 2. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel will be joined by British drummer/percussionist Alex Thomas (Bat for Lashes) on the trek. According to a press release, this is the "first of several U.S. trips" planned for the group in 2010. Crushed velvet shoes? Check plus.

Until March, the live trio will keep busy perfecting their show across Europe, including a...

Joshua Dibb, better known as part-time Animal Collective member Deakin (or Deacon), wants to go to Africa. He's been invited to play at the Festival in the Desert, which goes down January 7-9 in Essakane, Mali. The problem: The Festival in the Desert folks can't pay for Dibb's international travel. So Dibb has taken to the fundraising website Kickstarter, and he's asking fans to pledge money to support those expenses.

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But you won't have to donate the money strictly out of the goodness of your...

Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson's latest album, And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees, is the soundtrack to Marc Craste's animated film Varmints. It's out now on limited edition vinyl, and will get a non-limited CD release in April courtesy of Type.

To coincide with the record, Jóhannsson is set to embark on a rare U.S. tour this spring. Click on to see the Sound of Bees tracklist and Jóhannsson's tour dates, and to watch the cute-overload trailer for Varmints:

pagebreak And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees: 01 Theme 02 City Building 03 Entering the City 04 The Flat 05 Rainwater 06 Siren Song 07 Pods 08...

Live music on T.V. this week: Monday, December 7: NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: 50 Cent NBC: Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien: Michael McDonald Tuesday, December 8: NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jawbox ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Passion Pit CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Blackroc CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Rosanne Cash Wednesday, December 9: TBS: Lopez Tonight: Morrissey Sundance Channel: Spectacle With Elvis Costello: Bono and the Edge NBC: Tonight Show With...

If His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI hasn't accepted your friend request, don't get mad. He's a busy man! He has to pick which 2Pac track to put on the Music From the Vatican MySpace playlist. OK, not really. But CNN reports that the Music From the Vatican MySpace page has recently posted a playlist of songs that, according to the page itself, "share the aim to reach the heart of good minded people." The playlist includes Fleet Foxes' "He Doesn't Know Why", Muse's "Uprising", and, yes, 2Pac's...

Photo by Eirik Lande The ADD mash-up monster Greg Gillis, known to the world as Girl Talk, made his name with the 2006 album Night Ripper, a marathon of chopped-up pop samples that moved so quickly between songs and genres that we all had to struggle to keep up. On December 8, Illegal Art will issue Night Ripper on vinyl for the first time (180-gram double LPs, that is), so we'll really be able to hear every sonic detail of that Biggie Smalls/Elton John meeting of the minds.

pagebreakFat-walleted, charity-minded Girl Talk fans, take note: Illegal Art will also sell a limited-edition pink vinyl version of that double-LP reissue for $100. The money will go to...