(Updated for Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem)

I’m finally taking a moment to catch up on some much-needed pitchforking and indie MP3 blogs, and it looks like I’ve missed quite a bit. There’s just lots of cool “indie” rock music happs going on these days.

Here’s a quick run-down, with some wordier thoughts below:

• Arcade Fire: announced some tourdates (only London so far, but only multiple-night runs in London and Montreal; hopefully some U.S. dates are in the works)
• New Pornographers: live album and tour (also only INTL dates, so far)
• The Rapture: winter tour and their own record label
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: new album and some promo tunes

• LCD Soundsystem (new songs leaking, and album on the way)

Daft Punk is, unfortunately, not playing at my house. Just as soon as the new track(s) from LCD Soundsystem’s forthcoming album were leaked, they were yanked. DFA (owned by EMI) didn’t like all those damn MP3 bloggers posting their hard-earned IP…And apparently, neither was James Murphy. But, fortunately, folks posted them long enough for plenty of us to get a taste of what’s to come from the James Murphy’s disco punk conglomerate. I’ve mentioned LCD Soundsystem before, including a post about Murphy’s efforts to get indie fans to work-out more. This band is just so much fun, so LMM can’t wait till the new disc comes out….Apparently, “Sounds of Silver” is available for pre-order here.

Update: Pitchfork followed up with a short interview with James Murphy.

Speaking of album releases, according to MusicSlut, 2007 is looking good for new albums from indie stalwarts. Here are my picks from their slightly longer list:

1/23: Animal Collective – People EP
1/23: Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer
1/23: The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
1/30: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Some Loud Thunder
1/30: Lily Allen – Alright Still
2/6: Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
3/6: !!! – Myth Takes
3/6: Air – Pocket Symphony
3/20: Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
3/20: LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
3/20: Low – Drums & Guns

But wait, there’s more!!!

+/- gets more hype:

The poppy math-rock of +/- (aka Plus/Minus) is getting some well-deserved hype. Plenty of press from your “go-to” indie sites: Stereogum, Pitchfork, and a bunch of Hype Machine MP3s. Mocking “indie” comments aside, I really do like the poppy “heart-on-the-sleeve” stuff these guys are pushing. It’s a bit of a departure for my tastes, but these guys have hit on some sort of whiny “I really miss you, girl!” nerve of mine. They also have a great sound, with interesting dynamics and textures. I know nothing of this “pitchfork double-review scandal” and could care less (well, okay, I was curious and and found the two reviews on pitchfork here: review 1, review 2).

I say they just keep bringing the goods and play more shows in the U.S. Definitely come back to the Chi! (I missed my chance in November…yet another band that played a show over the Thanksgiving holiday while I was away; they’re heading to Japan now, but will be back stateside in the spring).

And last but not least, the list of all indie rock lists: “The Top 40 Bands in America as Voted on by a Bunch of Effing Music Bloggers That Only Listen to Cooler Than You Guitar Based Indie Rock and Not Much Else.”

Solid list, but I think “Clell Tickle, Indie marketing Guru” might have something to say about the placement of Tapes’n'Tapes:

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