If the dozens of songs that did make it onto the celebrated 2005 album, Illinois, just didn’t satisfy your Sufjan Stevens hunger pangs, the singer/songwriter has amassed 21 pieces of music recorded during the album’s production.

Morrissey is bringing his own club down on Canada, refusing to play any shows in support of his latest album, Ringleader of the Tormentors, in protest of the nation’s “barbaric slaughter of over 325,000 baby seals.” The singer has also called on his fans to boycott Canadian goods, saying on a fan Web site: “I fully realize that the absence of any Morrissey concerts in Canada is unlikely to bring the Canadian economy to its knees, but it is our small protest against this horrific slaughter—which is the largest slaughter of marine animal species found anywhere on the planet.”

Chicago’s venerable independent label Touch and Go will hold its 25th anniversary celebration at the 10th Annual Hideout Block Party. The show, which runs Sept. 8–10, features T&G 25 bands past and present, including Calexico, CocoRosie, the reunited Didjits and Scratch Acid, Enon, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Pinback, Shellac, and the Black Heart Procession. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Chicago children’s charities.

R&B/hip-hop duo Gnarls Barkley, the collaboration between former Goodie Mob principal Cee-Lo and artist/producer Danger Mouse, made history recently by becoming the U.K.’s first-ever number one single to top the chart based solely on download sales. This came after the eligibility under the Official U.K. Charts Company was changed to incorporate download sales in the tally one week before a physical release is available in stores.

If the dozens of songs that did make it onto the celebrated 2005 album, Illinois, just didn’t satisfy your Sufjan Stevens hunger pangs, the singer/songwriter has amassed 21 pieces of music recorded during the album’s production. Stevens’ own Asthmatic Kitty label will release The Avalanche on July 25. The record will include demos, musical interludes, instrumentals, and complete songs, such as three different versions of “Chicago.” This news comes on the heels of Illinois winning the first New Pantheon Award, which stepped into the role of the now-defunct Shortlist Prize, recognizing noteworthy albums that have sold less than 500,000 copies in the United States with a $5,000 prize. New Pantheon’s panel of nominators included Beck, Ric Ocasek, Elton John, and Shirley Manson.

Bright Eyes, whose current lineup includes Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott, is looking to a spring 2007 release for its next as-yet-untitled Saddle Creek studio album. Contributors will include Gillian Welch, Janet Weiss, and M. Ward.

The long-shelved Big Star tribute album, planned for release in 1999, is set for release May 23. Big Star, Small World is due May 23 and features contributions by artists such as Wilco, Matthew Sweet with Mike Mills, the Posies, Juliana Hatfield, and Teenage Fanclub.

After an eight-year wait, Soul Asylum is set to release a new studio album, The Silver Lining, July 11 via Legacy. The record includes some of the final recordings of bassist Karl Mueller, who died of throat cancer last June.

Thomas Dolby, currently on his first tour in 15 years, is taking issue with Mr. Britney Spears, Kevin Federline, who sampled the ’80s techno-pop star’s “She Blinded Me With Science” without permission. Federline’s “America’s Most Hated,” which had been posted on his MySpace page (and has since been taken down), actually samples a Mobb Deep track that used Dolby’s tune. Mobb Deep, unlike Federline, had been cleared to use the well-known hit. Dolby said he would, based on Federline’s song, probably not have licensed the track to him. While talking to MTV.com and comparing the situation to the Vanilla Ice and Queen/David Bowie sampling fury from years ago, Dolby said, “Vanilla Ice is a superstar compared to this guy.”

Hot Hot Heat are entering the studio this month to record new material for their untitled follow-up to 2005’s Elevator, penciling in a September release date for the new work.

The Pixies are regrouping for seven European shows in July, with the possibility of more dates to come, and the always-present prospect of a new studio album. Meanwhile, Frank Black’s double album Fastman/Raiderman will bow from Back Porch/EMI on July 20, as Kim Deal works on a new Breeders album and Joey Santiago scores a Canadian documentary about planned housing entitled Radiant City.

Radiohead are planning multiple-night stands as part of their upcoming North American tour slated for June. The short residencies are rumored to include Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Fans of Radiohead are also being warned by the band that the promotion of a concert at Somerset House in London July 8 is a scam. A band spokesman stated the band is most certainly “not playing this show.”

The Futureheads will release their sophomore album, News and Tributes, on June 13 via Vagrant/StarTime International.

Courtney Love, besides working on her new record, Exile in Blonde (being co-produced by Moby and Linda Perry), a follow up to her first solo album, 2004’s America’s Sweetheart, has sold a fourth of her share in Nirvana’s lucrative back catalog for a cool $50 million. Larry Mestel, the former COO/GM at Virgin Records and currently of Primary Wave Music Publishing will, as Love told Rolling Stone, “help me co-manage the estate because it was overwhelming.” For his part, Mestel put any fears of crass commercialization of the band’s music to rest as only a music executive can by saying, “So I felt the combination of Courtney’s creativity and the things I can add can really help in creating more value for these copyrights.” As the widow of frontman Kurt Cobain, Love retained 98% of Nirvana’s publishing rights, while the band’s other members, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic split the remaining paltry 2%. Love, whose public drug addiction and antics are probably as widely known as her music, once said Grohl had been “taking money from my child for years.”

On-again, off-again Babyshambles’ guitarist Patrick Walden has added to the band’s growing police record after he was detained and charged with common assault against his girlfriend at their north London home. Walden pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, accompanied by their daughter, Coco, on shakers, will appear on the May 9 season finale of Gilmore Girls to perform an acoustic version of a new song, “What a Waste,” which will also appear on the band’s new album, Rather Ripped, set for a June 13 release via Geffen.

Wonder Stuff drummer Martin Gilks, 41, died in April following injuries from a motorcycle accident. Gene Pitney died last month just hours after a gig in Wales. Cult British musician Nikki Sudden also died shortly after a show at New York’s Knitting Factory in late March. And country legend Buck Owens passed away of heart failure in late March at his home in Bakersfield, Calif.

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