Speaking of the year's finest recorded output, time is running out to vote on your favorite artist/album of the year so far. Vote now before it's too late.
Several new reviews hit the site this week, including new music from Beck, Ratatat, Patti Smith and Kevin Shields, Wynton Marsalis and Willie Nelson, Ron Sexsmith and more. Elsewhere, our team of film buffs weigh in on Gonzo, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Full Battle Rattle, Meet Dave and more. Elsewhere still, we sent Andrew Leahey into the wilds of Michigan to cover Rothbury last weekend. You can read his findings, which include John Mayer, Snoop Dogg, Ingrid Michaelson, The Black Keys, Beth Orton, Jakob Dylan and so much more, on our Festivus blog.
As usual, it was a busy news week. If you're a fan of some no-name piano-playing dude named Ben Folds, you may have heard that he has a new album coming in September, and that's thanks to our story that broke the news. Other bands with record-release announcements this week on PasteMagazine.com include ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, various Suicide fans including Bruce Springsteen, Portishead, the loved-by-Gucci Brooklyn duo MGMT, Charlie Louvin (two of them!), Deerhunter, Tenacious D, Cold War Kids, Dungen and High Places. Yup. If you have that one annoying friend who's always whining, "There's no interesting music anymore!" feel free to send him or her a link to this story.
Aside from a record store near you, there is plenty of music of the touring variety to be found all over the world at this moment and moments coming very soon. In addition to several of the artists listed above, Wilco, Black Kids, Stars, Supergrass and Foo Fighters, Broken Social Scene and more are making the rounds this summer and fall.
There seemed to be a little less going on in the film world this week than usual, but it wasn't without its highlights. Quentin Tarantino's new film is getting closer to reality, Annette Bening joined the Academy, the Screen Actors Guild rejected a contract offer and NBC bought the Weather Channel, just to name a few.
But really, there's too much to list here. Have a look at the news archives for more.
Time is running out on me as I type this, so I'm going to have to cut it off. But before I go, be sure to check out our full Q&A with Folds, additional interviews with Kate Rusby, John Moen (of Decemberists and Perhapst fame), DeVotchKa and more, blog posts of varying sorts (including a Tom Petty live review, the triumphant return of my desk buddy's running feature Rhymes with Five, lots of videos and so on), The Informer's many events...
Phew.
Really, I could go on all day, and I'm leaving so much out, so why don' t you have a look around? Sound off on what you liked, disliked, want to see in the future and all that in the comments below. Have a great weekend and we'll talk again next week.
Related links:
PasteMagazine.com
Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

Oscar Buzz: Who's ahead in this year's key races?
Leona Naess - "All is Fair"
the everybodyfields - "Worth Keeping"
Album Stream: Listen to Mindy Smith's Christmas album My Holiday




Good job on the Tarantino catch. It would be amazing if he actually go the film made in a year. I bet the Weinstein's don't want to put up all the $$$ for the film because Grindhouse was not a financial success. Time will tell.