• The tour announcement madness just won’t stop. AFI and My Morning Jacket are hitting the road, and our favorite precocious LA act Lavender Diamond have announced a string of dates for their tour with the Decemberists. Get those after the jump.
• Vinyl sales are on the rise in the UK, with many predicting that, in the long run, vinyl may survive the digital era while CDs may not.
• The Dixie Chicks are taking hardcore responsibility for their ‘carbon footprint” by paying to protect 832,000 acres of the Makira tropical rain forest in Madagascar to offset the damage done by the trucks, buses, airline flights, hotel rooms, etc. that power their…uh, powerhouse.
• Contests = the new petitions. YouTube and Cingular are skipping the whole hot-new-sound search and going straight for the hot-new-video artist search via this music video contest. Meanwhile DJ AM is teaming up with Smirnoff Vodka for the “Shaken and Stirred” DJ contest in which contenstants remix the classic James Bond Theme.

Lavender Diamond on tour this fall!
( # dates supporting the Decemberists)

Oct 17 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroomm (#)
Oct 18 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom (#)
Oct 19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield (#)
Oct 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern LG (#)
Oct 22 – Tuscon, AZ @ Rialto Theater (#)
Oct 24 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs (#)
Oct 25 – Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Ballroom (#)
Oct 26 – New Orleans @ House of Blues (#)
Oct 27 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle (#)
Oct 29 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (#)
Oct 30 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (#)
Oct 31 – Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre (#)
Nov 1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory (#)
Nov 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Northsix
Nov 3 – New York, NY @ Joes Pub