Jessica Dobson (Beck, Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) is working with The Shins on their new album, Port of Morrow.

Also of importance, her band Deep Sea Diver is putting out History Speaks later this month. While you’re waiting, you can listen to a new track from the album, You Go Running.

Colour Revolt released a new album today, The Cradle. And not only did the band allow Buzzgrinder to stream the whole thing today, but the guys were also kind enough to take over posting duties for the day. So the staff gets to catch up on their stories.

So I work at a daycare. All of my best friends are 3-year-olds who have trouble with letters like L and R. “Left” sounds like “Weft” and “Right” sounds like “White.” It gets tricky when they’re telling you which foot they’re going to put their shoe on or which corner to turn.

Our main job is to teach them how to use a toilet and how to wash their hands. It’s pretty fun, but there are definitely times when three kids have poop in their pants and two kids are using the sink for their own personal sprinkler. That’s when you have to, like I say, “Keep it Obama.” They don’t know what this means, but I make them say it just to ingrain the idea of “relaxation” into their heads. I’m not trying to raise a nation of potheads or anything, just kids who are adapted to the ways of “just chilling.”

At naptime, my personal favorite, we play them different kinds of music. It usually starts with Celtic Spa, which is basically just drone synth sounds that just makes most of them conch right out. However there are our more aware friends who need back patting and reminders that it is, in fact, naptime. At this point, I like to bust out the good stuff. We have Nick Drake, Red House Painters, Joni Mitchell, The Shins, The Beatles and Bob Dylan. One little girl does a great Bob Dylan impression.

Broken Bells sounds a lot like exactly what it is: a collaboration between Danger Mouse and James Mercer. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine what it would be like if Danger Mouse (half the brains behind Gnarls Barkley, 2006′s wonder child) produced The Shins (another mid-decade, on-the-verge-of-being-a-has-been act).

If those acts were your top-played fodder a couple years ago — and you didn’t think Danger-produced albums like The Black Keys‘ Attack & Release and the second Gnarls Barkley album were bland as all get-out — this might be worth checking out. If that’s you, you might want to take the following grumblings with a grain of salt: I like Mercer’s creations just fine, but, Danger Mouse tends to have Midas’s golden touch, except replace “golden” with “boring.”

Opening track The High Road is, coincidentally, ‘The High Point’ of the LP. It all smears together after that, each song becoming indistinguishable from the one before it. I made sure to run through the album three or four times before making that judgment call, but each time it rang true: I’d enjoy the first five or 10 minutes, and then I’d forget that I was was supposed to be paying attention so I could write you this fine review.

Hopefully I’m missing something. I’m willing to admit that might be the case. But, from what I can tell, this is yet another case of a big-name collaboration used as SXSW season hype that doesn’t pan out well when you actually listen to the music.

The man behind The Simpsons, Matt Groening, will be joining Pavement as a curator at the next All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Minehead.

What makes me even happier about this is the fact that it’s not his first time curating an ATP event. In 2003, he took care of business at the Long Beach ATP event, bringing in folks like Sonic Youth, Built to Spill, Daniel Johnston, !!!, The Shins and more.

So let me leavel you with this, one of the best quotes from The Simpsons in recent memory: “She knew my one weakness … that I’m weak!”

Viva Voce has a new album and some tour dates. Barsuk will be releasing Rose City on May 26, and the band will be touring in March. In case you’re wondering what Viva Voce has been up to lately, here’s a quick recap:

Band founders Kevin and Anita Robinson took an entire year off from touring (unheard of for them) to finish their hand-built backyard home studio and gig around town with country rock band Blue Giant, and have since become something of a hub in the Portland music scene:

Kevin has spent time producing and recording bands like Tu Fawning and Thao with The Get Down Stay Down. Anita sang harmonies on The Shins’ Wincing the Night Away album, and performed with them on SNL and on tour.

It seems like only yesterday I bought that Prayer Chain tribute album with Viva Voce covering Loverboy. Turns out it was actually 2003.

Viva Voce – We Do Not Fuck Around
Viva Voce – When Planets Collide

See the Viva Voce tour dates and Rose City track list.

The earth is a small place, especially when you compare it to larger planets. Making it smaller still are new music discoveries. I know of Mia Kim through a mutual friend and have since enjoyed her solitary album, Rumor of Flight. In true indie-spirit, she began a fan-funded endeavor in The Sukey Rose Project. She was gracious enough to answer a handful of question from a chump like me, so you know she has heart.

Can you give Buzzgrinder readers a quick rundown about what you’re doing with the Sukey Rose Project?
The Sukey Rose Project is mainly a fan-funded project to raise funds to record my second album as well as an online documentation of the making of a quality album by an indie, unsigned artist.

Read more from Mia Kim.

I couldn’t find a video of The Ting Tings performing on the season premiere of the Nick Jr. cool-for-kids-but-cooler-for-adults show Yo Gabba Gabba. But since they were just the first (and worst) of the bands currently listed to appear in season two, I don’t care about missing this performance as much.

Other bands confirmed are Cornelius, The Shins, The Roots, MGMT and Mates of State.

:: The Methadones with the help of Underground Communique are releasing the bands second album, Career Objective, on vinyl. It’ll be limited to 500 copies; 300 will be gold and 200 will be blue.

:: Real Live Tigers are reorganizing operations, which might be less of the road weary troubadour, but might also bring new projects.

:: The Shins are thinking about the logistics for an upcoming album. New label, new marketing strategy, new distributions? Maybe all, maybe none.

:: Agnostic Front is releasing a tour version of their 2007 LP, Warriors. They’ll be NYCHCing all over Europe starting July 4th.

:: Amy Winehouse has tested negative for TB and I don’t have the Rhinovirus. Hurrah!

:: Buzzgrinder’s Jay DiNitto designed a new logo for Indie Vision Music’s new logo contest. Go and vote for it (look in the right column) if you feel so inclined. Or vote for another if you believe that one sucks. Or don’t vote at all. What would P. Diddy do?