Pick Your Poison: Monday 11-12-12

While I’ve spent many a time trying to help keep my Chicago readers updated on some great shows happening in town featuring bands that they may not have heard about, sometimes I like to get on the topic of tours in general involving bands you’re much more familiar with. Instead of an exclusive Chicago focus, here’s a few tours coming through the U.S. that you should be watching out for in early 2013. First up is the ever-great Morrissey. Moz had to cancel a bunch of his North American tour dates last month and earlier this month because his mother was very sick. The missed dates have now been rescheduled, and a bunch more dates have also been announced as part of a new tour. Have a look at the new dates, and don’t miss him when he comes to your town. The man’s a legend and one of the funniest people in music today. Yes, you read that right. Next up, my very good friends Sigur Ros will be returning to North America for a headlining tour this spring. They’ll be at some pretty huge venues (such as Madison Square Garden), and it only seems fitting to their massive sound. Full tour dates for that are here. If you buy a ticket to one of these shows, you’ll also get a free digital EP from the band featuring 3 unreleased tracks. That’s a nice bonus. Finally, Jeff Mangum will be touring North America this winter to play shows at some of the secondary markets he missed during his first go-around. So Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis, you’re up. I saw him play a pair of shows in Chicago last spring, and it was jaw-droppingly good. Don’t miss it if he’s coming to your town. Speaking of things to not miss, let’s talk about today’s Pick Your Poison. Gold star tracks today come from The Airplanes, Black Forest Fire, Freeze-Tag, KNOX, Lilac and The March Divide. In the Soundcloud section you can hear Asobi Seksu covering Boris and vice versa, plus an old Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear) demo and a new solo song from Jim James of My Morning Jacket, as a prelude to his first official solo record to be released in 2013.