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Issue Project Room, the exceedingly well-booked and determined non-profit arts space that has bounced from the East Village to the Gowanus Canal to the Old American Can Factory, will live on a little longer. Last year, the space and its energetic, curly-haired doyenne, Suzanne Fiol, beat out more than 99 other cultural organizations for a spot on the first floor of a historic theater in Brooklyn (the city sold the theater to DUMBO developers Two Trees Management in 2003, but mandated that that an arts space be part of the deal). Issue's triumph at finding a permanent home was tempered by what it would cost to rehab the cavernous, crumbling theater: $2 million dollars. A capital campaign raised a striking amount of money-- $350,000--and now comes the news that the city, in the form of Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz, will be kicking in an addition $1.1 mil for renovations.

Contra Texas Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, the House will not be voting on or even debating Resolution 600, which would claim Michael Jackson as an "American legend and musical icon," and put the pop singer forward as "someone who will be honored forever and forever and forever and forever" (there may have been more "forevers"; unclear). Nancy Pelosi, sensibly, declared at a press conference today that

"Michael Jackson was a great, great performer, and lots of sadness there for many reasons...What I have said to my colleagues over the years, and certainly as leader and as speaker, is that there's an opportunity on the floor of the House to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish. I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution."

We are pleased to bring you the official set times and stage info for this year's Siren Festival, the tiny little humble massive free all-ages show this paper throws yearly in the sunny, perhaps a little-bit-too-naked confines of Coney Island, featuring Built to Spill, Spank Rock, Monotonix, A Place to Bury Strangers, Japandroids, and many more. Things lift off at 1pm, and cool down shortly after 9pm, right around when our official MHOW afterparty--where you'll find Francis and the Lights, Gordon Voidwell, and Acrylics--kicks off a few miles to the north. In between, well, there's a lot. Details, pretty flyer, below.

A splendidly busy weekend for outdoor shows is in the offing: Calle 13 at Central Park Summerstage, Mission of Burma/Fucked Up at the Williamsburg Waterfront, etc. But those of you with young, impressionable offspring not yet mature enough to handle reggaeton or profane band names might want to opt for Saturday afternoon's youngin-friendly Celebrate Brooklyn! fete with They Might Be Giants. Our love for this band is well-established, and let it be known that the highlights of their new children's-music phase are basically indistinguishible from their adults-only jams. Request "Seven."

To get you in the mood, here's friend-of-SOTC Peter S. Scholtes interviewing TMBG co-conspirator John Flansburgh twice: once for adults, and once for kids. The latter is brief but still hilarious: Finally, the proper venue to open an interview with "What is your favorite number, and why?"

--Jack White's Nashville-based Third Man Records is opening a store for two days next week in the East Village. Visit 131 Chrystie Street from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 16th and Friday the 17th -- the same days as White's Dead Weather play Terminal 5. The Third Man store will carry the Dead Weather's new disc, Horehound, which comes out Tuesday, along with  other releases and merchandise. This is a good opportunity to include this White-related Onion story regarding an interesting new side project.

--The Get Up Kids breakup in 2005 didn't last long. The band has announced a massive tour to celebrate the tenth anniversary of '90s emo staple Something to Write Home About. The band will play three shows in New York: October 30th at Gramercy, Halloween at Irving Plaza, and November 1st at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets here.

Los Angeles certainly seems to have made a mellower band out of New York exile duo High Places, who return to the city for the It Came From Brooklyn series at the Guggenheim on August 14. "Late Bloomer," destined for a Post Present Medium split 12" with Soft Circle, is a vaguely choral and languid dip in the High Places id: lots of echo, chirping birds, tinny wrist-bracelet cymbals, dripping water, slithering electronics, floating bits of stray melody, and a brief but convincing Mary Pearson incantation. It's lovely and we envy them their out-of-town ease. Stream it at Pitchfork.

Um, so those are "climate bill muscles," by way of articulating the position that "Congress must pass a stronger climate bill than the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES)," which they wussily passed back in June. Still confused? Tell us more, Daily Kos! "If the muscle suits didn't allude to the issue enough, each muscleman wore a t-shirt with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" on them. The popular song by Daft Punk, later remade by Kanye West, correlated with the more specific asks of harder oversight on coal plants, better renewable portfolio standard and investments in international adaptation, faster emissions reduction targets and, more generally, stronger leadership and a stronger bill." All of which you can understand immediately, just by looking at them, of course.

Strongmen Storm the Capitol [Daily Kos]

Tonight we give props to the infant, hopelessly unsustainable civilization young Brooklynites have built for themselves. The music these kids concoct is so innocent, so unworldly: catch it now before the asbestos in their hastily-redecorated warehouse walls exterminates everyone. Nymph, Begushkin, and Dinowalrus cross the river for a New York Eye and Ear Festival showcase, while Justice of the Unicorns hold down the fort at Bruar Falls in Williamsburg.

Metalocalypse mastermind Brendon Small also wrote, recorded, and produced both of Dethklok's albums. So by Adult Swim's calculations, this guy is the second coming of Odin. He's at Santos' Party House.

Tim Hagans has the chops to make his trumpet speak, and the sense to stick to standards. He begins a week at Birdland.

The Latin Alternative Music Conference hosts its first panels at the Roosevelt Hotel, both of which are somehow named after European pop songs--You Can Go Your Own Way: Indie Artist Tour Success Stories, and Politik Kills: Latin Artists & Political Engagement in the Era of Obama.

Information remains scant on the super minimal page for the 2009 Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, scheduled for August 8 at everybody's favorite BK venue the Old American Can Factory, a/k/a the Yard, a/k/a the old Issue Project Room space, a/k/a probably the only inhabitable lawn along all of the Gowanus. Last week, the fest announced two headliners--the Juan MacLean and RJD2--and the date and time, but otherwise kept pretty much mum about what they had in store. Pitchfork seems to have cracked the code a bit, adding joke-soul/domestic-disco duo Free Blood, 8-bit 8-year veteran New York two-piece Shy Child, Home Video, Adventure, and the Miami-based Awesome New Republic to the lineup. The whole thing's slated for the second Saturday in August, and is set to run to the uncomfortable hour of 4AM. Tickets are still available here, should you not much value your sleep that weekend. [Pitchfork]

-- After abruptly announcing that Nine Inch Nails's appearance at Bonnaroo last month would be the band's last US show ever, Trent Reznor has decided to let fans down a little slower. NIN will play a series of holy-shit-they're-playing-there club shows later this summer to mark the band's supposed farewell. In New York, the band will hit Webster Hall, Terminal 5, and the Bowery Ballroom. Reznor writes the shows will be "informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises." The band will also play Los Angeles and Chicago. Dates and ticket details haven't been announced yet, but get ready to start reloading the ticketing page.

--New York Congressman Peter King  is thrilled with the response to his slightly insensitive YouTube video. "I think I hit a raw nerve," King told the New York Post. The congressman, who is considering a run for senate, said his office has been flooded with hundreds of phone calls and e-mails, 60 percent of them positive. Jackson fans are notoriously rabid in their devotion, and don't seem too happy with King's underwhelming sensitivity. A Jackson fan created a site to raise money for whoever runs against King in the race for the third congressional district in 2010. So far, more than $3,000 has been raised.