New York Music Blog

-- Lupe Fiasco released the first single from his upcoming album, Lasers. The track is the spacey "Shining Down," which has Lupe taking a dig at autotune by using it. It leaked last month to the rapper's dismay. He plays Governors Island on Sept 11 (tickets go on sale Friday at noon) and SUNY's Dewar Arena in Oneonta the next day.

--Elliott Smith's old Volkswagen has found a new home. The late songwriter's sister Ashley--who had been driving the 1999 Volkswagen Passat for the past 5 years--told Smith fan site Sweet Adeline she was selling it on Craigslist for $4,000, and received hundreds of responses. She found two strong candidates and let them duke it out."They contacted each other and discussed what the car would mean to each of them, who needed it more, etc. They came to a decision before finalizing anything with me," she told Paste. The new owner is reportedly a student from Pittsburgh, PA, who is planning on driving the car on a road trip from Austin to California.

--The Brooklyn Bowl, which we wrote about last week, opens today. The bowling alley's first show is Friday, featuring O'Death, Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin, and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt.

--Because keeping track of late night TV is complicated: Just a few days after playing a free Fourth of July gig in Battery Park with Jenny Lewis, Conor Oberst brought his comically large hat to Letterman, where he performed "Spoiled" with the Mystic Valley Band. Death Cab for Cutie played the acoustic-driven Neil Young-style "Little Bribes" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Tonight: Rob Thomas Letterman, Andrew Bird on Conan and Ben Harper on Kimmel.