1. For all you who missed the first this.hearts.on.fire. giveaway last week, I had a super hot checkered scarf from Nicholas K's SS08 collection to give to the 10th respondant. The winner: Amy Wenzel from 303 Gallery. I tipped you off that this week, I'd be giving away 3 VIP passes to the Nice Collective sample sale being held on 06.01.08 and 3 men's tees from their SS08 collection. The tees have arrived and I'm geared to go. Some time in the next few days, I will post something on the site or in the weekly email with instructions on how to get your hands on these bad boys. Stay tuned!!

2. Have you heard of the Islands? Another hot indie band out of Montreal. (Seriously folks, what's up with Canada??) "In mid-2005 Islands recorded a debut album titled Return to the Sea. The album features numerous guest appearances, including members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade." Read their Wikipedia entry for all the details. They have a new EP out entitled Arm's Way that "leaked to various BitTorrent and file-sharing sites on April 11, 2008." And now many of the songs are available to listen to on MySpace and according to Wikipedia the EP is officially available for download today and it is! Get it now on LaLa.com. The new stuff sounds amazing. Like Black Mountain, their sound has evolved and there's just enough higher quality production involved to maintain their indie edge while making the music a bit more pleasant to the ear. You'll also find their tour dates on MySpace, including a night at Webster Hall on 05.24.08. Get tickets now.

3. I love films about relatively obscure artists and musicians, who weren't so obscure to insiders and who have had a lasting influence despite their lack of mainstream recognition. Case in point: Arthur Russell. According to Wikipedia, "Russell has been cited as an influence on contemporary artists like The DFA and Hercules and Love Affair". Who knew?! There's a new indie film out documenting his life and work you need to checkout. "Wild Combination is director Matt Wolf's visually absorbing portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist, and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, Arthur prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Now, over fifteen years since his passing, Arthur's work is finally finding its audience. Wolf incorporates rare archival footage and commentary from Arthur's family, friends, and closest collaborators—including Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg—to tell this poignant and important story." Checkout the site, read the film's synopsis, and watch the trailer. The first New York screening happened last week, but it's traveling around the world for those of you now in New York and will eventually come back to New York, rumor has it. Checkout their blog for all the latest news and info. ANd don't forget to checkout Russell's MySpace where you can listen to some of his songs. They're really hot.