The End’s Deck the Hall ball lineup is pretty nice this year, with the Shins and Gnarls Barkley among the band’s all set to play the radio station’s X-mas gala at KeyArena on Dec. 7, just for starters.

I can’t wait to hear more of the new Shins stuff, since I missed most of the Portland band’s set at Sasquatch festival a few months back, thanks to a need to change after surviving bad weather of Biblical proportions. (If you were there, you know what I’m talkin’ ’bout.) The folks at Sub Pop tell me that the new album

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You know, I was talking to John Wright of Nomeansno about fellow Vancouverites, Nickelback, just the other day. And then what do I see today? An announcement from Nickelback’s label, Roadrunner Records, saying their 2007 tour will will kick off Feb. 20 at the Tacoma Dome.

Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin will add support. And ticket presale will be posted on the band’s Web site, according the Roadrunner release.

Another installment of Critic’s iPod, just to give a glimpse of what I really listen to, when the Trib isn’t paying me to endure the horrors of boy bands and emo:

"Requiem" M. Ward: This is my favorite track from this Portland singer-songwriter’s new album "Post War." It’s sentimental and joyful in a way that’ll call up fond memories of someone you’ve lost.

"How You Feelin’?" Peeping Tom: For someone who has forged a career out of being so self-consciously bizarre, Mike Patton sure knows how

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I started the Halloween mixtape discussion a few days back. So thought I’d circle back with a few suggestions for adding a bit of a Northwest flavor to your compilation. Try these on for size:

“The Witch,” “Psycho,” “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” The Sonics

“Blood Witch,” “If I Had an Exorcism” The Melvins

“Dawn of the Dead,” “Curse of the Werewolf,” “Serial Killers Really Know How to Party” Schoolyard Heroes

“Sleepy Vampire,” “Creepy Jackalope Eye” The Supersuckers

“It’s Catching Up” Nomeansno (“Have you heard the news? The dead walk

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Just got a call from Calvin Murphy of Ocean Grooves, and he tells me his Halloween dance event (as listed in my Halloween roundup in today’s GO section) has been moved to Hell’s Kitchen. And Donalde Glaude won’t be spinning because of a scheduling conflict with a gig in Vegas. The lineup will include DJ Dab, Jason Diamond and Suga Jones.

I got to try out my new Canon XTi last night at the She Wants Revenge, Placebo show at the Showbox. I learned, among other things, that I shouldn’t muck around with the shutter speed until I know what I’m doing. But I managed to get a few halfway decent shots:

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She Wants Revenge is one of my favorite new bands of 2006. And if you’re lucky enough to have scored a ticket to their sold-out show at the Showbox, you can catch them live on Thursday.

Their sound is dark, angsty and psychotropic, with front man Justin Warfield singing in a stylish monotone baritone that immediately recalls Joy Division, Bauhaus and Interpol have been eating up for years.

But what many peeps don’t realize is that Warfield was actually a rapper back in the ’90s. I used to play a psychedelic hip-hop track called “Bug

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Well, I thought I was chasing a scoop after I caught wind of layoffs at Olympia’s Kill Rock Stars and rumors that the indie label – whose roster has included Sleater-Kinney, the Gossip, Deerhoof and Bikini Kill – was taking off for Portland. But according to a story that ran in Billboard earlier this month (read it here) the company’s HQ is actually moving to NYC.

Founder Slim Moon has accepted an A&R job with New York-based Nonesuch records, according to the story, and day-to-day operations will be handed over to his wife and label co-owner, Portia Sabin.

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Dave Dederer has been on hiatus from the Presidents of the United States of America for a while now. So when he gave me a surprise call earlier this afternoon, I asked him to catch me up to speed with what he’s been up to.

While the Presidents have been busy trekking through Australia, Dederer said he has been busy making music with Seattle singer-songwriter Carrie Akre (formerly of Goodness and Hammerbox.) Regarding their sound: "It’s like Tuck & Patti, but less dorky,” he said. “And I like Tuck & Patti," he added. So look out

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The theme from “Halloween,” with Jamie Lee Curtis, is a good mood setter.

COURTESY OF AMC

I love, love, love Halloween. (Hey, when else can a grown man show up at the club dressed like Pinhead?) And I’m working on my annual Halloween megamix.

It would be easy to just tell everyone to play Fantomas’ “Delirium Cordia” to give their house party the right ambiance; it’s one 75-minute track, and easily the creepiest album I’ve ever heard. Or I could just rehash the same playlist from last

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