We recently told you about The Strokes‘ Nikolai Fraiture’s new band Nickel Eye. The band has yet to officially release any tracks or play live yet, however two songs by the band which were played on Mark Ronson’s East Village radio show have apparently been ripped and are now appearing on several file sharing sites as well as on YouTube. The tracks ‘Brandy Of The Damned‘ and ‘Dying Star‘, are available to download on several sites and feature Fraiture on vocals.

According to their MySpace site at Myspace.com/officialnickeleye, the band will be releasing their debut album, ‘The Time Of The Assassins‘, soon. [Via NME]

Kings Of Leon’s highly anticipated forthcoming album “Only By The Night” isn’t due out till September 23, but the Followill boys are giving there fans something special in the while they wait. Fans who head over to the band’s site can get a free download of ‘Crawl‘, a new track from their forthcoming album. To get the track you only need to enter your email address, that’s it. The boys also recently announced a UK arena tour which will kick off on December 1st in Brighton.

The Subways, who kicked off their US tour on Friday (July 25), have announced the US release date for their new sophomore album. ‘All Or Nothing‘ is set for release on September 9. The twelve-track album, which was produced by Smashing Pumpkins producer Butch Vig, is the follow-up to ‘Young For Eternity‘.

Cold War Kids highly anticipated sophomore album, ‘Loyalty To Loyalty‘, isn’t due to drop until September 23rd, however if you head over to RCRD LBL right now you can download  the free .mp3 for ‘Something Is Not Right With Me‘, the first single from the forthcoming album. To download the track just go here. The band will also soon embark on a massive tour in support of the album. The will play dates in North America, the UK, Australia, and Europe.

MIA and Santogold have teamed up with the band Radioclit for a track called ‘Get It Up‘. The collaboration is currently streaming at Myspace.com/radioclit. According the band, the track, which sees the singers trade verses and contribute to the backing vocals, was recorded with “MIA and Santogold last year.” It is unclear whether the song will get a formal release, as of now it is only being streamed.

The Pretenders have announced they will be releasing their forthcoming album in a non-traditional way. The new album, ‘Break Up The Concrete‘, is due out September 23 however the band’s label, Shangri-La Music, is giving away a new track from the album each week leading up to its release. The first free track, ‘Boots Of Chinese Plastic‘, was released on Wednesday (July 23) and is available to download through AOL’s Spinner.com. To find out about future song releases and where you can download them head over to the band’s website at thepretenders.com.

CSS have announced dates for a forthcoming UK tour. Lovefoxx and co. are set to kick off their tour on October 5th in support of their sophomore album ‘Donkey‘ which was released July 21 (July 22 in the US). The Brazilian band are set to play dates in Sheffield, London and Manchester among others.

Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg has just released a new album for only 49 cents. ‘49:00‘ was released over the weekend (July 19) via Amazon’s MP3 store with the extremely low price tag. The album is being sold as a single MP3 file on Amazon, but customers be warned, you must click the “”Buy MP3 album with 1-Click” button and not the download song button, otherwise the price tag becomes a hefty 89 cents.

Goldfrapp have announced dates for a forthcoming North American tour. The six date tour will kick off on September 12 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and will continue through Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco before wrapping up at the Orpheum in Los Angeles on September 21.

In other Goldfrapp news, the band is set to release the ‘Caravan Girl‘ Digital EP on July 22. The EP includes a live acoustic version of ‘Monster Love’ and an Animal Collective remix of ‘Little Bird’. They are also slated to release an iTunes Original Session compilation in August. The session will include new versions of ‘Strict Machine’, ‘Ooh La La’ and ’Paper Bag’, among others.

Tokyo Police Club have mapped out US dates in support of their debut album ‘Elephant Shell‘ which was released in May. The tour is set to kick off in September with a performance in Baltimore, MD on September 8. The twelve date jaunt will be wrapping up with an appearance at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans on October 25.

Mongrel, the indie super-group we wrote about recently has just posted new tracks online at  Myspace.com/wearemongrel. The group features Arctic Monkeys‘ Matt Helders, former Monkey Andy Nicholson, Babyshambles‘ Drew McConnell, and Reverend and The Makers‘ Jon McClure.

CSS highly anticipated sophomore album, ‘Donkey‘, just got a whole lot better for fans Stateside. Fans who pre-order the album, which is due out July 22 in the US via Sub Pop, will receive a three-song bonus CD-R with two tracks not found on ‘Donkey‘, as well as a demo version of the track ‘I Fly‘ from the new album. Only those who head over to the Sup Pop web store before the release will get the bonus disc, so go there fast.

CSS will also be bringing their Donkey love to the US when they kick off the North American leg of their tour July 30 in Minneapolis, MN.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O has debut demo tracks from her new side-project, Native Korean Rock. The demos are currently available to hear at the bands Myspace page at Myspace.com/nativekoreanrock. Among the tracks posted is ‘Sunset Sun‘ which features Karen O on vocals and acoustic guitar. Native Korean Rock played a live show last night (July 21) in New York at Union Pool, with more live shows expected in the near future.

Scarlett Johansson has just released a seven song iTunes Live Session EP. The EP, which is now available on iTunes, consists mostly of Tom Waits covers including ‘Anywhere I Lay My Head‘, the actress also covers The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry‘.

Coldplay kicked off the North American leg of their world tour, in support of ‘Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends‘, Monday night (July 14) at the Forum in Los Angeles. The band continue their tour Friday (July 18) in San Jose, CA after which they will head to Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia and several other cities before heading to the UK and Europe. To celebrate the beginning of their tour, Coldplay have made available a free download of a new track not found on the new album. The song, ‘Death Will Never Conquer‘, can be downloaded on the band’s website simply by entering your email address. Get the song here.

To celebrate the release of their double A-side single, ‘Waterfront Dance Club‘/’Beneath The Burning Tree‘, Funeral For A Friend are releasing half of it as a free download. The first track of the single will be released as a free download from Waterfrontdanceclub.com beginning July 14, the same day the double A-side is released on vinyl. The band’s fourth album, ‘Memory And Humanity‘, is out October 13.

We are now getting a little more details about Bloc Party’s forthcoming single ‘Mercury‘ which was premiered recently on BBC’s Radio One. The single is set for release in the UK on August 11 and in the US on August 12. To the disappointment of American fans, ‘Mercury‘ will only be available as a digital format in the US while the UK will be getting the single in a variety of formats including a CD version featuring remixes by CSS and Flosstradamus. They will also be getting  7″ and 12″ versions of the single as well as a limited edition “disc set” (disc box) that will include all three formats.

Coming off the heels of headlining this year’s Glastonbury Festival, The Verve have made a brand new song available for free. ‘Mover‘, which is off the band’s forthcoming album ‘Forth‘, has been released for free via the bands website. Their new album is due out in August to be preceded by their single ‘Love Is Noise‘.

Nine Inch Nails recently released album ‘Slip‘, which was released only as a free download at NIN.com, will now be available as a limited-edition CD/DVD. The special CD will hit shelves on July 22 and only 250,000 copies of the CD will be released worldwide. Included in the limited-edition pack will be individually numbered six-panel digipak which includes a bonus DVD of performances filmed during rehearsals for the band’s upcoming Lights In The Sky tour. Also included is a 24-page booklet. Vinyl lovers will also have an opportunity to pick up a gatefold vinyl versions of ‘Slip‘ along with a 24-page booklet when it is release on August 5. The band have also recently announced dates for their upcoming North American tour which will kick-off July 25 with a slot at the Pemberton Festival in Pemberton, BC.

Franz Ferdinand’s third album won’t be out till January but fans will get to hear their first single from the forthcoming album when it is included on Madden NFL 09’s soundtrack. The soundtrack for the game is due out August 12. The band also recently revealed a few live dates where you might also catch a couple of new songs.