DOT-DOT-DOT-COM: MMJ HOOKS UP WITH TODD HAYNES FOR UNSTAGED

American Express Unstaged has set a wildly successful precedent by tapping world-class directors to capture bands in live performance streamed live on Vevo. Thus far, the series has teamed John Legend and the Roots with Spike Lee, Duran Duran with David Lynch and, most memorably, Arcade Fire with Terry Gilliam. For the next Unstaged, My Morning Jacket will join forces with Todd Haynes, who’ll film the band’s sold-out May 31 performance at Louisville’s Palace Theatre—meaning you’ll be able to watch the concert as it happens, starting at 6 p.m. PT May 31, on the band's Vevo page. By the way, May 31 just happens to be the release date of the band's fantastic new album, Circuital, on ATO. Haynes, whose most recent project was the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, met and “hit it off” with MMJ’s Jim James during the filming of the director’s inventively offbeat Bob Dylan rock doc, I’m Not There. In an interview with Nate Chinen for the N.Y. Times—which you can read in its entirety here—Haynes talks at length about his fondness for the band’s envelope-pushing music. “I love Z,” he says. “I love It Still Moves. And the first record is beautiful. Evil Urges has some stuff in it that’s unbelievable. It’s really daring and diverse and seems to be trying out a lot of different genres. But Z is such a complete experience. They’re all quite different and they keep trying new things, which I love... A lot of bands, you hear exactly what their references are, they wear it upfront. There’s always something mysterious and multiple about where My Morning Jacket is coming from.”… Spotify is in the download business. The sub service has just launched an update that allows users to sync their Spotify playlists to an iPod, as well as enabling iPhone and Android users to access its free service, and for anybody to buy tracks from its new MP3 store. The company said on its website that Spotify users connecting an iPod to their computers will now see it appear in a new "Devices" section of the Spotfy streaming player, where playlists can be synced with the iPod. The download store will sell tracks in bundles, with 10 tracks costing about $13, 15 tracks for about $16.48, 40 tracks for $41.25 or 100 tracks for $82.50. Pitched head honcho Daniel Ek: "From today, Spotify really is the only music player you'll ever need. Our users don't want to have to switch between music players, but they do want to take their playlists with them wherever they go, on a wider range of devices, more simply and at a price they can afford. Now we've made that possible on one of the world's most popular consumer devices." But whether this new initiative will please the Big Four and break thye deadlock on Spotify's long-delayed U.S. launch remains to be seen... Pandora has introduced a new personalized comedy radio feature, which will provide customized recommendations just for laughs, so to speak, launching what it calls the Comedy Genome Project, designed to analyze thousands of performances "to capture their comedic style and content." As always, users' thumbs up/thumbs down ratings will help shape the comedy stream to individual tastes. "Pandora is about creating a great, personalized radio experience,” Hyped top dog CEO Tim Westergren. “Comedy is a natural part of that experience, and it's something our listeners have been asking us to deliver for a while."… On Wednesday, Pitchfork debuted a newly recorded track from The Black Keys—a cover of Buddy Holly's "Dearest," the first single from Fantasy/ Concord’s tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly (6/28). The collection, put together by music supe Randall Poster, also features contributions from Paul McCartney, Florence + the Machine, Modest Mouse, Julian Casablancas, Fiona Apple, Cee-Lo and—yup—My Morning Jacket.