(11.04.07) Recommends:

Missteps on Both Sides Led to Health Bill Veto.

In the last four months the bill has changed substantially, but the criticism has not, and this frustrates lawmakers like Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, who said the president had been “given some pretty bad advice” by his staff.

(11.02.07) Recommends:

Two for Friday.

Expecting Presidential Veto, Senate Passes Child Health Measure.

Prostates and Prejudices.

(10.29.07) Recommends:

(Really) Free (Not Really) Secret Sigur Ros Show.



In order to get a wrist band for this free show you must show up at Amoeba in Hollywood between 6-9pm tomorrow. And as luck would have it, you were already planning on being there for the free Sondre Lerche in-store performance.

Who says LA is an expensive town?

(10.29.07) Recommends:

More David Dondero Youtube Videos.

It's been all David Dondero all the time around here lately. This might not stop for a while. You people need to buy his albums and attend his shows.

(10.28.07) Recommends:

David Dondero, "My Fuse Is Lit."

So last time we spoke we were hyping the David Dondero/Richard Buckner show at Spaceland in Silver Lake. Dondero played this song. It was eerie. Evocative. Provocative. Angry. Sad. Goose bumps.

The world around us rarely makes sense and we turn to art for some kind of explanation or some sense of comfort or at least a sign that we're not the only ones who feel the way we feel. This song doesn't offer an explanation or a sense of comfort, but we do feel less alone in the world when we hear it. And there's comfort in that, we suppose.

The version performed last night seemed to have more lyrics, but here's a version of the song performed earlier this year.

(10.26.07) Recommends:

David Dondero.

Wow. We cannot believe that it is 2007 and we're only just now being exposed to David Dondero. We live in an era of refrigerators and fax machines and internets and we're really just now finding out about this? Amazing. You're gonna take one listen to the mp3 we're offering today and you're gonna say, "Hmmmm, this voice really, really reminds me of a certain young troubadour from Omaha." And then you, like us, will wiki David Dondero. And then you, too, won't believe that it's 2007 and you're only now learning of the connection. Unless -- and this is entirely possible now that we've actually thought about it -- you are much hipper than us and already know about David Dondero, in which case we're gonna have to ask why the eff you didn't bring this gentlemen to our attention sooner?

Well, enough wondering already. Because for those of us in Los Angeles, we've got quite a treat this weekend. Not only is Mr. Dondero in town, but he's opening for Richard Buckner -- a true hero of this blog -- at Spaceland. More info here.

So, if you're in LA and you know us, come on out. If you're in LA and you've somehow stumbled upon this blog, come out and let's meet. We like meeting new people. By the time the show starts, KU will possibly be 8-0 in football and moving up in the BCS ratings. Writing that is almost as insane as not finding out about David Dondero until now.

So, check 'em out, saddlecreekers:

David Dondero -- Rothko Chapel -- mp3.

More to hear at his Myspace.

(10.25.07) Recommends:

House Passes Health Bill but Gains No Republican Votes.

(10.25.07) Recommends:

House to Vote on New Child Health Bill.

(10.25.07) Recommends:

The Onion v. Pitchfork.

(10.24.07) Recommends:

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir.



It seems like every week we've been putting up new Bloodshot releases. Well, Bloodshot must be employing press release writers whose aim is specifically to get us and those like us to bite on these bands. Because when we get the following in our inboxes, our electronic ears perk up:

Chicago-based chamber pop collective The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir aren’t your typical debauched rock stars reveling in a pastiche of self-destructive clichés. Leading a band that’s shared the stage with both the Arcade Fire and Ira Glass, Spoon and Dave Eggers, it’s clear that lead singer, guitarist, and keyboard player Elia and his scrappy group are comfortable straddling the divide between the debased rock ‘n’ roll world and the high-minded literati. As it turns out, both shoes fit. Not content with merely performing with some of the most notable names in independent music, the band has explored their connections with the literary and theatrical worlds, performing with Eggers, DeRogatis, This American Life’s Glass, author Joe Meno, and Saturday Night Live regular Fred Armisen.

And Aspidistra was the accompanying track. We like it. So up it goes. There's more to get into at the bands myspace page.

Oh, and speaking of Myspace. As we're sure you've heard by now, today Microsoft threw a large chunk of change for a 1.6 pct stake in Facebook. We particularly liked the following quote from this Times article:

Mr. [Lee] Lorenzen and other Silicon Valley investors are often dismissive of MySpace, Facebook’s larger rival, which has more than 110 million active users and is owned by the News Corporation. “MySpace is not based on authentic identities. Facebook is based on who you really are and who your friends really are. That is who marketers really want to reach, not the fantasy you that lives on MySpace and uses a photo of a model,” he said.

We laughed -- literally LOL'd -- when we read this. We used to be embarrassed by Myspace. But at some point we learned to stop fearing it, and embraced it. Outside of Rhapsody, we're not sure there's a better tool for discovering new music than Myspace. And that's why we think the VC following world is missing the boat with their recent, incessant Myspace bashing.

(10.23.07) Recommends:

White Rabbits.

So the transition to moving to a new city and a new neighborhood has been made smooth due pretty much exclusively to the generous and large-hearted people who we know. They've cooked us meals. They've invited us over to play Scrabble. They've invited us out to shows. Frankly, we're still trying to figure out what we bring to the table and why these generous people continue to return our phone calls, and reply to our text messages and emails. But in the mean time, we'll just go with it. So the latest in our burgeoning list of cool things to which cooler-people-than-we have invited us was to see Tokyo Police Club at the El Rey.

Long time readers will remember that we've been batting our eye lashes at TPC for a while now. They were, we're happy to report, really fantastic live.

But before they hit the stage, White Rabbits had the place up and dancing. We had not heard of White Rabbits before tonight, but we have a feeling they're gonna be a pretty indispensable part of our music collection going forward. And I'm not saying this just because they're quasi-hometown homies -- they got their start in Columbia, Mo. They had the crowd whipped into a frenzy, and anytime an opening band can do this, attention must be paid.

There's very few things we enjoy more than walking into a show, completely unaware of a band, and walking away converts.

It happened tonight. Check 'em out for yourself.

(10.22.07) Recommends:

Malajube.

We're late on this one, we know, but better late than never. We're here now and we're enjoying the view. It will be weeks before the following two songs stop playing on repeat through our speakers:

Malajube -- Montreal -40°C -- mp3.

Malajube -- Étienne D'aoút -- mp3.

(mp3s from iheartmusic.net via CBC Radio 3)

(10.21.07) Recommends:

Luke Temple.

Remember that time when you were in the fourth grade and your teacher went up to the chalk board and wrote, "A Man, A Plan, A Canal: Panama!" and you actually thought to yourself, Man, dyslexics get all the breaks sometimes. Then you went home and cried yourself to sleep because above all else you are emo and you couldn't believe that such horrible thoughts were fermenting in your brain?

Well, all those feelings came rushing back to us when we stumbled upon the music of Luke Temple this weekend. And by this, we mean that when we first heard his music we thought to ourselves, A Man, A Voice, A Guitar, Based in Brooklyn: Huzzah!

Listen to Saturday People. Just a little dash of banjo goes a long way toward creating a tasty treat, right?

Luke Taylor -- Saturday People -- streaming audio.

(10.20.07) Recommends:

Getting over yourself.

Since I try to shield my fragile self from popular discussions of politics, I'm not sure if it's still trendy to ask What's the Matter With Kansas? At any rate now, in addition to that inconvienent truth that Kansas has a Governor who is a female and a Democrat, we have this to consider.

(10.19.07) Recommends:

Del McCoury Band Live on NPR.

There is no finer bluegrass band in the country than the Del McCoury Band. Here they are in a live in-studio performance on NPR. Enjoy.

(10.18.07) Recommends:

House Sustains President’s Veto on Child Health.

(10.16.07) Recommends:

Trendwhore.ca

This is the site that yesterday shook the blogosphere to its very core when it presented the world with its Bruce Springsteen/Arcade Fire videos. Even though the site has apparently only been around since July there's pretty much no reason for most blogs to continue. Blogging Jesus has arrived, and he's Canadian. Of course.

And as long as we're mentioning blogs that are rendering the blogosphere obsolete go here several times a day. We mentioned this blog a while back, but truth be told we could -- and probably should -- mention it every day.

(10.15.07) Recommends:

Manchester Orchestra's cover of Annuals' Brother.

We thought Annuals' Be He Me was one of the strongest records of 2006 and it didn't even come out until October, perhaps even exactly a year ago tomorrow? Well, happy anniversary people. Because Annuals are now hitting the road with their Atlanta-based friends Manchester Orchestra. And in honor of the 20-date slate of shows, a vinyl 7" containing each band covering each other's tracks will be available at the shows. Obviously 7" vinyl is way too music hardcore/underground/snobby for us. I mean, all we've got is a crappy laptop which is certain to crash at any second, taking with it most of the music we've purchased over the last five years, and a rickety CD player that makes most of our CDs skip. Luckily for us Luddites, a few of the songs showed up in our email this morning. Take a listen, wontcha?

Manchester Orchestra -- Brother (cover) -- mp3.
Annuals -- Brother (original) -- mp3.

(10.14.07) Recommends:

Joe Posnanski and The Soul of Baseball.

Now that we're into the meat of the baseball playoffs, it seems like an appropriate time to mention Joe Posnanski. There may be no better baseball writer than the Kansas City Star's Joe Posnanski. He is a sports writer for people who otherwise hate sports writing. He very well be a sports writer for people who otherwise hate sports. He is gentle and humane and charming and not afraid of real, genuine emotion; his column's are like mini documentaries; he has the traditionalist sensibility of someone who has understood the joy of baseball since his earliest days, yet is intellectually curious enough to listen to outside voices (in Kansas City he was incorporating the work of, e.g., Bill James and Rob Neyer long before the release of Moneyball); he is occasionally, literally, laugh out loud funny.

This summer I discovered that he that started a blog in promotion of a new book.

The blog is a must read. The one caveat is that while in his columns he is "sports writer for those who hate sports writing," the blog tends to be more "baseball writer for people who spend at least two hours each day contemplating which baseball team had the best powder blue uniforms in the 1980s." (Please feel free to leave your votes in the comments) Of course, for baseball fans, this is an utter treat. There are 8 months of archives and it might take a few days to get through them all, but it's hard to imagine you'd be sorry for doing it.

Then, at some point at the end of the summer, he decided to scrap the blog because it was taking up too much time (hahahahaha!). But fear not, nerds, JoPa is back. His latest entry -- the first I've read on the new site -- is a 5,700+ word (!!) opus ostensibly about LeBron James' YankeeHatGate, but ends up telling Posnanski's crushing history as a Cleveland Sports Fan (he's from Cleveland). It's pretty classic Posnanski. The word "stunning" and the phrase "we're lucky to have a writer like this alive" are far too overused in our culture. But there's simply no way of getting around the fact that they both apply to Joe Posnanski.

(10.13.07) Recommends:

The Airborne Toxic Event.

We were laid up, sick, in bed all day yesterday. First we thought it was one of those innocuous 24-hour bugs. Then we thought maybe it was something more serious. We were feverish and we worried we were dehydrated. So, we walked to the market (the people of California call their grocery stores "markets") to pick up some Gatorade. We almost fainted four times on the way to-and-fro the market. Then we could not "keep" the Gatorade "down" and the funny/gross/educational thing about that is when you drink red Gatorade followed by blue Gatorade it does, in fact, come back up green. Who knew. So we were convinced that we would not be able to keep our body temperature down or our vital organs replenished so we were sure we were going to die.

Then, we remembered how the night before we had eaten a Caesar salad for dinner. Caesar salads, of course, are made of lettuce. And everybody knows that California lettuce was recalled last year due to E.Coli concerns. So naturally, we were convinced we had E. Coli and were going to die at any moment.

Then we convinced ourselves that we noticed some weird smell in our apartment. We were convinced that there was some kind of weird mold growing somewhere, the breathing in of which would slowly, surely, kill us.

Which brings us to the point of this blog entry. Since we were convinced that we were literally on our death bed probably due to breathing in mold, we naturally went looking to verify our symptoms on the internet. We Googled "toxic airborne" which, when we look at this search string now, makes little-to-no sense to us. But at the time, we were under an insane feverish delusion. At any rate, the first search result was for The Airborne Toxic Event, which is a band from Los Feliz, which, for people not familiar with the area, is a somewhat hipster-LA neighborhood.

So I clicked on the link.

Immediately the song "Does This Mean You're Moving On" pops up.

74 listens later, and we think our impending death, too, is moving on.

Here's a youtube video of the song: