A Brief Update

Yes, I haven’t updated in a little while.  Hopefully that will change soon.

I’m writing right now to let you know that after a tremendous hiatus, I will be returning to broadcasting tomorrow morning for Left of the Dial, my college radio show.  Follow the link to tune in tomorrow between 11 and noon and to find out how to get in contact with me!

R.E.M.’s Accelerate has Arrived!

Thanks to several commenters, I now have the new R.E.M. album.   It’s out there and if you look a bit through the torrent of information on the internet, you’ll find it.

That’s the best hint I can give without getting WB on my case.

More to come soon.

How about those Friars?

I’m not one to gloat, but as I watch students from my alma mater, Providence College, flood the court after beating UConn tonight, I’m compelled to share this quote from today’s Hartford Courant.

UConn’s A.J. Price promised revenge for Providence’s on-court boasting after defeating the Huskies in Hartford earlier this season.  Price event went as far as making a (gulp) guarantee.

“Real disrespectful,” Price said of the Friars without a hint of sarcasm or hesitation. “They don’t know how to win, and it showed. They were laughing, mocking. I usually have a lot of respect for other teams, but they showed a lack of respect last game. They beat up on us and made a mockery of it.”

Not worried about giving Providence bulletin-board material, A.J.?

“No,” he said. “We’ll be ready to go. … We want to blow them out. That’s what we’re going there to play for.”

Cut to the end of the game – Price goes 4 for 13 from the floor and Providence wins 85 – 76.  I can’t wait to see Jim Calhoun alternate stutter through a belligerent post-game press conference on the news tonight.

Alright, I’m done reveling for the time being.  Being a PC alum, we have so few of these moments that we have to savor them.  (Now, watch this sweep of UConn save coach Tim Welsh’s job).

Arcade Fire cover Bowie’s “Heroes” for Obama, Winner of the Vermont Primary (All on the Day Brett Favre Retires Too!)

(That might be the longest title for a post I have so far).

Yesterday, I wrote about how the Arcade Fire covered Sam Cooke, John Lennon, and David Bowie over the weekend during two separate rallies for Barack Obama in Ohio.  Today, Stereogum posted a link to the cover of Bowie’s “Heroes,” a song I love so much that I made it my ringtone for a while a couple years ago.  Unlike the Sam Cooke video, the clip features the entire song as well as higher quality sound.

Here’s the video:

Right now Obama and Clinton are “too close to call” in Ohio.  Polls closed about 20 minutes ago except in Sandusky County where a ballot shortage (really? Was Tommy Callahan in charge of that too?)  prompted an extension to 9:00 PM in addition to a request in Cuyahoga County as well (I swear that I’m not making these up, they were just convenient references!) and it’s looking like a long night before definitive data comes in.  This could be a big night for the Democrats – the coveted Rhode Island contingency to the convention in Denver is up for grabs tonight (not to mention “small” contests in Ohio and Texas).

Finally (and completely unrelated), congratulations to Brett Favre, who announced his retirement from the NFL after seventeen seasons and almost every significant career passing record.  While the media often fawned uncontrollably over Favre, the league will be a lesser place without him.

Arcade Fire cover “A Change is Gonna Come” for Obama Rally

While WordPress’ news page caused a spike in traffic to my site again today (something I am infinitely grateful for and will never understand), I wanted to pass along this gem.

Over the weekend, five of the members of the Arcade Fire (who usually pack a baker’s dozen on stage) played a couple brief sets for Barack Obama rallies in Ohio. Among AF gems were covers of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” and David Bowie’s “Heroes” (and anyone with Youtube video or MP3s should let me know by leaving a comment). While those covers certainly caught my attention, it was their cover of one of my favorite songs – Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” – that motivated me to share it via this blog. Pitchfork, in addition to some nice pictures, passed on this Youtube clip of the band performing the second half of “A Change is Gonna Come” and the beginning of “Rebellion (Lies)” from Funeral. The sound quality drops sharply as “Rebellion”’s handclaps kick in, but the video has decent sound of the cover.

As always, please let me know if you find a higher quality clip or MP3 (or, while I’m asking for things, the new R.E.M. album!)

UPDATE: Pitchfork passed on a higher quality video from the second night.  The original video is now after the jump.

“A Change is Gonna Come”