Rusty Shackleford

Kanye West doesn't care about white people. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=entnews

Great show at Merriweather (DC) last night. They're mixing up the new songs and the classics very well. If you're at all on the fence about seeing R.E.M. this year, go ahead and do it. They're playing great right now. And the National are pretty good too. 1. Finest Worksong 2. Living Well Is the Best Revenge 3. Bad Day 4. What's the Frequency, Kenneth? 5. Drive 6. Ignoreland 7. Man-Sized Wreath 8. Little America 9. Hollow Man 10. Walk Unafraid. 11. Houston 12. Electrolite 13. (Don

I requested 2 songs for the 9:30 in February. One got played ("Monday"). Somehow I get the feeling that they would have played it anyway, because a horn section is a terrible thing to waste.

Automatic Reckoning Fables It's one of those, but I'm not sure which.

This is the version I found on Amazon: 2 LPs and an "enhanced" CD, but still no track or feature listing. http://www.amazon.com/Yankee-Hotel-Foxtrot...9603&sr=1-3

I'm not sure about that. Amazon is listing it as available on June 24, and available for "Prime" shipping, which Euro-only releases usually aren't (I think). I actually don't own YHF on media--I downloaded it from iTunes back when I was stupid. I might buy this one, depending on what the extra trimmings are.

I'm going to the Merriweather/DC show. I know virtually nothing about Modest Mouse, but I'm pretty excited to see the National and R.E.M.

I have a couple of CD/DVD combos, and I watch the DVDs. Not "regularly," but I've watched them more than once. I play CDs on my DVD player through a home theater setup anyway, so if I'm listening to music I might as well put on some visuals. I think I've watched the "Shake It Off" DVD probably 4 or 5 times, which is more than I've watched any others, because it's got good performances and not too much filler. Others, not so much.

I've never liked invoking the Equal Protection Clause for voting rights cases. If voting was meant to be covered by the 14th amendment, then why did Congress adopt the 15th amendment shortly thereafter? (Not to mention the 19th less-shortly thereafter). I'm sure this is covered in the cases somewhere, but it's always seemed fishy to me. Here I disagree. Filing tax returns implicates a fundamental right because if you don't file them, you can forfeit your fundamental right not to go to prison. The tax system puts an affirmative burden on everyone, and on stupid people more than smart

Another way would be for Wilco to charge a lot more for tickets when they play really small venues. Then at least the band wins. Whenever they play the 9:30 Club in DC they sell out in minutes, and the tickets are all over ebay, stubhub, craigslist, etc. I couldn't find a ticket for the 2/26/08 show for $100, but the band only got $35 face value for those. Right now Wilco is a scalper's dream for some of these small venues--low ticket face price, extremely high demand, so that there's virtually no risk for any old jackass who wants to buy tickets and turn them around for a quick buck. I

We have a winner!

I'm still stunned over that one. Once the Caps killed off the 4-minute minor (with 2 minutes of 5-on-3) at the end of the first, I thought it was their night. I don't expect they would have beaten Pittsburgh, but I hate to see this run end. Unlike in '98, at least, I think the Caps have actually put together a team that can contend for the next couple of years.

It's been awhile since I bought (really) cheap beer, but I was always partial to Pittsburgh's finest, American. Other go-tos: Golden Annie, Meisterbrau, Olympia. Now that I'm The Man, however, I go for the good stuff. Nothing but Budweiser.

This is true. Also, "The Velvet Underground" (1968) is VU's best album.

Okay, these are all totally true. Also: Syd Barrett going nuts and leaving the band was the best thing that ever happened to Pink Floyd. The Bends is by far Radiohead's best album. Abbey Road is a better album than Sgt. Pepper. Bob Dylan hasn't written anything worth listening to in 30 years.

As a Caps fan, I am decidedly less enthusiastic about my Game 5 tickets than I was before the end of Game 4. I will say, the young Caps finally looked like a playoff team last night, and I think they can at least get it back to Philly for Game 6.

The beeper king is one of the funniest characters I've ever seen. "Technology is cyclical."

I don't know if the reissues sound better or not--I actually think that the "...And I Feel Fine" compilation that came out recently doesn't sound as good as the originals--it's remastered the "modern" way--e.g. all really loud, for mp3 player use. The 2nd CD of that "limited edition" has some great stuff on it, but I would start with the regular albums first. Also, keep in mind that many of the extra tracks on the IRS reissues are also available elsewhere (both legitimately and otherwise). For instance, many of them are on the 1987 release "Dead Letter Office," which was a compilation of

I've finally listened to (most of) Accelerate, and I like it quite a bit. They're back to sounding like R.E.M.--Stipe's vocals are a bit down in the mix, and most of them make no linear sense. More importantly, there are real drums played by a real drummer who is named Bill. It's not quite the same as having Bill Berry back, but that alone goes a long way to restoring the R.E.M. sound. Finally, Mike Mills sounds like himself again--the bass lines push the melody more than the guitars do, and he's singing harmonies again. Peter Buck's guitars are back, but this isn't the jangle-pop of Reck

I usually don't bother listening to the webcasts because the sound isn't as good as most audience recordings these days (at least in my opinion)--they're usually sort of tinny and compressed-sounding. But this one sounded full and rich and well-mixed. I wonder if it's because they had fewer people tuned in, or if they're just getting better at this webcast thing. Anyway, I'm glad they did it and glad you captured it, Col.

I hope someone is capturing the stream. This one sounds really great.

Grateful Dead's American Beauty.

Yup. I was shocked at how bad Around the Sun was, not because it's godawful (it's not--it's merely mediocre), but because when I saw these guys on tour in 2003 they sounded great. They were playing a mix of old and new material like they hadn't done since the Green tour and generally sounding better than they had in years. But clearly they did not spend any time on that tour working on new songs, and it showed on ATS. I hope they take the opportunity that seems to be presented by the favorable critical response (so far) to Accelerate and get back to being a working band. They really have

True. I get the feeling, however, that the last 2 records were really Stipe solo projects, and that the other guys, especially Buck, weren't very involved. Buck's had some recent interviews where he basically suggested as much. So, with Peter Buck apparently back on board--he's always been my favorite R.E.M. guy anyway--I'm looking forward to the new record. It might not be another Reckoning or Fables, but it damn sure won't be another Around the Sun.

Aerosmith Big Star Creedence Clearwater Revival Doors Eagles For Squirrels Golden Smog Hendrix, Jimi INXS Jane's Addiction KISS Led Zepplin Minus 5 Nirvana Oasis Pink Floyd Queen R.E.M. Screaming Trees Television U2 Velvet Underground Wilco X Yorn, Pete ZZ Top