Scalzunfield

That's what I'm rolling with when I play it on my bass guitar too so that would seem correct to me.

Thanks so much for the share. GREAT article and fascinating as well. I'm putting the thing on loud in the car today and thinking of this article when I do.

This was my favorite record of 2009 simply because I expected a solid rock album and I got that and a little bit more. Plus, I was looking for a good rock album coming into the year after 2008 was fairly quiet and got...more quiet stuff from my favorites so this album blasted them all out of the water. Don't get me wrong, there were other good/better than good albums last year but this one knocked my socks off. I know I'll be tuning in this week.

Woohoo! And now I'm cursing myself for getting Ted Leo tickets for 3/13. Looks like I'm shooting for Jeff on 3/12. Great news!

I saw them a few years back at a festival in Cincinnati. They played right after Rhett Miller and right before Wilco. I thought they were more of a niche band than anything and they TOTALLY did not fit in with the acts around them. In fact, most of their set sounded like a repeat of the same song. A fair portion of the crowd was really into the show but I chalked it up to southern folks loving them some bluegrass-y sounding stuff more than anything. I guess I must have missed what the rest of you are hearing in them but I can't shake that experience enough to give them another shot.

I've been on a TOTAL reading kick in the new year. I jokingly set a "resolution" to read 10,000 pages this year (even though I'm sure I eclipsed that by a bit last year) and already find myself right around 2,500. Read so far this year: Currently Reading: Next up: and I may read Neal Stephenson's entire fiction novels set in chronological order after that.

Hmmm, how can I make it more obvious that I was being sarcastic since Wilco songs have been used already in VW commercials... Relax. Just...relax.

I was thinking more along the lines of when one or more of their songs are used in a Volkswagen commercial. Does that not just SCREAM "sell outs!" or is it just me?

I still don't get this record. Flat out just don't get it. Virtually zero memorable hooks as far as I can tell. I can't really recall anything about this album after I'm done with it. There's no "Don't Make Me A Target" or "Don't You Evah" here and, while I wasn't expecting something as catchy as "The Underdog" either, they don't even approach it. The second half of Gimme Fiction which was, to date, the weakest effort Spoon's released IMO, has been trumped by this album. Don't get me wrong: I don't hate this album. I just feel like it's missing what made me love Spoon in the first place. I j

I loved the first album but think the new stuff is absolutely horrid. "Horchata" made me cringe the first time I heard it and, much like "Beverly Hills" by Weezer did, it only multiplies every time I heard it. None of those songs would even scratch the first album IMO.

After the Hawks, Blues game last night I've never been more proud of myself for not being a fan of St Louis hockey. Not only are they a terrible hockey club, their lack of skill at playing actual hockey means they headhunt other team's stars. The funniest part was how absolutely awful the officiating was in the game. Jackman threw an elbow to Kane's head in open ice that was not called and some minor leaguer (I think named Weaver) left his feet in an attempt to decapitate Sharp. Again no penalty called, but Barker went after Weaver to defend his teammate and the Blues ended up with a 7 minut

Amazon has it for $7.99 as well but it's still the $25 minimum for free shipping. Good thing I pre-ordered last month with the new Vampire Weekend and Eels discs!

Thought about it as well but am not willing to spring for a hotel room on NYE and DEFINITELY not making the 90 mile drive back home with all the 'tards on the road even though I'll be sober. I'll regret not seeing Spoon but there will be other chances where I'll feel less like I'm risking my life to be there.

While I loved the Wilco shows I saw and they've been my top for about 6 years running, this year they were unseated simply because I got to see the first ever Them Crooked Vultures show at Metro in Chicago. After seeing that, nothing else could come close.

Rhett's new one is the most blah I've ever felt about any of his work. The Believer was pretty bad but it got worse with this album I think. Every single chorus of every single song involves him shouting the word "love." I understand most of his songs are about heartbreak, but yikes. Switch it up a LITTLE.

Pretty sad, although can't say I remember seeing any of her movies, but...full cardiac arrest at 32 though? Isn't that a little strange? She always looked horribly thin too so I kind of wonder if there wasn't some other underlying problem for her in all of this as well.

Nice. Thought I read Bela Fleck was the headliner. In any case, not a huge deal as I'm doing early Christmas 650 miles away with my family and am traveling there on Saturday. Have fun if you're going!

Yeah but they're not headlining and the ticket price and not wanting to see any of the other bands made it an easy choice to wait until February in Milwaukee.

The one I can't stop getting when I have the option at restaurants or at the store is Leine's Honey Weiss. Especially on tap it's one of the smoothest beers and, as far as I'm concerned, king of the American beers (although there isn't much competition).

Hey no problem. My intro to the band was at the Wilco Millenium Park show. I listened to Dr Dog's myspace the day before and heard "My Old Ways" and could not get it out of my head. Seeing them live from 9 rows back there was awesome and I finally got to see them again at the Double Door earlier this year. Needless to say, I have picked up tickets to see them in Milwaukee in February (I'm about a 90 minute drive from Chicago and Milwaukee so it helps out greatly when I want to see bands). I might even hit Madison or Iowa City too.

There was mention of live shows for Dr. Dog. The great Own & Bear have a few shows up (http://www.owlandbear.com/owl-and-bearchive/) if you haven't pulled them down already.

You're never going to get a legitimate answer to that question anyways from a religious person. In their mind, there's no other explanation for anything than "God did this" or "God gave you that" etc. There's never any physical proof behind it, just the belief that God does everything. You'll never talk a religious person out of that mindset. As a confirmed atheist with a major hatred of organized religion (not the ideas behind it but the way people act upon it when in a group of like-minded followers) I've pretty much given up trying to talk to people who are religious because they will n

10 years ago when I first got into Son Volt, Tupelo, and Wilco (in that order) I would have killed for a reunion. Now...not so much. Wilco's career trajectory has been nearly straight up as they have continued to make interesting music while Farrar's has been nearly a flat line from Wide Swing Tremolo onwards as Jay continues to wallow about how sorry the world is...and the music suffers for it. At this point, they're so far apart not only in terms of their careers but in terms of where they seem to be at mentally/personally (am I the only one who thinks Jay seems just miserable all the fr

In addition to Da Vinci Code and Beloved, I'll add Moby Dick. Maybe it's the fact that I had it crammed down my throat 3 times during high school/college and never once made it all the way through it. Thanks SparkNotes for all your help in getting through such a dry, dry book.

As one of my favorite radio and TV personalities Adam Carolla always used to say on Loveline (drenched with sarcasm): "We can't judge. Every culture is beautiful, wonderful...we can't judge. If it's okay to take an underage wife and bear children with her in your culture, that's great. We can't judge."