Covers

Are covers cool? Some people think yes, some think no, some think only if the band puts their unique stamp on the song, others think only if the band does a faithful recreation. I think covers are cool in any regard, particularly this one:

Wye Oak covers Danzig

The Tyler Cowen

1. China's next generation.
2. Poverty in context.
3. Doomsaying to the contrary, this guy thinks weather-related deaths are declining. Via Marginal Revolution.
4. Ah the bizarre ways in which our need for a human connection manifests itself. Via The Browser.
5. Creepy proof that Facebook is creepy. Via Gizmodo. (I dare you to try it.)

Smashing Friday

Metal Friday

Some of the best music ever put to a heavy metal guitar. Up the irons!

The Tyler Cowen

1. Portal Kombat. Via Joystiq.
   
2. Transiency. Via Marginal Revolution.
3. Simple but effective infographics. Also via Marginal Revolution.
4. Sexist assholes getting taken to task.

Phoenix Friday

The Tyler Cowen

1. Richard Branson shoots for the depths in a submarine named 'Virgin Oceanic.' Wasn't Oceanic the fictitious airline that got it all started on Lost?
2. How fast are professional athletes? Really. Effing. Fast. Via The Awesomer.
   

Feel-Good Friday

The songs a growing human needs to get ready for the weekend. Special thanks to Brewhar the Pinko for coming through huge with a choice Clash suggestion (which was then replaced by an even better Clash tune). Organized to get more poppy as the day wears on.

Lift me up on arms of noise

Smile though your heart is aching. Or listen to rock and roll. When you need the redemptive power of music, I humbly submit the following for your consideration.

1. The Aye-Ayes: The Arms of Noise
2. Metric: Help I'm Alive
3. The Police: Synchronicity II
4. Sam Bisbee: Miracle Car
5. The Aye-Ayes: Don't Want to be Young
6. M83: Kim & Jessie
7. Queensryche: Walk in the Shadows
8. The Talking Heads: Naive Melody

Not, by any stretch of the imagination, a comprehensive list. Not even in any particular order.

Youth and Young Manhood Review

Young kings circa 2003. Might as well be 1973.

I remember first hearing the Kings of Leon while scrolling through the contents of a friend's iPod. (Remember those? The one's with a scroll-wheel? It made the most delightful clicking sound as you wound your way through a list.) The song I heard was none other than Happy Alone off their first full-length album Youth and Young Manhood. In my youthful impatience, I listened to the first few seconds and, deciding I knew what I was in for, flipped to another song before the vocals kicked in. That simple piece of impatience cost me untold cool points as I am just now getting into the band when they are too popular to be considered cool.