Double takes

• A Beatle is doing what????

• Who beat who on this week's Billboard charts???

This is a crazy, mixed-up world we're living in. Thank goodness there's a swarm of new releases due to hit store shelves over the next few weeks that should knock these teenyboppers down a few pegs. Like these guys!





And these guys (or at least half of them)!

On the cover of the Guiiitaaar Woorld

The anticipation is building for June 19th and the unleashing of the White Stripe's new album upon the world. Check out the latest shredder that made the cover of GW for next month...

A case of the Tuesdays

The family and I have just come off a nice 4-day weekend, and I hope all 3 of my readers had an awesome weekend as well. Ours involved some golf, cocktails, dirty marbles, and delicious BBQ. Big thanks to my wonderful wife and daughter for hanging out with me all weekend. I think the batteries are recharged enough to make it through the rest of the week. Big projects are in the works that involve wood chips, pulling weeds and birthday parties.

Did anyone have to fill up their vehicles with gasoline this weekend? I had to fill up the tanks of 2 gas hogs, and I had to take out a 2nd mortgage. To demonstrate, I have pulled the average gas prices in MN over the holiday weekend - I hope you're as shocked as I am. I am this close to buying a motorcycle, moped, or maybe even a dirtbike.



To sum up today's post, the following gentleman said it best when he proclaimed, "Let me talk, Carol!"

Thursday thoughts

• The Floyd's Blue softball team got beat again last night. The bats have been cold for the last few games - I think a little batting practice is in order.

• Check out the new White Stripes video for "Icky Thump" here!

• New info on Guitar Hero 3 here!
  

• Happy birthday wishes go out to Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan), who turns 66 today. Happy birthday, you old fart!

• The family is heading up to Brainerd after work today to relax in a condo for a few days while it rains and pours outside. This'll be the 1st family vacation we've taken in awhile, and we're all looking forward to a little R n' R.
  

Deep thoughts

• There's this guy that pitches for the Twins. His name is Boof Bonzer. From now on, he will be known as Fat Boozer. Thanks to Cub for that one.

• New Queens album = soooo awesome. Review coming soon.
  

Pumpkins live return

The Smashing Pumpkins have started the 1st show of their reunion tour in Paris. Check out live pictures from the gig here. Setlist is below...I'll update later with any reviews I happen to come across.

Pumpkins rarities set on iTunes

For anyone looking to get a hold of a boatload of Smashing Pumpkins rarities/b-sides (119 songs to be exact), head over to the iTunes store and search for "Smashing Pumpkins". There, you will find their "Rarities and B-sides" album for the low low price of $9.99. It's the deal of the century! Run and get it before they jack the price up!

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

The new Batman movie cannot arrive soon enough. Here's the 1st picture released of the Joker from the new film. Nutty, huh?


Check this page out to see where the above image came from. Pretty cool stuff.

New Velvet Revolver Single

Get the new Velvet Revolver single, "She Builds Quick Machines", here. It's great that they are putting out the 1st single for free and all, but it kinda sounds like a rehash of the first album. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the rest if the album sounds like when it comes out in July.

This Lullaby

Would you like to see a video history of the Queens of the Stone Age in 2 minutes and 37 seconds? If so, look no further than the video below.

"Zeitgeist" info

Here's the cover art for the new Pumpkins album. 1st single "Tarantula" hits radio on May 22nd. Tracklist is below:

01. Doomsday Clock
02. 7 Shades Of Black
03. Orchid
04. That's The Way
05. Tarantula
06. Starz
07. United States
08. Never Lost
09. Bring The Light
10. Come On (Let's Go)
11. For God And Country
12. Pomp And Circumstance

A message from Wilco HQ

Check out the following note from the guys in Wilco. If you're a fan of music, go out and buy their new album tomorrow.

Greetings to you all from the east coast branch -- where we've been burning the midnight oil for months getting ready for May 15. And it is finally upon us.

By now, you know that next week is the official release date of Wilco's 7th album (or 9th depending on how you count). Hence the slightly serious tone of this note. Tuesday, to be precise, marks the US release of Sky Blue Sky on Nonesuch Records. If you haven't had a chance to listen to the on-demand stream, by all means click here and take it for a spin. We're pretty sure you'll enjoy the ride.

But once you've done that we hope you'll take a moment to reflect (see, I told you this was serious) on how this dynamic has worked over the years -- the dynamic between us and you. We (and this "we" means the band, first and foremost) expend a lot of time, energy and other resources trying to make this something you are not just a witness to, but a participant in and we genuinely hope you can feel that.

We've been asked many times if we'd consider changing the way we do things, usually by people who are convinced we'd be more successful if we did. And either out of stubbornness or something else, we keep refusing. Instead, we just do what we do and somehow it all works. We continue to make lots of music available free to all in the road case, continue to allow taping/photos at shows, and basically just try to keep the things we do charge for of a quality that make you feel like you got a bargain. You know, mutual respect and all that. We like the way it works... a lot. We really do believe in trying to keep as much of it as free and open as is humanly possible. That seems pretty obvious... but somehow it remains a slight novelty in the modern day music business. So much so that people continually mention it in their stories when they write or speak about the band or the somewhat sad state of the music business.

Anyway, what we're getting at here is that right now we need you to participate in a way that is part of what has made this nice little story work. We're actually asking you to please go out next week and do the right thing for Wilco. That is, vote with your feet and prove the band's faith well-placed and buy the record. It's available from Tuesday at all kinds of retailers everywhere. Ask for it by name. It's also available here, and for those of you who are more digitally inclined, here.

Okay, enough campaign speeches. You get the message. And we trust that you'll act on it as you always have.

New feature

I just added a slick little feature to the blog. If you look at the top right section of the page, you'll see that I've added an area that allows you to subscribe to this blog. All you have to do is enter your e-mail address, and you'll get an e-mail every time the blog has an update. Pretty sharp, huh? It's no longer necessary for the 3 people who read this thing to check this place out on a daily basis. So feel free to sign up and let me know how it works.

New Queens Lineup + live vids

For those of you who aren't in the know, the lineup in Queens of the Stone Age tends to change with every album. And their next album is no exception. Here's the new lineup:


Michael Shuman - Bass/Backing Vocals
Dean Fertita - Keyboards/Guitar/Backing Vocals
Joshua Homme - Lead vocals/Guitar
Joey Castillo - Drums
Troy Van Leeuwen - Guitar/Lap Steel/Keyboards/Backing Vocals

A few new live QOTSA songs have made their way to YouTube. The quality may be a little questionable, but hopefully it'll give you a taste of how killer this new album will be when it comes out in about a month.

Turning on the Screw



I'm Designer

Well, this is dumb

I just found out that a local radio station (Drive 105) is switching to "Love 105". I don't know what they'll be playing, but based on the new name, it can't be good. Drive 105 was the station you could always rely on when you were flipping between 93X and the Current. Check out the Strib story on the format change here. Tune in when you get a chance and let me know what they're playing. In the meantime, I'll continue to throw my iPod on shuffle and be surprised.