Obligatory shot of the Rapture's Gabe Andruzzi playing the cowbell

So in the past weeks I've managed to see the Flaming Lips (awesome spectacle, surprisingly short setlist), the Rapture (awesome energy, reaffirming their status as my favorite live band), Sound Team (still my fave album of the year, still refining their live sound in some spots), and Junior Boys (great new album, great live set). And on top of that I missed Ratatat (terrible work on my part there) and Mew/Kasabian.

The Rapture show was about all you could ask for--good venue (Middle East), amazing energy, almost perfect setlist ("Out of the Races" + everything good from Echoes + everything good aside from "Don Gon Do It" from the new disc), AND they were selling the new album a day before it came out. AND Luke was kind enough to sign them as he talked to fans. AND it was only 10 bucks. The crowd started out a little sluggish but were jumping around by the time the band got to "Killing" and "HOJL."



The first Junior Boys album was a little too stutterish and sparse for my taste, so I generally prefer the more bass-driven and danceable new album. The first six tracks are excellent, then the second half is a little slow.

I've seen The French Kicks (who headlined the Sound Team show) a couple times now and they're always pretty good, basically because they have a decent if not very creative rhythm section, but for some reason they have no guitar hooks to speak of. Plus their lead singer has good stage presence.

The French Kicks / "How Far We Are" (from The Yellow Stereo)

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I didn't really get into TV on the Radio's last album but I bought Return to Cookie Mountain on a whim and it's good--not sure if it's quite as fantastic as the reviews say it is, but it's good. And it has a ridiculous title, that must have been thought of while somebody was high. Plus Nina loves it, and Nina is usually right. "Wolf Like Me" is a GREAT song, which they performed live on Letterman. Also, they've got a bunch of bizarre clips on youtube, which feature among others the kid from Me and You and Everyone We Know and (of course) David Cross.

TV on the Radio / "Wolf Like Me" (from Onward Charles)

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I always assumed Russ Feingold didn't have a shot at the presidency because he's a twice-divorced Jewish guy from Wisconsin, but maybe he does afterall...

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From the Great Hip Hop Flip-Flop Scandal, DMX sounds off on Jay-Z's new footwear:

“The flip-flops - he’s just not the same,” DMX told Vibe magazine. “It’s Beyoncé. He’s a sucker for love.” Then DMX goes into his own, rather eccentric, shoe-wearing habits. “Yo, no matter how much vacation I’m on - we been to St. Thomas, Bahamas, all the little islands - I don’t wear no flip-flops” DMX says. “I’m never that comfortable, not even in my own house.”

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A scandal which won't do punters' quest for respect any good...

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One part misguided patriotism + six parts stubbornness = a guy who won't shave his beard until Bin Laden is caught. Has the irony of his resemblance to Bin Laden hit him yet?

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The best speeding ticket excuses.

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Science is cool.

Intelligence research is full of surprises. For example, the brains of smarter people, as measured by IQ, tend to be less active but more efficient, Haier says.

In a controversial paper, he contends based on structural MRI scans that men and women think differently. For men in Haier's study, having more gray matter in certain areas corresponds to a higher IQ, while in women, it made no difference.

But with women, the amount of white matter in completely different areas is what corresponds to intelligence. (In both sexes, gray matter is made up of neurons that process information, while white matter is made of the neurons that connect different parts of the brain).

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Why we haven't been attacked in the five years since 9/11.