Apparently this cover comes from a 2005 session that Death Cab for Cutie did on NPR, but I just heard about it. Matthew Sweet’s Sick of Myself might be my favorite song of all time, if you sat me down and made me try to figure it out. Ben Gibbard and his band do a fine, mellow cover of it. The entire session is available as a stream NPR’s web site, but I ripped the MP3, which is available here:

• Death Cab for Cutie - Sick of Myself (Matthew Sweet Cover)

1. Acute - Follow You Home
   A nice, mellow power-pop track from this LA trio. Solid, clean production on this song that somehow reminds me of the Cars.
2. Smashing Pumpkins - Tarantula
   The Pumpkins return, minus James Iha, D’arcy Wretzky and Melissa Auf der Maur. So…basically it’s Billy and Jimmy Chamberlin, but it’s still Pumpkins and I dig it. Continue »

The Police’s long awaited reunion tour kicks off tonight in Vancouver. Here’s a clip of them playing at last night’s “fan club” rehearsal performance. I’m seeing them on two consecutive days in July, and I can’t wait.

1. Tim Armstrong - Into Action
   I’ve always liked Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and he always seems to be doing something interesting. This is the first single from his debut solo album, and it’s lots of fun.
2. Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up to Dry
   Pitchfork described Cold War Kids vocalist Nathan Willett as a “Jeff Buckley zombie,” which is a pretty funny mental picture…especially considering I killed Jeff myself. This song’s bassline will get into your head until you put the track on repeat on your iPod. Continue »

1. Modest Mouse - Parting of the Sensory
   So what happens when a really good band decides they want to add someone else to the songwriting mix and have them play some guitar? They get Johnny. Fucking. Marr. Yes, that Johnny Marr. The result is a fantastic album and this is my favorite track thus far.
2. The Cloud Room - Hey Now Now
   A nice, mellow track about a boring day in New York. It sounds like a Seinfeld episode: “Hey now now, we’re goin’ downtown / And we ride the bus there, pay the bus fare.” Continue »

The Sports Guy passed along this link of a very odd guy performing his (as yet unfinished) version of the Rocky theme. He’s a little bizarre but the track’s fantastic.

UPDATE! Ronald finished his Rocky theme remix, and it’s available as an MP3 here.

Another fantastic Emmet Swimming show at the 9:30 Club the other night. Here’s their always amazing cover of the Police’s “So Lonely.”

I’m sure this song will be less interesting when I get it out of my head, but for now I love it. For those who missed it, this is from last night’s Monday Night Football game in New Orleans.

This is far and away the best video I’ve seen in years. Just fantastic.

Last night I went to the album release show for Quitter UK’s debut album at Iota in Arlington, VA. Quitter features Todd Watts (my officemate) from Emmet Swimming, Scott Brotemarkle and Chuck Andrada from Smartbomb, along with David Strickland and Eric Vislay. The show was to celebrate the release of their first album, The Cleveland Office. The name of the album is actually a reference to a joke that Todd kept making when the band played my company’s Christmas party a couple years back. Before they went on stage he would introduce members of the band to people in the company as being from “the Cleveland office.” Continue »