Karl 
THE REPLACEMENTS: Friend of Pate (and Jon Pratt's evil twin) Pat Beach reviews Jim Walsh's book, The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting and remembers the band himself: "The Clash liked to call themselves the only band that mattered, and Johnny Rotten might have snarled 'We don't care,' but these four mess-ups from Minneapolis were truly the only band that mattered, and they truly didn't care…" Friends of Pate will recognize the Dave Conklin photo of Paul Westerberg, as it adorned the entrance of Paul Miller's Music Works for years. Conklin, iirc, took many memorable photos at Amelia's in Iowa City — including the late "Country" Dick Montana snapped in mid-air during a table dance, and Amelia herself standing between Bob Mould and Greg Norton, trying to keep the mosh pit from spilling onstage during the Husker Du gig at which I lost a decent chunk of my hearing.
NEW RELEASES are rare indeed the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Rumble Strips have an EP streaming via Spinner. The band describes itself as Soul/Regional Mexican/Power-pop, though, I would add Punk to that. The Brit Box set and Bloc Party are still streaming there also. There is also a Madonna tribute album with selections from Lavender Diamond, Giant Drag and more.
THE BRIT BOX is given a disc-by-disc review at PopMatters, with embedded video.
BEST of 2007: I'll periodically remind people to check Largehearted Boy's List of Lists, especially now that I'm on it. Yay, me!
SPOON stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set you can stream on demand via NPR. The stripped-down take on "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" sounds downright Motown-y
THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN are now whittling down dozens of new songs to 12 or so for a new album. The band played one such song, "All Things Must Pass," on Letterman back in May.
1000 ALBUMS to Hear Before You Die, according to London's Guardian. As with any such list, one suspects some level of perversity to stimulate debate. For example, in the "C"'s alone, would anyone really pick Elvis Costello's "King of America" above his first three albums? I wouldn't, and I was a fan of "King" long before it was cool to be. Similarly, I love Cheap Trick's "In Color," but who would pick it for a list like this above "Live at Budokan?" On the paper's music blog, Sam Jordison is working on a list of 1000 albums not to listen to before you die, and has already perversely picked The Clash's "London Calling."
THE TRACHTENBURG FAMILY SLIDESHOW PLAYERS have a new animated video for their theme song. And inasmuch as the theme refers to mocking family vacations, I'll throw in the video for "Mountain Trip" (in old Japan) as your Twofer Tuesday.
KEVIN DREW: The Broken Social Scenester talks to Pitchfork about sincerity and more.
THE ROMANTICS are suing Activision, the creators of the Guitar Hero videogame — not for copyright infringement, but for allegedly infringing on the group's rights to its own likeness. You can watch the original and the virtual at the 'Gum.
BRIAN WILSON talked about songwriting and the latest leg of his solo career with the Sydney Morning Herald.
THE WOGGLES frontman, "The Professor," who also hosts a show on Sirius Satellite Radio's Underground Garage channel, talks about the difference between garage rock and rockabilly (and more) with DC's Express. You can stream a few of the band's nuggets via WoggleSpace.
FIND YOURSELF A CITY: Readers of London's Guardian were asked to recommend songs for a playlist of songs about US cities and states: "It's not all New York, New York and leaving your heart in San Francisco, you know. Until you've heard 'Dallas' by The Flatlanders you haven't lived…"
A PALER SHADE OF WHITE REDUX: In a belated response to New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones's essay lamenting the lack of African American influence in indie rock, L.A. Times music critic Ann Powers lists 16 examples of indie rock's diversity. As it turns out, Idolator is not any more impressed with this essay than the original. And Tim Mohr, who devastated Frere-Jones,also takes on the NYT's David Brooks over the fragmented music market: "Today's rockers are not ahistorical, they just don't over-inflate the importance of baby boomers' canonical history, as the boomers themselves do…"
VERY QUIET RIOT: Singer Kevin DuBrow died Sunday at 52, drummer Frankie Banali confirmed in a post on his web site. The official cause of his death has yet to be determined. He and the band were best known for their cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize." Not to speak ill of the dead, but I saw QR open for someone in the 80s; they were awful.
BRITNEY SPEARS: Us Weekly has video of the pop tart running three stop signs last Friday night. Just in time for her lawyer to ask that charges of driving without a valid license be put off until next year.
TOM-KAT UPDATE: Cruise and Holmes crashed a Spice Girls rehearsal in Los Angeles.
BRADGELINA: Universal spent the weekend trying to convince Russell Crowe to replace Brad Pitt as the star of "State of Play," after Pitt exited the picture over disagreements about the shooting script.
JACKO is set to rejoin The Jackson Five for a world tour next year, according to his brother Jermaine.
WILLIE NELSON has filmed a television spot supporting an anti-dogfighting bill that is moving through the Georgia Legislature. It's a bit more mainstream than Nelson's traditional causes of marijuana legalization and tax evasion.
JESSICA SIMPSON had Thanksgiving dinner with Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo? I thought we were done with this.
THE FRENCH HOTEL may have been behind pirated photos of Nicole Richie's "Wizard of Oz"-themed baby shower.
OPRAH WINFREY is hitting the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid, while Keifer Bonvillain has started a website in a bid to get a publisher for his exposé of the billionaire Queen of Daytime Talk.
ELIZABETH HURLEY wants to be the next Rachael Ray. The guitar player always wants to be the drummer.
THE WRITERS' STRIKE: Nikki Finke says a reliable source claims that there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between the writers and the studios, and that the strike could be settled before Christmas.
THERE WILL BE OIL: Daniel Day-Lewis is interviewed and profiled in the Times of London about Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming movie, loosely based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil! The score is by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. I believe that Paramount Vantage is going to get this on a few screens by year's end for Oscar consideration. The current trailer is online.
FRANCE is apparently subject to "youth" riots again — 28 cars and five buildings were set ablaze, including a police station, in violence that injured 26 police and fire officers. But not every news account mentions that the incident sparking these riots was two "youths" crashing into a police car on a stolen moped. And you really have to read between the lines — often buried in the news — to surmise that the "youths" are likely Muslim children or grandchildren of immigrants from France's fmr African colonies. The media did the same kind of oblique reporting in 2005; the underlying issues seem to have simply festered.
TEDDY BEAR JIHAD: A British primary school teacher arrested in Sudan faces up to 40 lashes for blasphemy after letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad. Her colleagues said that they feared for her safety after reports that groups of young men had gathered outside the Khartoum police station where she was taken and were shouting death threats.
PAKISTAN: Gen. Pervez Musharraf will finally step down as the head of Pakistan's military and be sworn in as a civilian president on Thursday, an army spokesman said.
IRAN: Pres. Ahmadinejad has chided Saudi Arabia for taking part in a US-hosted Middle East peace meeting, after Arab participation in the event left Tehran isolated.
IRAQ: The nat'l gov't, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the US a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for US security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday. Shiite legislators on Monday denounced a draft bill to ease curbs on ex-Saddam Hussein loyalists in government services, dampening hopes of progress for the US-backed legislation aimed at promoting national reconciliation. OTOH, Iraq's government wants to start paying the wages of US-backed neighborhood security units that have been credited with helping cut violence in the country, a US general said on Monday. Such a move would signal growing government support for the "concerned citizens" units. Iraqi security forces will not be ready to take control of most of Iraq's 18 provinces by the end of the year as had been hoped. However, Bill Roggio rounds up coverage of Iraqi Security Forces launching Operation Raging Eagle in the northern city of Kirkuk. And suspicious Iraqi soldiers thwarted terror suspects disguised as a bride and groom trying to pass through a checkpoint along with their "wedding procession" near Taji.
(courtesy of ape lad)
LOLCATS are the subject of a new documentary on Boing Boing TV, tracing their history back to the early 1900s..
TIGER WOODS, JR: Conservationists believe the newborn South China Tiger cub could help to save his species from extinction. Awww…some pics at the link.
RESCUED DOG rescues owner, who found her mobile home engulfed in flames early Thanksgiving Day. (Thanks, Dad.)
THE FLYING MOBULA RAY is snapped soaring as high as two meters above the plankton-rich green water in the Sea of Cortez.
A 250-LB LION was attacking cars on US 23 near Wakefield, Ohio.
