moving on

As if it wasn't already obvious, this blog has pretty much been dead for some time. The reason? My friend James talked me into joining him on a new music blog, Better in a Song, which we launched a few months ago. While I did enjoy doing this one on my own, it is more fun to have someone else to work together with, especially since we have similar yet different tastes in music. Also, it's a real website (no offense Blogger) and we can do more with the formatting and stuff.

So, please take a minute to check out our new site, Better in a Song and thanks for supporting The Space Race.

sinking around your neck

Two mp3 blogs I've been into of late to check:

Welcome to the M!dwest! (live tracks from the National posted today)
JOONR consistently has stuff I've never heard before and some other gems.

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Flaming Lips meet the Queen

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the Flaming Lips were scheduled to appear on the new Queen tribute album, Killer Queen. Well, even though the album is nearly a month from release, the contents inevitable have already leaked out. The Flaming Lips contribution, a cover of the classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (could you really picture them doing anything else but that?), is as good as I could have hoped. It stays pretty close to the original (why mess with a good thing?), but does offer that distinctive Lips sound, which is often rather theatrical like the original. Thanks to the Radio Free Internet blog, you too can check out this great cover, along with a few other tracks from this upcoming release.

Q and Not U call it a day

One of my favorite bands of the past few years, Q and Not U, have decided to disband. In a news release on their website (link) the band explained it's reasoning. Fortunately it is one of those amicable splits, and there seems to be no ill will between the members. In fact, they still have a handful of dates in the coming months which will now be their "farewell shows". They were a very good band mixing some upbeat danceable rock music with a message. They skated that fine line of being political but not being in your face, and did so rather well. So it now seems that the last time I will see them was last October at the Grog Shop. I have a couple pictures from that show posted here.

Sufjan strikes NPR (and other various news bits)

Yet another Sufjan post, my last for a while. I promise. Sufjan did have a new song debut on NPR today on 'All Things Considered'. To listen to the whole story, which clocks in around 13 minutes and tells the story behind the ivory-billed woodpecker which is the inspiration for the song, you can go here. On the same page, there is also a link to download an exclusive mp3 of the new song, 'The Lord God Bird'. It's actually a really good song, so check it out.

Also, I did read today that 'Illinois' has gone back on sale, complete with Superman on the cover. Future pressings will not include the image of the man of steel, but since so many copies were already circulating, the parties involved decided to let it go for now. The album is also available for download on iTunes and features two exclusive tracks, 'The Avalanche' and a remix of 'Chicago'. I believe both are included on the LP release, but not on the CD. I heard a clip of the 'Chicago' remix and it sounded really bad.

I actually just looked on iTunes, and 'Illinois' is the #5 album on their top 10! WHAT? They're ahead of The White Stripes, Black Eyed Peas & Foo Fighters. Quite a shock.

Sufjan Stevens - 3 for 1 news day

As it is plainly obvious by now given the quantity of posts I have regarding him, I am a big Sufjan Stevens fan. And there has been plenty of news regarding him as of late, so here's what you need to know:

- Sufjan is set to appear on NPR's 'All Things Considered' show on Wednesday, July 6th. According to the story on Pitchfork, NPR caught wind of his '50 States' project and sent him information about the small town of Brinkley, Arkansas and challenged him to write a tune, which he did. The result is 'The Lord God Bird' which will debut during tomorrow's show, and will be made available on the NPR website for download.

- Sufjan's new album, 'Illinois', was set to be released today but has now been delayed due to a last minute protest from DC Comics due to the image of Superman on the album's cover. Way to go and ruin things DC. Comics are supposed to be fun and the album is by no means profiting from the picture. Next thing you know they'll want royalties for having the word Superman used in the song. Jerks.

- In less than 2 weeks, Sufjan embarks on a rather lengthy tour of the States which includes a stop here in Cleveland on September 13th at the Beachland Ballroom. Check here to see if you're lucky enough to have him stopping by your town.

Congratulations Alternative Press

I would like to take this post to congratulate Alternative Press magazine on making it for 20 years. While I can't say that I've looked at one in almost 10 years (other than to gawk at the cover in disgust at the nu-metal band of the moment), at one time it did provide me with exposure to a lot of cool bands. Since my friend Will interned there in high school, I was able to go up there a few times and hangout with the staff who were all really cool and had amazing tastes in music (yeah, who would have guessed given the crap they cover) and were very nice to me despite only being a dumb kid. It sounded for a while like they weren't going to make it, but I think a string of wildly successful Marilyn Manson covers ( *gasp* ) helped pull them from the edge.

This week's Cleveland Scene Magazine has an interview with the best music writer I've ever read, and a weird but good guy, Jason Pettigrew, the editor-in-chief at AP. You can read the interview here.