Hello dear friends. Once again, it’s time to call our attention to all of our material and spiritual possessions and give thanks. What are you thankful for? Well me, I’m thankful for a day of good food and the people I will be spending it with. I’m also thankful for work during these times and the fact that I will be having a day off from said work tomorrow. And, of course, I’m thankful for music. Which brings me to some headlines ... 
Kicking things off, let’s start the jukebox with a little round of Turkey Day tunes. The Arizona Republic put together a pretty good playlist of Thanksgiving-ish music that includes Neil Young, John Vanderslice, Bob Dylan, Pavement and a host of others.
Staying on the holiday-theme for the moment, Elephant 6 member Julian Koster pulls out the musical saw for his Christmas album, The Singing Saw at Christmastime. Meanwhile, Blitzen Trapper, Au Revoir Simone and My Brightest Diamond are among a few of the contributors on the I’ll Stay ‘Till After Christmas charity compilation. Proceeds from the album sales go to Amnesty International.
Do demo tapes still matter? The UK’s Guardian says yes.
Neil Young’s upcoming live album, Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968, is now streaming on NPR. The album is out Tuesday.
Jenny Lewis announced a few Northwest show dates in January.
I’m still scratching my head over this one. Just in time for Black Friday, Pavement and the Swedish-retail behemoth IKEA have announced a strange contest in which one lucky winner receives a $500 shopping trip to the mega-store with a personal escort by a member of the band. Seems to make sense, huh? Actually, this doesn’t make any sense at all to me, but I guess we’re (almost) officially into the holiday season … where nothing makes sense at all.
Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley has been making the rounds lately. Most recently, he sat down with the LAist to speak about the band’s new album, the origins of the Blitzen Trapper name and a near-death experience in the Oregon mountains.
More L.A. interviews ... the Los Angeles Times spoke with Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn earlier this week.
They’re reuniting! They’re not… They are! They’re not… Enough already! Maybe they really are this time …? Maybe ... ?
Ted Leo knows how to rock it Karaoke-style!
More ‘best-of 2008’ lists are out. WXPN has named their top 10 albums, as have Filter magazine. Qthemusic.com provides readers with their top 50.
Jay Bennett is releasing a new album for free over at RockProper.com. The album, Whatever Happened I apologize, is a pared-down, acoustic album featuring 10 tracks.
John Lennon has been officially forgiven by the Vatican for his braggadocios claim in 1966 that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.”
Taking you out on a positive note, Brian Eno was featured on NPR’s “This I Believe” segment last weekend. The more I learn about Brian Eno, the more I like and respect the guy.
Have a great Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow. Enjoy the food and company wherever you are. And feel free to drop me a line in-between bites!
December 1, 2008 at 11:10pm by Jeremy Petersen
Vis a vis Pavement, I'll direct you to track no. 4 on their 1997 (and now newly reissued) album Brighten the Corners: "Date w/ Ikea." So that partnership has been in the works for a while and makes total sense. I just wonder what they've got coming up with Volkswagen (track no. 10: "Passat Dream) in these post-sellout days in which we live.
Also: I need HTML here!
December 3, 2008 at 9:26am by lalberg
Fair enough, I stand corrected. Though I still maintain the whole thing is ridiculous. A musician holding hands with a fan on a shopping spree, feeding them Swedish meatballs!? Sheesh, give me a break. Maybe if Pavement comes through in your Volkwagen commercial, another member of the band can honk the horn for the fan who's driving? ;-)
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