I thought U2 in concert couldn't get any better than seeing them at Madison Square Garden in October. Then I saw them in Vegas Saturday night. I finally made it into the Ellipse and spent the concert going apeshit in the second row.

Even though that makes me kind of biased, this was the best show out of the 5 I've seen so far. Mary J Blige singing "One"! Brandon Flowers singing "In a Little While"! The very rare appearance of "Until the End of the World"! The return of "Mysterious Ways"! "Bad" as a closer, with the closing snippet of Patti's "People Got the Power"!

Oh, man. I doubt Portland is going to top that next month, but I'm really looking forward to finding out.

The dictionary namechecked on AD is a not erinaceous's, but a sibling of it. Erinaceous's dictionary, being a dictionary of American English, would have been useless in the circumstance of the episode.

Music reference to keep this on-topic: Music! I understand it makes the people come together.

Own a piece of Punk Rock History: [link]

(bonus no-prize if you can name the band in the photo)

It was actually my dictionary! I sent them the PDF. It was page 1377! I think they said "OED", though, since EVERYONE DOES, despite me wearing red, white, and blue, waving a flag, and shouting "redcoats go home!" at every opportunity.

As far as I know, they totally made up that "British definition," though, which was GENIUS. I need to watch that show more often.

Erinaceous, you have the coolest job.

The dictionary namechecked on AD is a not erinaceous's, but a sibling of it. Erinaceous's dictionary, being a dictionary of American English, would have been useless in the circumstance of the episode.

I knew it was erinaceous's dictionary b/c it said blah "American" blah blah on the top of the page.

Three things: 1. I'm really liking Last.fm almost as much as KEXP.

2. Does Bloc Party's "Helicopter" wake up at night in a cold sweat thinking about "The Rat" by the The Walkmen? And do they both secretly worry the Stooges' collected works are going to get together with Mission of Burma's collected works and file a class-action plaigarism suit against them?

3. Now that Susan finally has a job, I have money. And money means music to me. But I feel like I'm stuck in a faux-indie-with-a-twist-of-bad-80s-and-70s-soul rut. Please suggest something for me to pick up.

But I feel like I'm stuck in a faux-indie-with-a-twist-of-bad-80s-and-70s-soul rut. Please suggest something for me to pick up.

Hmmm, I could write a whole book on the subject...

Though I'm probably less useful than usual since I've been rummaging through the indie world a lot lately. I always do that, though. I go back and cherry pick the best things after the dust has settled.

It's very cheap to pick up 90s Britpop at Amoeba these days. Behind the curve - that's where the bargains are.

I will note that I am really loving The New Pornagrphers Twin Cinema, The Mountain Goats' Tallahassee and Silver Jews' Tanglewood Numbers right now.

Please suggest something for me to pick up.

Find yourself some small, blonde thing. You bed her, you love her, you treat her like crap, you break her heart. You and your inner demon will thank me, I promise. </fake T'ish Magev>

A lot of places are still discounting the Monk/Coltrane at Carnegie Hall CD & it lives up to the hype. If you aren't familiar with their music it's a great place to start, and if you are it's a must have. Blue Note did a great job, too. Sound is excellent as are the liner notes (some more than others -- there are six contributors!)

Please suggest something for me to pick up.

If you don't already have an emusic account, sign up for one! You can start downloading right away and it's darn cheap. (No, they don't actually pay me to pimp their site - but they should.)

Other than that...hmmm Fall is feeling acoustic/twangy/country/alt.country/bluegrassy to me this year - so in that vein:

Mostly rock w/a twist of country: Bobby Bare Jr. both Young Criminal Starvation League and From the End of Your Leash are outstanding, fun and instantly accessible.

Pretty country/bluegrassy lady: Gillian Welch Time (the Revelator). I have been listening to this album nonstop lately. And I listened it to almost every day for months when I first bought it. And I always put it on when I have guests who I'm not sure of their music taste over. It's just perfect.

Centro-Matic Love You Just the Same. I first bought this album because I liked a song of theirs on a mix Jon made (I'm pretty sure). This album is a grower that I listen to all the time. Maybe they are not alt. country-ish, but that's how I think of them.

Old Crow Medicine Show O.C.M.S. or their Live from the World Cafe EP (with Gillian Wech). Bluegrass with just a dash of punked out rockabilly thrown in. Good lyrics. Fun.

Richard Buckner Since. Not too country but not exactly not countryish. Great voice, excellent songwriter.

Mike Ireland and Holler Try Again. Straight up music of pain served in the traditional country style.

Townes Van Zandt Our Mother the Mountain. Perfect for homebound winter nights.

That was probably a lot more than was required.