Ok so there are a couple of reasons behind this post. First, there was the Mars proximity email which had been circulating the last few weeks, and which turned out to be a hoax . Then there was this weeks hilarious episode of Flight of the Conchords featuring several David Bowie dream sequences culminating in one of the most memorable musical segments of the season (embedded below for your viewing pleasure). So I give you my tribute to David Bowie and to Mars . Please note that the only reference [...]
I have no real reason for posting this other than the fact that I was listening to Stereo last night and was reminded how good an album it is. As many of you know, good ol' Paul put a screwdriver through his left hand a while back and suffered some apparently severe injuries. Lately, though, he's stated that he's working his way back and is now "one-third of the way to being possibly 80 percent all better." Here's to hoping he achieves the remaining two-thirds of that 80 percent, as [...]

Suicaine Gratification was released in 1999 and is the third solo album from former Replacements frontman and songwriter Paul Westerberg. The Replacements were a highly influential 80s post-punk band hailing from the Twin Cities. They had highly devoted following and released a couple of near classic albums, including 1984's Let it Be and 85's Tim . While the band had a string of minor hits, they seemed content to remain relegated to, even relish, their perennial underdog status. The 'Mats always appeared on the cusp of a major commercial breakthrough, but the [...]

"She puts eggs in her orange juice/Coffee in her tea/ Puts olives in her jelly/Says that's the way it's gonna be" For the past few weeks I've been working at a music supervision company in New York . I know what you're thinking: "Cool." But it's actually even cooler than you thought when you were just thinking that a second ago. Not only am I working in The Big [...]

"With a sky blue sky, this rotten time wouldn't seem so bad to me now." I was fortunate enough to see the illustrious Wilco perform as the guest musicians on the even more illustrious A Prairie Home Companion (a fantastic Minnesota tradition) this past Saturday. As if I wasn't already running to the store to pick up Sky Blue Sky when it comes out tomorrow, I might just have to be there when the doors open. Exaggeration, I [...]

Here's that gray suit I was telling you about ..... DOWNLOAD: Paul Westerberg - John Im Only Dancing (Bowie cover live) (MP3) (via BowieNet - thx Kathryn ) Previously * David Bowie didn't play with Arcade Fire @ Radio City Music Hall * Arcade Fire night 2 - the crowd takes the [...]

I watched Cameron Crowe's Singles last night and forgot how much I loved the Paul Westerberg material on the soundtrack. Westerberg contributed the tracks Dyslexic Heart and Waiting For Somebody , the latter used prominently throughout the movie, including the opening sequence. The two tracks are Paul's first official post-Replacements compositions. Un-officially The 'Mats last album, 1990's All Shook Down is pretty much all Westerberg and sessions players and seen as such by many. Also released as a b-side to the World Class Fad single, Waiting For Somebody is [...]

(picture courtesy of Dave Lartigue ) Children by the million, are you ready for assimilation? So speaks Paul Wester-borg ! I love the 'Mats, I really do. In the grand word association game of life, "The Replacements" are front and center whenever I come across the term "college radio" …more so than The Smiths, The Cure, R.E.M, or any other representative of the cluster of acts associated with that particular tag. There's something about listening to "Left of the Dial" that makes me want to invent [...]

I've always found it interesting that fans of the Rolling Stones continue to buy their new albums no matter if the material is good or not. It is a hard habit to break not buying the albums of your childhood heroes. I stopped buying R.E.M. albums in 1995 with Monster and I pick and choose the Bob Mould releases I buy (yes for the rock stuff, no for the dance stuff). Paul Westerberg is one artist that I have yet to abandon. No matter what he has done in his post-Replacements career I tend [...]

I've been a fan of magazines since I was around ten or eleven years old. And most of my magazine money over the many years has gone towards music mags, my first subscription to a music magazine being Rolling Stone. But this was back when RS still had some bite, I think it was around 1974 when it began showing up in the mailbox. Now the last magazine to make a serious impression on me and my wallet has been British mag, Uncut . After finding it in the late nineties, I purchased around thirty straight issues, using the [...]
Paul Westerberg is in a cast after putting a screwdriver through his hand and hurting himself pretty bad. Doctors are telling him he won't be playing guitar for a year according to Jim Walsh's blog. Jim's a Minneapolis writer and...

Today marks one year (!) since I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS took its first tentative steps with an initial post, and I've been contentedly rolling along ever since, gathering steam as I go. I know that downloading music (and absorbing all that I have to say here) can sometimes be like drinking from a firehose, so I thought to compile you a 20-song mix of my absolutely favorite tracks that I have featured in the first year of this blog. Some of these tunes I posted up way at the beginning when I [...]

Today I was home with a horrible headache. So long as I stayed still, I was OK, but any sudden movement resulted in stinging barbs of pain lashing through my head. Inbetween lieing in bed trying to sleep, I watched some TV...and of course daytime TV is simply lacking. Luckily, I have On Demand, and one of the movies available (ending today amazingly) was Singles . It's been a long time since I've seen the movie, but it's still just as good as the first time I saw it. [...]

I'm in the middle of four or five long posts, but don't have the time or motivation to finish up any of those, so instead here's a Sunday scattershot of some tunes I've been digging: Fidelity - Regina Spektor I never fell as deeply for Regina as some others, but this song really does it for me, and I've been meaning to bring it up for quite a while. Since it featured prominently (during the scene where Veronica and Logan make up) in this week's Veronica Mars , now [...]

The Replacements broke up in 1991... that was sad. But the good of it is that Paul Westerberg began his solo career and has written some really amazing songs. After more than 10 years and 6 albums, 2 ep's and scoring the upcoming Open Season soundtrack, Westerberg has had a pretty awesome career. Listening through 2004's Folker made me stumble on a song that I had almost forgotten about. One of my favorite Westerberg tunes, "Looking Up To Heaven," is poetry. A love song of sorts, but also just an optimistic and powerful song. [...]

"Everybody grew up and turned into assholes."" The Damnwells I told you I was pulling out the big guns for part 2. Westerberg, Whiskeytown (Mr. Adams is my king of alt-country), and my absolute favorite band - the Damnwells. I tried to throw in a few tracks that hopefully the majority of you haven't yet experienced. Matt Mays has always gotten a great reception on my site, and is apparently huge up in Canada. No [...]
Another day, another decade. Make It With You-My Morning Jacket (Bread cover) . Ain’t Talkin Bout Love-Drive By Truckers (Van Halen cover) . 5 Years (David Bowie cover)-Arcade Fire. Where's the new album, guys?? You Sexy Thing (Hot Chocolate cover)-Tom Tom Club. Elliot Smith-David Cassidy cover . Can anyone tell me the name of this [...]

I kinda like the ABC's Lost. Actually I really like it, sure some parts are drawn out, last seasons 20 plus episodes could have been wrapped up in about six, but it's entertaining, somewhat plausible, and well just entertaining. Certainly beats out at most dramas on TV that includes Fox's new crapfest Prison Break , this one is from the makers of 24. I think the producers got confused because it wasn't actually from the writers of 24, but it seems as though it was written in 24 minutes. Everything about that show is absolutely [...]