I hadn't heard that about Afraid of Everyone either - I don't see Sufjan credited anywhere on High Violet, but I don't doubt there was some collaboration given the similarity between those piano riffs alone

"England" owes a debt to the piano part from "UFO sighting," that is. I wasn't implying that Sufjan had anything to do with writing the National song.

worth noting too that The National's "England" owes a big debt to that piano part, and even still is one of my favorite National songs

Granted, my interpretation was based on what I felt like the song was about, rather than any kind of close reading of the lyrics, though I kind of doubt further scrutiny would have brought me any closer to what was in Simon's head when he wrote it.

Interesting - I had come to interpret that line as a more metaphorical piece of imagery: a literal cross on display at an athletic event as a metaphor for America's jumbled, if well-intentioned, sense of spirituality. I guess the fact it can be meaningfully interpreted in multiple ways is the mark of great lyricism.

pretty sure the joke was a rap segment with gratuitous violent imagery and sexual references tacked into the middle of an already over-long charity song. pretty sure that was it.

Good Charlatan, anyone?

Yeah, by the time '64 rolled around and they put out both Beatles For Sale and A Hard Days Night, it was becoming apparent that they were more than some flash in the pan boy band. Just off Beatles For Sale - No Reply, I'm a Loser, I'll Follow The Sun, Eight Days A Week - all better than The Long and Winding Road and…

alright, maybe I wasn't giving One From The Heart a fair shake. I did enjoy the visuals, as well as the decision to film the entire thing on a giant sound stage. The bit where he sings to her in the airport terminal was fairly touching, too. But nothing touches this

to say nothing of David Simon.

and somewhere in the middle - One From The Heart, a boring romance redeemed only by an amazing Tom Waits soundtrack

The first 3 songs on Modern Times are knockouts. Specially that version of Rollin and Tumbling they do. It starts to get pretty boring when he refuses to play anything but 12-bar blues, though.

McCartney was the first one to come to my mind as well. Even just within his time with the Beatles - witness the difference between some of his absolutely brilliant songs like Michelle, Eleanor Rigby, or Yesterday, and proto-Wings bullshit like The Long and Winding Road or Maxwell's Silver Hammer. We don't even need…

i dunno, i got the pc demo and the controls and animation are pretty jerky and unrealistic. your character's two speeds are 'stop' and 'run'. ditto for vehicle controls. that said, there is definitely potential in there for over-the-top fun and the open world is gorgeous. i'm gonna say B-

The only thing worse than a rock critic is an amateur rock critic. I hope you all die in a fire.

wow, mention of magic carpet just sent a wave of nostalgia sweeping over me; i remember bugging out over the graphics in that game when my friend's mom got a new pc with a pentium 1 chip in it

best (worst) part in The Day After Tomorrow - the scene where we see a first person view from the perspective of the cold, and it chases the characters through a hallway as they look back over their shoulders

that could be a good slogan for them

muppet christmas carol ftw!

You left out Alice and Blood Money: two of his most cohesive and intense albums, with some of his best songs for my money (title track of Alice is fantasic; "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" gets me every time). Also: Blue Valentine is a must, and check out the soundtrack to F.F. Coppola's "One From The Heart" if you want…