Spitball Army

The Sleepy Jackson, a band from “Down Under,” made a rare tour through the United States in the Spring of 2004 in support of their Lovers album. Their stop in this part of the country was at The Nick – the dirtiest club in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Besides other humans, dogs are probably the smartest animals that we come in contact with on a daily basis. I’ve known some dogs that are most definitely smarter than some humans I’ve known, but that’s another story. Dogs play with us, they keep us company, and they make us happy. It is no surprise, then, that after humans (in, for instance, love songs and murder ballads), the next most popular animal represented in song is man’s best friend.

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Here’s another video clip from Josh Ritter’s April 16th in-store at Laser’s Edge. This one doesn’t suffer from the shaky and unsure camera work that characterized “Wings.” This performance of “Bone of Song” features a nice, delicate little guitar break beginning around 1:50.

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Josh Ritter, not long after the release of 2003’s Hello Starling, performing a solo acoustic set at Laser’s Edge in Birmingham, Alabama. This video contains the last half of his song, “Wings,” in a very, very quiet – but far from empty – room.

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An in-store performance by Ben Kweller, at Laser’s Edge Compact Discs in Birmingham, Alabama, on 22 April 2004. Ben pauses mid-song to point out the Led Zeppelin boxed set sitting on the rack.

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This long sought-after single by Smiley Joe Omohundro was unearthed from a box of items that had been in my father’s house. I think.

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Tom Clay, a populist Ken Nordine, created a montage of audio clips from prominent news events of the ’60s and released it to radio in 1971. I must have heard it dozens of times on my little transistor radio when I was a kid. I was reminded of it, and of its spirit, as I awoke to the news of the passing of Teddy Kennedy this morning.

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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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I remember bringing the first B-52’s album home the summer after my first college year and playing it really loud, and driving my poor Mom crazy with it. Was that our generation’s “scream-o?”

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I’d heard brief mentions about this band from acquaintances over the last month, but never anything describing them or their music beyond the fact that they hail from Wasilla, Alaska. Yes, that Wasilla.

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