Stuck Between Iraq and a Hard Place...

So, despite the use of the country of Iraq, I have nothing political to say. I was just listening to a Republican on NPR talk about how this year's campaigning congressman have to be weary not to stray too far from the President's stance on the war while not standing too near his view either. He said that these Republican congressman were "stuck between a rock and a hard place." A pretty cliche saying. However, I thought he had done something clever for a second--"stuck between Iraq and a hard place." However, I soon realized that he hadn't.

So, I subscribe to this independent music site called eMusic. It's pretty cool. You get 50 free songs just for trying it out--without ever paying a dime. After that, you pay a monthly fee. The selection is small--they only carry indie labels and they're missing several important indie labels (notably Sub Pop and Barsuk). I really like it though. I usually check to see if a CD is there before I buy it off iTunes now. I get 40 songs each month for 10 bucks...that's like 3-4 CDs for the price of one. If you're interested, let me know. I can send you a reccomendation link, and I get 50 songs for you signing up.

Anyway, the two albums I've downloaded so far this cycle (my months start on the 20th) are both good. I got Circles by The Autumn Defense--which is the side project of John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco. Actually, Pat was in The Autumn Defense before he was in Wilco, and John was his connection to being added into Wilco (along with Nels Cline) at the start of the A Ghost is Born tour. The second CD is the Hotel Lights' self-titled debut. The Hotel Lights features Darren Jessee (who played drums in Ben Folds Five) making a run as a front man--singing and playing guitar/piano. Consider this the indie pop version of Dave Grohl--except Ben Folds didn't kill himself (he actually moved on to a wonderful solo career). Also, Ben Folds wasn't married to a psychotic drug addict who refused to release any of his unheard music to his fans. Which brings me to my point, Darren Jessee (who wrote the famous chorus to "Brick") is a good songwriter and has assembled a good band. Anyway, I suggest both these albums.