After breaking her ankle at a New Pornographers show in Washington DC, über-talented vocalist Neko Case had to leave the tour and had some downtime. We all hoped Ms. Case might spend some of this time writing and recording for a follow-up to 2006's Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. It looks like we were right. While performing at Seattle's Bumbershoot Music Festival, Neko Case spilled some details about her upcoming new album.

National Public Radio's All Songs Considered has posted a recording of a recent Radiohead show on their podcast.

This main set and two encore show features 25 songs spanning the complete Radiohead catalogue. The show is indeed amazing, and should go directly to the top of your iPod playlist.

Radiohead: Live in Concert : NPR Radio

Autumn always brings my favorite things: cooler weather, rainy days, homemade chili, and terrific new album releases! This year, it seems like there is more awesome records being released than any autumn I can remember. I've taken some time to review a few of the newest albums that you definitely need to be aware of. Read on!

There's a bunch of new albums being released this week. Here's a quick overview of some of the more promising titles.

Today, I'm starting a new feature at Jude13. Each week, we'll showcase an album we find to be especially listen-worthy. If we can swing it, we'll soon try to toss in a free download of one of the tracks on the album. On to the good stuff...

Kings of Leon - Because Of The Times
Jude13 Rating:

This album's been out for a while, and while I've owned it since the day it was released (over a year ago), I didn't give it much of a listen. King's of Leon's last album, Aha Shake Heartbreak was a good effort and is what ultimately blew open the doors of fame for them, but I thought it lacked authenticity and and sounded too wild, uncontrolled, and frankly, a bit amatuerish. I really didn't expect much from this past release. It was only after Jenny Eliscu's relentless playing of "Knocked Up" on Left of Center that really got me to give it an honest listen. Jenny apparently knows her stuff, because this is a great album!

There's been a lot of good music released this summer, and while I've done a lot of listening, I've done very little blogging on it. There's been some monster releases, Coldplay's Viva la Vida, Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs, and my favorite, Sigur Rós and their album Ros Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, which I still just refer to as, "the new Sigur Rós album." But there's also been some great releases by some bands you may not have heard of.

In an effort to get caught up, I'm going to give you quick reviews of the last 3 albums I've bought (Viva La Vida excluded from this list until another day).

Jayhawk basketball is a religion. You think I’m overstating things? You’re wrong. Let me show you.

The most holy city in Jayhawk basketball is Lawrence, Kansas. Tens of thousands make an annual pilgrimage to the city to witness and worship. On April 12th of this year, over 100,000 descended on the city in a single day to give the Jayhawks a “triumphal entry” through the city. Instead of riding on a borrowed donkey the team came in on borrowed Mustangs. Instead of waving palms the masses waved pom-poms and crimson and blue flags.

While laying on the couch late on this Monday night, I find myself in a reflective mood.

Looking in hindsight over my life, I realize the regrets I have are not decisions I've made, nor things I've done (or haven't done), but rather, the relationships and friendships I've lost.

This is part 11 of a 11 part series of posts. Read all 11.

#1) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
At some point in every galaxy, the stars align just so, the dust from a dying comet falls into the atmosphere, and out of the depths of the sea emerges a beast that can either save or destroy the world with one breath from its lungs. In this case, that sea is Montreal, the beast is Arcade Fire, and its fiery-breath is their latest album, Neon Bible. Biblical metaphors aside, Neon Bible is good stuff, REAL GOOD.

My extended family has a group email address in which we can mail to contact everybody. It goes out to about 30 family members, and we use it to plan family gatherings and to update each other on family news. Lately, we've been using it to discuss the Democratic and Republican primary elections. In one such email, a relative stated they had never previously put a bumper sticker on their car, but they now sport one for a certain candidate. I know I'm overly cynical and jaded in my views of politics, and I've made a conscious decision to keep this blog relatively politics-free, but I thought I would share with you my reply...