THE GOOD: Both lists feature titles I assumed would have been on more lists already (Coldplay, Hercules & Love Affair, Drive-By Truckers, Portishead), so it's nice to be validated a bit. Personally, I was happy to seerecent Pitchfork discovery The Gaslight Anthem on the Q list (No. 20), although the violent involuntary headshaking that ensued upon seeing Razorlight a spot below erased that brief moment of joy. Also, the Mojo list has a good number of British acts I've never heard of that I can proceed to champion for a few weeks to my unsuspecting friends on the basis of their American obscurity alone.
THE BAD: I suppose this is going to be a trend, but seeing the Fleet Foxes disc ranked near the top on both lists (Q, No. 2; Mojo, No. 1) makes me think that at some point in the near future I'm going to refer to 2008 as "The Year of the Bland." I don't mind the Fleet Foxes as much as some around here, but it's hard for me to swallow the idea that this is the shining example of what's great, exciting, and/or wonderful about music in 2008. When Rough Trade (the store) called the band "Seattle's answer to CSNY," they hit on an appropriate and damning description. (Even if the store's list had Fleet Foxes at No. 2 as well.) I'm not someone who expects every bit of music I listen to be challenging aesthetically, but at very least, I expect it to be sorta moving. (See also Bon Iver: Mojo, No. 4; Q, No. 34.)
THE WHAAAA?:I say this as someone who actually enjoyed both of their previous releases to differing degrees, but having Keane's Perfect Symmetry place as high as No. 12 seems like Q is trying to ham-fistedly apologize to British musicians for the deluge of American acts surrounding them. Speaking of Q and American musicians: John Mellencamp (No. 41)? Huh.

Mojo
1. Fleet Foxes
2. The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age Of The Understatement
3. Paul Weller, 22 Dreams
4. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!
6. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
7. Glasvegas
8. The Week That Was, The Week That Was
9. The Bug, London Zoo
10. Neil Diamond, Home Before Dark
11. Portishead, Third
12. Don Cavalli, Cryland
13. Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
14. British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?
15. Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves, Roll With You
16. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
17. Sigur Rós, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
18. Pete Molinari, A Virtual Landslide
19. Beck, Modern Guilt
20. TV on the Radio, Dear Science
21. Amadou & Mariam, Welcome to Mali
22. Mercury Rev, Snowflake Midnight
23. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid
24. Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life
25. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
26. Peter Broderick, Home
27. M83, Saturdays=Youth
28. Neon Neon, Stainless Style
29. Yeasayer, All Hour Cymbals
30. The Night Marchers, See You in Magic
31. Duffy, Rockferry
32. Seasick Steve, I Started Out With Nothin’ and I Still Got Most of It Left
33. Kasai Allstars, In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic
34. Fuck Buttons, Street Horrrsing
35. Our Broken Garden, When Your Blackening Shows
36. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
37. Gavin Bryars & Philip Jeck & Alter Ego, The Sinking of the Titanic
38. Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
39. Abe Vigoda, Skeleton
40. The Black Keys, Attack & Release
41. The Fall, Imperial Wax Solvent
42. Juana Molina, Un Día
43. Aimee Mann, @#%&*! Smilers
44. Goldmund, The Malady Of Elegance
45. Metallica, Death Magnetic
46. James Hunter, The Hard Way
47. Flying Lotus, Los Angeles
48. AC/DC, Black Ice
49. The Neil Cowley Trio, Loud… Louder… Stop
50. Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul

Q
1. Kings of Leon, Only the Night
2. Fleet Foxes
3. Coldplay, Viva La Vida...
4. Vampire Weekend
5. Glasvegas
6. Duffy, Rockferry
7. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
8. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid
9. The Raconteurs, Consolers of The Lonely
10. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!
11. Sigur Ros, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
12. Keane, Perfect Symmetry
13. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
14. Kaiser Chiefs, Off With Their Heads
15. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
16. Hot Chip, Made In The Dark
17. Adele, 19
18. British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?
19. Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
20. The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound
21. Razorlight, Slipaway Fires
22. The Killers, Day and Age
23. Beck, Modern Guilt
24. The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of The Understatement
25. Metallica, Death Magnetic
26. Conor Oberst
27. Neil Diamond, Before Home
28. Paul Weller, 22 Dreams
29. AC/DC, Black Ice
30. Portishead, Third
31. Black Mountain, In The Future
32. Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul
33. Hercules & Love Affair
34. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
35. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
36. R.E.M., Accelerate
37. Lykke Li, Youth Novels
38. John Mellencamp, Life Death Love And Freedom
39. Santogold
40. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
41. Lindsey Buckingham, Gift of Screws
42. Liam Finn, I'll Be Lightning
43. Joan As Police Woman, To Survive
44. Black Kids, Partie Traumatic
45. Jack Johnson, Sleep Through Static
46. Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
47. The Verve, Forth
48. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
49. Emmylou Harris, All I Indented To Be
50. Dido, Safe Trip Home

50 Best Albums of the Year [Q]
Best of 50, Mojo [In New Music We Trust]

THE GOOD: A top 10 with enough personal favorites (Santogold, No. 2; Al Green's Lay It Down, No. 4; Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, No. 7; Estelle's Shine, No. 8) to make me forgive the obligatory Fleet Foxes inclusion (at No. 3, for real).
THE BAD: Amazon is an e-commerce site, though, and once the list gets into its teens, a few decisions seem to have been arrived at by factoring in both sales and critical appeal. Metallica's Death Magnetic at No. 19, for example: Surely there were better albums put out by metal bands who were going for a serious image makeover after a string of semi-disastrous albums and a movie that let them get a little to emo? (OK, maybe not.)
THE WHAAA? Yeah, I kind of can't get over that the first "best of '08" list that I've come across so far has Kings Of Leon's Only By The Night as No. 1. But maybe you've found other rundowns out there? Feel free to send them our way.

1. Kings Of Leon, Only By The Night
2. Santogold
3. Fleet Foxes
4. Al Green, Lay It Down
5. Adele, 19
6. Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
7. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part 1: Fourth World War
8. Estelle, Shine
9. Hayes Carll, Trouble In Mind
10. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
11. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
12. Joan As Police Woman, To Survive
13. R.E.M., Accelerate
14. Johnny Flynn, A Larum
15. Duffy, Rockferry
16. Throw Me The Statue, Moonbeams
17. Sigur Ros, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
18. Portishead, Third
19. Metallica, Death Magnetic
20. She & Him, Volume One
21. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
22. Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim
23. T.I., Paper Trail
24. Beck, Modern Guilt
25. M83, Saturdays = Youth
26. The Roy Hargrove Quintet, Ear Food
27. Ashton Shepherd, Sounds So Good
28. B.B. King, One Kind Favor
29. Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza
30. Coldplay, Viva La Vida
31. Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
32. Thao, We Brave Bee Stings And All
33. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
34. Ting Tings, We Started Nothing
35. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion
36. Little Jackie, The Stoop
37. Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer
38. Destroyer, Trouble In Dreams
39. Dr. John And The Lower 911, The City That Care Forgot
40. The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
41. Think Of One, Camping Shaabi
42. Juno soundtrack
43. The Mighty Underdogs, Droppin' Science Fiction
44. JJ Grey & Moffro, Orange Blossoms
45. CSS, Donkey
46. Katy Perry, One Of The Boys
47. The Raconteurs, Consolers Of The Lonely
48. Calexico, Carried To Dust
49. Jamie Lidell, Jim
50. Jeff Healey, Mess Of Blues

Best Of 2008 [Amazon]

That durable smash by Atlanta rap deity T.I. moves into the penthouse for the third time since late August. Directly behind it is T.I.’s simultaneous hit, the Rihanna duet “Live Your Life,” which moves up to No. 2 two weeks after it spent a sole week in the top spot.

After I bravely predicted a few weeks ago that the irresistible “Life” would dominate the fall and make “Whatever” a distant memory, the T-and-Ri pairing has had a hard time holding onto the top spot. Last week’s coup by Britney Spears’s well-hyped “Womanizer” was pretty predictable. But the idea that T.I.’s new hit would also have to fight off his older one—a loping, sluggish song that’s neither a ballad nor a club jam—was a development few saw coming, least of all me.

If there’s one thing it shows, it’s that for all our talk here in recent weeks about the dominance of digital sales on the charts these days, airplay still matters. “Whatever” wouldn’t still be competing for the top slot without radio’s fervent support.

On the Hot 100, “Whatever You Like” is in its sixth non-consecutive week at No. 1, but the more telling statistic is it’s now in its fifth week as the most-played song in the country. It’s not doing shabbily at iTunes and other digital stores, mind you, shifting 154,000 downloads. That makes it the chart week’s fourth-biggest seller—impressive, especially for a two-month-old single, but not enough to top the big chart if it weren’t for all those radio spins.

The airplay is coming from multiple formats—from the more predictable R&B/hip-hop and rhythmic Top 40 stations, where it’s currently or recently has been top-ranked; to mainstream Top 40, where it’s now in the top five; and even the Latin rhythm format, where it recently made the top 10. (In any given week, Latin stations spin a half-dozen or more current English-language hits alongside regulars like Juanes and Daddy Yankee.)

One of the smarter comments I received this week on my special bonus column on AC/DC’s singles-chart history came from a self-proclaimed former “radio guy” who worked at a rock station in the ’80s and ’90s. He observed how certain hits would be affected by “dayparting,” the industry term for segregating certain songs to parts of the day when they’re likely to find favor with that hour’s listeners. The average radio station doesn’t actually have one monolithic type of listener all day and night—older listeners tend to tune in mostly during the day, up through drive time, then leave the radio to teens at night, when more aggressive or adventurous stuff can be played.

In that light, it probably doesn’t hurt that “Whatever You Like” is T.I.’s first hit in which he does almost no rapping—except for his opening chitchat as the song starts, the whole song is sung. That means program directors can safely slot it in both daylight hours, when older demographics would object to anything with heavy straight rapping, and at night, when T.I.-loving kids will sing along.

In a normal post-iTunes era week on the Hot 100, whatever’s on top of the Digital Songs list is also No. 1 on the big chart. That’s because the sales list tends to be topped by the smash of the moment—new records enjoying a burst of sales from eager fans—and those sales can be so large, they swamp whatever advantage the most-played radio hits have. But in certain weeks where the top-sellers are all relatively evenly matched, like this week, airplay makes a big difference.

Among the top four digital sellers—Spears’ “Womanizer,” the T.I.–Rihanna duet, Taylor Swift’s new hit “Fearless,” and T.I.’s “Whatever”—there’s only a difference of about 47,000 downloads. That might sound like a lot, but just for comparison, last week the spread among the top four was almost 130,000 copies; the top single (Britney’s) outsold the runner-up (T.I./Rihanna) by almost 60,000 alone.

Meanwhile, over on the Hot 100 Airplay list, which ranks spins across all current-based radio formats, these four records are all over the place: “Whatever” ranks first, “Life” ranks fourth, “Womanizer” is 38th, and Swift’s latest isn’t registering at all (radio is still focusing on her older “Love Story”). That radio lead is what makes “Whatever” the overall leader on the Hot 100.

As impressive as “Whatever” looks right now, beneath the surface “Life” is still the outperformer. The duet’s fourth-place ranking at radio is in only its fourth week charting—absurdly fast, considering how slowly programmers normally add new records. (The Britney record is also in its fourth week at radio and isn’t doing nearly that well, hampered in part by the smaller number of radio formats playing her.) “Life” moved from No. 45 on the airplay chart three weeks ago, to No. 22, then No. 9, now No. 4, an Olympian feat of playlist penetration. All this, and it’s still selling like crazy: at 198,000 copies, “Life” is only about 3,000 short of Britney’s digital downloads.

What I’m saying is, there’s a great chance “Live Your Life” will return to No. 1, even if “Whatever” continues to get more airplay and “Womanizer” continues to outsell it. When “Life” went to No. 1 two weeks ago, its record-setting sales total made airplay numbers moot. Now that its sales are less massive (but still big!) airplay matters, and now the song’s got lots of it. Another week of rising airplay—let’s say it becomes the third-most-played radio hit—and sales in the neighborhood of 200K again would likely give it enough chart points to recapture the flag.

That is, unless something stops it. A song completely out of left field—currently outside the Top Five, Top 10 or even Top 40—could shoot to No. 1 on a big sales burst. Of the last four No. 1 hits, three (“Whatever,” “Life,” “Womanizer”) shot to the top from below No. 70, and we might see yet another pole-vaulter next week. At this writing, the top seller on iTunes is Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy,” which just hit the store on Tuesday and has been charting on the Hot 100 for two weeks on airplay alone. Currently No. 68, “Boy” will surely leap into the Top Five next week and, with a sales total similar to T.I.’s or Britney’s, could very well leap to the top.

Nonetheless, if there’s one part of my faulty pro-“Life” prediction that might bear out, it’s that the O-Zone–sampling hit will likely be wafting from radios right through the holidays, whether it makes a comeback to the penthouse or not.

Here's a rundown of the rest of this week's charts:

• How ’bout another prediction? “Fearless,” that new hit by Taylor Swift, which makes its Hot 100 debut at No. 9, will drop big-time on next week’s chart. Why so confident? Well, for one thing, as I hinted above, the debut is due entirely to sales and not airplay, and that won’t last. (Check the current standings at iTunes: “Fearless” is down to No. 12, after topping Apple’s list last week and starting at No. 3 on Billboard’s full Digital Songs list.) For another, most of the blockbuster digital sellers we’ve seen in the last few weeks have enjoyed a week or two of high Hot 100 placement before falling, sometimes precipitously. Take a look at these performance snapshots by recent top sellers that had big Hot 100 debuts:

Taylor Swift, “Change”: Debuted at No. 10 (August 30), two weeks later at No. 100, now off the chart.
Taylor Swift, “Love Story”: Debuted at No. 16 (September 27), next week No. 5, now No. 14.
Christina Aguilera, “Keeps Gettin’ Better”: Debuted at No. 7 (October 18), last week No. 17, now No. 27.
Nickelback, “Gotta Be Somebody”: Debuted at No. 10 (October 18), last week No. 16, now No. 17.
The Killers, “Human”: Debuted at No. 32 (October 18), last week No. 52, now No. 58.
David Cook, “Light On”: Debuted at No. 17 (October 18), last week No. 66, now off the chart.

In this light, the aforementioned hits by Britney and T.I. look especially impressive—even after their initial weeks of big sales, they’re still riding high. But here’s the difference: those high-flying Britney and T.I. hits began their lives with solid radio airplay, then piled big sales onto it. They didn’t debut high on the chart, like the hits listed above from Swift, Aguilera et al. If those songs had posted strong airplay first, they’d have debuted low on the Hot 100, then jumped up the chart when digital sales came pouring in. Instead, they had anemic airplay, scored a week or two of big sales from rabid fans, but then had nothing to keep them aloft when sales fell back to earth.

Are you detecting the theme of this week’s column? Sales are flashy and overpowering, but airplay is what keeps hits alive.

• Toby Keith takes over No. 1 on Hot Country Songs with “She Never Cried in Front of Me (Even When People Accused Her of Spending Too Much on Her Campaign Wardrobe).” (Okay, I made up the part in parentheses.)

With that move, Keith retains his lead as the guy with the most country chart-toppers this decade. Since 2000, Mr. Boot-in-Yer-Ass has topped the chart 14 times (out of 17 times total in his career). That beats 12 post-millennial No. 1s each for two other fellas: Phillies scion and Obama supporter Tim McGraw, and weeping lonelyheart Kenny Chesney, who topped last week’s chart and gets evicted by Keith this week.

• Speaking of Chesney, he appears to be soothing his woman troubles by dueting with an array of different men. Our own Michaelangelo Matos wrote me this morning to point out that he’s got three duets in the lower 50s of the Country chart: “I'm Alive” by Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews is at No. 55; “That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)” credited to Kenny Chesney with Willie Nelson is at No. 56; and “Down the Road” by Kenny Chesney with Mac McAnally checks in at No. 59. All come from Chesney’s new chart-topping album Lucky Old Sun, which generates no less than one-tenth of this week’s 60-position Country chart: six new Chesney songs are being spun enough by radio stations to make the list.

• Don’t look now, but Kings of Leon, the so-called “Southern Strokes,” are charting at least as well as the actual Strokes. “Sex on Fire,” already a No. 1 pop hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, is now a Top Five Modern Rock hit here. Its No. 5 peak matches that of the Strokes’ highest-charting rock song, 2002’s “Last Nite.” Does the Christina Aguilera mashup come next?

Top 10s
Last week's position and total weeks charted in parentheses (Digital Songs chart includes total downloads/percentage change in parentheses):

Hot 100
1. T.I., "Whatever You Like" (LW No. 2, 11 weeks)
2. T.I. feat. Rihanna, "Live Your Life" (LW No. 3, 4 weeks)
3. Pink, "So What" (LW No. 4, 9 weeks)
4. Britney Spears, "Womanizer" (LW No. 1, 3 weeks)
5. Katy Perry, "Hot N Cold" (LW No. 5, 12 weeks)
6. Rihanna, "Disturbia" (LW No. 6, 18 weeks)
7. Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne, "Let It Rock" (LW No. 7, 8 weeks)
8. Ne-Yo, "Miss Independent" (LW No. 9, 9 weeks)
9. Taylor Swift, "Fearless" (CHART DEBUT)
10. T-Pain feat. Lil Wayne, "Can't Believe It" (LW No. 8, 12 weeks)

Hot Digital Songs
1. Britney Spears, "Womanizer" (LW No. 1, 201,000 downloads)
2. T.I. feat. Rihanna, "Live Your Life" (LW No. 2, 198,000 downloads)
3. Taylor Swift, "Fearless" (CHART DEBUT, 162,000 downloads)
4. T.I., "Whatever You Like" (LW No. 3, 154,000 downloads)
5. Pink, "So What" (LW No. 4, 147,000 downloads)
6. Katy Perry, "Hot N Cold" (LW No. 7, 141,000 downloads)
7. Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne, "Let It Rock" (LW No. 5, 139,000 downloads)
8. Kanye West, "Love Lockdown" (LW No. 7, 95,000 downloads)
9. Taylor Swift, "Love Story" (LW No. 9, 94,000 downloads)
10. Rihanna, "Disturbia" (LW No. 11, 87,000 downloads)

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
1. Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" (LW No. 1, 23 weeks)
2. Ne-Yo, "Miss Independent" (LW No. 3, 13 weeks)
3. T.I., "Whatever You Like" (LW No. 2, 14 weeks)
4. T-Pain feat. Lil Wayne, "Can't Believe It," (LW No. 4, 15 weeks)
5. Jazmine Sullivan, "Need U Bad" (LW No. 5, 25 weeks)
6. Lil Wayne feat. Bobby Valentino, "Mrs. Officer" (LW No. 6, 16 weeks)
7. T.I. feat. Rihanna, "Live Your Life" (LW No. 7, 6 weeks)
8. Jazmine Sullivan, "Bust Your Windows" (LW No. 11, 6 weeks)
9. Slim feat. Yung Joc, "So Fly" (LW No. 8, 20 weeks)
10. Beyoncé, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (LW No. 20, 2 weeks)

Hot Country Songs
1. Toby Keith, "She Never Cried in Front of Me" (LW No. 2, 17 weeks)
2. Kenny Chesney, "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" (LW No. 1, 12 weeks)
3. Carrie Underwood, "Just a Dream" (LW No. 3, 15 weeks)
4. Taylor Swift, "Love Story" (LW No. 7, 6 weeks)
5. Darius Rucker, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" (LW No. 4, 27 weeks)
6. Tim McGraw, "Let It Go" (LW No. 6, 14 weeks)
7. Zac Brown Band, "Chicken Fried" (LW No. 11, 18 weeks)
8. Sugarland, "Already Gone" (LW No. 9, 8 weeks)
9. Montgomery Gentry, "Roll with Me" (LW No. 10, 13 weeks)
10. Brad Paisley, "Waitin' on a Woman" (LW No. 8, 19 weeks)

Hot Modern Rock Tracks
1. The Offspring, "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" (LW No. 1, 13 weeks)
2. Weezer, "Troublemaker" (LW No. 2, 15 weeks)
3. Rise Against, "Re-Education (Through Labor)" (LW No. 4, 9 weeks)
4. Apocalyptica feat. Adam Gontier, "I Don't Care" (LW No. 3, 16 weeks)
5. Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire" (LW No. 8, 9 weeks)
6. The Killers, "Human" (LW No. 6, 4 weeks)
7. Staind, "Believe" (LW No. 5, 17 weeks)
8. Metallica, "The Day That Never Comes" (LW No. 7, 9 weeks)
9. Theory of a Deadman, "Bad Girlfriend" (LW No. 9, 18 weeks)
10. Nickelback, "Gotta Be Somebody" (LW No. 15, 3 weeks)

The October 2008 edition of Spin features as its cover subjects the Tennessee quartet Kings Of Leon. Contributing writer David Peisner’s conceit in the corresponding profile, “American Regal,” rests on the imbalance of the band’s profile in Europe in comparison to that of the US—it seems that English folk are intrigued by the Los Bros Followill’s background as itinerant kids running around the South with their preacher dad. And it seems that, since the band’s fourth album debuted on the Billboard charts at No. 4 (or is it No. 5? The mag may be sorting this out for a bit) a week and half after this issue hit the stands, Spin’s braintrust called this cover choice correctly.

But your very own Keyboard Krybaby found it very difficult to focus on the piece. KK suspects that it has little to do with the relative merits of Peisner’s words. Nor does he believe that it’s his disinclination for the band, which he saw perpetrate a singularly dreadful showcase performance at the Mercury Lounge in 2003, and from which he’s not heard anything he liked since. KK was mildly interested to learn from the story that the band was signed to RCA before Caleb and Jared Followill learned how to play their instruments; in fact, there was no existing band before the signing, which made KK wonder if RCA thought the idea of concocting a “Southern Strokes” out of whole cloth was irresistible. (This also may explain why KK thought they sounded so shitty live back then.)

He also could not focus on “Normaltown,” a story regarding Of Montreal, an Athens band he dislikes very much. But neither that nor writer Andy Battaglia’s story is at fault for KK not being compelled.

Rather, KK reckons his problem lies with the fact that this issue of Spin was likely produced and then sent to the printer anywhere from early August to very early September. Whatever the timeframe, the issue doesn’t grapple with the present, which more or less has been its intention since it began publication in 1985.

While he was reading this issue, KK was preoccupied with both a possible collapse of the worldwide financial superstructure and various televised interviews with the governor of Alaska. It may be that KK is too easily distracted; a reader would be forgiven for exclaiming, “Hey schmuck, I’ll opine on the contents of goddamn music rags if your mind is on something else!”

But here was this particular issue of this particular magazine, dated October 2008 but seemingly beamed in from mid-August. This isn’t to suggest that an entertainment-oriented publication like Spin should be worried that Ben Bernanke isn’t interviewed therein as to the relative merits and deficits of Fleet Foxes. It’s merely that the realities of production schedules in a quadruple-fucked publishing landscape and the intended reader’s ability to access culture and events instantaneously combine to hobble the magazine’s ability to contend with what’s going on right now.

Spin’s staff could not have predicted the market meltdown, but they clearly knew that this would be the issue that would hit the stands closest to Nov. 4. And so the October issue contains a somewhat timid, “well, we have to address it somehow” piece pegged to the election that nonetheless doesn’t address the Palin/Biden moment.

In a March post regarding the April 2008 Spin, KK discussed Peisner’s “Power Ballots,” and said that he “wouldn't be surprised if (it was) to be Spin's last word on the election.” But that was not so; here “Strange Bedfellows” presents “44 moments in which the worlds of music and politics intersected brilliantly… and awkwardly.” The list is not worth citing, and a side-by-side comparison of Obama and McCain’s positions on issues like media consolidation and intellectual property rights seems intended to “let the reader decide” which candidate is more favorable. Either Spin’s braintrust is afraid of alienating increasingly scarce readers who might be offended by the pro-Obama views the staff surely holds (KK thinks the amount of said readers would be negligible or nonexistent), or they’re leaving the Obama-shilling to Rolling Stone.

One of four sidebar interviews with musicians as to their voting sympathies piqued KK’s interest: the other three involve Young Jeezy, Common, and some nerd from Cold War Kids and how each is going for who you'd expect them to.

But the interview with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello is worth reproducing at length:

“The dialogue between the two political parties is always framed so narrowly— each candidate is trying to out-conservative the other in this heated competition for the red states. That’s why half the country stays home on Election Day; the zealous enthusiasm that many Obama supporters felt during the primaries may have ebbed. And as long as Obama is saber-rattling about Iran… well we don’t need another warmonger in the White House of any stripe. It was the Democrats who were elected two years ago to end the war, and they rolled over like the Beverly Hills Chihuahua when it came time to do anything.

“The most important issue facing this country is prosecuting the Bush administration for the war crimes they’ve committed. Is that something that will be discussed during the debates? Unlikely. Is that something Obama might agree with, even if he can’t come out and say it? As the half-Kenyan Harvard Graduate from Illinois who isn’t running for president, I might have some insight, but I’d just be guessing. It’s not even that complicated an issue, but it’s so outside the pale of what we’re allowed to discuss in elections. The candidate I’m in most in favor of may not exist. Then again, I didn’t think it was possible the Berlin Wall would fall or that lunch counters would be desegregated…”

(Note: The last instance the 44-year-old Morello cites predates the dawning of his political intelligence, unless his beliefs began before he was conceived.)

KK, using the alias “Rob Kemp,” interviewed Morello a decade ago, and found him to be far, far better informed than musicians of the “I read Maximum Rock’n'Roll in the ‘80s/Reagan and Bush suck” variety. But there was one question Morello didn’t like: How did he reconcile RAtM’s anti-corporate, antiestablishment posture with the band’s association with a component of a multinational corporation? With evident irritation, Morello responded that a major-label platform enabled the band to reach “that one kid” whose conversion to radical activism would have made it all worth it, etc., etc.

We can safely assume that Morello is now comfortable enough so that he no longer needs an irretrievably compromised and increasingly nonfunctioning platform to communicate important ideas to that one kid. So KK is going to begin taking Morello and his demands for purity in the public square a bit more seriously when every musical endeavor he’s involved in has no connection whatsoever to a multinational corporation.

And now, on another note…

Earlier this year, an editor at one of the publications regularly assessed in this space phoned KK, who used the above-referenced alias to review heavy metal albums (more notable rock critics were probably beat up by metal fans in high school, such has been their disdain for the genre). The editor asked whether I had ever heard of the Canadian heavy metal band that is the subject of the documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil, which had wowed Sundance. I was ashamed to say that I only dimly remembered the name, but hey, I knew a lot about Thor and the Mentors!!!

Which is to say that KK was interested to read “Heavy Mental,” a piece regarding the longtime relationship between the band and the film’s director and the subsequent “Anvil’s finally getting their due” aftermath.

On a less substantive point, he’ll note that he’s very very tired of the “this is the real Spinal Tap” meme employed in this story and others regarding metal bands condescended to by mainstream rock writers. On a more substantive point, he’ll note that two archival photographs in the piece from 1978 and 1986 depict the two remaining Anvil dudes, Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb “Robbo” Reiner, alongside their since departed colleagues, Dave Allison and Ian Dickson. But the text doesn’t mention the latter two whatsoever, nor does it say when current bassist Glenn Georgy joined the band. It seems likely that the piece’s author, Tom Roston, included such in the draft he submitted, only have it excised in the final version. Sigh.

In case you're wondering, the rest of the top 10 will apparently consist of Joe, Kid Rock, Lil Wayne, and Young Jeezy. [HITS Daily Double]

• "...no one ever demanded a refund at a Coldplay gig because the songs were too calculating and the words to 'Fix You' rang a little trite. They want big, streamlined tunes, which is what Only By The Night provides. Occasionally, it provides them in a way that suggests the Kings of Leon could be a more intriguing and characterful band if they wanted, but perhaps they don't want. They're putting plenty of bums on seats as they are." [Guardian]

• "Surely, we can do better for the platonic ideal of a rock band than four guys gunning for a spot rightfully inhabited by My Morning Jacket but instead coming up with the best songs 3 Doors Down never wrote." [Pitchfork]

• "Anyone waiting for a more invigorating—or better—rock record to come along this year should try another planet. This throne’s taken." [The Mirror]

• "But when the Kings find a gussied-up groove with teeth — like the effects-laden Zeppelin stomp of 'Crawl' or the pulsating, New Wave 'Sex on Fire'—they sound like rock heroes experiencing the joy of well-manicured sound." [Rolling Stone]

Thank you, Vodafone Live Music Awards, for doing what no American awards show has the guts to do: Give a bunch of awards to Primal Scream. I have no idea what they've done to merit an award for "Outstanding Contribution To Live Music" (well, besides being awesome), but they certainly appeared to be excited by the honor last night, with bassist Mani asking "What's this one for again?" upon accepting it.

The complete list of winners:

Best Live Male: Mark Ronson
Best Live Female: Kate Nash
Best Live Act: Primal Scream
Best Live Return: Spice Girls
XFM Live Breakthrough Act: The Ting Tings
4Music Festival Of the Year: T In The Park
Live And Unsigned Awards: Kiddo360
Best International Live Act: Kings Of Leon
Sony Ericsson Tour Of The Year: Take That Arena Tour
Outstanding Contribution To Live Music: Primal Scream

Primal Scream triumph at Vodafone Live Music Awards [NME]

I don't dislike Fleet Foxes as much as some people around here, but a nomination for Best Album? Really? Also, I spent some time trying to discern the difference between a "New Act" and a "Breakthrough Artist" but then my head started to hurt, and I wanted to take a nap.

Also, if I live to be a thousand years old, I don't think I'll be able to understand the British love of Kings of Leon. I'm just not able to piece it together.

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST:
Duffy
Adele
Santogold
Bon Iver
Gabriella Cilmi

BEST NEW ACT:
Fleet Foxes
Glasvegas
The Ting Tings
The Last Shadow Puppets
Vampire Weekend

BEST TRACK:
Keane - Spiralling
Duffy - Mercy
Coldplay - Violet Hill
Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

BEST VIDEO:
Hot Chip - Ready To The Floor
Coldplay - Violet Hill
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Goldfrapp - Happiness

BEST LIVE ACT:
Kaiser Chiefs
Kings Of Leon
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
The Verve
Rage Against The Machine

BEST ALBUM:
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Nick Cave And The Band Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

BEST ACT IN THE WORLD TODAY:
Coldplay
Oasis
Muse
Metallica
Kings Of Leon

Coldplay lead Q Awards nominations [Music Week]

Best Live Act
The Verve
Kaiser Chiefs
Primal Scream
Muse

Best Male
Mark Ronson
Dizzee Rascal
Morrissey
Paul Weller

Best Female
Amy Winehouse
Duffy
Kate Nash
Estelle

Best International Act
Foo Fighters
Jay Z
N*E*R*D
Kings Of Leon

Best Live Return
The Verve
Spice Girls
Led Zeppelin
Iron Maiden

XFM Live Breakthrough
The Ting Tings
Glasvegas
Foals
The Wombats

4Music Festival of the Year
Reading And Leeds Festivals
Glastonbury
T In The Park
Latitude

Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year
Take That
Sugababes
Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2008
Girls Aloud

The Best International Act reminds us of the odd British love affair with the Kings Of Leon, and it took a few looks at the best male category before the idea that Mark Ronson is nominated as "best" anything really sunk in, but the real highlight is the Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year category. First of all, it's the Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud in a battle to determine pop supremacy once and for all. Secondly, the category's winner is decided by the public. I don't know if Idolator has the readership to tip the scales for the Sugababes, but it's worth a shot. (Also, I don't want to ask for too much, but if the Spice Girls could beat out Led Zeppelin somehow, I'd be rather pleased.)

Shortlist for Vodafone Live Music Awards announced [NME]
The Vodafone Live Music Awards 2008 [Official site]

The Fratellis lack of enthusiasm about the upcoming festival can be partially blamed on the crappy time they had last year, when they were one rung lower on the Pyramid Stage line-up.

"We had a disaster last year. Everything that could go wrong, did.

"Backdrops fell down, equipment broke, and other sh**.

"We built it up in our own heads: 'F***, we're playing Glastonbury, third from the top on the Pyramid Stage.'

"We built it up as this big thing and it was sh**e. The only thing that saved our weekend was that I got to see The Who from the side of the stage.

"If it hadn't been for that I would have gone home in disgust and never come back."

Why did you come back, guys? I don't think there's a law in England that says you have to play Glastonbury. Is there?

Frats Behead Kings [Daily Star]

Best Band
Winners: The Killers
Nominees: Kings Of Leon, My Chemical Romance, The White Stripes, Foo Fighters

Best Solo Artist
Winner: Albert Hammond, Jr.
Nominees: Cat Power, Ryan Adams, Andrew Bird, Beck

Best Live Band
Winner: My Chemical Romance
Nominees: Kings of Leon, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters

Best Album
Winner: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace - Foo Fighters
Nominees: Sawdust - The Killers, Because of the Times - Kings of Leon, Girls and Boys of America- The Hold Steady, Icky Thump - The White Stripes

Best New Band
Winners: Vampire Weekend
Nominees: Black Kids, MGMT, Band Of Horses, Paramore

Best New Solo Artist
Winner: Mark Ronson
Nominees: Sam Sparro, Santogold, Cass McCombs, Seasick Steve

Best New Live Act
Winners: Vampire Weekend
Nominees: Black Kids, Band Of Horses, Santogold, MGMT

Best International Band
Winners: Arcade Fire
Nominees: Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Radiohead, Oasis

Best International Solo Artist
Winner: Kate Nash
Nominees: Feist, MIA, Jamie T, Amy Winehouse

Best International Live Act
Winners: Arcade Fire
Nominees:Arctic Monkeys, The Cribs, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse

Best International Album
Winners: Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
Nominees: Neon Bible - Arcade Fire, Shotter's Nation - Babyshambles, Myths of the Near Future - Klaxons, In Rainbows - Radiohead

Best International Track
Winner: "Golden Skans" - Klaxons
Nominees: "Teddy Picker" - Arctic Monkeys, "Intervention" - Arcade Fire, "Flux" - Bloc Party, "Foundations" - Kate Nash

Best New International Band
Winners: Klaxons
Nominees: The Enemy, Foals, The Wombats, The Last Shadow Puppets

Best New International Solo Artist
Winner: Kate Nash
Nominees: Duffy, Lily Allen, Lightspeed Champion, Jack Penate

Best New International Live Act
Winners: Klaxons
Nominees: CSS, The Wombats, Foals, The Pigeon Detectives

Best Track
Winners: "Tranquilize" - The Killers
Nominees: "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters, "All My Friends" - LCD Soundsystem, "Teenagers" - My Chemical Romance, "Icky Thump" - The White Stripes

Voted by NME
Breakthrough Artist: Santogold
Breakthrough Track: MGMT: "Time To Pretend"
Classic LP: Lemonheads: It's A Shame About Ray
Inspiration Award: Mick Jones

Best Video
Winner: "D.A.N.C.E." - Justice
Nominees: "Fluorescent Adolescent" - Arctic Monkeys, "Long Road to Ruin" - Foo Fighters, "Tranquilize" - The Killers, "Lord Don't Slow Me Down" - Oasis

Best TV Show
Winner: Heroes
Nominees: Grey's Anatomy, Lost, The Mighty Boosh, The Office: An American Workplace

Best Film
Winner: Juno
Nominees: Control, No Country for Old Men, The Simpsons Movie, There Will Be Blood

NME Awards USA: Who Won What [NME]