Duck & Cover :: Indie rock music writing from Arcade Fire to the Zygotic Minci

Go to Wilcoworld , and you can download a free MP3 of Wilco and Fleet Foxes covering Boby Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." The catch? You must promise to vote. But since I know that all our dedicated Duck & Cover readers are voters, anyway, I'm billing this as a free MP3. So go tell Wilco that you're a voter and get your reward. (photo of guitar rack on-stage at Wilco's set during Outside Lands via Crowdfire ; image by John Battelle ).

I forgot to mention you can dance to it Sounds Like: Ten years ago you left your mother and father and sisters and your best friend and your good friends and you promised to write and you meant what you said and you tried to you really really tried to call but there were waves and the night swallowed everyone and the food on the islands and those accents and all the sounds from across the desert and it's funny what makes you miss Kansas and you finally come back not for good but you return even if only for one day and we're all there and this is what we sound like when we finally see you again. RIYL: Josh Ritter, Hefner, The Shins, Elvis Perkins, Richard Buckner Reaction: It is difficult to hate a defenseless fluffy mammal. It's even harder to listen to Scottish alt-folk-singer-songwriter-laddie-lads Frightened Rabbit and not feel the hot rush of inspiration creeping through the notches in your spine. I have a tendency to gush about bands I like, but who can fault a ban...

Here at Duck & Cover headquarters (read: my office cubicle), we were stunned to learn that UK prog band Marillion was releasing a new album through the P2P channels as a free download. Stunned and dismayed because we had no idea Marillion was still together, let alone up on the P2P action. Well, the joke's on us. Here's how it works, according to their Wikipedia page: Upon downloading the files and attempting to play them, a video from the band appears explaining why they had taken this route. Downloaders are then able to opt to puchase the album at a user-defined price or select to receive DRM-free files for free, in exchange for an email address. The band explains that although they do not support piracy, they want to attempt to engage with p2p users and extract value that currently did not exist. Not to pick at semantics, but I think they mean't " previously did not exist." And while I love arguing about "piracy" and "illegal downloading...

Constant Reader- Yello! It is rare that I must come speak to you in this milieu, but sweet baby jesus, you must be made aware of this before it's too late. As you may well know, the great historical works of our mutual heritage have been co-opted, and we sit idly by, somewhat bemused, as mewling imbeciles press buttons and strum their controllers, attempting to capture the maudlin themes of Black Sabbath, KISS, AC/DC and other fine minstrels of our ill-spent youth. True, some make th e argument that this introduces a younger generation to a time when rock actually Rocked, and there may be merit to that, but as with all things, the tangent of a tangent of a tangent eventually completely loses the original benefit. Thus is the case with Guitar Praise . For fuck's sake. Seriously, where do you go with this shit? Where do you begin? It is common knowledge that Rock = Satan. That's Algebra 101, Constant Reader. At best, you're looking to gods of sex and drugs, but jesus? ...