A half-dozen cool things in the world of music, from two points of view:
Radiohead, "The Colbert Report." The show not only devoted an entire episode to the band, but made it an hour-long special! And Stephen Colbert's faux-conservative shtick made him the perfect interviewer to balance out Thom Yorke's super seriousness.
Common's lecture at University of South Florida. Nearly 1,000 students lined up hours early, and many of them stood in the rain to see the conscientious rapper. He might have another career as a motivational speaker, if that whole New York Times bestselling author thing doesn't stick.
The trailer for Martin Scorsese's "George Harrison: Living in the Material World." The two-part documentary debuts on HBO on Wednesday and Thursday. If it's anything like Scorcese's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan," it should be amazing.
CHRISTOPHER SPATA, TAMPA, FLA.
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Pink Floyd week on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon." The Shins, the Foo Fighters (with Roger Waters!), Pearl Jam, MGMT and Dierks Bentley recreated the songs of Floyd with awe and inspiration.
Wild Flag, "Wild Flag." The supergroup of the summer is not SuperHeavy with Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart et al. but Wild Flag with Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole (late of Sleater-Kinney, Helium, the Minders, etc.). It's unvarnished indie rock with verve, heart and smarts. The quartet performs Monday at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.
