A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
You, Me and Everyone We Know, "So Young, So Insane." The new EP by the quartet from Washington, D.C., was produced by Josh Cain of Motion City Soundtrack. Still remarkably unsigned, YMAEWK has opted to release these songs as a free download via MySpace.
Bon Iver, "Blood Bank." Justin Vernon, a k a the indie-folk juggernaut Bon Iver, announced that an EP will be available Jan. 20. Bon Iver performed the title track at First Avenue in August.
Chuck Klosterman's review of "Chinese Democracy" in the Onion. He gives the Guns N' Roses album that many thought would never materialize a grade of A-minus, calling it "the last album that will matter more as a physical object than as an Internet file."
DAVID TAINTOR, CHANHASSEN
TO CONTRIBUTE: POPMUSIC@STARTRIBUNE.COM
"The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time," Rolling Stone. It got the names right, just in the wrong order. No arguments about Aretha Franklin at No. 1. The piece includes articulate commentaries from Bono, Robert Plant and Jackson Browne.
Jason Mraz, Cities 97 Sampler party, Trocaderos. He had a sold-out gig later that night at the Myth, so he did just three songs on acoustic guitar ("I'm Yours," "Remedy," "The Dynamo of Volition") but captivated a packed house with his simple charms and goofy soulfulness.
