Rob Ford.

At the end
of the day
will Toronto
really have an
overweight,
homophobic,
racist
mayor?

Girls.

One of the worst live shows I've ever seen was the Girls show last November at the El Mocambo... maybe it was the fact they just switch guitarist... or they were tired... or they just snorted too much cocaine the night before... whatever the reason... I almost walked out... with that halfhearted solo on Summertime they came close to ruining one of my top tracks from 2009... not that I didn't have any love for their debut record last year Album... quite the opposite... I listened to that record so often I can almost sing it from start to finish... and maybe I dance to it while I'm alone... but I won't admit to anything.
In 2010 Girls are following Album with the 6 song/30 minute Broken Dreams Club... an EP that was recorded at the band's home studio that will be released on November 22 via True Panther... and if the track Heartbreaker has any refection on the rest of the EP... I'll remain interested... you just might want to pass on the live show.
Download the track Heartbreaker here.

Tracklist:
01. The Oh So Protective One
02. Heartbreaker
03. Broken Dreams Club
04. Alright
05. Substance
06. Carolina

Kurt Vile.

I've been listening to Childish Prodigy on repeat since it was released last year... and catching his show at the Great Hall back in July made my Kurt Vile addiction even worse... and to feed my habit once again Matador will be releasing a new single from the Philadelphia guitarist October 25 digitally and on a limited edition 7" November 9... you can also buy it directly from Kurt himself at shows on his current tour.
The single also comes with two b-sides, "Early Dawnin'" and "Sad Ghost"... Vile also has a forthcoming John Agnello-produced album due sometime next year... but right now you can download "In My Time" here.

Destroyer.

Destroyer is the solo project of Dan Bejar (Swan Lake, The New Pornographers)... and in 1998 he released City of Daughters... one of the greatest records of all time in my opinion... so when I hear about a new Destroyer record... I get excited... really excited... and Dan has never let me down with one of his wordy solo albums... in fact... every time my ipod becomes stuck on that new release for two or three months... in a weird way he's like that teacher who captivated you as a kid... you can't stop trying to dissect his lyrics.
His ninth album Kaputt will be released on January 25 via Merge.
In a press release Bejar listed 22 things we might want to know about the album...

"Kaputt by Malaparte, which Bejar has never read… Kara Walker, specifically the lyrics she contributed to the song 'Suicide Demo for Kara Walker'… Chinatown, the neighborhood bordering on Bejar's… Baby blue eyes… 80s Miles Davis… 90s Gil Evans… Last Tango in Paris… Nic Bragg, who played lead guitar on every song, again… Fretless bass… The hopelessness of the future of music… The pointlessness of writing songs for today… V-Drums… The superiority of poetry and plays… And what's to become of film?… The Cocaine Addict… American Communism… Downtown, the neighborhood bordering on Bejar's… The LinnDrum… Avalon and, more specifically, Boys and Girls… The devastated mind of JC/DC, who recorded, produced and mixed this record from fall of 2008 to spring of 2010… The back-up vocals of certain Roy Ayers and Long John Baldry tours… Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence…"

I'm really glad he cleared everything up.

Here's the tracklist:

01 Chinatown
02 Blue Eyes
03 Savage Night at the Opera
04 Suicide Demo for Kara Walker
05 Poor in Love
06 Kaputt
07 Downtown
08 Song for America
09 Bay of Pigs (Detail)

Hunter S. Thompson

October 1958, a pre-fame Hunter S. Thompson applied for a job at the Vancouver Sun. The Ottawa Citizen recently published the quintessentially-Hunter cover letter... which is amazing... check it out below...

TO JACK SCOTT, VANCOUVER SUN

October 1, 1958 57 Perry Street New York City

Sir,

I got a hell of a kick reading the piece Time magazine did this week on The Sun. In addition to wishing you the best of luck, I'd also like to offer my services.

Since I haven't seen a copy of the "new" Sun yet, I'll have to make this a tentative offer. I stepped into a dung-hole the last time I took a job with a paper I didn't know anything about (see enclosed clippings) and I'm not quite ready to go charging up another blind alley.

By the time you get this letter, I'll have gotten hold of some of the recent issues of The Sun. Unless it looks totally worthless, I'll let my offer stand. And don't think that my arrogance is unintentional: it's just that I'd rather offend you now than after I started working for you.

I didn't make myself clear to the last man I worked for until after I took the job. It was as if the Marquis de Sade had suddenly found himself working for Billy Graham. The man despised me, of course, and I had nothing but contempt for him and everything he stood for. If you asked him, he'd tell you that I'm "not very likable, (that I) hate people, (that I) just want to be left alone, and (that I) feel too superior to mingle with the average person." (That's a direct quote from a memo he sent to the publisher.)

Nothing beats having good references.

Of course if you asked some of the other people I've worked for, you'd get a different set of answers.

If you're interested enough to answer this letter, I'll be glad to furnish you with a list of references — including the lad I work for now.

The enclosed clippings should give you a rough idea of who I am. It's a year old, however, and I've changed a bit since it was written. I've taken some writing courses from Columbia in my spare time, learned a hell of a lot about the newspaper business, and developed a healthy contempt for journalism as a profession.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity. If this is what you're trying to get The Sun away from, then I think I'd like to work for you.

Most of my experience has been in sports writing, but I can write everything from warmongering propaganda to learned book reviews.

I can work 25 hours a day if necessary, live on any reasonable salary, and don't give a black damn for job security, office politics, or adverse public relations.

I would rather be on the dole than work for a paper I was ashamed of.

It's a long way from here to British Columbia, but I think I'd enjoy the trip.

If you think you can use me, drop me a line.

If not, good luck anyway.

Sincerely, Hunter S. Thompson