Saw “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” last night. It’s not groundbreaking, but you get your money’s worth in laughs. The music is actually really good too:

You should also know that Dewey Cox is kind of like Hillary Clinton. They both say they’re “in it to win it.”

Their obvious inspiration:

Dale Watson - I Walk The Line (Johnny Cash Cover) (buy)

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This song just kind of washes over you after 12 hours at work on a Friday. It goes well with golden rum and diet coke.

Malkmus talks about things here.

This is good news as well.

Stephen Malkmus - The Hook

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Two Harry Potter related items tonight. I know, I thought this would end when I finished the series too.

1) Having watched Order of the Phoenix on DVD last night, I have come to realize that Neville Longbottom is the filmmakers’ go-to-guy for replacing Dobby in the plot whenever Dobby’s been cut from the movie.

All I’m saying is Gillyweed and the Room of Requirement. Think about it.

2) Harry Potter has now officially become a rallying point for a progressive action campaign, thanks to Free Press. That’s right, FCC consolidation = Voldemedia.

There’s even a free album of Wizard Rock that “warns about the dangers of media consolidation” through “songs based on the Harry Potter series.” Sweet.

The Gist:

“The Harry Potter books offer a vivid example of what can happen when too much media rests in the hands of too few,” said Andrew Slack, creator and director of the Harry Potter Alliance. “In the series, Wizarding newspapers like the Daily Prophet put the magical community in serious jeopardy by denying Voldemort’s return, failing to cover abuses from the Ministry and ultimately becoming a mouthpiece for Voldemort.”

“Potterwatch is the independent media movement formed by Harry Potter’s allies to oppose Voldemort,” said Slack. “StopBigMedia.com and the Harry Potter Alliance have come together to create a Potterwatch movement in the real world to fight back against ‘Voldemedia’ — the handful of companies that control most of what we see, hear and read every day.”

The groups are urging fans and concerned citizens across the country to speak out against a plan from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin to gut longstanding media ownership rules by Dec. 18 — a move that would unleash consolidation in hundreds of local news markets.

Harry And The Potters - The Foil (Malfoy) (buy)

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I, for one, never put the Harry Smith/CBGBs connection together.

The Fugs - Nothing (buy)

UPDATE: Here, Jeff talks then sings:

UPDATE II:> Also, there appears to be some Jeffrey Lewis documentary out there somewhere:

UPDATE III: He also channels Dylan to rebuke Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK):

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For a long time, due to a Napster mislabeling, I thought that this song was sung by Richard Hell:

Only recently did I learn that it was in fact sung by this man, Fee Wabill of the Tubes:

I still contend that it wasn’t a hard sonic mistake to make.

The Tubes - White Punks On Dope (buy)

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Oh how I’ve been behind the times. You stop following music news and then you let the news slip by that your favorite band has a new album planned. But that’s how it is and the Silver Jews are planning:

he Silver Jews have put the finishing touches on their sixth album, “Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea.” The 10-song set is due in late April via Drag City.

The new songs were written over a seven-month period this year, beginning in March. Recording took place at Nashville’s Lake Fever and Marble Valley in Lexington, Va.

Here’s the man’s tracklist:

01 What is Not But Could Be If
02 Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer
03 Suffering Jukebox
04 My Pillow is the Threshold
05 Strange Victory, Strange Defeat
06 San Francisco B.C.
07 Open Field
08 Party Barge
09 Candy Jail
10 We Could Be Looking for the Same Thing

Perhaps the most important thing to note from Billboard’s BLOCKBUSTER scoop is that the Silver Jew himself, David Berman:

Well, he’s gonna be coming to D.C. for non-musical reasons in February 2008:

Berman will also appear at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on Feb. 28 in Washington D.C., speaking about an exhibition by recently deceased visual artist Jeremy Blake, of whom he was once a subject.

Let’s hope it’s not during the working hours.

Silver Jews - Animal Shapes (buy)

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As nimble minded readers may have been able to deduce, I’ve been reading the Harry Potter series over the last few months. Over the weekend, I finished Book 7, and I have to say reading that book with the pre-knowledge that Dumbledore is gay and loved Grindelwald certainly makes you notice the undertones of certain passages.

For instance, in the Daily Prophet preview of Rita Skeeter’s Dumbledore biography, the following words are written about their the two wizards’ famous duel:

“After they’ve read my book, people may be forced to conclude that Grindelwald simply conjured a white hankerchief from the end of his wand and came quietly!

The Dukes Of The Stratosphear - The Mole From The Ministry (buy)

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