Hey kids,

How’s the conclusion of ye olde humpa day going for you all?

Me, pretty darn fantastic. I’m at my favorite place to be – HOME.

I’m working on figuring out ways to get paid, without having to leave the house.

In the meantime, here we are.

I’ll start with a fun bit of humor that I came across today – a “literal” version of the a-ha video for “Take On Me.”

Literally, it’s awesome.

Dusto McNeato is the man behind the vid, and he’s got quite a few more funny vids that you can check out here

I’m continuing to make my way through the pile of CDs I acquired from The Exchange over the weekend, and today’s listening started off with the three CD box set issued in 1990 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Derek and the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.

I’ve had my eye on this set since the original release in 1990, and as the 40th anniversary of the album approaches, it is hard to know how they might top this set. They’d have to have video sitting around from these sessions, and that my friends, would make for a heckuva upgrade.

The three CDs are broken into three sections – the original remastered album, a second CD of “jams,” and a third CD of “alternate masters, jams, and outtakes.”

I haven’t gotten to the third disc yet, but the disc of “jams” is pretty cool, with all of the tracks pushing past the twelve minute mark, including one jam that finds Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, etc, joined by virtually the entire lineup of The Allman Brothers, recorded by producer Tom Dowd, and taken from 15 hours worth of jamming between the two factions on the night that Eric and Duane Allman met.

At the time this set was originally released, I questioned the need for a three CD box set dedicated to one album. Now that I’ve heard it, I have to recommend this to anyone that wants a good “fly on the wall” perspective for one of rock and roll’s greatest supergroups.

Pick the Layla box up, grab the Tom Dowd documentary, and make a weekend out of it!

Speaking of D & the D…

I forgot about these Johnny Cash Show vids…

Derek and the Dominos – It’s Too Late

Matchbox w/ Clapton, Cash, and Carl Perkins

About that Monster…

With the release of Accelerate earlier this year, R.E.M. officially won their way back into my good graces after earning some well-deserved punishment time in the corner with their previous studio release Around The Sun. Prior to Around The Sun, R.E.M. albums were getting progressively sketchier (in my opinion,) although you could always count on finding a good track or three on each. Heck, I think I can even admit to liking Reveal for the most part. Is that a good thing? Up went down, and with Around The Sun, I officially threw R.E.M. out.

The Monster album was also in my weekend purchase stack (for a dollar!,) and today I spent some good time with the lovable album with an orange cover that contains one of my favorite R.E.M. songs (“I Took Your Name,”) and also “Bang and Blame,” an R.E.M. song that I despise just as much today as the last time that I heard it, nearly 15 years ago.

Monster opens strong with “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth”? and stumbles a bit after “Crush with Eyeliner” before getting back on track with “Star 69.”

From there, it’s all good.

And I FORGOT about “Strange Currencies!”

In the past 10 years, you might have wondered if R.E.M. would ever rock again, and in 2008, we got a “YES” answer on that one when Accelerate hit the shelves.

Supernatural Superserious. Hell yes.

Monster reminds me that they would do okay to turn those amps up just a little bit louder, and it also reminds me that I really still need to get my hands on a copy of the Road Movie live DVD that was recorded on the Monster tour.

What am I missing by not owning Road Movie? Well, check out this sample review from Amazon:

Nowhere near the level of the incredible “Tourfilm”. For God’s sake, Mike Mills high fives members of the audience.

Ha. Awesome.

Speaking of Tourfilm, I still need that one too!

Yeah, my R.E.M. video collection is a bit incomplete…..

And finally, as long as we’re talking, how about an R.E.M. rock show for Cleveland?

Let’s make that one of our New Year’s resolutions for 2009….

A Monster Sampler:

R.E.M. – Star 69
R.E.M. – Strange Currencies
R.E.M. – I Took Your Name

Purchase Monster from Amazon – CD or MP3

Bonus Cut:

10,000 Maniacs – Don’t Go Back to Rockville (unavailable on album, from the 1992 Candy Everybody Wants CD maxi-single)