Here’s a great way to put together a fake band and album in less time than it used to take Lou Pearlman! Here are the 3 easy steps:

1. The first article title on this page is the name of your band.

2. The last four words of the very last quote on this page is the title of your album.

3. The third picture (no matter what it is!) on this page will be your album cover.

Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for fake rehab! My resulting fake band is Castries and the fake debut album is entitled Of Luck Or Merit (taken from The Talmud’s quote, “Never expose yourself unnecessarily to danger; a miracle may not save you…and if it does, it will be deducted from your share of luck or merit.”). Additionally, I couldn’t be happier with the cover art. Check it out and post your fake band/album info in the comments! (Thanks to Okay City for the heads up and dustbury for creating the meme!)

The Democratic and Republican caucuses are going down tonight in Iowa, so I thought a couple of voting-themed tracks would be apropos today. If you happen to live in Iowa, definitely go out and exercise your democratic right by casting a ballot. The opportunity to vote without having to deal with Ryan Seacrest is always a beautiful thing.

MP3s:
Death Cab For Cutie - “We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes (Title Track)”
Sunset Rubdown - “They Took A Vote And Said No”

To celebrate the premiere of Sufjan Stevens The BQE, Asthmatic Kitty has added four accompanying informational pieces to their site including a BQE Who’s Who, Elizbeth Meister on the official bird of the BQE (i.e., the house sparrow), an essay by Soof comparing the hula hoop with the BQE, and a detailed list of the highway’s detritus. With all of these BQE extras, you almost forget there’s a 30-minute symphony at the center of this project.

MP3s:
Sufjan Stevens - “The BQE [Part 3]“
Sufjan Stevens - “The BQE [Part 6]“

Just in time for Halloween, Spinner counts down the 20 craziest costumed acts who recognize that sometimes what you wear is just as important as how you sound.

Better luck on making the list next year, chain mail-clad Ryan Adams…although your metal-inspired garb is likely to haunt our dreams well through Halloween.

With a clever marketing scheme and DRM-free tracks, it’s hard to complain about Radiohead’s digital offering of In Rainbows. Unfortunately, if you’re an obsessive-compulsive iTunes organizer like myself, the lack of included cover art on Rainbows‘ digital tracks was disappointing. While waiting for artist Stanley Donwood to reveal the album’s final cover, fans have taken it upon themselves to design some really nice artwork for their iTunes placeholders. You should be able to find a suitable cover to use in this batch until the final art is revealed.