(guest blogged by Howie Klein)

Chances are if you've seen a recent picture of me, you've seen a Building A Better Spaceship hoodie. I have several. I don't wear them when the temperature gets above 90-- unless I'm worried about being forced into an air-conditioned enclosure. Aside from really nice hoodies, this South Bay-based L.A. band also makes some really good music. I've been listening to their demos and seeing them play live shows for a couple years.

And today I realized that they'd probably have something shareable via YouTube. They do-- "This Time:"

And tonight's contest will take some sleuthing, and looking in the right place. I have to admit, it's a hard one. But I've come up with a great prize: a boxset called LEGENDS OF COUNTRY-- CLASSIC HITS OF THE '50's, '60's & '70's. (There are songs by Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, and lots more... 57 songs including 49 #1 hits.)

So just tell me the relationship between Building A Better Space Ship and the Bush compound in Crawford. In the explanation I'm looking for two words-- a 3 letter word and a four letter word. Good luck-- and send your entry to downwithtyranny@aol.com

A few nights ago, we gave away a Sire boxset and all you had to do was name your 3 favorite Rough Trade songs. I thought LNMC members might be interested in knowing which artists came up the most frequently in the approximately 250 entries: Arcade Fire, The Smiths, Libertines, The Strokes, Cocteau Twins, Soft Cell, Delta 5, The Decemberists, Belle & Sebastian, Stiff Little Fingers, Sufjan Stevens, Gang of 4, Kleenex, James Blood Ulmer, Pere Ubu, Cabaret Voltaire, Young Marble Giants, The Fall, Scritti Politti, Antony & the Johnsons, Swell Maps, Sebadoh, and Ian Dury. All good stuff.

The winner was Eric with Galaxie 500, Delta 5 and Jarvis. Congratulations, Eric.

Unearthed

Yes, the Bob Marley song. Odd pairing. But hey, it's music. Sometimes the oddest pairings work out. Whatcha listening to tonight?

American IV: Man Comes Around

Is this the best music video of all-time?

Sometimes the obvious choice is the best choice.

Happy Easter from Crooks & Liars.

Whether you measure it instrumentally, vocally, sartorially or tonsorially, anyone who thinks the Three Tenors swing bigger cod than Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton and Carl Perkins serving up this tasty slice of transnational musical cross-pollination, can bite my shiny metal ass.

And while I can't be 100% sure, at the 2:43 mark Eric Clapton appears to lean over and ask Carl Perkins, "Tell you wha, Mistuh Pehkins, you slip me B.B. King's private numbah and I can have Diana Rigg here askin' to be 'your little dog 'til your big dog comes' in thirty minutes."

Unchained

Happy Birthday to the Man In Black.

Marshall Grant, the bassist and last surviving menmber of Johnny Cash's original backing band, 'The Tennessee Two', died Saturday at the age of 83. Here's some great footage from way way back. Boom-chicka-boom.

Unchained
	Artist: Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was born 79 years ago today. Here's one of my favorite recordings of his. What's yours?

And another birthday celebration over at our sister site Newstalgia. Yesterday would have been George Harrison's 68th birthday, so Gordon is offering up George Harrison, Live in Baton Rouge, 1974

[This video contains an eff bomb or two] Flogging Molly answers once and for all the musical question: "If a seven-piece American Celtic punk band covers a Johnny Cash standard, does that make it an Irish song?"

Turns out the answer is "Hell yeah."

Country legend June Carter Cash, the woman responsible for stealing Johnny Cash's heart and for living Reese Witherspoon's Oscar-winning role, would have turned 80 today. Lets all pick up an acoustic guitar and strum a few chords of "Jackson," in memory.