(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.

It's Valentine's Day, that ultimate in created holidays. While I'm not a big fan of fake holidays as a rule, I want to break that tonight to dedicate tonight's LNMC to my husband, who has been extraordinarily supportive and patient with all my added hours helping my friend, John Amato here that could have gone to spending time with him.

So for my best friend, my sweetheart, the love of my life, here are the Beatles: In My Life, which was the song we selected to play at our wedding.

So tonight's challenge shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Set aside the cynicism, the bitterness, the frustration of six years of the Bush administration and simply dedicate a song to the person you love.

Bertis Downs is an old friend of mine; he's also R.E.M.'s manager and a Crooks and Liars LNMC fan. He sent me a cool, FUN video last week. The backstory is here. And the contest is for an autographed copy of Peter Clothier's fantastic new book, The Real Bush Diaries. I'll give 3 books away for the best list of R.E.M. covers-- in other words, your favorite R.E.M. songs performed by other artists. Entries to downwithtyranny@aol.com

(guest blogged by Howie)

(guest blogged by Howie Klein)

Today Edd "Kookie" Byrnes turned 74 and Buddy Guy turned 71. Do you feel dated? Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paul Anka and Kate Bush aslo celebrated their birthdays today. Tomorrow, though, is a birthday we want to commemorate at the LNMC. Not that we want to snub J.K. Rowling or Fatboy Slim or R.E.M.'s drummer Bill Berry-- or even Gary Lewis (of Playboys fame)-- but tonight's song by Bauhaus goes out as a nice big happy birthday to Daniel Ash (also of Love and Rockets). After all, why wait for Halloween?

Steve Earle has been a longtime Crooks & Liars fave and with Bush in the Middle East, who could resist the title track from his 2002 masterpiece, Jerusalem? Steve has been involved with socially conscious music since he was a teenager to young to play in bars, writing songs against aggression in Vietnam and against the death penalty. Despite his strong political messages, he's won two Grammy awards and believe me-- I've been on the committees that help pick the nominees-- strong political writing does not help songwriters. You can only imagine what went on when "John Walker's Blues" was discussed.

Macy's Gray's debut album, On How Life Is (1999) was a multi-platinum worldwide smash-- and won her a Grammy. Her follow-up, The Id (released a few days after the incompetent Bush Regime failed to protect America on 9/11) stiffed in America but soared internationally. It also spawned tonight's feature, a collaboration between Macy, Erykah Badu and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, "Sweet Baby." I recommend that KKK members just listen and not watch the clip and that it not be shown at any Tony Zirkle campaign rallies.

Big day for rock'n'roll tomorrow when REM releases their new album, Accelerate, their 14th! It's also probably their best since Bush stole the election in Florida. An old friend of mine, Michael Goldberg, has an interview he just posted with Michael Stipe up at MOG. But let me suggest that you listen to the single first, "Supernatural Superserious." You'll be able to catch them live with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday. They played the Royal Albert Hall in London last week but their actual tour kicks off on the West Coast in late May. North American and European tour dates are here.

The album is so good that we just had to jump the gun and give you another song to listen to. This one is "Horse to Water" and we think it should be the follow-up single.

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Tonight we have a little contest for REM fans. REM gave us 5 special edition CD/DVD packages to give away tonight. Each has a 64 page booklet and the 48 minute behind-the-scenes film by Vincent Moon (which includes pieces of performances from various songs). There are also two non-LP B-sides: “Red Head Walking” and "Airliner." Just drop us a paragraph and tell us which is the best REM song ever-- and why. Send your answer to downwithtyranny@aol.com.

Talking Heads were an arty party new wave band, right? Yeah, but they did an incredible song about civil insurrection in the U.S. long before Bush and Cheney legitimized the concept. "Life During Wartime" was originally a song from the 1979 release Fear of Music but 4 years later, after Talking Heads became a favorite of Dead Heads everywhere, it came out as a live single from Stop Making Sense.

I know Lou Reed didn't have Cheney or Bush in mind in 1982 when he released The Blue Mask and the song that could be a theme for the Bush Regime: "Waves of Fear." What's your favorite post-Velvets song written by Lou?

Biblical scholars know the concept of the Jezebel spirit as reference to women, usually painted ones, who supposedly lead weak men astray. Fundamentalist preachers often refer to the Jezebel spirit when they want to cast aspersions on any woman with whom they disagree. In 1981 Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and producer Brian Eno (formerly of Roxy Music) recorded a groundbreaking album, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts which featured the underground hit, "The Jezebel Spirit."