Our title refers to my desk in high school chemistry class, upon which I would scrawl the lyrics of the day which were haunting or helping me. For a while there I had a dialogue going with a girl who sat in the same desk as me a couple of periods later: I'd write down some Cure lyrics, she'd finish 'em. If it had been the indie rock age yet, this scenario would have been in danger of getting turned into an independent movie, but fortunately for everybody history had our backs.

How good was Mastodon tonight at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro? Here's how good: by the end of the show, I was in the mosh pit..

See this band live if you have to quit your job to do it. They are beyond special.

The cure for the cynicism of an angry, exhausted world is hidden ten tracks into the new John Prine album, and it's called "She Is My Everything," of all the unlikely, obvious titles. It's just a love song, of course; we all knew that love songs were what was going to eventually save the world. This one won't do it all by itself, because that's not really possible, but it will make you feel very good inside. I know: it feels funny to say things like "it makes me feel good inside," and some carefully programmed (and, I might point out, deeply conservative) cultural cues encourage one to resist such simple, uncomplicated reactions unless they're specifically acting-out sexual, or vengeful. (What the fuck is up with that, anyway?) Spit gleefully in the eye of our humorless historical moment and seek out this wonderful song. It will give you back something you'll deny you were missing, but we won't tell.

"Seasons," the fourth song on Bellafea's Family Tree EP, is presently defining summer for me in so many nice ways. I love it all the way down to the shall-I-or-shan't-I hesitantly-faked British-accent at the tail-end of the line "you were wearing that sweater." In fact I especially love that part. But "Seasons" is only a sixth of what's nice about Family Tree, a wonderful indie rock record by a band who is gonna make a totally sweet album pretty soon, I'll bet, one which people will listen to while they fall in love with each other, and then the world will onced again be a sugary dark place shot through with jungle-green rings of light in unlikely places.

Much to say about this record, not sure how to put it all. Buy it if you get a chance.

Go here, then click the album cover and read the text along the bottom of the sleeve. Now consider that the following steps had to take place for this to exist:

1. Somebody had to have the idea.
2. Somebody had to run the idea past the company.
2a. The company had to say "yes."
3. Somebody had to pitch the idea to one or more of the guys from Player, who had to say "yes."
4. Somebody had to call a studio and book time, during which call the details of the project had to be stated out loud, in the harsh light of day.
5. Somebody had to pay for the recording.
6. The recording had to take place.
7. Somebody had to tell the guys in the design department to get on the stick.
8. The guys in the design department had to do their thing.
8a. Oh yes they did.

I will report back to you from the interior.