October 6

We'll start with the Arcade Fire, on account of keyboardist William Butler's birthday. The Arcade Fire's a pretty big collective, so keep an eye out for the first guy to climb up the rafters bare handed. It's getting easier to find their music; their song "Wake Up" is echoing through the new "Where The Wild Things Are" trailer. But since I'm a sucker for cartoons, here's the video for "Neighborhood 3(Power Out)"

This month, the band's taking a breath and planning out album number three.

Happy Birthday to nerdcore rapper MC Lars. He raps about more than video games and Myspace (although he does that, too.) Here's his video for "Signing Emo," his paean to the standard lifecycle of today's major label rock band.


I had a hard time finding the right video for Matthew Sweet, even though I consider myself a fan. Most people (anime fans, Guitar Hero players, people who went to college in the 90's) would associate Matthew Sweet with "Girlfriend", the title track and commercial breakthrough. My favorite album was his follow-up, Altered Beast, although it's a heartbreaker of a disc. But at least I found this video for "Time Capsule":

Power pop like this is never really in or out of style (juat ask Fountains of Wayne.) But Sweet's still recording and producing; his last album came out summer 2008. He last hit the charts as a member of The Thorns (what was the name of that single they had? I can't remember...) Next month, he'll be touring the east coast with the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, featuring their collaborations of '70s covers.

Finally, Happy Birthday to Millie Small, singer of the 1964 hit, "My Boy Lollipop." "Lollipop" is the first international ska hit (technically, it's a blue-beat song,) and the song that put the Island Records label on the map.

This footage is from her Finnish TV special, the apex of her fame. I dig the song, but I listen to her voice and wonder, what ever happened to Michel'le?