I AM ON VACATION . . . AT THE BEACH . . . A ROBOT HAS BEEN POSTING!  But I have intermittent internet.  Enough for a gonzo post because I can write it in spurts.  That sounds grosser than it needed to.

I’ve been blogging for over 5 years now, and I have to say: Not enough of us do shout-outs.  We should.  We’re a network, we who don’t publish links to entire records or enable folks to download movies and TV shows.  We’re about the music–truly about the music–and about supporting struggling indie artists and indie labels.  Join together!

1.  Are you excited that The Arctic Monkeys will be releasing a new album soon?  I am!  And I hear it will be independent, and produced by Josh “QOTSA” Homme.  Indieblogheaven wrote about it here.

2.  Captain Obvious is coming off my blogroll because he’s dropped me from his . . . Dunno why, don’t care.  I’ll still give his covers mixtapes a shout out, especially the latest one, which features Gaslight Anthem and Deer Tick.

3.  Covert Curiousity continues to be creative when writing reviews.  I thought this one was one of the funniest I’ve read in quite a while.

4.  The Greatest Performances Set to ’80s Music. Great post.

5.  Fong is always worth a peek.  He’s got some cool BBC covers of songs by Lady Ga Ga and the Killers, inter alia.  What’s the deal with Gaga anyway?  Isn’t she terrible?

6.  The blue Walrus has an update on one of the most talented artists working today, Frank turner.  Read it, and buy his last album.  It’s fucking amazing.

7.  New Ya Boy mixtape.  You either dig him or you don’t.  Actually, that’s not true.  I find him kinda mediocre.  When he’s on fire, he’s a lot of fun though.  Other than Game, I don’t know too many guys who bring the West Coast gangsta anymore.

8.  Oliver di Place (ouch! new candidate for most painful pun name of a blog) has a cool post about the various Major Tom songs.  It’s a fun read.  Stop by, and tell him Ekko sent ya.

Tags: Go away, Mixtape