THIS is a CLOSE-UP?

The Heavy is a new band from England that did something on The Late Show with David Letterman that I've never seen before: get an immediate repeat performance. Go here to see the impassioned performance of "How You Like Me Now?" and see Letterman's skills as a call-and-response man.

Boy, this looks like a good group o' bands, both undercard and main stage alike. I was hoping for Blur or U2 to make a big splash (getting Bowie or Springsteen would have worked, too), but the depth of talent here is more than enough to excite. As usual, the real bitch will be the announcement of set times, which will be sure to conflict mightily. That means that I won't get to see everyone I want, but that's happened for the past six years, so I'm used to that. But can I hope for lower temperatures? Now that would be a real treat. Anyway, yay.

Whatever side you're falling on in the recent NBC late-night "deck chairs on the Titanic " shuffle, you have to admit it's been good comedy for all parties involved. While Letterman and Craig Ferguson have been sharp (especially Letterman, who has been gleeful in his "I told you so" vitriol), the best bits have come from Leno and O'Brien. Evidence: It's hard to follow all the angles here, but two things are clear: NBC violated Leno's contract (guaranteeing the 10pm slot), and NBC didn't violate O'Brien's contract (which made no time slot guarantees). So it's not hard to see who the loser here will be. O'Brien won't get the show he wants, Leno will step into a hollow echo of his past success, and tens of millions of dollars will be up in the air. Only Jimmy Fallon will continue to gestate his talent relatively unmolested, and his security is merely a function of the low expectations of his time slot. Meanwhile, CBS (a

Or you could just download it from Stereogum as a zip file. Either way, fun stuff.

DJ Earworm does it again. Check out his website for the download of the track, or just click here.