Spoon at SXSW

Yesterday, I got up at 6:30 am in Carlsbad, NM, and drove across the stark west Texas landscape, heading for home. I drive up to my front door, unload the car, and discover that my daughter wants me to drive her and her friends to see Spoon at Auditorium Shores, a free SXSW show.

So, an hour after I arrive in Austin from my grueling drive, I find myself next to the stage in front of Spoon. I haven't fully decided I like Spoon. Rather, I have a sense that, if Britt Daniel doesn't get too full of himself, he could be pretty close to great. He's definitely on the road. If he can just get over that goofy-kid-in-the-back-of-the-class look...

• Spoon - They Never Got You
  

Where the Wind is

Neil Young, from an interview in Jan. 2006 Esquire:

"When I was six, I really didn't know what God was. But I did know about Sunday school. I was reading a lot about God, but I was bored. I couldn't wait to get out of Sunday school. God was secondary to the whole thing. But as time went by, I got more and more angry, to the point where I didn't like religion. Hate is a strong word. But I just kept getting angrier and angrier ... until finally I wasn't angry anymore. I was just peaceful, because I thought: This is not fruitful for me. I rejected the whole thing and found peace in paganism. Jesus didn't go to church. I went way back before Jesus. Back to the forest, to the wheat fields, to the river, to the ocean. I go where the wind is. That's my church."

• Neil Young - This Old Guitar