Excellent Online

Enjoy 'I'm Waking Up To Us' below. Download an MP3 at bottom of post.  - Source

Enjoy The Reminder's '1 2 3 4', as performed last night on Le Grand Journal, below. - Source

In a real show of teamwork (and product tie-ins), the fans whipped out their digital cameras and cells to shoot MMJ and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra performing "Gideon" at the Chicago Lollapalooza. (Remember?) Good to see Perry looking so spry. At the beginning of the resulting video we're told "every clip was used." Yes, even that inevitable shot of some dude's flat ass. - Source

Nope, this isn't a cover of the Wolf Parade song. It's the excellent new single from Manchester-born quintet Elbow's fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid. In fact, the only thing it shares with the WP song is its name: Everyone knows there are more than a few grounds for divorce. The intense but dreamy, sepia-toned video finds vocalist Guy Garvey gripping the mic in a beer and whiskey-drenched bar, the rest of the boys filling the room with the sounds of their bellows and instruments. Then a woman starts dancing by herself and Garvey gets inventive with his percussion.

"Someday we'll be drinking with the seldom seen kid..." Pretty bad ass.

The Seldom Seen Kid is out 3/17 in the UK on Fiction. - Source

The tide is turning...

But the ocean stays the same. Excellent Online is about to undergo an epic overhaul. If 2007 proved one thing, it's that we admins have let this site quietly slip away from us. Be it advancing years, the chores of life, the creepy word "responsibilities" that I've tried to fight for most of my time on this planet... we can blame whatever we want. Well, I guess we can't blame one thing:

PASSION. We could easily say "Hey, our heart's not in it anymore." But that's crap. The music of our time has defined us as people. It's what initially brought us together, it's what has forged the friendships -- be it in the real world or this very community -- that I hope hold strong forever.

E.M. Forster once wrote, "The kingdom of music is not the kingdom of this world." It was the power of music that brought us all together under this banner, and it's the power of music that will NEVER let this site die.

I hate change. Detest it. When friends move away or even get new jobs, parts of me cringe. So to totally do away with this site in favor of our new launch soon -- turning Excellent into a news-collecting aggregate where stories are voted on and published by YOU -- makes my stomach churn a little. But when I stop to think about it, it brings me solace.

Solace because the thing we care about -- the music -- will still be here. Different faces may pop up on the cover of NME, sure -- but there will always be a band out there to take our breath away, there will always be an artist whose words speak to our very soul, there will always be an amazing record we can use to escape the doldrums of a cloudy Sunday afternoon. And while the site as you know it will soon become radically different, it's our passion for music that will always stay the same -- it's our security blanket through life, and I couldn't imagine a day without it.

Our e-mail discussion list will continue to flourish, and the members of Excellent -- stretched out across the globe, some who have even met and married through this site -- are still as passionate as ever about the tunes that shape our playlists, that shape our lives. We couldn't have done it all these years without you, and we dedicate the legacy of this site to all of you.

To that extent, we have finished tabulations on our 2007 Members Poll for the best music of the year, and you can see the results by clicking "Read more" below.

Editors have a lovely 3 song semi-acoustic session up at Minnesota Public Radio from Jan 29th '08: "Bones" "An End Has A Start" "Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors" On March 3rd the band will release the 4th single from An... - Source

He tells New Musical Express: "People thought, "Oh, it's a bit too much, just jumping into a studio. We met for a catch-up & it was great, but there was no real talk of recording. It doesn't really bother me. I've got enough going on to feel happy & fulfilled."  - Source

Perhaps work out what sort of album you really want to make next time, lads. - Source

Last month Moz said (interview above): "The people who are attracted to politics are never good people; they're always people who are potentially terrorists. And you can see it in all the people who lead our countries throughout the world.... - Source

It will be called...NARROW STAIRS (Better or worse than Plans? Hmmm.)  The LP is due out in May. Visit DCFC at their MySpace page. - Source