It is doubtful you’ll find any articles or reviews regarding Neil Young’s Prairie Wind that don’t include the words, “mortality” or “aneurysm”. Understandable, since most of the record was recorded in the week between Neil’s being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm this past March and the surgery to remove it and that experience certainly informs the record. Now just a few weeks shy of his 60th birthday, he talks about that difficult period with Time in an expansive and revealing interview (via Salon’s Audiofile). Philly.com (Bugmenot), USA Today and NorthJersey.com all have pieces set at Neil’s performances at the Ryman in Nashville in August that touch on the same themes and Canada.com talks to Neil about the new album and where it came from.

NOW talks to Jon Auer in advance of The Posies’ show at Lee’s Palace on Monday. The Metro Times does the same for their Detroit show. Though it’s been on my concert calendar for some months now, I still don’t have tickets. I have this strange premonition that I won’t be able to make it and don’t want to get stuck hanging onto a ticket. Maybe I’ll get tickets at the door… To anyone who’s seen them on this tour – are we talking lots of old stuff or are they actively trying to push Every Kind Of Light? This review of a show in Philadelphia the other night is encouraging.

And to play six degrees of Ken Stringfellow – Paste documents the resurrection of Big Star, whose In Space is not doing well critically. And Stylus reconsiders REM’s Up, running it through both their Playing God and On Second Thought features. I’m inclined to agree with them that Up is far better than it was expected to be – everyone thought that Bill Berry’s departure would spell the end of the band and yet they managed to come out with one of their best albums of the decade. No, the horrible decline started with the NEXT album.

Drowned In Sound talks to Sigur Ros.

Carl Newman of The New Pornographers disputes the band’s status as a “supergroup” to Sign On San Diego. “Supergroups are supposed to come out of bands that are popular”. The man has a point – I think it’s safe to say that The New Pr0ns have raised the profiles of each member’s individual projects far more than the converse is true. Via Largehearted Boy.

Check out the trailer for Shining – surely the feel-good film of the holiday season.

Congratulations to Neil Gaiman on having his new novel Anansi Boys debut at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. You’ve come a long way from writing biographies for Duran Duran.

np – The National / Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers