• So about three weeks ago I lamented the fact that no real indie act had crossed-over to really be a big player in the mainstream in a while. (I forgot to mention the like triple platinum Killers. My bad.) I then stupidly mentioned Arctic Monkeys, who I really thought had a great chance of breaking through over here. Of course, I was dead wrong, but the radio has indeed been bum rushed by a young, indie band: Wolfmother. Their single �Woman� is damn near inescapable. Just the other day I heard it in rotation at Best Buy, on the Miami alt-rock radio station that still plays 93% Green Day/Nirvana/Disturbed, and sandwiched between Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rick Ross on MTV. Turns out that �Woman� has charted as high as number seven on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and as high as ten on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and their self-titled debut has reached as high as number twenty-two on the Billboard 200. Now whether Wolfmother is actually indie (check that Interscope distribution deal) or any good (does anyone know anyone that actually owns this thing?) is up for debate, but one thing is for sure: If you saw this coming, you know a whole hell of a lot more about pop music than I do.

• Last week I said that I couldn�t sit through 28 straight tracks of one straight artist, so I was more then a little leery of this 23+ track Lil� Wayne and DJ Drama Dedication 2 mixtape, but if the internet ever goes crazy for a mixtape this year like it did last year, this one will most definitely be it. Let�s not it get it twisted: this is no We Got it 4 Hipsters, but much like the best moments of that mixtape the best songs here are when Weezy (Please Say the) Motherfucking Baby raps over other artist�s beats. And he picks great ones (�What You Know,� �I Think They Like Me,� �Poppin� My Collar�), sometimes one-upping the guys who made the song famous. Dedication 2 also fits Wayne�s magnetic personality much better then an album does, with little thirty second spots where he just talks about stuff like Katrina or why he calls himself the Best Rapper Alive. Plus, he calls out Raven Symone, professes his love for PTI and uses a copious amount of Pat Summerall samples. What�s not to love?

• Dear Neko Case,

I didn�t want to give you a chance. I told myself I wasn�t into country or solo female albums. I told myself no matter how many times my best friend told me to listen to Fox Confessor Brings the Flood that I just wouldn�t do it. Well, I finally did and I haven�t been the same since. Sure, the bands at the top of my Last.fm charts are getting jealous, but none of that matters whenever I listen to �Star Witness� or �Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.� It�s now 4:38 AM and I�ve been listening to you almost exclusively since midnight. Your voice is stunning and your lyrics are haunting, but I especially love how your guitar loses its shit on �Hold On, Hold On.� I think I�m in love.

Sincerely,
Jordan Sargent

P.S. Can I have my heart back?