That's What He Said

"To even throw your name among the Susan Boyles of the world is an honor and a privilege."

-- Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig takes the deferential route when considering the likelihood of Contra topping the charts in the U.S. and UK this week. It did, by the way.

Team Conan

NBC is messing with the wrong Irishman. The Peacock network is tripping over themselves to accommodate the impossibly unfunny Jay Leno, and screwing over the genius that is Conan O'Brien to do so. After telling Conan they would be moving his Tonight Show to 12:05am to make way for The Jay Leno Show at 11:35pm, Conan offered the below retort, declining to accept the move. It remains to be seen how this will all play out, but I hope Conan comes out on top, however that might happen.

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, Ive been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair: it's always been that way.

Yours,Conan

An Interview With Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold

If you're like me and you're counting the seconds until the new Fleet Foxes album is released, you'll probably enjoy this interview from Pitchfork with Robin Pecknold, the lead singer of Fleet Foxes.

A few parts of the interview that stood out to me:

"I want the recording to be like two weeks. I want it to be really fast. I want to do all the vocal takes in one go, so even if there are fuck-ups, I want them to be on there. I want there to be guitar mistakes. I want there to be not totally flawless vocals. I want to record it and have that kind of cohesive sound."

"That's the other thing about the new record; it's mostly the 12-string guitar. Not chords, but I'm mostly playing the 12-string guitar, so that will be like the primary sonic distancing from the last record."

"There are definitely super-upbeat songs that are being worked on for the new record. But as a whole, it's probably a little bit less upbeat. Not darker-- some of it has a more exuberant feeling to it. But some of it is just more realistic. When I was listening to the first album, it was kind of like research. I was listening to the record for the first time in a really long time. When I was listening to it, I felt like I didn't get a chance to breathe. There was a lot of "too upbeat." I guess people think we're already kind of a mellow band, so maybe the next album will be pretty boring to most people."

"I think John Mayer's Twitter is entertaining, for sure. You get a different opinion on that guy from reading his world-wise Tweets."

"I just don't think we are really needed right now; there's a lot of really great music coming out, this year especially, so I think there isn't really anyone who's waiting for us to release anything."

Oh Robin, you have no idea just how wrong you are about that last sentiment.

Rest In Peace | John Lennon

It matters not
Who you love
Where you love
Why you love
When you love
Or how you love
It matters only that you love.

–John Lennon