What was once your Uncle.

First entry! be advised.

There once was a bando by the name of Uncle Tupelo. The pronunciation of the latter half of said moniker is oft debated (I say "tuppelo," you say "toopelo," etc.), but never so much as the great case of Wilco v. Son Volt (TN, 1999.): The leavings of your stinky ol' Uncle.

That, of course, is not true. No one really debates that, except maybe on the 3rd day of Bonnaroo. Both bands are quite good, and most music fans get that. It just depends which direction you want to take, and really, most hippies are fans of both. And you know what? Come to think of it, this isn't a very good analogy for the point I'm bound to make by the end of this post.

Consider Syd Barrett... you know the rest of that old yarn, but I'll give you a second to mull it over. Get all your li'l duckies in a row, etc.

Now flash forward to the Y.o.o.L. 2006. Syd Barrett is still alive, and 2 lads from the Pacific Northwest put out what will be the best album of the year, and one of the best of the now-waning decade:

(lads in question: Band of Horses - Ben, left; Matt, right; misc. pup, center)

But a few months later, Syd is dead as doodoo, and one half of our beloved couplet (R) decides to leave to pursue a number of endeavors. Benjamin continues under the "Band of Horses" moniker, and is doin' a great job. The band is still totally sweet, and there's finally permanent line-up of players. Their live show makes you wish you had a diaper in your PJ's; the record is still flawless.

Now, lettuce flash forward to today, and the analogy you've been holding onto in your frontal lobe so lovingly. Our "Syd Barrett" in this situation: Matthew Brooke, formerly of Band of Horses (our "Pink Floyd"), is (firstly) alive. Secondly, he was a major contributor to the formation of Band of Horses, and the construction of their debut album (which, in case you didn't know, is awesome). He left the band, and has since, oh so recently, started a new band of his own design (but - thirdly - on the same record label of the band he left), entitled GRAND ARCHIVES.

They are fucking sweet (especially for fans of the BoH jams "Funeral" and "Great Salt Lake"). That's all I wanted to tell you. You can buy a CD-R of the 4 songs (the ones on MySpace) on Sub Pop's website.

and to the point where we separate from the above analogy: I hope that Matt stays sane and happy and releases more than 2 albums, and I hope Band of Horses continues to make awesome music, without getting too silly and wanky by the 1980's.