'Tis the season for giving and hall-decking and so forth, and in the spirit of both, Oregon's Glass Casters Union is back with another round of indie rock-themed charity ornaments.Last year, the GCU offered up decorations designed by the likes of Wolf Parade, Band of Horses, Of Montreal, Deerhunter, and, for those bad-ass little boys and girls, ...

It's fun to think that alongside resurrecting the careers of the Freaks And Geeks cast and becoming a Hollywood brand unto himself, Judd Apatow has indirectly inspired Doug Martsch to cover Ms. Arulpgrasam by making "Paper Planes" so pervasive that really why not just give it your own spin, whether you're Adrock or indie rock. It's a modern stan...

Sound quality here isn't great, and video quality is worse, but this is still worth a look: Built to Spill going from the surpassingly beautiful "Car"-- a defining song that still sounds brilliant 14 years after its initial release-- into a sincere and faithful cover of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" that makes good use of Doug Martsch's liquid guitar....

The history of politics and music as bedfellows is a long one, from "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" to, uh, "Vote or Die!", to the current spate of politically motivated benefit shows. But getting swept up in all of this, it's easy to forget that musicians are people too, and they have thoughts and ideas and concerns about the upcoming U.S. election ...

Built to Spill have announced plans to take over the last week of February and almost all of March.