I just got an email from my ex-fiancé, it's the first time I've heard from him in several months. I do not want to hear from him. Or think about him -- and naturally, this has put me in an off-kilter mood. Additionally, my horroscope (no, really!) for today warns me against getting in situations where I might befall physical violence (no, really!). So, I'm also kind of creeped out by that as well.

In other news, we heard the other day that Steve Lamacq played local faves The Arm on his show, post-SXSW, as selected by KCRW's Nic Harcourt ... Here's a new track; I'm very much looking forward to the new album.

The Arm -- The Privileged Few

There's an alternate mix of Spoon's "The Beast and Dragon Adored" floating around; I love it for the even more sparse and stripped down production (I'm always interested to see how far they can pare things down...) and for Britt's yelped "ALL RIGHT!"s and "YEAH!"s -- one of the things we love best about Spoon songs are Mr. Daniel's random injections of exclamatory rock and roll joy.

Spoon -- The Beast and Dragon Adored (alternate version) [via Bows + Arrows]

My new favorite song of this week is The Stills' "Love and Death" (from Logic Will Break Your Heart); I seem to have fallen hard and fast for this band -- I didn't know much of them before Pinkie made me listen to Logic during Southby. The chorus of "Love and Death" is exceedingly striking; I thought I was the only one who felt that way, you know? It's nice to know you're not alone sometimes -- and not to be too cheezeball, but that's what a good pop song is all about.

The Stills -- Love and Death

And what the hell, just because it's so ridiculous and emo and shhh! don't tell, but I totally love this song:

The String Quartet Tribute to My Chemical Romance -- I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

Also, is it just me, or are the arrangements on these string quartet tribute albums the most heavy-handed and plodding of all time?