Here’s your round-up: There was an atrocious election, as Americans went to the polls and loudly shouted, “We are confused and angry about being confused and angry, and also, we have the collective memories of goldfish! USA! USA! USA!” There are a few silver linings though. The end.

Or, as The Onion puts it:

Dismayed by the fact that over the past 24 months they have not experienced the immediate short-term personal gain they had hoped for, Americans went to the polls Tuesday and, for the 112th consecutive time, elected the candidates they deserve.

Some other things happened, we are sure, so scroll and click on things if you’re not caught up yet. Done? Okay, good.

Remember, if you’re in Philadelphia tomorrow, Truth Wins Out will be Lifting Its Luggage in protest at the NARTH convention.  A good time will be had by all.

For music this week, I’m starting with an old classic from the Pretenders.  Just ’cause.  Chrissie Hynde rocks my face.  And the way the second verse of “I’ll Stand By You” suddenly modulates down from D Major into C Major, and then back into D for the chorus, is nothing short of brilliant, as sonic painting goes. So, Pretenders, shuffle, first ten songs that come up at random, more videos after the jump, The End.

1. The Dandy Warhols – “I Am Sound”
2. Robert Shaw Festival Singers, cond. by Robert Shaw – “I Will Arise”
3. The Killers – “On Top”
4. Culture Club – “Karma Chameleon”
5. Jason Mraz – “The Dynamo of Volition”
6. Bright Eyes – “You Will. You?Will. You? Will. You?Will.”
7. The Antlers – “Sylvia”
8. Bonnie Raitt – “Feeling of Falling”
9. Beyoncé – “Disappear”
10. Les Miserables – Original Broadway Cast Recording – “Look Down”

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The theme for this week is pop music of the Robyn kind. What is it with Sweden, really? All of the music that comes out of that “terrible, socialist hellhole” is SO good that it’s almost as if they have no idea their lives are terrible, horrible, no good, or very bad. “Dancing On My Own” is flying around the internet this week, and I’ve probably listened to it forty times in the past few days, so let’s use that as the kick-off song for the Random Ten and see what else comes up. What are you listening to this week?

1. Andrew Bird – “Tenuousness”
2. James Taylor – “Enough To Be On Your Way”
3. 10,000 Maniacs – “I’m Not The Man”
4. Annie Lennox – “Why”
5. The Big Pink – “Too Young To Love”
6. Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
7. Janet Jackson – “Escapade”
8. The Flaming Lips – “The Sound of Failure”
9. The Cure – “Taking Off”
10. Alanis Morissette – “Still”

Wow. Lots of pop music in that mix. More videos after the jump.

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