Yo La Tengo on other people's music:
Why we chose it: Both Springsteen and Yo La Tengo are from, and have sung about, New Jersey.

James McNew (bass): [Immediately] This is Springsteen's The Promised Land.

Ira Kaplan (guitar and vocals): I guess people link us to him because we're both from New Jersey, but he's from south Jersey, which is near Philadelphia and the beach. We're from Hoboken, which is a satellite town right next to Manhattan. People from where we live go to south Jersey on the weekend. But when we started the band in 1983, we played a completely different bar scene to the one Springsteen played when he began. We barely ever did clubs in New Jersey - apart from Maxwell's in Hoboken and maybe a few colleges - so we've travelled a completely different path. Our first ever show was in New Jersey, at a club called the Ship, which had a real nautical theme and there were seven people in there. Springsteen has been proud of his heritage and I guess we've namechecked New Jersey in songs such as Night Falls on Hoboken like he has. So, yeah, at this point we're sheepishly proud to be Hoboken residents, but I guess we're more in tune with the music scene in New York City.

McNew: My opinion of Springsteen completely changed when I heard he was ending his shows with a cover of Dream Baby Dream by Suicide. I was completely blown away by that. So now I have a conversational point with Bruce Springsteen, should I ever be stuck in a lift with him.

Georgia Hubley (drums): And all our stage moves are taken from him, of course.

(I wonder if "stuck in a lift" is a regular James McNew expression?)

Here's a review of Mountain Goats' Get Lonely

As a songwriter he's able to say something specific that people can relate to in a universal way," says Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn. "He's really created this world, with his fans especially, where you can overlook structure and tune and really get the lyrics as the main focus, which is something quite unique."

Here's a pitchfork feature on the Hold Steady

"Southtown Girls" is now streaming on the Hold Steady's myspace

There's a Steve Irwin tribute on Liars' myspace

Here's an article about adapting Roald Dahl books and the woman in charge of adaptations