From East Carolina University comes word of the discovery of a new species of spider, Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi, which is named after the venerable Canadian rock star Neil Young. After finding the spider in Alabama last year and determining it was an unidentified species, ECU scientist Jason Bond chose Young for a name because, he told Reuters, "I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."

Hmm, wonder what the spider thinks of its namesake putting out his "Archives" series on the new Blu-Ray format?...

(Thanks, J8.)

If you neglected to pick up a card or flowers for your mom, send along this tribute in song from Kanye West. "Hey Mama" made for one of the more emotional moments at West's Raleigh show the other night.

Friday night's Kanye West show was my first concert of 2008 at Walnut Creek, although I guess it's supposed to be called Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek. Not that you'd know that from the big brown sign on Interstate 40, which still refers to the place as "Alltel Pavilion" (a name it hasn't had since 2006).

Inside, I didn't notice any major differences from last year, although someone else runs the place now. General manager Emma Bennett was laid off earlier this year in Live Nation's latest round of cutbacks (hey, that $120 million they owe Madonna has to come from somewhere). The new guy in charge is Peter O'Donnell, but he wasn't at Walnut Creek on Friday. O'Donnell was at Charlotte's Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (which he also oversees as general manager) tending to that night's Radiohead show. He missed a heckuva show over here, I'd say.

Maybe the most enthusiastic fan in the joint was seated right next to me, a young man named Elijah Branch, who hollered every lyric from start to finish. He was eager to see his name in print. "C'mon," he said when he saw my notebook, "quote me! Anything, I don't care. You can even make something up."

Nah, not necessary.

Word is that the Coal Men have cancelled their Saturday night show at Raleigh's Berkeley Cafe. Which means that you now have one less reason not to go see George Clinton at the Lincoln Theatre instead.

The late Frank Zappa is said to have declared, "Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read." Two of those might be true -- but don't try to tell me Patterson Hood can't talk. In contrast to many of the terse-spoken folks I deal with, the Drive-By Truckers' spiritual leader is an absolute joy to interview. During a recent phone chat, the five questions I asked Hood yielded 40 minutes of talk about kids, the previous night's Springsteen show, firebrand politics and the real-life subjects of various Truckers songs, among other topics. Most of the conversation centered on the Truckers' latest album, "Brighter Than Creations Dark" (New West Records), which is named after a line in the song "Checkout Time in Vegas." According to Hood, settling on a title was the hardest part of making this record.

"We were thinking about 'Urban Bovine Kneivel,' a line from 'Opening Act,'" Hood said. "That was our second choice. But Wes Freed, who does our artwork, told us, 'I don't care what you call it, I'm drawing "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" because that's what I'm seeing.' So there it was."

For more, including talk about the Truckers' collaboration with soul goddess Bettye LaVette and their split with former bandmate Jason Isbell, see the interview in Friday's paper; and if that's not enough spieling for ya, click through to see a 2004 Q&A interview with Hood. The Truckers open a two-night stand at Carrboro's Cat's Cradle on Tuesday.

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The almost-complete lineups are out for this year's Raleigh Downtown Live free-concert series, and if you were hoping for an upgrade over last year... Well, you tell me:

May 31 -- The Wailers, Saunter, Pete and J, Jive Mother Mary
June 14 -- Cravin Melon, Pete Francis of Dispatch
June 28 -- Carbon Leaf, Colourslide, Bill West & the Sunshine Kids
July 12 -- Alter Bridge, Tantric, The T's, Kennebec, Cori Yarckin
July 26 -- Old 97s
Aug. 9 -- Brian Howe (Bad Company vocalist), Will Hoge, Jim Bianco
Aug. 23 -- Puddle of Mudd, Eve 6, Rev Theory, Saving Abel

I'll vouch for Old 97s on July 26, and it's nice to see the occasional local act in there. But most of this, I'm afraid, is Not So Much.

Actually, I do try to read The Economist, one of the best news magazines out there. And apparently, so does the Chicago rap duo Psikotic, if we are to believe "The Economist Rap" -- an adenoidal but highly entertaining homage to the venerable British magazine. Think They Might Be Giants with drum machines instead of accordions:

He reads Economist so he can get the gist/Its solid competence gives him confidence/That his intelligence is correct. He reads Economist so he can understand/It does a brain scan tryin' to do Iran/So he knows what to expect.

Psikotic's Website also has links to songs about the Internet, McDonald's and other equally odd tributes. Eat your heart out, Paul Barman.

(Thanks, Brian, via Foreign Policy.)

Q: Which of these songs is not like the other?

(1) Duran Duran, "Hungry Like the Wolf"
(2) Ike & Tina Turner, "Proud Mary"
(3) Bob Marley, "I Shot the Sheriff"
(4) Ben E. King, "Stand by Me"
(5) The Who, "Baba O'Riley"
(6) Sam Cooke, "A Change Is Gonna Come"
(7) Bob Dylan, "Mr. Tambourine Man"
(8) Elvis Presley, "Love Me Tender"

A: That would be song number one, covered by token "rocker dude" David Cook on Tuesday night's "American Idol" -- which was given over to selections from The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll. I mean, yes, "HLtW" is good fun, in a cheesy-fondue kinda way. But (a) I'm amazed it's on the HoF's top-500 list at all; and (b) it sticks out on this list like Clay Aiken in a mosh pit at a Cannibal Corpse show.

Continuing our theme of letting the people have their say, I asked a couple of folks who went to Monday night's on-again-off-again Van Halen show in Raleigh to file reports. Click on through to see those; and if you went, feel free to add yours to the "Comments" section. Also, my review of the show last September in Greensboro is linked from here.

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Triangle expatriate Tift Merritt's next local show will be Aug. 23 at Raleigh's NC Museum of Art. But if you need a fix sooner than that, she's also scheduled to play CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" on June 25.

Watch and you might even see an engagement ring on somebody's finger.

So Triangle homeboy Clay Aiken is in the midst of a media blitz to promote his new album, which comes out on Tuesday. And in an interview making the rounds on Monday, he told the Associated Press, "I'm not trying to be Justin Timberlake. Thank God we have him, but I'm not him. ... I'm not gonna bring anybody's sexy back."

Based on this picture, however, I'd say that ain't necessarily true.

ADDENDUM (5/6/08): The reviews are in, and they're not pretty.

If you go to Kanye West's show in Raleigh on Friday and don't absolutely, positively, 100-percent love every last bit of it with all your heart, keep it to yourself. Entertainment Weekly magazine reviewed West's tour-opening show in Seattle and gave it a B+, prompting the rapper to fire back on his blog:

Yo, anybody that's not a fan; don't come to my show. For what?! To try and throw ya'll two cents in? Ya'll rated my album [expletive] and now ya'll come to the show and give it a B+. What's a B+ mean? I'm an extremist. It's either pass or fail! A+ or F-! You know what, [expletive] you and the whole [expletive] staff!!! I know I shouldn't dignify this with a comment, but the reviewer threw a jab at all the artists. I just wanna know when was the last time you enjoyed yourself. If you can't have fun and lose yourself at this tour it's a good chance you're a very miserable person. I actually feel sorry for you guys. Your job forces you to not have fun anymore. Grab a drink, holla at some nice girls, and party [expletive]!! You don't know [expletive] about passion and art. You'll never gain credibility at this rate. You're [expletive] trash! I make art. You can't rate this. I'm a real person. I'm not a pop star. I don't care about anything but making great art. Never come 2 one of my shows ever again, you're not invited and if you see me...BOW!! This is not pop, it's pop art! Chris Willman, kill yourself!

Last week, West also had an onstage eruption in Houston over technical difficulties, which he subsequently tried to explain in another post (and in which he acknowledged he "did go in a little 2 much" over the EW review). Anyway, watch out.

Meanwhile, in a housekeeping note, the start time for Friday's show at Walnut Creek has been moved up to 6:30 p.m.

Dig the latest video from Chapel Hill alumnus Parthenon Huxley (a.k.a. P. Hux, Rick Rock and other monikers) -- "Come Clean," with a scandal montage worthy of "The Daily Show" set to a glorious power-pop tune.

(Thanks, Bob.)

So Friday afternoon's big Arcade Fire/Superchunk rally for the Obama campaign in Carrboro turned out great, with perfect weather, a good crowd and terrific performances from both bands. I find it amazing and inspiring how good Superchunk still is after so long, especially the one-two closing punch of "Hyper Enough" and "Precision Auto." As for Arcade Fire, it's hard to believe this was the same bunch I saw at Cat's Cradle a few years back, when the group's obviously massive ambitions dwarfed its abilities. That gap is closing, and fast. "Keep the Car Running," "Tunnels" and the cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" were all spectacular.

Overall, there was also a nice, upbeat vibe to the proceedings, which I couldn't help comparing and contrasting with another indie-rock campaign event of note -- one from way back in 1996, aimed at a particularly controversial senator from around these parts. Superchunk played at that rally, too, but it was kind of a depressing scene. Click through for the recap.

ADDENDUM (5/4/08): Another report, plus video from Greensboro.

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After numerous postponements, the long-awaited Raleigh Van Halen date is finally set for Monday. Will it be good? Bad? Or some train-wreck combination? For a recap of events up to now, check here; and also this updated version of Grey Blackwell's cartoon from last fall.