It’s Uncle Neddy’s mix tape time, so let’s all gather ’round and listen up… 

Let’s finish the week with a nice random batch of live music from this year, with a little emphasis on the ladies. St. Vincent is my new crush, so it was great to find out her last set at Mercury Lounge (reviewed somewhere in here) was up for download. Not sure what this track is called, but, dude, whatever. Throw in some nice radio-friendly Jesse Sykes and a SXSW groove from Amy Winehouse, and the estrogen should be flowing nicely.

Now it’s time to mix in the testosterone: Don’t get no muy macho than Rose Hill Drive (show reviewed here; download the whole thing here and here) and Wolfmother. Round it off with some of The Sea and Cake. I’m seeing them tonight, but by the time you read this, it will have been last night. I had a great/shitty/eh? time (circle one). Enjoy the tunes, and also the weekend.

• Click here to download this week’s Friday Mix Tape
• Previously in Neddy’s Minimix World: Comes Alive Vol. 2

I’m not a big fan of Sunday nights, especially now that the football season is over. That all changes this weekend – like many of youse, I can’t wait for 8 pm on Sunday when The Police take center stage at the Grammys.

Sterogum went so far as to set odds for what song the band will play. My head is saying they play Roxanne, my heart is saying Message In A Bottle. Whatevs, I’d still be happy as a pig in shit even if they play Mary Had A Little Lamb. I hope you’ve been saving your money, kiddies: The tour gets announced on Monday, with ticket sales to follow shortly. Hopefully Stewart, Sting and Andy will play a few songs at the press conference. These links should keep you busy while we count down the minutes until the Grammys:

• NY Post’s Mary Huhn discusses the bitterness that broke up The Police
• The Muytaytor will not play at Langerado this year as previously announced. The reason probably has something to do with founder Matty Nash’s bust by NBC Dateline’s To Catch a Predator series for allegedly attempting a lewd act on a 13-year-old girl
• The organizers of Summer Camp have started a community contribution fund to help win over the locals in Chillicothe (via HajimemArt23)
• Billy Corgan has a name and a release date for the new Smashing Pumpkins album: Zeitgeist is the best you can do?
• Magical Mystery Tracks has a streaming player that plays isolated studio tracks by The Beatles (via TheTube)
• The Roots are headed back to the studio
• Neddy reviews a recent Cat Power show at the Hiro Ballroom
• Grateful Dead News keeps a running list of famous Deadheads
• The Seattle Weekly features an interesting interview with Jesse Sykes
• Hit Chaser presents a wacky clip of John Lennon’s 31st birthday party
• Sharon Osbourne goes into detail about plans for the Free Ozzfest
• An MP3 of the rare Velvet Underground acetate that was recently auctioned has surfaced for your listening pleasure
• Jim DeRogatis looks at the worst moments in Grammys history
• If you haven’t surfed over to Fabchannel or Setbreak, you’re missing out
• MP3s of Prince’s halftime show from I Guess I’m Floating
• LCD Soundsystem, one of the bands McL discussed in last week’s B List, just released a video for their first single, North American Scum
• When doesn’t Umphrey’s McGee release new tour dates?
• Galactic cancels some upcoming gigs due to an unspecified illness

What are you doing before The Police own our collective faces this weekend?

The fine folks over at Austinist have done some world-class spelunking through the hellish depths of the cyberweb, and they’ve compiled an initial list of bands supposedly playing this year’s SXSW festival in March.

I’d lie and say it looks like a “totally tubular and bodacious lineup,” but you’d see right through that charade. I only recognize about six and a half names on this list, and that includes Pete Townshend, who I heard was only invited by organizers to moderate the tricky How To Troll MySpace For Teenage Beef Curtains panel.

If the list is accurate, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter will be in Austin that week, the first festival step to her expected rise to prominence in 2007.

We’ll leave you with a quote from Bob Lefsetz about SXSW in his 2007 Predictions letter: “Will continue to be the preeminent circle jerk, promoted by established players and the mainstream media as important even though those truly in touch know that by time it reaches Austin all those with a clue ALREADY KNOW!”

Any of you Widespread Panic fans ever wondered what John Bell would sound like if he were a chick? That’d be pretty weird, but I bet someone has.

Wonder no more, freaks, your answer has arrived. Jesse Sykes has been around for a few years now, even making New York Times critic Jon Pareles’ list of underrated albums in 2004. But like the fat kid at the community pool, it’s about time she made an even bigger splash. Shit, if there’s been such strong demand for Cat Power and Grace Potter, there’s plenty of room for Sykes and her backing band, The Sweet Hereafter (that name might need a little work).

And it’s about time Sykes made that splash. After listening to the preview track of her upcoming album, our Glide Magazine parent and I wholeheartedly agree: This is the year she makes it big — or bigger, I should say — on this particular scene, turning heads at Bonnaroo and enjoying a sweet run of success thereafter.

So click here and take a listen to LLL off her new album like, love, lust & the open halls of the soul, which as the kidz say, “drops” on February 6th.