A business trip kept me from my writing duties this week, so Scotty has punished me by making me wrap up the week with Leftovers. Ok truth be told I was actually happy to do it since I was missing things around here. So let’s see what I missed while I was out of the country…

• Aussie hard-rockers Wolfmother break up, well sort of
• WNEW shares what they learned at this year’s Lollapalooza
• RD takes a look back at the Schafer Music Festival, where you could have seen The Who for $1. Now that’s a deal!
• Hipster united earlier this week as The National & Yeasayer shared a bill
• Wilco performed Take Me Out To The Ballgame at Wrigley
• JellyNYC brings Pool Parties to Austin, Seattle, San Fran and Nashville

Finally, our good friend and HT’s resident curmudgeon Chilly Jackwater welcomed his first offspring and future Spreadhead - Zach Dean - into the world earlier this week. We wish him and the rest of Jackwater clan a big Mazel Tov and we’re pretty sure we’ll be seeing him dressed like this in a few short years at his first show.

While I’m more than 99% certain that by 2011 most if not all music/entertainment blogs and music/entertainment sites will all be talking about their “10 Best Bands of the Last Decade” I figured I would prematurely make a list of who I think are the Best Modern Rock bands of the decade so far. These are the bands I think people will still be talking about in years to come. Let the list begin.

10. Vampire Weekend: the Swift and Steady

There’s no need to reiterate what VW sound like or remind people of (by the way, it’s Paul Simon’s Graceland/Rhythm of the Saints mixed with a little bit of Talking Heads – or vice versa) because they have rode & conquered the buzz of the blog airwaves faster then the speed of light and now–if they want–they can have it all. For fuck’s sake , they have already been featured on the cover Spin and have played Saturday Night Live which means nothing to the people (people who discover music through blogs or word of mouth or randomly perusing Myspace/iLike/Last FM) above Spin/SNL but to the masses this means everything. Two years ago (2006) no one heard of this band. Why? Because they didn’t exist. And if you haven’t heard of them yet, then it’s quite possible you don’t exist.

Read on for the top nine modern rock bands of the ’00s…

One of the interesting side effects of the upcoming Led Zeppelin reunion gig is that any time Jimmy Page gives an interview people analyze every single detail for clues about what will go down on December 10th. Page yesterday let it slide that the band has been rehearsing a song written between 1968 and 1980 that has never been played before. Jimmy played it cool when pushed for further details, but apparently he mentions they plan to play For Your Life in memory of Ahmet Ertegun in an interview that will run in the next issue of Guitar World.

Speaking of people that can’t keep a secret, Ian Astbury told a stunned crowd in Cincinnati that The Cult will be opening for Led Zeppelin during what’s shaping up to be the biggest tour of 2008. Be sure to save those holiday bonuses, because tickets won’t be cheap. Alright, what else is out there?

• Bruce Springsteen ends one tour and announces another
• Wolfmother is working hard on a new “cinematic, epic” album
• Dweezil Zappa pwns Project Object
• Silversun Pickups book holiday dates across the country
• Japan just says no to Velvet Revolver
• Looking into Skynryd’s motivation behind writing Sweet Home Alabama
• Concert photographers now get much less time to take their shots
• Chris Michetti explains RAQ’s hard driving sound to the Diamondback Online
• Vince Iwinski talks about the business behind Umphrey’s McGee
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers have sued Showtime over the use of the name Californication

Finally congrats to Queen’s Brian May for being named Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, paving the way for Rock Star Astrophysicists everywhere.

It’s all over but the showering…Bonnaroo hath come and gone, and the massive crowd that descended upon a huge field in Tennessee has dispersed to all parts of the country. Our Man in Manchester is en route back to the Buckeye State, but he found time to write one final overview of the festival’s last day. TJ’s reports from the first three days are linked at the bottom of this post, and a general review follows some time this week. Onto the Day Four screed:

Just like you knew they would, the people at Bonnaroo went all Vanessa Williams on us and saved the best for the last. I saw more hours of great music yesterday than on any other day of my life (most of them beginning with “W”). By dinner time yesterday I had already seen Mavis Staples, Wolfmother and RatDog, and I still had the White Stripes, Wilco and Widespread Panic ahead of me.

But let’s start back at the beginning with what was the perfect opener for a Sunday at a festival: Mavis Staples at The Other Tent (where I’ve decided to have some of my ashes scattered after I’m dead). Let me be up front here and say that I love Mavis Staples. She makes my heart smile. The world is a better place for her being in it. I knew I was gonna love her set because I was excited to see her in person. The most satisfying aspect of seeing her, though, was that I genuinely enjoyed the performance she and her band delivered as well.

Read on for the full review of Sunday’s festival festivities, including more on Mavis, RatDog, Wilco, the White Stripes, Widespread Panic and more…

In addition to our intrepid reporter’s real-time efforts to keep you vicariously updated from afar, we’ve combed over the ol’ YouTube Device to provide youse with some actual video from the 2007 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. There’s a growing mound of moving images and sound to devour, and a whole slew of shit follows after the jump. But first, there’s this item of business…

We’ve also stumbled upon a treasure trove of uploaded webcast captures, so if seven minutes of video doesn’t do it for you — and it rarely does — feel free to rifle through these links here to download the sets you’d like to see. Many thanks to PT’s Schwagg for putting this together: Wilco, Flaming Lips, The White Stripes, Widespread Panic, The Hold Steady, Brazilian Girls, Gillian Welch, The Roots, Wolfmother, Mago (w/ John Medeski & Billy Martin), Kings of Leon, Xavier Rudd, John Butler Trio, String Cheese Incident, RatDog (Part I, Part II), and Old Crow Medicine Show. Read on below for YouTubes…

Keller Williams and Michael Franti will descend upon the same location this weekend, which can only mean one thing: There’s a festival goin’ down.

The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival kicks off four days of festival mayhem on Thursday, and we’d like to begin our coverage with a look at some of the bigger conflicts on the schedule. Tough decisions are inevitable at any festival, especially one like Bonnaroo that has music playing constantly on or in its 76 stages, tents, outhouses, vestibules, phone booths and kiosks. And considering this year’s lineup is riddled with insane talent, the conflicts seem to pop up every hour.

Do you check out ?uestlove’s afro-pick or Lily Allen’s rack? Bob Weir’s short shorts or Wolfmother’s hype? Hula hoops at SCI or heady crystals at STS9? To help you make these calls, we’ve asked longtime Ace associate, TJ, who’s headed down to Tennessee tomorrow night for a glimpse of the madness, to weigh in with what he believes to be the 11 most difficult time-slot decisions of the festival.

TJ will be covering this festival for us all weekend with live reports from the field, so make sure to check back every 10 to 12 minutes for the next few days…

Thursday
Rodrigo y Gabriela vs. Tea Leaf Green
TJ says: Despite the incredible job RyG could do on Graham Nash’s Immigration Man, I see them getting their visas stamped but falling to the Green regardless.

Friday
Tortoise vs. The Richard Thompson Band
TJ says: Both eclectic, both underrated. The time slot dictates this one –- at 2 am I go Tortoise; but, this 2 pm slot is Richard Thompson all the way.

Kings of Leon vs. Gillian Welch
TJ says: I dig the Kings, but trendy hipster bands are a dime a dozen at Bonnaroo this year. There’s only one Gillian Welch and one David Rawlings on the lineup.

The Roots vs. The Black Keys
TJ says: I’d like to say I was representin’ OH and pick the boys from Akron , but Ohio doesn’t really claim Akron anyway. The Roots will allow you to get yo funk on like few bands at the festival this year, which is nice. Hell, this slot’s so packed I may call an audible at the line and pull a split-squad session with Lily Allen and Manu Chao.

SCI vs. STS9
TJ says: Thank God for SuperJam. Seriously.

Read on for TJ’s biggest conflicts (and winners) on Saturday and Sunday…

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