You may recall that last week at this time I was feeling a little ill and cheered myself up by kick-starting the first QBiM contest of 2009.  Up for grabs was a copy of The Sound of The Smiths, the brand new Rhino Records compilation that got Johnny Marr and Morrissey working together on a common project 22 years after their last one (holy shit, has it been that long??).  I asked you for your favourite Smiths song in return for the chance to have your name entered in the draw, and our winning entry chose “Asleep” as his favourite.  Congratulations to Bob from St. Catharines, Ontario (a local!) whose CD is on it’s way down the 406.  Bob was correct when he stated in his email, “It was a b-side I think,” as “Asleep” made it’s debut on the flipside of “The Boy With the Thorn In His Side” then later appeared on the compilations The World Won’t Listen and Louder Than Bombs.  Hey look, it also appears in this post, below!

MP3: The Smiths “Asleep”

Stay tuned as the QBiM contest machine revs up again tomorrow (can you believe it?) with not 1 but 3 prizes to be had by 3 lucky readers.

In other news, I wanted to make up for my little faux pas this week, and re-post Bon Iver’s splendid “Blood Bank”, the title track from their new EP coming out on Tuesday.  Justin Vernon and co. sound like they’ve been hitting the gym and pumping some iron, as the guitars are more muscular, and the arrangement more assertive than some of the tracks on For Emma, Forever Ago.   Even though there’s a veritable army of new music being released on January 20, I’m sure this EP isn’t going to get lost in the shuffle.

MP3: Bon Iver “Blood Bank”
Facebook: Bon Iver
Myspace: Bon Iver