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Low, an intimate slowcore three-piece known for their ice-cold compositions, frosty harmonies and chilled tempos, have always struck me as a band for winter. But that aesthetic has been shifting over the nearly twenty years that Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (and a slew of temporary bassists) have been making music together.

That’s one major car accident for Beach House.

Here is a very cute music video for Wilco's "Dawned On Me," off their most recent album The Whole Love. It shows an animated Jeff Tweedy and company playing their ditty on the docks in front of the S.S. Wilco, while Popeye characters like Olive Oyl, Bluto, and, of course, Popeye, have all kinds of slapstick fun. This is the second Wilco/Popeye collaboration, following last Sunday's Popeye comic strip in which the S.S. Wilco was officially debuted as a carrier of Wilco Brand Spinach (naturally). 

Sure, it may be a brand-new year, but that doesn't mean we can't take some time to reflect back on what was awesome and what was terrible from last year. People love giving their opinions and others love to hate said opinions! It's pretty much the only thing to read on the internet in the last two weeks of the year, so it's unsurprising that it'll carry over to the first business day of the new year. Take Pitchfork's year-end lists, for example: the staff lists were full of considerate and well-written criticism, which is somewhat dissimilar to the point-of-view of most of the site's detractors, who still associate Pitchfork with pretentious hipster snark. The 2011 Pitchfork Readers Poll, on the other hand, does without the commentary, and instead compiles lists of the so-called best albums of the year, as well as the most underrated and overrated albums. 

Interesting fact about Chicago: Every resident has to read the weather forecast once in his or her lifetime. Municipal law states that each morning, a number is drawn from Mike Ditka’s mustache and if it's your assigned number, you must appear on WGN (the superstation) and broadcast the seven-day forecast. This morning, Chicago native and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy was chosen by the almighty ‘stache and he continued this Windy City tradition. 

Wilco is a Chicago-based band. They are very popular all over the place, but boy do the folks in Chi-Town (pro-tip: never ever call it "Chi-Town") love Jeff Tweedy and co. And they love Chicago, too! The iconic cover of their re-breakthrough album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, features an image of the famous Marina City towers (also, those buildings are pretty cool). Perhaps that is why they won't stop planning to have a mini-tour solely in Chicago.

So The White Stripes are dunzo. The've played their last appropriated blues riff. The dynamic duo have became two lonely unos. It sucks. But what sucks even more are all the bands out there who should call it quits, yet continue to persevere in the face of their own un-awesomeness. Below, a list of bands I'm really hoping will break up soon.

An essential guide to crunking out

● Shaq curates an art show—this is as rad as it sounds. [Vice] ● A portrait of Alec Baldwin, with very delicate lips, commissioned by his brother Stephen, up for auction on eBay. [Perez] ● A Wilco themed sandwich shop opens in Toronto. [Pitchfork]