As you might expect, this new tune from The National is a heartbreakingly beautiful, solemnly anthemic, soul-expanding epic. What you might not expect is a little boy air guitaring, but life is full of surprises ...

Update: Apparently, it's a tribute to this video, whatever in the world it is. Thanks for the tip, @shawnroller. Discuss

Well, you never know what news any day will bring, and today's news brings this: Tim Lambesis, the frontman for As I Lay Dying—a relatively famous Christian metal band—has been arrested without incident for trying to hire a hitman to assassinate his estranged wife. The hitman was actually an undercover sheriff's detective, who promptly turned Lambesis in before anyone was hurt, thankfully. "The information came to us late last week," San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell told Reuters. "We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy." Which is very true, but it's also true that the very fact that an outspoken Christian actually attempted to plot the murder of his wife is already plenty devastating. Court records showed that Lambesis and his wife, Meggan, had separated in September of last year, but they had adopted three Ethiopian children in their marriage's earlier years ... Discuss

Vampire Weekend returns with their third effort, Vampires of the Modern City, and you can stream the whole thing for free over on iTunes. If you're not a fan of Vampire Weekend, this album probably won't win you over. It's wrought with much the same candy-coated melodies and ten-dollar words as their previous two albums. If, however, you find the Brooklyn quartet's stylings winsome, you'll feel right at home in this particular city. Got it? It's not a good album for Vampire Weekend haters, but it's a great album for their fans. Listen accordingly ... Discuss

There's been a lot of mixed emotions about the upcoming film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, mostly because there are so many mixed emotions about the film's director, Baz Lurhmann. His Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge movies are practically required viewing for modern film students, but his flashy, excessive style strikes some as the wrong tone for what might be rightly considered the Great American Novel. Of course, since The Gilded Age was such a famously flashy and excessive decade, Luhrmann's touch might be perfect. It's hard to tell, but his soundtrack—streaming for free over at NPR—does give us a hint as to what we can expect from his film.

And what we can expect is a lot. There are some very good songs here—Jack White's cover of U2's "Love Is Blindness" is marvelous, as is a surprisingly evocative number from Lana Del Ray. Beyonce and Andre 3000's take on Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" is also a stunner. And there are also some very bad songs (the less said about will.i.am and Fergie's contributions, the better.) In other words, based on the soundtrack, this film could still go either way. And if the music isn't your thing, might we suggest the video game ... Discuss