So I'm back from Ireland. I'll fill you in on the "music scene" tomorrow when I put this week's column online and talk more about the trip. I can tell you right now that the worst part was traveling there and back. Avoid Aire Lingus at all costs. Fly American or British Airways, it's worth the extra jack. Believe me. Coming back was the worst overall flight experience I've had in a long time (I have had worse, though).

Incidentally, I would have gone to the Neko Case show last night had I known it was a no-smoking show. As always is the case when you're in a jetliner for 10 hours, I picked up a chest-cold thing and didn't want to make it worse. There's no smoking allowed at any bars and restaurants in Ireland. The ban doesn't seem to have had an impact on their bar scene whatsoever. The flight did give me a chance to write a dozen or so CD reviews, which will be going online over the next few days, so watch the reviews page and the matrix for updates.

What happened while I was gone?

-- The hiatus is over. Saddle Creek confirmed rumors of the much-anticipated second-coming of Cursive. The label says the band will start working on new music later this summer, with possibly a new record mid-late next year in terms of release date. Does that mean the inevitable hiatus (or end) for The Good Life? Well, maybe The Good Life as we've known it…

-- I'm told Homer's has had a change in management, with Rick Galusha announcing his departure and Mike Fratt taking his place as the company's president. Who knows what it'll mean. I'm trying to track Fratt down to see. The story of Homer's and its continued survival in the now-viscous, cut-throat business of music retailing needs to be told along with Fratt's plans for continued survival (and prosperity?).

-- Before I left, Fratt e-mailed to tell me that Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning sales have surpassed 250,000, passing Lifted… by many thousand. Saddle Creek confirmed this. I figured Wide Awake would lift Lifted's sales. It has, but not to the degree I expected. At this pace, Wide Awake is on target to be the first Creek CD to go gold… Digital Ash sales are at 176,000, by the way...

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