Photos taken at Terminal 5 by Sarah Hajjar

[Above: Untitled by Anonymous, yarn in wax on wood, part of the NMMA's La Vina Sin Fin exhibit.]

As Chicago marked the somber 40th anniversary of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, PIlsen's National Museum of Mexican Art opened its 22nd annual La Vida Sin Fin exhibition in honor of the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, celebrated each Nov. 1 and 2. Running through Dec. 14th, the exhibit's paintings, etchings, photography and installations are dedicated to the victims of another historical coup, the Tlatelolco Massacre, which devastated Mexico City just months after the violence in our own town.

Still riding on the afterglow of Austin and the presidential and local elections. Sun is out and there's an autumn wind with a slight chill. We're heading straight North and into November cold season. The Weather Channel says there's unusually warm temperatures in the East. I'm hoping they linger a while as we move in that direction.

TV heaven got a bit more cramped last week as NBC announced the cancellation of two of its prime-time dramas: My Own Worst Enemy, starring Christian Slater as a double-life-leading former CIA agent, and Lipstick Jungle, starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver and Lindsay Price as rich white women making bad choices in the Big Apple.

Having never seen an episode of My Own Worst Enemy, I can only attest to the quality of Lipstick Jungle (and read on, I will), but by now we should all know that even the best showssnagged enough viewers to stave off the executioners blow are no match for the bad ratings. And both of these shows had 'em, so the cancellations should come as no real shock. Instead, the surprise of the week was which show had, indeed, snagged enough viewers to stave off the executioner's blow: Kath & Kim.

HBO has finally figured out a way to tackle the recession: make fun of it. The network has paired with author Andy Bellin to produce The Review, a comedy series set in 1987 at a literary magazine at the height of that era’s Wall Street meltdown.

It was as still as a "Silent Night" while we waited for Julian Koster of The Music Tapes (ex-Neutral Milk Hotel)—stopping at the Paste studio during his month-long caroling tour—to play his first note on Badger, his nine-year-old singing saw. Nobody breathed. Then Koster put his bow to the bent metal and a tone as pure as snow on a Christmas morning issued from it. He leapt adeptly from pitch to pitch, performing with quiet grace and an endearing sense of humor, several classic holiday tunes from his October release, The Singing Saw at Christmastime.

Welcome to Informer:Atlanta! Each Tuesday, we bring you the very best in the coming week's music, film and culture events in and around Atlanta. Think we missed something? Wanna tip us off to something cool over the horizon? Let us know! All events are recommended, but italics indicate an editor's pick. (L) indicates local artists.

By the time Johnny Cash recorded Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's "I See A Darkness" for his American Recordings series in 2000, Will Oldham could justifiably have rested on his laurels. Shoulder-patting from the great Cash—what more could a modern folk artist have hoped for?

Getting back in the van

From Wire to the Pixies to My Bloody Valentine, post-punk bands are hard to kill. Now, on the occasion of its third album (and first in 15 years), From Now to OK, you can add underappreciated New York trio Springhouse to the list of survivors. With its re-emergence, the band asserts its rightful place in the chain of U.K.-inspired, melancholy guitar pop, stretching from Big Star to The Shins. Guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Mitch Friedland avoids the processed acoustic guitar sound that got the band tagged as shoegazers, with Springhouse opting instead for a more varied palette, ranging from slide guitar (“Moving Van”) to lush, mournful trumpet (“10 Count”). With members immersed in day jobs—bassist/guitarist Larry Heinemann touring with Blue Man Group; drummer/vocalist Jack Rabid editing venerable ’zine The Big Takeover—the album was assembled in the manner of weekend hobbyists. But the sporadic construction hasn’t produced a disjointed document: With its complex chord changes and unapologetic love of melody, From Now to OK is a reminder of what made the band deserving of more than a small, adoring cult in the first place.

Listen to Springhouse's "Moving Van" from From Now To OK on the band's MySpace page.

808s & Heartbreak is still two weeks away, but Mr. West has decided to lay down an appetizer before the main course: a remix album available for free streaming on imeem. Titled Sky High, all of the tracks from Kanye's 2007 opus Graduation are given the remix treatment, as well as some classics from his first two albums.