Playlist

All you'll ever need to pretend you went to this year's Austin City Limits music fest yourself:

Slideshow: Some ACL performers doing their thing
• 9/30/08: Austin City Limits bucks traditions, but plays it smooth
• 9/29/08: Austin City Limits performer Nicole Atkins serious about career
• 9/28/08: Funk-rock band Black Joe Lewis gettin' buzz at ACL
• 9/27/08: The menu at Austin City Limits Music Festival is loaded
• 9/26/08: Dallas area acts hitting Austin City Limits Music Festival
• Live blogging: Catch up on ACL here
• AP: Texas charity keeps Austin and its musicians healthy

And now, the sad. Our resident rock guru and all-around cool guy Mike Daniel will be leaving us soon. ACL was his last major gig for The News (well, as a full-time staffer, that is. We'll be pouncing on him for freelance in the future, for sure). He's been a big player in the music section for a long, long time and he'll be missed. Happy adventures, big guy!

(Photo: Hiker Mike on Ben Nevis in Scotland)

AC/DC's first tour in seven years will hit the American Airlines Center on Jan. 23, the band announced today (no ticket info yet). Angus and company are touring behind a new CD, Black Ice, due out Oct. 20.

According to CNN, Superstar Janet Jackson has been hospitalized after falling ill shortly before a concert.

In a statement released by W&W Public Relations, the singer canceled her concert in Montreal on Monday after she "got suddenly ill" during her sound check and had to be rushed to the hospital just before show time, according to the Associated Press. The statement says Jackson is being monitored at the hospital and hopes to reschedule the show. No further information was given about Jackson's condition. Jackson, 42, is currently on her North American, "Rock Witchu" tour.

As for her boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, he's proving that perhaps it's best to keep the personal and business aspects separate...

Rap musicians are understandably charged up by this historic presidential race by Democratic nominee Barack Obama; he's taken on some its culture's mannerisms, referenced them along the campign trail and has found himself name-checked by some of its biggest and brightest stars (Kanye West, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy). But on the real---is the Senator a hip-hop head?

Well, according to a recent chat with MTV, pretty much. "I enjoy it, but these days I don't have the time to listen to it all the time," he told MTV News. He said that he still finds time to shuffle through MCs like Jay-Z and Kanye on his iPod, but he thinks the genre's impact extends far beyond a few hot tracks.

How does he feel about the direction of hip-hop? Does he have a favorite? Find out here...

Swell Season --- you know, that Irish dude and the Czech woman from the movie Once -- played all the expected songs Monday night at the Palladium Ballroom. But aside from the Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly,'' most of the high points arrived during the covers: There were two Van Morrison tunes --- the show-opening "Into the Mystic" and "Astral Weeks" - Daniel Johnston's "Life in Vain" and a wacky folk-metal spin through Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River."
"If that goes up on YouTube, I'm dead,'' said singer Glen Hansard about "River."
Too late - someone already posted the remake from a previous show here.
See Wednesday's print edition for a review of the show, or check online Tuesday afternoon.