Behold the Royal Graves of Ur.
Gold, lapis lazuli and bone.
These relics are practically as old as writing, as old as history, as old as Abraham.
These wars are nothing new.
I was thinking about Florida's relationship to rock'n'roll recently, and how important bands like Sam & Dave were when they invented the original Miami sound with hits like "Soul Man," which is sort of the gutsy, spiritual bridge between the Dadaist scat jazz of Slim & Slam and rock bands like Chas & Dave, the "Rockney" duo credited by some with launching British punk rock. They were big in '76, but were really just following in the footsteps of Chad & Jeremy, one of the first bands in the British Invasion, who enjoyed some recent popularity from their inclusion on the Rushmore soundtrack (but who mustn't be confused with fellow invaders Peter & Gordon, who wrote "World Without Love").
The Invasion (which really started when the Beatles landed in Miami Beach) was met by a West Coast resistance rallying behind Flo & Eddie, who formed the Turtles and played in the Mothers of Invention before launching their duo career, setting the tone for the highly influential West Coast psychedelic-folk scene where Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young hung out with Sonny & Cher, but not with Mitch & Mickey because they're not real (and were a parody of Canadians Ian & Sylvia anyway), and not with "proper" folkies like Peter, Paul & Mary because they were making a difference while listening to Woody Guthrie records in New York, and not with "Deadman's Curve" auteurs Jan & Dean, because they were busy surfing.
More recently, the same ethereal, folk-psych sound has been falling back into style, especially with indie pop bands like Sub-Pop's Damon & Naomi and 10,000 Maniacs spin-off John & Mary, who signed to Mi5 in 2002 after playing with people like Billy Bragg and Ani DiFranco.
Which is nice, if you're into pretty music with sparse arrangements, but not if your tastes run more toward the industrial noise of Throbing Gristle inheritors Chris & Cosey, who sound a little like Jon & Vangelis being run backward through a blender.
But, you know, the house of music is a very large house.