Last night's episode of The Colbert Report, the heavily promoted "shred-off" between Stephen Colbert and The Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk, was an amazing way to wrap up the show's 2006 run. It was a star-studded affair and, although I was a little disappointed in Colbert (read on and you'll see why), I quite enjoyed it. By the way, did anyone else expect the actual "shred-off" to be a few rounds of Guitar Hero?

Kiefer Sutherland has an interesting playlist up on iTunes. While most artists include songs that inspire them, he is using his playlist as a platform to promote bands that use his L.A. recording studio, called Ironworks. The studio is kinda nifty, because it holds all 28 Gibson guitars that Kiefer has collected over the years, and they are available for use by the bands.

While some people may consider his playlist shameless self promotion, I think it's a great way to learn about new music. Maybe that's because I happen to like the little snippets that I heard. Plus, he has also included some well-known performers such as Marvin Gaye, U2, and Sarah McLachlan.