A few #longreads as you prepare yourself for the fact that you’re going to have to watch Jimmy Fallon next Tuesday…

Speaking of The Replacements, here’s an interview that USA Today conducted with R.E.M.’s Mike Mills talking about one of their musical heroes, Big Star.  That band’s first two albums are getting reissues this week, so for those people that haven’t been able to find a used copy all of these years you are now in luck and now have no reason not to own and love #1 Record and Radio City.  Mills is an expert on the subject, considering he wrote the liner notes for the reissues and is touring as a part of the musical collaboration project that does a live cover of Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers album.  And if you’re still in need of some convincing about the significance of Big Star, check out this entry of the “Primer” feature of the AV Club covering the career of frontman Alex Chilton.

The Wall Street Journal has an inside look at the collaboration between director David Fincher and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, providing fascinating insights into the nuts-and-bolts of their unique method of scoring films.  Considering how great their previous collaborations have been (The Social Network and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo are two of the only film scores I listen to with any regularity), you should be eager to hear their work on the upcoming Gone Girl.

The AV Club has a couple of extended features to check out, with the first being a dual interview with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan, and the second being a look at how those “rock and roll cruises” that have become popular in recent years are put together.

And finally, Pitchfork has an Op-Ed that pushes for a return to mono.