paul westerberg - lookin up in heaven - folker - vagrant - NE
constantines - good by baby and amen - shine a light - sub pop
velvet underground - oh sweet nuthin - loaded - cotillion
sea snakes - firebugs at cafe eitelkeit - clear as day the darkest tools - three
gut records
giant sand - flying around the sun at remarkable speed - giant sand is all over
the map - thrill jockey - NE

[break]

brian and chris - action packed vacation - 3 - dielectric - N
lizzy mercier descloux - fire - mutant disco vol 1 - ze
chandra - opposite - transportation ep - on music
anyone know about this record? fred maher of material contributes to it.
le tigre - fake french - this island - universal
the avalanches - radio - since i left you - sire - OE
neu! - fur immer - neu! 2 - astralwerks

[break]

the chills - pink frost - tuatara - flying nun
smiths - big mouth strikes again - queen is dead - sire - REQ
palomar - albacore - III: the revenge of palomar - self starter fnd - NE
superchunk - freaks in charge - tracks and fields - kill rock stars
oxford collapse - celebrity art party - 12″ - kanine - NE
embarrassment cover.
the mice - not proud of the usa - for almost ever scooter - scat - N
!!!! sounds incredibly contemporary in this current politicial climate
cordalene - would it have killed you to have kissed me just once - s/t - s/r

[break]

currituck county - isabel - 2001 teenbeat sampler - teenbeat
unrest cover.
sally timms - little tommy tucker - in the world of him - touch & go - NE
yoko ono - why - plastic ono band - rykodisc
hot snakes - this mystic decade - audit in progress - swami - NE

[break]

john cale - #4 - hobosapiens - or music - NE

maria: between this and the ashlee simpson lipsynching debacle, its a totally junior high weekend. except for my grandmother dying, of course.
friend: i know
friend: i did watch the clip of her
friend: it’s pathetic but not surprising
friend: it’s not like she convinced us that she was mariah carey or anything
friend: she sounds shitty on record too
maria: yeah. still. im surprised that SNL let it happen, considering they have a very well known policy for being “live”
friend: i know
maria: i mean, even britney did her set live when she was on. well, after this incedent, im not so sure.
friend: who knows
friend: the band sounded live to me
maria: they were
maria: her vocals were the only thing lipsynched
maria: AND
friend: retarded
maria: at the end of the show she blamed the band!
friend: i saw
maria: how unprofessional.
friend: lame
friend: at least jessica can sing
maria: so we think!
friend: i mean, my faith in pop stars has been completely destroyed.
friend: oh yeah, fer sure
maria: hahaha
maria: i mean, who would have thought that they’d be untalented and superficial enough to lipsync?
friend: yeah rilly
maria: hahaha
maria: im so glad that the 90s didnt kill irony.
friend: thank god for something

’cause really, i havent noticed. or at least, it hasnt felt like CMJ’s been over.

thursday night i went up to NYC for the three gut records showcase featuring woolly leaves [bry of the con’s neil young inspired solo project], gentlemen reg, jim guthrie & sea snakes. it was quite lovely. quiet too.

friday night was our show with dragon city, medium medium and trouble everyday [whose record was reviewed by pitchfork today]. i always worry about reunion shows and whether the reformed bands can still hold that spark that made them so exciting in the first place, but medium medium had it after all these years. [and they were the nicest people to deal with as well.] let’s hope they play out more often.

saturday was homecoming at my job, and we had a reading that featured none other than scrabble enthusiast and alumnus stefan fatsis. if you havent read word freak, i suggest you do. unfortunately all the running around at work made me too tired to attend a bachelorette party of a friend.

i want to say i did something on sunday but chances are i didnt.

monday my job did a live taping for the show we broadcast on WXPN. espers were the musical guest. it went well. the new world cafe studios are like a cosi with live music. wine is too expensive there — 10$ a glass!

tuesday was the l”it and whimsy” series at tritone, put together by people at the weekly. it went well. sara’s piece was the best but i did enjoy the girl who read her resume. wine was not expensive at the club however, and i went home at 10PM fairly drunk.

wednesday was another reading at the house. i stayed late to help cook for the post-reading meal. i also drank more wine.

thursday i attended, quite unexpectedly, a panel at wharton about the music industry. anthony decurtis, executive editor of tracks magazine was on the panel, as was a writer for MTV and the manager for roots. im not quite how to gauge its overall effectiveness, especially in a room full of wharton clones. the primary idea coming out of all the panelists mouths was that the industry, and how its being run, is fucked so there needs to be new ideas; however, they didnt want to admit to the success of technologies of iTunes or even the indie rock model of business. they looked at me like i was crazy when i asked about old vs new models, and the possibility of labels bringing back singles as a way to keep fans hooked on buying music.

tonight’s another show and i hope you can make it out. that is, if you feel like it. saturday is sharon jones and the dap kings, sunday is a choice benefit where true if destroyed are playing and monday im on WPRB, 1-3PM.

The saddest news ever.
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a strange but totally wonderful night at the khyber. the two more well known bands played first [rosebuds + bloodthirsty lovers], followed by two bands i never heard of that totally blew me away. rosebuds sounded great but blazed through their set so fast, i couldnt tell if they were a rock band or a thrash group. bloodthirsty lovers, possibly the best set i have ever seen them do. they have a new cd out, so buy it at the show [like dave shouse said, “its cheaper.”] and rest easy knowing your money went straight to the artist.

the next band up, zykos, blew me away. they were so good that i went against my plan of conserving cash and bought their cd like ten seconds after they got off the stage. im a big fan of new wave bands but the current crop of artists often seem so unpassionate in their approach to the music and attitude in a live setting. needless to say, zykos were neither. not only did they remind me of martha and the muffins crossed with some richard butler-esque vocals, they tore up the stage. its bands like this that remind me why i keep going to shows - its thrilling to see something like this in person.

last up were IQU from seattle. if you crossed minnie riperton with nightmares on wax, it would sound A LOT LIKE THIS. btw, they did cover riperton’s most well-known track, “lovin’ you,” where they mimiced her vocals by using a theremin. none of this sounds believable, or even good, but trust me. why those making time folks havent trounced all over this band is beyond me.

today ive seen a couple posts on messageboards and listservs about the disappearance of penn’s only student-run radio station, WQHS. “what radio station is that?” you’re wondering. ‘QHS is known to very few outside the penn/west philly community, largely because they currently do not broadcast via a traditional radio format - its only available via resnet and the internet. [i believe their AM transmitter was destroyed during a storm a few years ago.]

it appears that the station got lost in the runaround of moving penn’s other station, WXPN, to their new building. both stations previously occupied the same building on spruce street. there is currently no internet access, mail service, phones, etc., in the old facilities.

from the mts perspective, i strongly doubt that penn’s office of student life would put the kibosh on WQHS’s activities. its not like they’re being fined by the FCC, as they are not “on air”, so to speak. ever since penn’s new president, amy gutmann, set foot on this campus, she has taken an extradordinary initiative to support cultural programs and activities - this includes my place of employment, the kelly writers house - shutting down a radio station would only prove to be contrary to her current course of action.

im chalking this one up to an administrative glitch but man, i cant help myself from wondering, just how does one accidentally lose a radio station?

should it be the case that WQHS’s disappearance was intentional, expect to see me posting more information here about how to get it back. in a world where every station is slowly turning clear channel, we need to hang on to the remaining independent stations out there.

way back when i was at insound, i remember one day my fellow co-worker laris approached me and asked what i was doing that night. i told him nothing and then he asked if i could go over to the knitting factory to interview thrill jockey recording artist, markus popp of oval. it sounded something i could handle, so i said yes.

i did some quick research but unfortunately, the internet was not brimming with oval information those days. so i showed up to the club, met up with the guy filming the piece and asked him, “so what do you do?” and “why do you use laptops?”

thankfully, they’ve edited all footage of yours truly out of this piece, so enjoy.

I generally do not like to use this blog to shill for Plain Parade, but these two things are important/cool/etc enough to warrant a mention.

Click on the link below for information!
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found this interesting section about the town i grew up in. cant believe some of those teachers are still there, and strangely enough, one of my high school crushes is now the boys tennis coach!

http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/SEC/ColumnistPages?name=jamie_lee_josselyn

jamie lee is one of our work-study students at the writers house. she has an online column in the ugh-worthy daily pennsylvanian, but its definately their only highlight.