» I use “BAAARF” to tag a lot of things these days, it seems:

“Both Ben Folds and Third Eye Blind were very popular on our Facebook searches and on our student-body survey, so we think that everybody will be really excited about them,” said Wharton senior and SPEC director Catey Mark.

Maybe it wasn’t being trapped in so-called “90’s rhetoric” that killed Plain Parade, we should have been soliciting data from Facebook! Give the people what they want – nay, spoonfeed it to them – even if it’s shitty, middling alt-rock. I guess.

» On the Veronica Mars front: As many of you may have heard, Rob Thomas is entertaining the possibility of “fast-forwarding” the series four years ahead, only for the sake of keeping the show on air. How is this a good idea… at all?

» That wasn’t my ears playing tricks on me last night, the Feelies’ “Let’s Go” was really in a Volvo commercial. This is exactly why I am for licensing: if I can watch Grey’s Anatomy and catch a bit of The Good Earth, just how bad can it be? Also, when will someone get smart and reissue the motherliving shit out of their records?!

» Oh yes, my preview for this Tuesday’s Blues Control gig is up at the City Paper. If you don’t trust me, then take Tom Lax’s word for it. Funny how two folks pegged as the authors of Cherry Coke have similar taste in music, isn’t it?

» Friday Night: WQHS is hosting a show at Haunted Cream Egg house (4207 Baltimore Ave) in West Philly, mere blocks from my bed. Relay, Grammar Debate, Kurt Vile and others are on tap. But it gets even better — over at the Green Line Café, The Impossible Shapes are playing. I believe this is the very definition of “Rock Block”, folks. Do it!

» FYI I’m back on WQHS beginning this Wednesday. 4-6PM EST, same old time. My fill-in slot at WPRB ended sooner than expected; alas, Jon and I did not perform the Princeton Record Exchange live on-air. Someday. Soon?

» Last, but not least: Saturday I had my pupils dilated at the doctor. This would have been all fine and dandy, had there not been a sunny sea of ice/snow waiting for me outside the doctor’s door. “Oh the agony!” only covers a fraction of what I felt on my walk home.

HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS DOES THIS WEATHER SUCK. I wonder if this is payment for NOT attending SXSW this year?! My walk to work today managed to get my ipod soaked from inside my jacket and put me in a mood so foul, not even the cheery 70’s rock tropes of Sloan could bring me out from the depths.

» Review of the new Explosions in the Sky CD right here; the show is mucho sold out. I dig the record, even though my review comes off as critical. Oh wait, that’s my job.

» There’s also a really cool piece on Narthex in the CP, Dean’s pre-Dead Milkmen punk combo. I reviewed them for PaperThinWalls; not sure when that will be out.

» No word yet on my grad school applications, which is kinda-sorta wreaking havoc with my nerves. I just wanna know where I’ll end up: a place with more snow or a place with even more snow.

» England Belongs To Twee, Philadelphia’s premier twee and oi! punk night, throws down at the Khyber Saturday. I’ll be wearin’ my best Doc Martens.

I know I keep putting this blog off and off and off — I’m just feeling a bit burnt out from it all. End-of-year exhaustion and laid up in bed for the last week with bronchitis will do that to you. But in the meantime, some linkage for you:

» Baby’s First Critic’s Poll: Even after all the hours I spent researching records that came out in 2006, I still managed to miss a few that I liked (Jennifer O’Connor, Uzeda for starters). Oh well. I am still pleased with my list — interesting to note that there are many records made by women (only 2-3 are strictly dude rock) and weigh in on political themes (5-6). And while I still lament the lack of women in rock, it was a year where quality, not quantity, ruled the roost. Anyway, I contributed writing to the #5 pick.

» Phillyist has an excellent feature on Megan & Mason Wendell of Canary Promo. Those folks do hard work and don’t get much recognition for it, so kudos to them.

» Did you have a good Christmas/Hanukkah? While mine was enjoyable, all this non-wintry weather made it feel most un-holidaylike. Maybe this is the source of my blahs.

I am still on a self-imposed blogging vacation, mainly because I’ve begun my final descent into finishing off grad school applications. Don’t worry though, I still plan to share my top whatevers of 2006 with you all next week. This won’t make much sense to anyone until my Idolator ballot goes public, but found it very apropos of where I am thought-wise right now:

One is tempted to heed Rodney King’s plaintive cry of “Can’t we just get along?” Yet there is something almost charming about a musical style that commands so much devotion among its performers, critics, and fans that they are ready to joust with opponents of their views. — Dick Weissman, Which Side Are You On: An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America, p. 8

» In other news, my first piece for the City Paper can be found here. Rumblings on the internet seemed to indicate that Home Blitz would not be able to pull it off live, but I’m proud to report otherwise. They played a great set last night — it’s a shame Tritone and I didn’t mix very well last night (me: totally sick, tritone: totally smoky), otherwise I would have stuck around for much longer.

However, I have been so swamped with work and other things to do. So busy that I skipped out on the Daily Show 10th Anniversary Concert last night, despite having a ticket. And despite this lameness, here is what I’ve been up to:

» PLAIN PARADE IS ENDING AND YOU SHOULD ATTEND OUR FINAL SHOWS! If PP is going to go into that good night, “gentle” and “quietly” are two words that won’t be used to describe it. Tritone may not be standing after tonight (Who will be the straw that breaks the camels back? Clockcleaner? Notekillers? KeN?), so you might want to check it out. Dragon City is planning to hold a drawing contest. I’ve booked a band that features former members of Polvo. Look at the options, wait, don’t. I did that for you already and truss, there’s nothing better going on.

» I wrote up Bob Pollard’s leg inury/tour cancellation for PF. Despite the fact that World Cafe Live was barely 1/3 full, and I wasn’t there, I think I’m responsible for it. After a 3-4 year stint of _not_ listening to GBV, I picked up the habit. Luckily for “Uncle Bob” I’ve only been listening to everything pre-1998. Lord knows what would have happened if I listened to _Do the Collapse_. And because of all this, I believe this effectively ends my GBV phase once again.

» Yes, I think I’m in total love with Henri Faberge & the Adorables, and contributed a track review of another song on their fantastic self-titled debut for PaperThinWalls. It’s my first for the site, so be gentle.

Playing catch-up, as usual:

» Jason DiEmilio, RIP. Back when I was an impressionable college kid, I was fortunate to catch the Azusa Plane at PiLam. I was too young to understand on any intellectual level what they were getting at, but I know that it _felt_ overwhelming and powerful; a decade later, I still remember that performance as if it were yesterday. So sad to see you go. Also to remember: Larissa Strickland and Adrienne Shelly (Ugh, is this really true? If there’s one thing to ruin the goodness of today, its this.)

» I saw two really great programs last week - Ars Nova’s program about the Monk/Coltrane tapes, a “town hall” featuring Pandora.com’s founder. I have lots of things to say about them, very little time to do so right now.

» Welcome, Pitchfork visitors!

Helvetia at the Trocadero, 10/07/06

What would happen if I got my chocolate in Pitchfork’s peanut butter? Probably something like this.

Check out more photos from this show »

From the August 24-30, 2006 issue of the _ Philadelphia City Paper_

When I saw the open letter to Luke Wilson on Steely Dan’s Web site, all I could think was “This is a Yacht Rock episode waiting to happen.” Over the course of its 10 episodes for “untelevised TV network” Channel101.com, Yacht Rock captured my heart and made me laugh with its combination of strange-but-true music trivia and low-budget lampooning of soft rock’s biggest stars (Kenny Loggins [pictured], Hall & Oates, Toto, the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles and Michael McDonald), each episode narrated by All Music Guide critic “Hollywood” Steve Huey. Where else can you watch an aggro John Oates (a fictionalized version, natch) call someone a “California vagina sailor”? Word on the street is that more episodes are due soon, so stay smooth.

—Maria Tessa Sciarrino
_Promoter, Plain Parade; DJ, WPRB_

Age 30

AccomplishmentsSite Manager for Insound.com; Director of Speciality Marketing for Plexifilm; Publisher of Sound Collector and Arthur Magazine.

Throwing around the term “visionary” is a precarious feat, implying someone’s ideas exist in an imaginary (and often unreachable) state, but Laris Kreslins is sorta like that. Long before I worked alongside him as an intern at Insound, I read his influential ‘zine Sound Collector voraciously, where No Neck Blues Band, P.G. Six, ESG and other bands co-existed beside more mainstream indie favorites like the American Analog Set. If this sounds like an impractical musical utopia, well, because that’s another part of the visionary definition.

Even though Sound Collector is no more, Laris continues to rewrite the musical mosaic with Arthur (www.arthurmag.com), which he publishes with Jay Babock. For the uninitiated: combine the heady excitement of 60’s-era Rolling Stone predecessor Crawdaddy! with the hottest and out-there sounds of today, all penned by a rotating cast of writers, rockers and cartoonists (Byron Coley, Thurston Moore, Douglas Rushkoff, Ben Katchor and so on). Because this is utopia, word counts don’t count and rather than act as a publicists play thing, Arthur is about whatever the hell the writers feel like writing about.

Even in its paper and ink form, utopia still feels distant, which explains why Laris and co. are bringing it into this dimension with ArthurFest, happening Labor Day weekend (September 4 – 5) in Los Angeles. The small park holds roughly 2,500 and with the tentative lineup (Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, Sleater-Kinney, Merzbow, Spoon, Comets On Fire, Magik Markers, Cat Power and much, much more) looks like a music fan’s collection has exploded, it’s bound to be a dream come true.

What were your first musical experiences?

Taping Adam and the Ants tapes through my brother’s door with my Fisher Price tape recorder, as he had locked his door and was blasting his tape collection; maybe getting a Talking Heads tape from my baby sitter. Going to see Jesus and Mary Chain and New Order the same week when I was in 4th grade. Listening to Abba and Boney M at a way too early age.

How did you get involved in publishing?

My friend and I started a ‘zine in high school called D. That pretty much started it all. It was a music review/interview pub with a healthy dose of randomness. We used my godmother’s photocopier to print them all.

What experiences lead to the creation of Arthur? How did you hook up with Jay?

Jay had written for Sound Collector; I wanted him to write for Audio Review but he was working on developing Arthur. When Audio Review #2 came out I contacted him again and said, “Any luck with ARTHUR? He said not yet. I said, “I’ll publish it.” So we partnered up and gave it a try. It was blind faith. We only met face to face only nine months later.

What separates Arthur from other magazines?

Longer articles, a wide distribution network; our varied mix of music, film and politics. We come out on time.

How does the collaboration process work between you and Jay, especially since you reside on opposite coasts?

It’s a total separation of church and state. We have very definitive job descriptions. I handle the business, management, etc. He helms the editorial.

Arthur’s distribution model is based around volunteers who select where to place copies. What was it that caused you to arrive at this method of distribution? How do you think it works in comparison to others?

It’s pretty simple − through my experiences doing Sound Collector I knew dealing with magazine distributors was tough, and not always an exact science. I spent too much time chasing invoices and thought doing a free publication would eliminate that aspect and also give us a chance to reach a lot more people, a lot quicker. And it worked, thanks to our over 80 distributors, contributors and supporters.

The Tylenol “Ouch!” CD (that was included with an issue of the magazine) caused a stir amongst the music community. What are your feelings on the situation? Why do you think audiences react so strongly to the issue of sponsorship?

My only reaction is that advertising is advertising. Marketing is marketing. That’s what the project was. Its goal was to market Tylenol, and they used independent musicians as a vehicle. It has its pluses and minuses − maybe both bands gained a larger audience. Who knows? I’m pro-sponsorship, especially if the sponsorship does not interfere with the art. Now that arts funding is being cut left and right, sponsorship is becoming more important. It’s not the ideal situation, I wish artists would be paid what they’re worth, but that’s not the reality.

How did the Arthurfest come about? What do you think the experience will be like?

We’ve wanted to do a festival for a while but the costs were just too prohibitive. But then Spaceland came on board to help organize the event and support us. I’m less involved on the booking side. That was handled by Jay, Spaceland and Angela Means from Eclipse Booking. I think it will be amazing, historic even.

What new things are you excited about? How do you go about finding them?

I love the Nethers and the Magik Markers. I go to a lot of record stores, search blogs, get tons of mail. Talk to a lot of people − talking to friends usually leads to most discoveries.

You’ve started the site movetophilly.com. Why do you think people should move here? What’s Philly got that others don’t?

It’s affordable − great culture, rich history, diverse urban landscape. There are a lot of resources here to do great things; you just have to know how to navigate the city. Movetophilly.com might be that map. Currently we’re offering customized tours.

Click on the image to read the published version of the article; what follows is my unedited version.

On the eve of Intonation, Chicago’s music community suffered a loss – the untimely deaths of three local musicians, including Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist. Setting foot onto the dusty fields of Union Park and the surrounding blighted environs was not unlike probing an open wound; a move that risked greater damage.

Long before I set foot on a plane I had my doubts whether Pitchfork, one of the largest music websites on the internet, could pull off a music festival of this magnitude, especially since it lacked some of the scene’s current heavy hitters (few of whom were scheduled to play the competing Siren Festival in New York City). What resulted were moments bigger than music; Intonation was an event many of us won’t forget anytime soon.

Pitchfork pulled out all the stops to entice music fans willing to take the leap of faith – not only were passes unbelievably cheap (twenty-two dollars for a two-day pass), attendees were treated to concession stands with food and beverage at – get this – reasonable prices. Items needed to combat the oppressive Chicago weather, such as water, were kept to the user-friendly cost of one dollar.

What Day One desperately needed was some compelling live acts. A good portion of the day was plagued by a few bands lacking stage presence or the ability to keep a crowd of approximately 15,000 sweaty and sunburned indie rockers interested. Local radio station WLUW, renegade department “store” DEPARTment, publicity firm Biz 3 and the Chicago Children’s Museum provided spaces where folks could entertain themselves otherwise when the bands weren’t doing it for them. You could buy records, clothes, make art projects out of discarded LPs or dance along to the sweet beats of DJs like Diplo, El-P, Will Oldham, James McNew (of Yo La Tengo) and assorted folks.

But for those who watched the bands, there were certainly many treats: A.C. Newman’s ace cover of the Tall Dwarf’s “All my Hollowness to You”, not to mention his accidental “jazz” rendition of “On The Table” from The Slow Wonder (he played it a full step out of tune!); Broken Social Scene’s condemnation of NYC cops and overall amazing, feel-good set (a major improvement from their train wreck Philly show days earlier); the dust rising up from the audience during the sets of Death From Above 1979 and Go! Team, the latter who symbolically tore down the fence to invite children from the surrounding West Loop neighborhood to dance with the band on stage.

Strangely enough, it took a post-festival show at the Empty Bottle featuring Oxford Collapse and The Constantines to give Intonation the kick in the ass it desperately needed. Whether it was playing crowd favorites such as “Young Offenders” or songs off their forthcoming Sub Pop release Tournament of Hearts, the audience clung onto every note the Cons created as if their lives depended on it.

Starting off with Thunderbirds Are Now!, Day Two was filled with moments that will be talked about long afterward. Dungen not only hit our sweet spot for stoned minstrelsy, they filled the thirst of countless kids by tossing out bottle after bottle of water into the audience; Andrew Bird, Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof electrified audiences by redefining our expectations of live performances; and if your ass wasn’t shaking along to Out Hud’s, you were feeling a bit left out; The Hold Steady preached the gospel of sports and heavy metal between songs; The Wrens came out of the gates with fury unseen, throwing their instruments up into the air and inviting members of the crowd to become a makeshift rhythm section; Les Savy Fav came out of hibernation and amped up the audiences to the point that the press/V.I.P. area had to be cleared out for fear that the crowds might literally knock down the gates. And when he wasn’t inciting a near-riot, LSF’s Tim Harrington stripped down to his skivvies, put together a makeshift waterslide and slid through the crowd. The Decemberists classy closing performance acted as the perfect balance to Les Savy Fav’s whirlwind, heat and flash stage tactics and left the homeward-bound audiences humming on the crowded El platforms.

Intonation proved to be the perfect vessel of catharsis for the sadness that opened the festival; by the time I exited Union Park, I sensed a difference in my fellow showgoers – complete strangers connecting with each other, sharing their personal highlights and all undoubtedly excited to come back again next summer.