I support the Writer’s Strike.

Really, what else are you going to do? Attend some lame ass hipster DJ party? Go to a bar? Allow me to remind you who made who — or more specifically, who made Y-O-U: Pylon. This group of Athen folks put out some amazingly gutwrenching but thoroughly danceable rock post-punk back in the tail end of the 1970’s (and onward). A band so great, R.E.M. covered them. Every person that’s passed through the doors of a Making Time is totally indebted to this group, in some shape or form. DFA Records has kindly reissued Gyrate very recently. It’s definitely worth owning.

I caught Pylon at the Music Hall of Williamsburg yesterday, mainly because last night’s bill was pretty much unfuckingbeatable — Pylon, Oxford Collapse, and Hugo Burnham from Gang of 4 as the night’s DJ. (Not that Saturday’s gig in Philly is lame; this was just better.)

I’m quite hesitant to attend reunion shows for a variety of reasons, but the main one being that a lot of reunited bands can’t resurrect the ghost of former glory. Last night though, I have a strong feeling I was sucked back into 1978. The band was tiiiiiiight! Vanessa sounds amazing. That voice. Oh my god, that voice. It was so worth it that I didn’t even notice they had played such a long set. And to the crowd, bless you my dear children, for dancing along. It was one big happening of freaking the fuck out.

The only crappy part is that it’s going down at World Cafe Live, which is probably my second-to-last least favorite venue in this city. At least MHW/Old Northsix’s industrial space made a nice match for jagged nature of Pylon’s material. Anyway, guess we’ll have to suck it up and get Cosi with Pylon. MOTHERFUCKING PYLON. PYLON!!!Q!!!!! Can’t you see how psyched I am to see them again?

SAT 11/10, Pylon at World Cafe Live, with DJ Shawn Ryan (of Hurrah) »

P.S. Beth Ditto — Vanessa Briscoe-Hays called and she wants her style back. F’reals.

L.A. friends, I’m looking at you. These are only available in-store. Hook a lady up!

Granted, the city blew its wad with primary coverage, but the lack of information & news about tomorrow’s election is disturbing. Subtext be damned, tomorrow matters. There are some crucial elections for judicial positions and more. If we want to make this city move forward, paying attention counts.

The Committe of Seventy has plenty of information and links to check out — it’s a good start. Check out the CP’s post on this as well.

I don’t believe in telling you who to vote for but I think you should vote, whoever your candidates may be. In the immortal words of Dave P, “LET’S DO THIS PHILADELPHIA!!!!!”

Kudos to Pilam for pulling off a creative and financially ambitious event last night; a good time was had by all, including myself. As a radio person, I am quite comfortable DJing for no one. (Funny twist: the thing I struggled with in my early days of radio was the nebulousness of the medium.) The small crowd that was there seemed appreciative, so thanks for sticking it out. Here’s an incomplete, very loose recap of my playlist, completely out of order except for the first two songs:

AC/DC, “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”
Girlschool, “Hit and Run”
The Rondelles, “Like A Prayer”
Outhud, “It’s For You”
Delta 5, “Mind Your Own Business”
Love Is All, “Kiss Kiss Kiss”
Tyvek, “Honda”
Yardbirds, “Puzzles”
B-52’s, “52 Girls”
Spoon, “Someone Something”
The Long Blondes, “Separated By Motorways” (12″ version)
Hi Beams, “Hyperactive”
Feelies, “High Road”
Pavement, “AT&T”
Royal Trux, “Delta 70 of Hearts”
Scrawl, “Green Beer”
ESG, “Moody”
Railroad Jerk, “Bang the Drum”
Pylon, “Feast On My Heart” (OMG they’re playing Philly THIS FRIDAY)
Let’s Active, “Every Word Means No”
Prinzhorn Dance School, “You Are The Space Invader”
Chandra, “Opposite”
Au Pairs, “We’re So Cool”
Lyn Collins, “Rock Me Again and Again and Again”
Gloria Jones, “Tainted Love”

Anyway, Murder Mystery were quite great in the sloppy indie rock way that a person like me could love. So if you like that kind of stuff too, check them out. The rest of the evening’s lineup was fantastic, too. Holy Ghost did a awesome job of mixing it up — as in, not playing all blog house (love this term!) — and their new single is worth picking up. Once Broadzilla nails their transitions, they will own this city. (LOL @ the non-beatmatching DJ of the night to be oh so critical.) Nice selection of deep disco cuts; I throughly enjoyed it! And Dave P brought the cocainesexjams, though was unfortunately cut short due to the arrival of Ye Olde Police.

Illustrator Susie Ghahremani (and the brains behind Snoozer) lives in the SD area. Thankfully Susie & co. are safe, but a lot of people and animals have been displaced. If you’re interested in donating to relief efforts, here’s a couple of suggestions from her:

a lot of domestic animals and wildlife have been displaced and injured during the fires, so if you’d like to help out, there are a few different places that could really use the funds:

please consider donating to the san diego humane society or project wildlife (both have buttons online to click to donate)

the red cross has been organizing a lot of excellent relief efforts in the area for families.

if you can’t make a monetary donation, consider using the search engine goodsearch to search the internet — a penny goes to the non-profit of your choice everytime you search (and there is no limit to how many searches you can do a day) and if we all do it, it can really add up. (don’t forget to select your default non-profit before searching)

thanks everyone and be safe.

In the meantime, enjoy Snoozer’s take on the B-52’s “Legal Tender”…

Update: Seems that Susie has a show coming up in San Franscisco in November as well… check the invite.

While the rest of the world was buying into/perpetuating the indie rock culture industry, I spent my weekend in Burlington, Vermont. If one threw in more humidity, took away half the beards and added a bunch of good bands, I would have thought I was in Chapel Hill. Just kidding! It was gorgeous, simply gorgeous. And the weather they’re having is what all of us in the tri-state area (PA/NJ/NY) exactly need right now.

Read the rest of this entry »

How many more years of CMJ do I have to endure until everyone gets the point that it doesn’t matter? Now if I could just get annoying publicists to understand that, maybe they’d stop emailing me their party invites. I know, boo fucking hoo, but the percentage of the invites in my email account is staggering.

Instead I will be in the wilds of Vermont, inhaling the endless view of foliage and buying my weight’s worth in maple syrup. I will be thankful to be here, instead of some dingy bar, as the music press swirls around attempting to anoint some pasty-faced dudes as The New Great Thing.

I’ve really kind of had it music these days, and articles such as this not only reinforce those feelings but also depress the fuck out of me because the quality is so lowest common denominator. I mean really, what new information is this writing bringing to the table? And why the failure to account for artists that create, in some sense, rhythm-oriented music? (Does half the musical world just instantly fall off the map because it negates the writer’s so-called thesis?)

I spent my weekend reviewing an academic journal article for class (J.W. Rinks’ “Higher Education in Radio 1922 - 1934″), and while I think there’s plenty of flaws in the peer-review process, this particular piece was way more fascinating than any half-assed rumination on the Arcade Fire’s whiteness could ever be. Find an interesting way to talk to me about how white folks of the middle-class milieu cater to that particular audience, I guess, or find something new and actually interesting to write about, instead continuing to reinforce the rock crit hegemony.

Maybe I’m just sad and cranky CAMP WPRB is over, maybe I’m annoyed that I keep getting passed over jobs (and watch them go to undeserving twits), maybe I hate my outfit today, whatever. Here are some things to share:

» Did I tell you guys my ipod was stolen 3 weekends ago? I was rushing to return my carshare reservation (amongst other things) and accidentally left it in the car. When I returned, it was gone. Not the worst thing in the world but sucks nonetheless.

» My neighborhood coffee shop played Helium’s The Magic City the other day — and this was not my doing. It was kind of amazing.

» I wrote up the Austin band White Denim for the City Paper last week. Hopefully someone went to this show, because I was stuck writing a paper.

To borrow from the James McNew/Dump album, a plea for tenderness, folks: WPRB is quickly approaching on its inaugural membership drive, and please, I hope you’ll consider making a pledge.

Read on for details!

Read the rest of this entry »