Saturday, January 6, 2001 03:41 p.m. EST
surprise, surprise!

Friday, January 5, 2001 12:27 a.m. EST
allright. let's hope the machine stays lucid long enough to get a couple paragraphs out. yesterday i went into camelot for the first time since high school to spend a $20 gift coin given to me as a christmas/birthday gift by my hapless cousin. how could he have known that for someone like me, finding worthwhile music in a mall music store is about as likely as running across a wack pixies record. perusing the store's pathetically limited cd racks, i was appalled as well as outraged at some of the prices i saw. i had no idea that new major label releases could run as much as $19.99. and you know the artist only sees about 5% of the sales revenues from those units. here's a word to the wise for all riaa members: if you want to keep music piracy down, why not simply lower cd prices like you've been promising since 1983?

so, overcoming my righteous indignation, i settled on two pixies cds, both of which prominently displayed that little blue "super saver" sticker. you know the one i'm talking about, they put 'em on all cds over 5 years old that aren't expected to sell very well. anyway, both discs cost $15.99 each, and that's what most non-indie rock fans consider a cheap cd these days. reason #643 why i keep my ear so exclusively to the underground most of the time.

i saw bridgett, derek and dimitri for the first time since they got back from new year's in montreal. bridgett got me a copy of throwing muses' house tornado for my birthday, which is her favorite record by her favorite band. seems as though she likes to proselytize musically as much as i do. dimitri got me a copy of the 1974 sean connery sci-fi epic "zardoz." it's dystopian futuristic shit, kinda thx1138-ish. very sweet of the both of them. we've got a show tomorrow night at kings in raleigh, nc. so be there, if you live anywhere in the state.

as a final item today, i am required by the laws of familial fealty to inform you that my mother has been nominated for two grammys. of course the nods say nothing about the quality of her art, but hey, increased cd sales is never a bad thing.

Wednesday, January 3, 2001 11:36 p.m. EST
it appears i wasn't the only indieblogger present at friday night's show. catherine has a short alternate take on the evening's proceedings. don't get me wrong, it was a very good show, but i guess i didn't feel that lsf lived up to their superlative-happy press that night. whatever, i still love their shit, and i'm still scouring the listings for the next time they play the bay area.

Tuesday, January 2, 2001 07:05 p.m. EST
laziness. that's why. that and intensive correspondence with a very good friend of mine, who was quite lonely for most of break but currently is no longer. so woohoo for you, sweetheart.

dc was positively frigid friday night. the black cat was easy enough to find from 395, although i can't say the same for a decent parking space. actually, we parked in a $7 lot which was pretty close, and that's not even close to the max i've paid for indie show parking. me, hollin and aden waited outside the venue for 45 minutes to claim our will-call tix. suffice to say, not fun in the chilly capital evening. so. we finally got in. the openers, the cave-in, were fairly weak. they played proggy rock with a touch of dischord, but they never quite made the combination work. i was underwhelmed, but aden said he liked them. next up were les savy fav, whom i've never seen live despite loving their records. and i'm disappointed to report that, well, i was disappointed. tim harrington wasn't nearly as hyperkinetic as previous accounts had suggested. plus he was drunk, and slurred or missed many of his lines. also, the absence of a second guitarist was painfully apparent on the band's older material (which i didn't expect at all, because by all accounts they're supposed to be so much better without the guy). finally, they didn't play my fave song off rome, "i.c. timer." i hope that they do better next time.

the dismemberment plan were in top form for their first of two consecutive hometown shows. a lot of the crowd was singing and dancing along, which was really sweet considering how stolid most indie rockers are. but one girl standing right next to me played space invaders on her palm V the whole time, which was pretty pathetic. the plan's set included almost everything they had played when i saw them on the 29th of october in san francisco, with the exception of a new song called "super powers," i think. that song replaced a different new song they played at the sf show. a good performance, all in all, but i was expecting more at their first hometown show in a while. maybe a couple of surprise covers or special guests or something. ahwell: still, as birthdays go, satisfactory.

between sets the crowd was kept in check (or not) by the stylings of one dj cex, a preppy-looking kid in a black ski mask and glasses. let me describe this guy's setup to you: a mac g3 laptop, maccast, some crappy hip-pop mp3s, and a 1/8" audio cable. basically this punkass took home a fat check for slapping together an mp3 playlist and clicking the "play" button. plus his friggin name was on the promo poster in the window outside! if all that wasn't bad enough, he mostly played shitty hip-hop (destiny's child, juvenile, etc.), none of the tracks were segued at all, and his machine crashed at least 3 times, leaving the crowd in comparatively sweet silence. basically this guy was a disgrace to the title "dj." hollin and aden had the jackass believing that bono, prince paul, dj q-bert, fiona apple, and my mom put out a joint record in '97. dumbshit. fuck, i just can't believe he actually got monetarily compensated for his neophytic tomfoolery! he must be like, the owner's nephew or son or something. geez.

Thursday, December 28, 2000 06:57 p.m. EST
with the quickness: check out a.i., lurve's drummer's post-rock sideproject. all you godspeed and tortoise fans, get yer ass ta downloadin'. i especially recommend "i understand"; it's his shortest and best song so far. i'm so proud of dimitri's songwriting debut! it's simply wonderful he's following in my footsteps, and so admirably! he and i decided that everyone in the world should be required to create at least one piece of artwork, be it a song, a poem, a movie, or a painting. even if it sucks, at least it would be theirs, that they created and that they can be proud to call their own. sappy, i realize, but i'm one of those pretentious art-populists who believes that everyone should get in on the action that i know and love so well.