New addiction...

New addiction...

I load up all of the Economist onto my Instapaper app on Thursday afternoon to see how many stories I can finish before the print edition shows up in my mailbox on Friday!

I am a real nerd sometimes.

My extremely brief thoughts on this year's nominees for the 2011 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

My extremely brief thoughts on this year's nominees for the 2011 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Let's not even get into how ridiculous the concept of a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is, or how idiotic that it basically follows the geriatric Rolling Stone definition of what "classic" means, because those are just obvious truths. Instead, allow me to shed some light on the thinking behind, and my own thoughts on, this year's nominees.

Alice Cooper - Yes. Heard his early scary prog stuff? He wasn't always a cartoon. I'm down with this possibility.

The Beastie Boys - As years have gone on this trio has gleefully broken rules and defied expectations, so I approve of this pick too.

Bon Jovi - I'm guessing Billboard had something to do with this. Sorry Jon, you ain't rock.

Chic - Badass funk that should be included if for no other reason than Nile Rodgers is an insanely bad motherfucker behind the boards and on-stage.

Neil Diamond - I love Neil, and he wrote some killer tracks for other bands but no thanks.

Donovan - Famous folkie included for variety's sake; once related via marriage to another of this year's nominees!

Dr. John - No, no, no, just no.

The J. Geils Band - You may not believe this, but once upon a time these cats were some of the most fiery performers around, lacing blues rock with electric vinegar. I understand most people only know them from "Centerfold" but believe me when I say they are probably one of the most deserving of this year's nominees. Despite the fact Jann Wenner and Co. cream at the mere sight of them.

LL Cool J - I've seen LL live and he does rock, but sadly the only reason he's on here is to give hip-hop a little more recognition.

Darlene Love - Obligatory "The Worked With Phil Spector" candidate. She won't win because no one wants to mention Spector in their speeches.

Laura Nyro - Obscure folkie, included to appease guys that hunted for out-of-print vinyl in the '8s. And indie rock boys who think she's still underrated and undiscovered even though everyone knows who she is.

Donna Summer - I thought disco was punk rock again six five years ago, isn't this a bit late?

Joe Tex - Old rock and roller, again included as a tip of the hat; no pun intended.

Tom Waits - I don't think Waits would even describe himself as rock, but he's the scariest person on this list so I say induct him and let him make fun of everyone in his acceptance speech! FUN FACT: No one will know he's making fun of them until the next day when they read commentary on the ceremony.

Chuck Willis - Wrote "The Stroll" and the list needs someone from that time period to make it look as if the Hall Of Fame is actually aware of artist's "historical importance."

There you have it, my thoughts and commentary. Now it's time to tell me what YOU think!

Brrrrr!

Brrrrr!

Oh my god I can't believe we're tempted to turn the heat on in our house!

Fall? Blerg.

Fall? Blerg.

This stupid weather is bringing me down. Dreary, rainy, chilly ... I know a lot of people love this stuff because it means breaking out cute boots and jackets but I already miss the summer. GalPal and I are fighting the malaise by gorging ourselves on TV comfort food tonight.

Last Saturday of the month? Don't mind if I do!

Last Saturday of the month? Don't mind if I do!

I'm Djing at The Continental tomorrow, September 25, from 11 until 5. Rumor has it there may be a Sweet Treat surprise in the booth with me. Before the gig, though, I'll be at the of Montreal show shooting the band and hopefully enjoying a terrific set of music. I wasn't too impressed with them last time they were in town, but I love the new album and word has it this tour has been seeing a reinvigorated band so I'm hoping for the best!

Recharging the batteries.

Recharging the batteries.

Last week GalPal and I went to an out of town wedding and treated it like an adventure. We took our time getting there and tried daring things in town before the ceremony, like eating food in a castle-like structure surrounded by steins, armor, weapons, and really old people. No, it wasn't Medieval Times. The trip back the next day was even more fun, filled with off the path meandering, insanely large breakfasts, custard, and the sighting of another castle in mid-construction.

It was just what we needed.

I'm taking tomorrow off work in order to use up a vacation day before it expires and I think I'll view that the same way I treated last weekend. It's a chance to do something unexpected, something with no real purpose, something just for me.

I'm looking forward to it and I'm glad last weekend reminded me how much fun life can be when you allow it to just happen.

[image via here]

It’s a conspiracy!

It’s a conspiracy!

So last night all the local news channels were screaming about severe thunderstorms that would come through the area ripping the asphalt off the roads and throwing our houses to and fro! O.K., maybe they weren’t that dramatic, but they did make it seem like it was a better idea to batten down the hatches between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. to ensure safety from the approaching storm.

Only the storm never came.

And then GalPal and I realized it’s premiere week on the major networks and by telling us to lay low between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. they weren’t ensuring our safety, they were ensuring that we would tune into their new (crap) programming!

Those sneaky devils!

Slow it down, man.

Slow it down, man.


You know, since Lollapalooza I don't think I've been to many shows outside catching a local band here and there. I mean, it makes sense since even I am human and everyone needs a break. But I think another reason is that since I've built up a nice batch of really talented music writers on Chicagoist I haven't had to go out and cover as much music as before. Better yet, I've been discovering new music through their writing. Rocktober is coming up, so I suspect my personal concert schedule will ramp up again, and I'm looking forward to that. But I'm most looking forward to seeing my fellow writers' schedules ramp up so I can see what their discovering too.

The pragmatic dreamer.

The pragmatic dreamer.

I'm past the point where new developments can be met with honest-to-god wide-eyed wonder. That is the province of someone whose mind is far younger and unfiltered. And that's all well and fine because that is not to say I don't get super crazy pee-in-my-pants excited about stuff still, it's just not framed in halos and rainbows any longer. Instead now I gow from "wow" to "how does this work" to "how can I make this work for me" pretty quickly. So I think that's probably a pretty fair trade-off.

I DO get excited, it's just a little more focused nowadays. How about you? What stage are you in?

Teamwork trumps all.

Teamwork trumps all.

The less said about last week, the better. I'm going to try and look at its events in a positive light, drop my anger involved with what happened, and take it as a chance to use the turbulence to mark the beginning of a new mile-marker in this exciting journey I'm taking with my best friend in the whole world.

Happy Monday everyone.

On a more positive note...

On a more positive note...

Marcus just made my day with this.

foursquare douchebaggery.

foursquare douchebaggery.

So this douchebag has been checking in EVERY DAY to Chicago "hot spots" -- Millennium Park, Kuma's, numerous music venues, cool cupcake spots -- in order to promote his lame ass website filled with sub-par photography and simpleminded fashions. This is the first example of actual foursquare spamming I've seen, and it's unexpected since I always kind of thought it was enough of a niche thing to keep folks at least somewhat on the honor system.

I've sent him repeated emails and alerted the local foursquare team but no one seems willing to do anything about it. Any suggestions?

A note of positivity!

A note of positivity!

A late post today, huh? That's because I was up super early this morning prepping for and then driving to a client presentation. I was a little nervous going in but the team and I did absolutely fabulously and our audience was filled with great questions. It was really rewarding.

It was a real bright spot in what has been a rough week. I needed it and am thankful it happened.

Fix it.

Fix it.

You know those weeks where in your personal life nothing seems to go right, everything seems hopeless, and it's all your fault?

I'm in the middle of one of those.

The quiet thrum becomes a reassuring roar.

The quiet thrum becomes a reassuring roar.


My neighborhood is really quiet, even though we live hear one of the most bustling nightspots in Chicago. It's a weird little island and if it were located anywhere else I would probably be annoyed by many of its residents, however right now it's concocted of the perfect symbiosis of urban solitude. But at this hour in the morning, with everything around me so still, I realize just how noisy my neighborhood is. With no other sounds immediately around me -- no children playing, dogs barking, car doors opening and closing, neighbors barbecuing on their porches -- I can hear the constant drone of the highway. It's soothing, like crickets, and I notice with a start that I've never heard it before. It's thrum calms me more than my previous perception of my block's utter stillness ever did.

I am, always have been and always will be, a child of sound.

Painting by Christopher Buoscio

This pretty much says it all...

This pretty much says it all...


Man, what that depressing or what?

On social networking...

On social networking...

Dear everyone, if you've never met me in person, do not ask to connect with me via Linked In. This goes for bands / publicists / aspiring writers / cute girls for some reason trying to contact me. Much the same goes for Facebook, though I do make exceptions there for people I've corresponded with for many, many years and divulged many, many secrets to. Oh and MySpace? Hell, request all you want, I never check that page.

The rest of you? Invite me out for a drink before you send me a friend request, m'kay?

What book publishers can learn from music, among other things.

What book publishers can learn from music, among other things.

It has been taking me forever to get through Roberto Bolaño's 2666. I bought the hardcover quite a while back and I've been reading it in fits and starts. Recently I decided the time had come to just focus on finishing it so I've been reading it at home and bringing it to work with me so I can read it during the commute.

I've discovered one reason I've probably been dragging with this particular book is because it is huge. And I don't mean too long, I mean the hardcover version I bought is just not the easiest thing to tote around. That's when I began to think, wouldn't it be awesome if with every hardcover (or physical copy) of a book you got a digital version as well? That was I can still buy my beloved hardcovers and read them at home (or in a nearby park or, obviously, at the beach) but I don't have to lug them to and from work (or on business trips or to a party so I have something to read on the bus) all the time!

I griped about this to some friends and most were of the opinion the publishing industry doesn't do this because it would only spur rampant pirating. Now this is bullshit. First of all, there already IS rampant pirating of digital books from what I can tell. Second, publishers could actually learn from the music industry (?!) through the rising sales of vinyl LPs. I know one factor that has been fattening my vinyl collection is the fact that almost all records also come with digital copies of the album so I can enjoy the album at home or on the go. THIS is how you draw in longtime consumers like myself AND entice a generation that doesn't have the same need/love of physical media to consume your wares. Third, by depriving honest physical books buyers the chance to also obtain a digital copy of their purchase, publishers are placing consumers in an ethical quandary; one, it appears, the publishers are on the losing side of, as was opined in a recent NYT column:

An illegal download is — to use an ugly word — illegal. But in this case, it is not unethical. Author and publisher are entitled to be paid for their work, and by purchasing the hardcover, you did so. Your subsequent downloading is akin to buying a CD, then copying it to your iPod.

Buying a book or a piece of music should be regarded as a license to enjoy it on any platform. Sadly, the anachronistic conventions of bookselling and copyright law lag the technology. Thus you’ve violated the publishing company’s legal right to control the distribution of its intellectual property, but you’ve done no harm or so little as to meet my threshold of acceptability.

Finally, as I found in the case of the current Bolaño tome when I finally decided to cave and just BUY a fucking eBook version for the commute no matter how much it vexed me to buy the same thing twice, some popular books simply don't exist in digital form ... because the publishers fear they will be pirated.*

So, dear publishers, do what's right and realize if folks like me are still going to plonk down hard earned cash for physical copies of your wares you're going to heave to get with the times. What's sad is that "getting with the times" means learning something from vinyl records and an industry that's in even worse shape than you are!

*Which reminds me, anyone know where I can safely download a digital copy of the book?

Wait, THIS is Les Savy Fav?!

Wait, THIS is Les Savy Fav?!

So I get the download of the new Les Savy Fav album from their publicist last week and when I started to listen to it I at first thought they sent me the wrong files. I've always thought Les Savy Fav was a hoot on-stage -- sort of a goofier version of the Jesus Lizard -- but their albums have always left me a little cold. It's not that the recordings are bad; I think in my opinion the band was trying harder to art rock out than honestly rawk out.

The new album rectifies that issue, and while longtime fans may be turned off by the band's sudden embrace of melody, riffage, and sing-along choruses I find the material to be way more satisfying than anything the band has previously done. The album does do some genre switching here and there; at one point power pop rules, then they group channels a more Pacific Northwestern guitar vibe, and there are moments where the groups love of the Dead Kennedys and Jesus Lizard do come shining back to the fore. Altogether it's a keeper of an album that retains the band's twisted and sometimes confrontational wit and, I believe, makes it even more subversive by wrapping it in such delicious music.

You can download standout track "Let's Get Out Of Here" below and get a taste of the band's new direction but before you do I offer a genuine word of warning; prepare to have the song stuck in your head for the next few days.

If you like "Let's Get Out Of Here,: and I think you will, you can also download "Sleepless In Silverlake from the band's NewBandDaily page today. If you like both tunes and want more, you can already get the new album, Root For Ruin, on iTunes.

MP3: Les Savy Fav "Let's Get Out Of Here"

of Montreal delivers this time around.

of Montreal delivers this time around.

Since folks who pre-ordered the new of Montreal are already getting their copies --- GalPal's double vinyl showed up just before the holiday weekend -- my review of the largely excellent False Priest ran today.

Despite being a bit put off by the last time I saw them play their own Chicago show, I am really looking forward to seeing this album live when they're back in town later this month.

'Tis a holiday!

'Tis a holiday!

I hope you had a fine day off, should you have been lucky enough to enjoy one!

While I'm sure you have a busy weekend I'm certain you'll make time for me, right?

While I'm sure you have a busy weekend I'm certain you'll make time for me, right?

It's a holiday weekend, so for many of you I can foresee this turning into a "lost weekend" so perhaps you should kick it of right by going to The Burlington tonight to experience this and then this.

After that, you're on your own.

Who doesn't like free beer?

Who doesn't like free beer?

Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? Chicagoist is co-hosting a listening party for the new Interpol album at The Burlington from 9 p.m. until 10 p.m. tomorrow night (Friday, September 3) and PBR is providing free beer to everyone in attendance during that time! After that I'm DJing there with Nora (irockiroll) from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. so I'm hoping to see you there at some point (but really, get there early for the free beer!).

Goodtimes Wisco Party 2010 ... now in video form!

Goodtimes Wisco Party 2010 ... now in video form!

So THIS is why Brock was running around taping everything with his G1 at the party a few weeks ago! This was a stellar weekend, and every bit as fun as it looks. Sadly there is no footage of everyone drinking at the Mars Cheese Castle the next day. Man, I look forward to this party every year...


Hopefully I don't look like too much of a dork in then portions I pop up in...