listening to mull historical society and thinking about fake radiohead bands - calla, ester drang, coldplay -- and how yes, sometimes i enjoy the fake better than the real thing. this isn't to say i prefer the rutles to the beatles, the black eyes to the white stripes (or even the kills to the ws's) etc etc, but that, by and large, these sonic kidnappers distill the best elements and leave the pretense. argument heard that radiohead are true artists, groundbreakers while coldplay are merely musician/entertainers, with terrible lyrics and super calculated structures, use of radiohead's studio elements, blah blah, but from what i've heard of the new rh album, it's fucking boring. it seems they run screaming from their own grandiose set ups, becoming more micro and feable with each album, internalizing and becoming the alienated creatures celebrated in the first three albums. if anything, i like bands like ester drang and calla bc they're so shoegazer in a post-gazer age -- not even discussed on drone on, blisscent or any other other lame listservs i'm on, yet so obviously biting that style.

also today - nina nastasia. great stuff. i bet tori fans would like her, and cat power boys if they could ever get off her stupid cult track...so melancholy and meant for fall, but a lovely album to fight off the absurd grey clouds of philadelphia although i fucking hate people talking about how albums affect their environment/day/life as a rule. her strings sound like the ever charming rasputina - very rock sounding yet still with the lushness of my favority string sections - nick drake and 'sea changes' beck, as if these were seperate, that silly beck! i'll have to root around for her last album. i know...it's here...somewhere...

was just googling bc i'm interested in who her string players are and stumbled upon pitchfork. arrgh that webzine. back in the halycon days of web-zines, there were so many better, more amusing, informative and community (read in part, less crassly commercial) oriented music pubs out there. sadly, they've all disappeared and only pitchfork is around to be wildly incoherent, self-indulgent and disgustingly first person about whatever and also...music. it's become a clearing house for news and other bs ( i used to use to get release dates, but they've been so lazy lately that nothing is up).

my friend chris nelson gave a paper at the first emp conference on this decline and fall of music webzines, perhaps i'll bug him about it - but he just became the world's most punk rock dad so i'm sure he has other things on his mind. i'm not really in favor of rock critic's procreating, but chris is exempt from this bc he is both an awesome writer and a truly sweet, genuine human being so he's genes are well needed on this earth.

other listening: sly's greatest hits (first summery days), the new wire album (which is great but cancels my desire to start an industrial band...they're all coming back) and that ester drang album, which is great if highly unoriginal.

also: DJed this matt pond, lefty's deceiver, bitter, bitter weeks show (the philly throwdown tour, bor-ring) show at the slovak national home (i could write a book abt the indie rock, central european cultural center crossover) on friday. pulled out populist hits like 'she bop,' 'genius of love,' 'the cutter,' taco's wonderful 'puttin' on the ritz' and 'love my way' which has one of my favorite dance club lines 'there's an army on the dancefloor/fashion with a gun, my love'. i got the girls w/ the pointy shoes to dance, so that's something.