More band photos should look like these from Rock Camp in NYC. One of few reasons I wish I were in NYC right now (Prague is just as hot, but half as expensive - the news says things like "it's hot, the breweries are working overtime!) is because I really wanted to work at the Camp this year. Alas.

Here's a depressing piece about the effect of New Times on the Seattle Weekly. Of course Matos left some while ago to go to NYC, but I was unaware of how many folks felt similarly and left. And, a quote from the Weekly's new publisher, giving the least inspired argument for why corporate consolidation isn't bad:

The Weekly will look more like other New Times papers, he acknowledges. "Some may say that's a cookie-cutter approach," he says. "All I can say is, it's worked in every market in the country."

Yes, I know this is old, but it's great to see Chuck giving love to Oneida in the VV. When I interviewed the soundguy at Boston's Middle East a few years ago, I asked. "Is there any band that you've been surprised to like?" since soundguys notoriously hate about 90 percent of what they work, and he said, "there was this one band from Brooklyn, with fuzzy amps..." And I said, "yeah dude, Oneida. They rule," to which he replied the question Chuck gets at here, "Why doesn't EVERYONE love them?" New album, Happy New Year, rulz. [disclaimer: I'm biased]