So I get back last week from my month long exploration of the great Northwest only to find in my absence that one of the few radio stations in L.A. that was worth a damn had cease to exist. That's what I get for leaving L.A., haha. One of the great pleasures of LA was listening to "Jonesy's Jukebox" on Indie 103.1 FM during lunch; the show with Robert Plant was an "instant classic"! Here's the sad story as reported in the LA Weekly: The Day the Music Died: The End of Indie 103.1 Henry Rollins, music director Mark "Mr. Shovel" Sovel and DJ Darren Revell talk about the shutdown By Randall Roberts LA Weekly January 22, 2009 About three months ago, while I was driving home from LAX on a Saturday night, the car stereo was barely on, my mind was far away, and I just wanted to get home. Then the riff on the radio registered in my head — it was the slow, syrupy Sabbath-esque run of the song “Dopesmoker” by a band called Sleep. But “song” isn’t the right word for “Dopesmoker” because it’s an hour long, one meandering monster chord progression rolling over and over as cymbals fly, the bass hums, and the band sinks deeper and deeper into the riff’s abyss. Think Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray” multiplied by 666. As I drove up La Brea and watched the lights of Hollywood roll across the basin, Indie 103.1 had once again delivered a jolt of spirit into an otherwise mundane cruise through L.A. That night Henry Rollins played the entire 63-minute song. On commercial radio. In the second-largest market in the country. Every diehard loyal to Indie 103.1 FM over its improbable five-year run as Los Angeles’ most consistently surprising rock radio station has had similar Eureka moments. This being L.A., these no-way-did-they-just-play-that-song epiphanies usually occurred in the car, when something joyous would erupt from the speakers as if from the stars above. Maybe a Modern Lovers groover, or the Minutemen, the Melvins, Postal Service, or No Age, Joy Division, the Cure, or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. If you were a rock fan, the surprises kept coming. The station’s biggest surprise, however, came Thursday at 10 a.m., when regular programming abruptly ceased and the staff was laid off with no warning. Morning DJ TK had just ended his show by playing “My Way,” not the Sid Vicious version most familiar to Indie listeners, but the Frank Sinatra original. An announcement followed: “This is an important message for the Indie 103.1 Radio Audience,” said the male voice — not a regular Indie DJ but one of the station’s salespeople — “Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option — to play the corporate radio game.” The announcer informed listeners that Indie “had decided not to play that game anymore,” and bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves in favor of the Internet. Entravision Communications, the station’s Santa Monica-based owner, played the message the next two days between a half-dozen Indie classics, including X’s “The New World,” Black Flag’s “Jealous Again,” the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the UK” and “My Way,” this time by Sid Vicious. Each replay was like a little stab in the heart — especially when people learned that the “decision” to go online meant firing the staff that built and maintained Indie. The frequency is now home to Spanish-language El Gato 103. Indie 103.1 FM, a renegade music machine built from scratch by two guys over Christmas break in 2003 after a $2,500 shopping spree at Amoeba Records, was an anarchic and influential juggernaut in the L.A. music scene. Ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones’s noontime “Jonesy’s Jukebox” was the station’s flagship show, and one of the most unlikely star turns that the station’s founding creative team, program director Michael Steele and music director Mark “Mr. Shovel” Sovel, helped orchestrate. The station launched after Entravision, which owns 48 mostly Spanish-language radio stations (among other media properties), teamed with Clear Channel Communications to unleash an alternative-rock station on Los Angeles. “Both parties saw an open market for a station like this — that this community wasn’t being served at all on commercial radio,” recalls Sovel. “There was KCRW, but they don’t play much music during the day. And there was nothing on KROQ worth listening to.” So Sovel canceled his Christmas plans and with Steele “hunkered down while the city was empty, scheming to get [indie] on the air.” He says that the two were given complete creative freedom by their corporate overlords. They started ripping their favorite classic punk, new-wave and alt-rock tracks to create a database, then headed to Amoeba with the company credit card. “We just started grabbing every album that we loved,” remembers Sovel. “It was so cool to be able to look through [The Clash’s] Sandinista and go, ‘Oh my god, “Hitsville UK!” I’d love to hear that on the radio,’ knowing that we were about to throw out this bomb on L.A.” When Steele and Sovel visited Jones, a gruff, Cockney, aging punk living in the Hollywood Hills, “We sat in his house and he said, ‘I want to be a DJ on your station,’” recalls Sovel. “We didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know what he had in mind. I don’t even know if he knew.” Jones debuted “Jonesy’s Jukebox” in February 2004, and Sovel — whom Jones dubbed “Mr. Shovel” — became his producer. “It was so unorthodox,” Sovel says. “There was all this dead air and pausing, smacking his lips, and I was in the background thinking, ‘Oh my god, what have I done? This is a train wreck.’ And very quickly people started going, ‘This is the most brilliant thing I’ve ever heard.’ Suddenly people like Johnny Ramone were coming to be on his show.” Over the next five years Jonesy created this weird, awkward, anti-interview show. His guests may have come on to plug their new movie or album, but they’d end up talking about some non-sequitur topic and laughing hysterically. The first time I was on, about a year ago, he only played one song — and belched into the mic a half-dozen times — over the whole two hours. The second time — which, it turns out, was part of the final “Jukebox Jury” segment on Indie — we talked about the service industry and proper tipping etiquette, the mysteries of Nickelback, coffee, Brian Wilson’s mental struggles, and, oh yeah, we judged a few songs. The moments are too many to mention. Patton Oswalt and the Comedians of Comedy guest-hosting “Jonesy’s Jukebox.” Former bandmates John Lydon and Jonesy talking Sex Pistols. “When Robert Plant came into the studio,” recalls Sovel, “it was Jonesy, Plant and me in there. They started singing some old ’50s song, and in the middle of it, Plant starts singing, ‘You need cooling/baby I’m not fooling’ and as he’s doing that he looks at me and winks. I’m thinking to myself, that’s Robert Fucking Plant singing ‘Whole Lotta Love.’” Sovel also created and hosted “Check 1-2,” which dedicated itself to highlighting the best L.A. local rock bands. More shows arrived. Henry Rollins’ “Harmony In My Head,” “Complete Control” with Joe Sib, “Neon Noise” with Paul V, Darren Revell’s “Big Sonic Heaven.” Joe Escalante’s “The Last of the Famous International Morning Shows,” which ran from 2006 to 2008, featured David Lynch as its weatherman. These specialty shows were mixed with a consistently adventuresome rotation of new indie rock, punk and dance, songs from tiny labels and big majors, a bunch of tracks added into rotation based not on a band’s marketing budget but on the merits of the song. Everybody knew that the Pixies’ “Debaser” was a classic, but few radio stations played it as much as it needed to be played. Daft Punk sounds great on the radio next to the B-52s and Tokyo Police Club. Countless bands received airplay on Indie that otherwise wouldn’t have stood a chance. When you were stuck in traffic and had no future and no exits before you, Indie was there. New York City has so many newspapers and magazines because citizens take the subway and read while they commute. In Los Angeles, you listen to the radio. And, sure, there are CDs and iPods, but for that segment of society with janky cars, jammed-up CD players and dinky rock & roll speakers (i.e. the young creative class) — and for the desperate music supervisors looking for a song in a pinch just as the Go! Team jumps across the airwaves — Indie 103.1 was a central part of our daily lives. “When I landed on Indie,” recalls DJ Darren Revell, “radio had become sour over the years. I never imagined to be working at a radio station like Indie. I remember the first time I ran the board for TK — I think it was Cinco de Mayo and he was playing ‘Jealous Again’ by Black Flag. And I was like, ‘Holy shit! I can’t believe there’s a radio station playing Black Flag during afternoon drive time.’” The station not only played Black Flag, but in ’04 snagged its former lead singer. When Henry Rollins negotiated his two-hour spot, he was typically blunt. “I said, ‘I bet you can’t pay me anything,’” Rollins recalls, “and they said, ‘Correct!’” He said he wasn’t looking for money, but freedom: “I will abide by the FCC rules, of course, but you can’t tell me what to play.” They agreed. “They’ve given me 120 percent freedom. No one ever told me to cool it.” Great radio, however, doesn’t pay the bills; advertising does, and the station’s Arbitron numbers never matched its listeners’ enthusiasm. “Our ratings were never good,” admits Sovel. “We’re on a signal that doesn’t cover the entire city. But they were good enough to generate advertising. They wouldn’t have let us stay there if we weren’t making money.” But with Entravision’s stock recently dipping below $1 a share (it’s currently being threatened with delisting by the New York Stock Exchange), the corporation opted to chase the much larger Spanish-speaking audience. (Entravision declined to comment for this article.) The station’s fate was sealed, in hindsight, this past October, when what Sovel calls a “perfect storm” hit the station. First, of course, was the economic collapse, which resulted in many advertisers cutting back. And second, Nielsen/Arbitron changed the system by which it counts listenership by introducing a device called the Portable People Meter. The company claims the innovation more accurately measures the number of people listening to a radio or TV station at any given time. When the PPM Arbitrons arrived, however, the results were far below what they had expected, says Sovel. “We saw the first numbers and we were like, ‘We’re fucked.’” It showed Indie as 39th in the market, with a 0.6 share of the Los Angeles radio audience. Sovel thinks that the PPM’s methodology extremely underrepresented its L.A.-basin listenership. Regardless, in October, program director Max Tolkoff, who replaced Steele in 2007, eliminated some of the evening specialty shows in hopes of improving the numbers, and moved Rollins’ “Harmony In My Head” to Saturdays. The playlist also began tilting more toward the center, with more commercial alternative choices. The wondering and whispers intensified. (When I was there the Friday before it shut down, the minifridges were bare and the receptionist was no longer validating parking tickets.) “Recently that threat had been there,” says Revell. “Definitely over the past two or three months we felt it stronger.” Revell was finishing up his 7-to-midnight show the night before Entravision pulled the plug. “Jonesy was upstairs cleaning out his office around quarter to 10, and I put two and two together. I saw Jonesy up there and so I decided I’d play whatever I wanted for the last two hours I was on the air. I wish I could remember everything I played, but there was so much emotion going through me, and I was so upset because I knew we were going away, at that point. It was devastating. I know I played The Cure’s ‘Disintegration,’ and the last song I played was the Sugarcubes’ ‘It’s Oh So Quiet.’” (Jonesy was unavailable for comment on the shutdown.) The next morning, after the first farewell announcement, the phones starting lighting up. Some people thought it was an April Fool’s joke — except that, it’s January. The Indie message boards bounced with missives of outrage and despair, blogs buzzed, and Saturday host Tedd Roman Twittered his layoff. He snapped a picture of the locked studio door, which was affixed with a Xeroxed “Do Not Enter” sign. Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead and Slim Jim Phantom, ex of the Stray Cats, were left standing in the lobby, unaware that their appearance on that day’s “Jonesy’s Jukebox” had been canceled. Within the day, fans had created online petitions and “Save Indie” MySpace pages. Later that night, when Revell was spinning records at the Good Luck Bar in Los Feliz, he was bombarded with condolences and thanks. “People were just coming up and hugging me, and crying, and bringing me to tears, too, really. Just totally overwhelming.” “We had a very active audience,” says Sovel. “They were not passive. We could put on a show at the Hammer Museum with two really good local bands and there would be a line around the block of a few thousand people — a thousand of which couldn’t get in.” Among that active audience, he continues, are artists and industry types interested in somehow keeping the Indie 103.1 spirit alive. He says that over the weekend he and others brainstormed options of moving the station’s former talent en masse somewhere else on the FM dial. “There’s a lot of activity going on,” he confides. “There’s a vigorous effort to put Indie back up on the air in Los Angeles, and there’s a lot of people offering their support, both individually, as listeners, and artists who have come forward to offer their support, as well.” Of course, if Indie survives, it will have to be with a different name. Indie 103.1 is owned by Entravision (Clear Channel stopped booking ads in 2005), and the station’s Web site is continuing to stream the music library. It’s part of the company’s attempt at moving the station’s avid fanbase online, where there’s much less overhead. Programming such as Indie’s, Entravision explained in its on-air farewell announcement, “could only be done on the Internet, a place where rules do not apply and where new music thrives, be it grunge, punk or alternative — simply put, only the best music.” (“We would never abandon our listeners like that,” stresses Sovel, who was frustrated with the announcement looping over the station he helped build. “I want listeners to know that that was not our decision.”) Some of the specialty shows, including Paul V’s “Neon Noise” and Full Metal Jackie’s “Chaos,” will continue on the webstream. Rollins, too, was asked by management whether he would be interested in continuing. “Knowing that I have a lot of listeners who listen abroad,” explains Rollins, “the Internet is their connection to me; I said yes. I asked, ‘I get to play more songs because there’s no commercials?’ They said yes. ‘And no FCC so I can finally play N.W.A?’ And they said yeah.” This past weekend Rollins put together broadcasts for the next three Saturdays, “and they all have 30 minutes more of music, and zero restraint.” But, he adds, “You see the abruptness with which the terrestrial version of this show ended. The online version? You never know. It could be all over by lunchtime today. But I was told that there are so many online listeners that it’s making them want to keep the station online to try it out. So the future of this little station — I don’t know. I did these three shows. I wonder if they’ll air.” If online Indie fizzles, says Sovel, it’ll be no big deal to him. “Nobody cries when a web stream goes silent. It’s not the same thing. There’s an intangible experience of listening to the radio that can’t be duplicated on the Internet. And there’s an emotional attachment to it because everybody felt part ownership in it as part of our community. Which is why people are calling and crying and are sad about it.” Not that everyone’s surprised, he confesses. “From the day we went on the air, people didn’t expect us to last, but it kept going and going, and even when we were doing well, people would say, ‘Are you going to stay on? Please don’t go away.’ There was this collective sense that nothing good like this could last.”

Just as annoying as the people who mischaracterize President Obama as a "socialist" are the attacks on FDR and the "New Deal". When people criticize the New Deal, what they tend to forget is that while it may have taken until WWII for America to dig itself out of the Great Depression, much of the groundwork for America's unrivaled post-war prosperity was laid by those New Deal programs, especially the ones that improved our infrastructure...our roads, bridges, etc. By improving our system of roads and highways and rail lines, it made it easier for more and more goods and products to be trucked and shipped faster and farther than ever before. But all you ever hear from conservatives today is bitter sniping at FDR's New Deal and how we can't go down that road again. I suppose if the conservatives had been running the country back then, they would have been happy still using Pony Express. The fact is, a country is only as good and sound as its infrastructure...when the roads and shipping lines start to fail, when traffic begins to snarl, then the whole country begins to get bogged down. It's been more than 60 years since FDR's great public works programs...it's time for another round. Time to get the roads, rails, bridges, schools, etc. in shape for the 21st century and beyond. I'd rather my taxes go to something concrete and useful like that, than have it wasted on bogus crap like the "war on drugs" and the auto bailout.

Awwwwww, Tangerine, it's too bad you didn't get introduced to the Cocteau Twins until 1995, as you missed out on hearing them live. As great as Elizabeth Frasier was on record, it was seeing her do her thing in concert that really blew your mind.

Well, if they kick you out, they'll have to kick me out too...because there ain't a damn thing on your list that you need to be ashamed of and I, too, have everything on your list. Well, except for the Pat Boone vinyl EP...but I do have Pat on cd.

As a USC fan, glad that USC won...yeah, FIGHT ON! and all that jazz...BUT TO ME, the real highlight of the bowl season was watching UTAH KICK ALABAMA'S ARSE! Take that, SEC and all the media that sneered at Utah's record! Utah went into the Superdome, a virtual home game for Alabama, and took the Tide's lunch money. Utah is THE ONLY UNDEFEATED TEAM in the FSD. No other school can make that claim. They beat a good BYU team...they beat an underrated Oregon State team, a team that was the only one to beat USC this year. I don't care what happens in the Florida-Oklahoma game...I would vote Utah number one no matter what. Only other school with a legit complaint is Texas, who got screwed by the BCS; it should be Texas playing Florida(or Utah for that matter), NOT Oklahoma. As for USC, I hope Mark Sanchez comes back...if not, it could be another uneven year for them offensively...hell, even the defense could be problematic next season given the number of players we are going to lose.

What's amusing me about all this is that back in 2006, I had Radiohead's "new album" on my top 10 list for that year. You see, having went to, and taped, both nights of Radiohead's stand at the Greek Theatre, I had about 12 or so of the new songs that would they were due to record in the studio following the tour for their new record. I made a single tape of just the new songs from the 2 nights, and loved them so much, I put it on my 2006 Top 10 list. Needless to say, some were not amused. So, it seems I can't win either way...it's either too early or too late, haha. But all that gibberish aside, I'll just end by noting that Amazon, and most other sites list "In Rainbows" release date as January 1, 2008, and that is the date that will probably go down in the official record.

I know, it's TRUE! Hahaha. Seriously, there were lots of shows that I missed this year for various reasons that I wanted to see. Black Crowes cancelled because of illness. Neil Young cancelled because he didn't want to cross a picket line. My Morning Jacket I missed because of a scheduling snafu. Others were missed due to lack of funds, health reasons, family/love life problems, and also due to the fact that because the 2008 election was too important to NOT to do something, I spent more time being involved with the campaigns than usual. Hence sometimes I was out of state...my trip thru the South for example...and there never seemed to be a good show wherever I was at the time; I was either a day late or too early. As for my normal rate of concert attendance, from the age of 10-18, ie. 1972-1980 I averaged roughly 20 shows a year. Then, during my Army service from 1981-1984, about 40-50 per annum. After that, the floodgates opened: 1985-1997, ages 23-35, I hit 200 shows a year, give or take a dozen or two...helped in large part by a couple of cool girls I knew who worked for Goldenvoice, the legendary local promoters in L.A. Since then, my concert-going rate has slipped to around 100-120 shows a year with the lowest being 2007's 63 shows and the highest being 2004's and 2006's 141...I know, it's freaky how it was the exact same number both years.

1. July 20, 1973 @ Boston Garden: Just got the "Boston Cream Pie" cd recently and just gotta say that even with the terrible recording quality (it sounds like the guy was way in the upper deck or even outside the hall when he recorded this), you can tell the band is really COOKING at this gig. And the the excitement apparently is overwhelming the audience as it seems constantly in a state of near-riot, Robert asking people to stop pushing and move back; various audience shouts for people to sit down, etc., etc. I would love to hear from anyone who was at this Boston show, as I am curious as to whether Misty Mountain Hop/Since I've Been Loving You was really dropped from the set that night, or if everyone just thinks it wasn't played because the taper didn't record it? Also, there is no encore on my cd...again, did the band really not play an encore? If so, that's too bad, as judging by how the band sounds, Boston should have gotten really smoking versions of Since I've Been Loving You and The Ocean and/or Communication Breakdown. I think another reason Boston 1973 gets overlooked is because of the upcoming New York Madison Square Garden shows later that week. But really, if you overlook the bad recording job, you can hear that the 7.20.73 Boston Garden show is up there with the best of the 1973 tour! 2. March 12, 1975 Long Beach Arena: Maybe it is because I went to this show with my smoking hot girlfriend of the time, but I remember this show more fondly than the later LA Forum shows of 3.24, 25, 27.08. Again, if you listen to the Mike Millard boot, "Taking No Prisoners Tonight", you can hear a really great show(esp. by 1975 standards) is taking place even though for some reason Mike has the bass levels really high. An excellent No Quarter and my first experience seeing "Woodstock" sung during "Dazed & Confused"(which I always thought fit the spooky mood of D & C better than "San Francisco") are highlights of this show; along with an almost complete "Crunge" during WLL! Again, like the 1973 Boston show, I think nobody really mentions the 1975 Long Beach shows is because of the shows that lay ahead: the Seattle/ Vancouver marathons and of course, the final LA Forum orgies. But if you haven't yet, give the 3.12.75 show a listen...it is quite enjoyable and doesn't IMO seem to drag like some of the later LA Forum gigs later that month. 3. July 23-24? 1979 Copenhagen warm-ups: I still have the three record vinyl set from Japan that I bought in 1980 for $15 and to this day, it is about the only post-1977 Led Zeppelin show I play regularly. It is so much better than you would think it would be if all you knew about post-77 Zep was the Knebworth and 1980 Euro boots. Only minus is that annoying Dutch rhythmic clapping.

I saw a greater number of concerts in 2008 than I bought records/cds, which is why I had to extend my "Top concerts of 2008" list to 25, instead of keeping it to just 10. And even then, I had a hard time keeping it to just 25, having to leave off a number of good shows. In raw numbers, I saw 93 concerts and bought 57 records/cds in 2008. Strider's Best Concerts of 2008: 1. Radiohead @ Hollywood Bowl 8.24-25.08 2. My Bloody Valentine @ Santa Monica Civic 10.1.08 3. Robert Plant & Alison Krause @ Greek Theatre 6.23-24.08 4. Sigur Ros @ Greek Theatre 10.2.08 5. Antony & the Johnsons @ Walt Disney Hall 10.14.08 6. Of Montreal w/ HEALTH @ Hollywood Palladium 11.22.08 7. Grizzly Bear w/L.A. Philharmonic @ Walt Disney Hall 3.1.08 8. Bon Iver w/ A.A. Bondy @ Troubadour 8.26.08 9. Mogwai w/ Fuck Buttons @ Wiltern Theatre 9.9.08 10. Aimee Mann @ Largo at Coronet Theatre 6.2 & 10.08 11. Portishead @ Mayan Theatre & Coachella 4.24.08 & 4.26.08 12. TV on the Radio @ Wiltern Theatre 11.6.08 13. Deerhoof @ Echoplex 11.14.08 14. Jane's Addiction @ El Cid Restaurant 11.20.08 15. Wayne Shorter Quartet & Imani Winds @ Walt Disney Hall 12.10.08 16. Stereolab @ Henry Fonda Theatre 10.23.08 17. Goldfrapp @ Orpheum Theatre 9.21.08 18. Patti Smith @ Orpheum Theatre 10.18.08 19. 88BoaDrum feat. the Boredoms & 88 other drummers(including my little brother!) @ La Brea Tar Pits 8.8.08 20. No Age w/ Mika Miko @ LA Central Library 4.20.08 21. No Age and a gazillion others @ Fuck Yeah Fest 8.30-31.08 22. Nick Cave w/ Cat Power & Spiritualized @ Hollywood Bowl 9.17.08 23. Gnarls Barkley w/ Deerhoof @ Hollywood Bowl 7.27.08 24. Tim Finn w/ Miranda Lee Richards @ Troubadour 1.26.08 25. Marnie Stern @ El Rey Theatre 11.15.08

Good grief, the legends are dropping like flies lately! I'm so glad/blessed that I was born early enough to see many of them before they passed on. Think I'll put on Freddie's "Hub-Tones" and then "Night of the Cookers: Live at Club La Marchal", which features a couple of cool cats: Freddie and Lee Morgan. Man, can you imagine the jams they're having up in Jazz Heaven?!? Rest in peace Freddie!

Hello!?! Didn't I just explain that in my post...IMO it is a 2008 release as that is when the cd was released in stores. Again, I DON'T DO DOWNLOADS! Ninelives, Fleet Foxes has been on my "TO GET" list but I just haven't yet managed to get around to checking them out...maybe when I get back to L.A. and use my Amoeba Records gift certificate!

My Top 10 of 2008 So another year comes to a close and for once I have time to compile a top 10 list; my entries have been missing the last few years. But instead of spending the holidays in the usual hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, I find myself this year writing from the frigid climes of Boise, Idaho, having come up to see family I have not seen in years. Which also means that instead of galavanting nightly in LA, I am staying warm indoors, which allows me plenty of time to spend on the computer. So, here it is, my ten favourite pop/rock records of 2008: 1. Radiohead "In Rainbows" 2. Portishead "Third" 3. Bon Iver "For Emma, Forever Ago" 4. No Age "Nouns" 5. TV on the Radio "Dear Science" 6. Erykah Badu "New Amerykah: Part One(Fourth World War) 7. Stereolab "Chemical Chords" 8. Fuck Buttons "Street Horrrsing" 9. Aimee Mann "@#%&*! Smilers" 10. Marnie Stern "This is it and I am it and you are it and so is that and he is it and she is it and it is it and that is that" Honourable mention: Sigur Ros, Emmylou Harris, Mudcrutch, Beck, Deerhoof, Beach House, Gnarls Barkley. Best of the old fogie reissies: Bob Dylan "Tell Tale Signs:Bootleg Series Vol. 8"; Neil Young "Live at Canterbury House 1968" CD/DVD; and the Creedence Clearwater Revival catalogue reissues. Radiohead and Portishead were both neck and neck for the number one slot; both were far and away the new records I played most in the past year. And before you go off about how Radiohead's "In Rainbows" was released in 2007, the actual physical cd release did not come out until 2008. I've written before about my distaste for downloads and digital mp3's etc; you can shove them where the sun don't shine as far as I am concerned. So I was not one of those people downloading "In Rainbows" in 2007, actually preferring to wait for when the cd would be released(as I figured it would) in higher quality sound. "In Rainbows" did not disappoint; and I wasn't expecting it to, having heard most, if not all of the "In Rainbows" tunes on the band's 2-night stand at the Greek Theatre in 2006. But, my lord, how the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I first heard "Reckoner"...goddam does that Thom Yorke have an unearthly falsetto! No surprise that Gnarls Barkley was covering the song on their summer tour, clips of which you can find on Youtube. Then, there was Portishead's "Third"...I know I was not alone in wondering/worrying if the band would still have it, or if their's would just be another flaccid comeback reunion. Quite frankly, the whole trip-hop sound they practically invented has run its course, its impact diluted from too many inferior copy-cats and overuse in hotel lounges and car commercials. Needless to say, blown away is how you could describe the 1-2 punch impact of Portishead's Coachella performance and release of "Third" three days later in April. I think I posted about this album earlier this year, so I won't rehash over the details; I'll only say that whatever Beth Gibbons has seen and/or lived through that gives her voice THAT haunting, frail quality is something I don't think I want to know. And "Magic Door" has one of the, if not THE, drumbeats of the year! And "Plastic" isn't so bad, either. As for the rest of the albums on my list, some have been written about extensively in the music press, others maybe not so much, but if you were a regular reader of Mojo, Uncut, Paste, The Word, and a few other magazines, you should know about most of them...hell, I found out about Bon Iver's "For Emma..." because of the May 2008 issue of Mojo's review which they gave the designation "Album of the Month"; that was good enough for me to check the album out. Marnie Stern I had to get just for the sheer lunacy of the title, which reminded me of Fiona's lengthy "When the pawn hits the...". Damn, this girl can plain rip on guitar...and she's got the insane Zach Hill bashing away on drums, too! I'm doing this mainly off the top of my head, so I might be forgetting someone, and it is entirely possible that my list would be somewhat different if I did it another day or in another frame of mind. What I am positive of is that no matter what, the top 4 of my list is set in stone. Radiohead, Portishead, Bon Iver and No Age are rock solid locks...some of the rest of the list I could see being supplanted by someone from my honourable mention list, depending on how I felt that day. Happy New Year everyone!

Saw "GRAN TORINO" last week, and Clint does not disappoint. Can you believe this guy is 78?!? Yet he STILL looks like he could kick everybody's punk ass, haha! This film is better, and more entertaining to boot, than his other recent film, "The Changeling", which wasn't bad; it just was a little too conventional...and it didn't have his presence in the film. Don't know if "Gran Torino"(the title refers to his beloved car, a 1972 Gran Torino) is getting a wide release yet or just playing the major cities, but you should put it on your "to see" list. The other "MUST SEE" is one that has been talked about for some time and one I had a chance to see for free this past Sunday at the Hammer Museum in Westwood: Darren Aronofsky's "THE WRESTLER" which features the comeback role of a lifetime for Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson. As a bonus, both Darren Aronofsky("Pi", "Requiem for a Dream") and Mickey Rourke were there for a Q & A!! Super cool! Sad to see Mickey Rourke has completely destroyed his looks...that's not a makeup job in the film, his face REALLY does look that bad. If Mickey doesn't get an Oscar nod for Best Actor, I'll vote GOP in the next election. I think Sean Penn is a lock, as well...but I'll discuss "Milk" another time. But, along with Mickey Rourke(most of you are too young to remember, but Mickey was at one time on his way to being a great actor with roles in "Body Heat", "Rumble Fish", "The Pope of Greenwich Village", "Diner" and"Barfly"...then, he pissed it away), it is also great to see Marisa Tomei...and not just 'cause she plays a stripper. Again, this movie is probably getting a slow release, with just a few major cities to start before widening out to the rest of the country. But, and I mean this, YOU REALLY NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE!

I am crushed, absolutely CRUSHED,by this sad news. Davy(or Davey...there seems to be no agreement on how his name should be spelled) was a singular talent and paved the way for so many people like Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, let alone Jimmy Page, in how to approach the acoustic guitar. If you still don't have any Davey Graham albums or cds, these three are a must in getting started: THE GUITAR PLAYER (1963) FOLK, BLUES AND BEYOND (1964) FOLK ROOTS, NEW ROUTES (1965) with Shirley Collins He had been playing again recently and collaborating on an album with Mark Pavey, and I was hoping to see him again in concert soon...man, what a terrible loss. Rest in peace, Davey.

Bettie Page, along with Carolyn Jones(as Morticia Addams on the tv show "The Addams Family), Susan Dey(Laurie Partridge) and Anna Karina, was a major figure in my fantasies as a kid growing up. Many of the old models from those days never made any money from their work, so I was happy to find out that she eventually received royalties from her photos. Here's the obituary that appeared in the friday Los Angeles Times. Rest in Peace Bettie Page. Bettie Page L.A. Times Obituary

You're just jealous because his marriage has probably lasted longer than yours. Oh my....I had NEVER heard THAT one before...yes, you really ZINGED me good! I don't know how I ever shall go on living...oh wait: the sun is out and it's 72 degrees outside and Horace Silver is playing on the stereo and I've got a date to see the new Clint Eastwood movie tonight. Yeah, I think I might survive after all. Sorry but I'm not giving in on this one. If Reggie had just said he had never heard of the Jam/Paul Weller I would have left it at that...as I did with the others who posted they had no clue who the Jam were. Notice I didn't call out any of the others. But Reggie prefaced his post with all that "I'm 37 and I've been watching MTV and I got my first record at 10 blah blah blah". If you're going to present yourself as some kind of music fan/geek and then proclaim yourself unaware of the Jam, then I'm going to call you on your bullshit. Because there is no way that any halfway serious music fan goes through the 80's without knowing about Paul Weller and the Jam! If you had said that you didn't know the Soft Machine, Ultimate Spinach, Throbbing Gristle or Low...well, I could believe that, as those bands not only didn't make much of a dent on the sales chart, they weren't high-profile in the music media/popular culture either. But you're 37 and you claim to never heard the Jam?!? A band that took its cue from the Who and headed the new Mod scene? A band that was in the charts in the UK and Paul Weller an icon to your generation. Hell, I don't think a week went by where Paul and the Jam weren't featured in the NME, Melody Maker and other music mags from the late-70's to the early-80's. For about 4 or 5 years straight, Paul Weller won best hair in the annual Creem readers poll. They got as much press coverage as the Clash and U2. And anybody who was into music in the 70' and 80's was reading Creem, NME, Melody Maker or Trouser Press, if not all of them. Now if you'll excuse me, Roman Polanski and I have to go watch cheerleading practice.

Well, so far it looks like the majority of you are saying no to the new box set. I take it then, that the cd sound is not any major upgrade from the first cd remastering job done in 1993 by Jimmy Page and George Shapiro? And is there no booklet that comes with the new box set with essays and photos? I was thinking of maybe trading in my Complete Studio Recordings box as credit towards purchasing the new box set.

From the Onion: I'm Really Gonna Miss Systematically Destroying This Place BY GEORGE W. BUSH DECEMBER 1, 2008 | ISSUE 44•49 Oh, America. Eight years went by so fast, didn't they? I feel like I hardly got to know you and methodically undermine everything you once stood for. But I guess all good things must come to an end, and even though you know I would love to stick around for another year or four—maybe privatize Social Security or get us into Iran—I'm afraid it's time to go. But before I leave, let me say, from the bottom of my heart: I can't think of another country I would've rather led to the brink of collapse. Boy, oh boy, if these Oval Office walls could talk. Seems like it was only yesterday that I started my first term despite having actually lost to Al Gore by more than a half million votes. Hmm. We were all so young and peaceful then. Gosh, gas was still under $2 a gallon! On my watch it peaked at more than twice that. Never getting it up to $6 or ideally $7.50 will be one of my few regrets when I leave office. It's just gonna be so hard packing up my things and heading off into the sunset come January. I wish I could go on forever giving massive and disastrous tax cuts to the wealthy, taking the country from a surplus to a deficit—nearly $500 billion this year, likely to pass $1 trillion next year, fingers crossed—and just generally doing irreparable damage to the very underpinnings of our economy, but, well, I'm afraid the Constitution says I can't. And not even I can overrule the Constitution. Though Lord knows I tried! Initiating blanket wiretaps without warrants, suspending habeas corpus for prisoners in Guantanamo, infiltrating an unknown number of nonviolent civilian antiwar groups without permission… such wonderful memories. I'm going to cherish them forever. My fellow Americans, I only hope that every time you have your civil liberties encroached upon by the Patriot Act, you'll think of me. Everywhere I look brings back memories. The Blue Room is where Laura and I put up our first White House Christmas tree. Down the hall, in the East Room, is where I concocted my favorite signing statement to circumvent the anti-torture guidelines of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, and—ooh!—right across the way is where Cheney and I decided to use the death of 3,000 Americans on 9/11 and the nation's subsequent fear of another attack as an excuse to carry out our long-standing plan to invade Iraq. I should really get a picture before I leave. Speaking of pictures, whenever I look at the dusty old newspaper photos of those tortured prisoners at Abu Ghraib or the crumpled ruins of that bridge in Minnesota, I can hold my head up high knowing that I truly fucked this nation—physically and symbolically—beyond repair. I only wish I had the time to destroy a couple more major American cities. And Cheney, I almost forgot about Cheney. What a guy, huh? I can't believe that in a few short weeks he's never going to talk to me again. The stories I could tell you about what went on in some of those back rooms—well, you wouldn't believe me if I declassified the memos. I don't know, maybe in 20 years, when the economy has rebounded and the people displaced by Katrina have rebuilt their lives from scratch with almost no federal assistance, Cheney and I can meet up again in the Rose Garden and reminisce over the good old days, when it seemed like there was no part of this great country we couldn't ruin forever. What am I going to do once I'm no longer president? I've gotten so used to waking up every day, playing fetch with the dogs on the White House lawn, and then spending a lazy afternoon shredding every last bit of our good will abroad in a mind-boggling display of diplomatic incompetence. The worst part about leaving is knowing I can never screw up anything this big again. Don't get me wrong, I'm only 62. I could still bankrupt an oil company, or become the next MLB commissioner and ruin baseball. But I'll never get the opportunity to fuck up on this massive of a scale again. Even if you put me back in charge for another term, I could only take the U.S. from a rapidly declining world power to not a world power at all. I don't mean to gloat, but I think it's safe to say that no one can ever unseat the American empire like I unseated the American empire. Still, I have to admit, sometimes I think I could've dismantled so much more. The very fact that the environment still exists, that a mere 4,000 troops have died in Iraq, that there is still the slightest glimmer of hope for the future left in this nation—it's easy to feel like maybe I didn't do my job. But no, no, there's no use having any regret. I fucked everything up the best I could and that's good enough for me. You know, I've got a few weeks left. I could still illegally fire some U.S. attorneys for political reasons, or finally get rid of that pesky separation between church and state. Or maybe I could just bomb a place. Like Russia. But this time, I would really savor it. As long as I live, America, I'll never forget irreparably ruining you. Unless we all die in a nuclear war or calamitous environmental disaster brought on by my neglect. Either way, I'll see you all in heaven!

This actually reflects more poorly of you than the Jam.

Okay, I have all the original Zeppelin albums on vinyl, from Led Zeppelin I to Coda. Led Zeppelin I and II were bought a day or two after Christmas in 1969; Zeppelin III was a Christmas present in 1970; and Zeppelin IV a Christmas present in 1971. All the rest of my Zeppelin records I bought either on the day of release or no more than a day or two later. Additionally, I bought all the Classic records vinyl remasters on 180gram vinyl that were issued a few years back. I have the Complete Studio Recordings box set that came out in the mid-90's. I have several of the Japanese mini-vinyl replicas also: III; Houses of the Holy; Physical Graffiti; and Song Remains the Same. I have the special box set of the TSRTS dvd and cd that came out last year. I have the special edition of the BBC sessions; How the West Was Won; and the Led Zeppelin DVD from 2003. In short, from the time I first became a fan of Led Zeppelin in 1969, I have bought just about EVERY official release in their entire history...some several times over. Hell, I even think I still have some old Zeppelin cassettes lying around somewhere. So, tell me, is there ANY reason why I need to get this new box set of the Vinyl replica cds? Is there really a sonic upgrade from earlier remasters? I've got all the original album covers and sleeves..what do I need with mini replicas? Here's your chance, fanboys, to convince me that I should put this on my Christmas list.

Will the NFL PLEASE stop forcing the awful Detroit Lions down our throats every Thanksgiving! One turkey is enough on this day. Yeah, I get it, it's tradition and the Lions used to be good and blah blah blah...but really, enough is enough. 47-10 ass-whuppin's ain't good for one's appetite. Let the Cowboys have their annual Thanksgiving game, as they are usually in playoff contention, but it is time to rotate the morning game amongst other teams. Detroit has been so bad, so dreary, so lame for so long now, that they should have their Thanksgiving privilages revoked. Oh, and one other thing, NFL...the Jonas brothers?!? Are you effing kidding me...the effing JonASS brothers?!?

Yes, Taylore, it was recently...they played the House of Blues Nov. 14...I went to see the awesome Deerhoof at the Echoplex instead. To confuse matters further, there is ANOTHER band called the Hanson Brothers, named after the hilarious hockey-playing goons from the movie "Slap Shot"...here's a brief blurb from the LA Weekly about their upcoming show at the Echo next week: The Hanson Brothers -- the Canadian punk rock band -- were inspired by the fictional Hanson Brothers, who were characters in the 1977 hockey film Slap Shot. To confuse things further, the movie Hansons were portrayed, in part, by real-life pro-hockey-playing brothers, while the "puck rock" Hansons feature siblings John and Rob Wright, who also front the monstrously heavy prog-punk trio No Means No. (None of this sibling revelry should be confused with the godawful lite-pop swill of former teen-idol brethren Hanson.) So, it's kind of a parody of a parody of a sport that sometimes seems like a parody, if that makes sense. All you really need to know is that the Hanson Brothers -- the band -- crank out short, fast and brutally silly songs about hockey ("Rink Rat," "He Looked a Lot Like Tiger Williams," "Stick Boy") and beer ("Blitzkrieg Hops," "We're Brewing"). The Ramones remain a major influence on their sound and style (the artwork to the Hansons' 1992 album, Gross Misconduct, even parodies the classic John Holmstrom illustration on the Ramones' Road to Ruin cover). They've apparently got a new concert CD/DVD, It's a Living (on Wrong Records), but nothing beats getting beaten over the head in person by the Hanson Brothers' nonstop, high-sticking attack. It's certainly better than watching the unintentionally funny penalty-killing high jinks of this season's Anaheim Ducks.

Well, I don't know what biography you read, but from the conversations I've had with the band, it was really only Eric who had a distaste for classic rock like Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and Grateful Dead...Jane's covered all three bands back in the day...as he was mostly into punk at the time. But Perry and Dave have often stated a fondness for Zeppelin; Dave even said his two main influences on guitar were Jimmy Page and Robert Smith of the Cure.

Thought I would post some choice clips from the El Cid show for your delight... This was the very first song they did and one of my favourites of Jane's: Whores! Some more clips from the El Cid show 11.20.08: There's a box set coming out next April, which leads one to think that Jane's may be on the Coachella bill next year, since the end of April is when Coachella usually happens. I can't tell you how huge and influential Jane's Addiction was in Los Angeles when they sprung from Perry Farrell's earlier band Psi Com in the mid-80's. As part of the real underground rock/art scene, their shows were must-see for those in the know; intoxicating, surreal, mind-altering affairs. Let the tourists and the jocks have their stupid hair-metal scene, which was what the Sunset Strip club scene was all about in those days. The real musical action was taking place at clubs in the east Hollywood/downtown LA areas...clubs like Power Tools, the Scream, Al's Bar, Anti-Club, Lhasa Club, Club Lingerie and the legendary Raji's. Bands like Dream Syndicate, Concrete Blond, 45 Grave, Mary's Danish, Fishbone, Thelonious Monster, Red Hot Chili Peppers, would play and play in these sweaty little clubs and build up their live chops. But Jane's was the band head and shoulders above the rest...everyone knew it, even the other bands themselves. In fact, after Led Zeppelin's demise after Bonzo's death in 1980, it wasn't until I saw Jane's for the first time in 1986, where I thought here was a band that came even close to the strange musical alchemy that Zeppelin achieved; that weird mix of hard/soft, light and shade, masculine/feminine...music that made you feel like you were on drugs eevn when you weren't. Music of its time yet timeless as well. And sexy as hell, too! I got laid after Jane's shows more than any other band's concerts...just as Led Zep concerts always drew more women than other hard rock bands of their day, Jane's Addiction had the best looking and most smart and interesting girls/women at their shows. Most of the girls at the Guns n Roses, Motley Crue, etc. shows were of the wanna-be stripper/porn star variety; all silicone and teased blonde hair. At Jane's, you had artists, writers, creative types who also were hot in an authentic way that was far more sexy than the bimbos at the hair-metal shows could ever hope to be. And Wolfman is right...a Jane's Addiction concert was explosive...it would leave you transformed. And you never knew what Perry was going to do or say...even more so than vintage David Lee Roth-era Van Halen, whose raps, truth be told, were more scripted than people realize. Anyway, I had no idea there was so many old clips of vintage Jane's on youtube...here are some classic clips, back before Dave got his tattoos: "Three Days" Milan, Italy 1990 "Ocean Size" Milan, Italy 1990 "Summertime Rolls" Milan, Italy 1990 "LA Medley:LA Woman/Lexicon Devil/Nausea" Hollywood Palladium 1990 "Jane Says" Milan, Italy 1990 And, just because it's so intense, especially the audience, another clip of Whores: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBwgyXxScoM&feature=related

i couldn't believe it when my friend sandra tried to get me to go to the hanson show with her...even said she'd buy my ticket for me...but there was another show i wanted to see so i passed...but she always tells me they are not the teeny-boppers they used to be...so maybe one day i will check 'em out.