Random notes

Blue hooked me up with some fine tunes. Ted Leo's not bad, reminiscent of the Jam, the Buzzcocks, Squirrel Bait, Blur. The Arcade Fire, on the other hand, is flat out rich. I'm shocked Black Francis isn't involved. The chord progressions and general lyrical flow are so Pixies-like, and not the Kim Deal side of things.

For those with an interest, the Sex Police are reuniting for one show at the Cat's Cradle on New Year's Eve. It'll be a great chance to relive the Chapel Hill scene before Sonic Youth made fun of us, before Polvo, Archers of Loaf, Ben Folds Five, and other bands threatened for a moment to turn the southern part of heaven into the next Seattle / Athens. Before the internet and the total subsumption of the alt scene by the majors changed things entirely.

Oh yeah, on yesterday's paean to 1989, I forgot to link to the great anthem of the period, "'89" by the Croatian Iggy Pop-loving band Majke. This live one's not as good as the album version, but hell, it's free.

Off to the in-laws for the holidays. Low bandwidth. Will try to check in with the Grouse, but it's hard to predict.

S rozhdestvom! Happy holidays! Joyeux Noel! Feliz Navidad! and so on.