Philip Fibiger

I’m listening to commercial radio again, for the first time in a really long time, maybe 8 years? Clear Channel, widely recognized as spawn of the devil for consolidating and ruining radio, has started a new station in LA with a new format. Indie 103.1 (a funny name for a station from Clear Channel, right?) has been amazing in the first couple weeks. They’ve been playing a lot of Pixies, Sugar, Replacements, all the rock of that era as well as some pretty good new stuff. This is the first time i’ve ever heard Black Flag on the radio. Andy had written about it when it launched and he’s got some interesting information about who owns the station and what Clear Channel’s plans could be.

I’m worried that the station is going to turn to crap, but for now, i’m ecstatic. I can’t remember the last time I stayed in the car waiting for a song to finish, but it’s been a long time. They’re streaming online, give it a listen and see what you think.

Someone posted to the sugar-list a link to http://modulate.blogspot.com, which turns out is Bob Mould’s personal weblog. As I said in reply to the mailing list:

I’m imagining pretty-tall Bob tooling around washington dc on that
pretty-small scooter, and it’s pretty-funny.

That said, it’s a thoughtful and impressive entry into the world of
weblogs..I’ve seen a bunch of musicians blogs/journals, and I can’t think
of any that are more interesting or thoughtfully written. I hope he keeps
it up.

It’s really nice when musicians give us, the listening public, a little glimpse into their creative process, or even their daily life. Mike Watt has his hootpage which he updates with great frequency, Moby has a journal that’s updated almost every day. Lou Barlow does crazy handwritten updates that are scanned in, and seems to design his site himself. They’re all certainly different executions, but it’s more or less the same concept. Another creative outlet for very creative people, and a way for them to keep in touch with fans. I heartily approve

I was composing my annual post to the sugar-list with my top 10 records of the year, and figured i’d post it here. There are some pretty obvious choices, some I hope less obvious. Enjoy.

1) The Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle: Goddamn, Greg Dulli hits a home run. Better than the last TS record, maybe as good as the Afghan Whigs at their best. I can listen to it on repeat for hours, it doesn’t get old.
2) Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress: This is no ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister,’ but few records are. It’s bouncy and fun, witty and sometimes sly.
3) The Postal Service - Give Up
4) The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow: I loved Oh, Inverted World, and I like this better. Stylistically broader, more mature.
5) Well - The New Standard Biscuit: The singer/guitarist from Orbit’s new band. Atmospheric loop/beat influenced alt-rock. This is sorta the record I wish Modulate was.
6) The Sea and Cake - One Bedroom
7) Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism Production Club - Follow Your Bliss: uber-producer Wally Gagel’s pet project. Some tracks sound like Kids Sountrack/One Part Lullaby Folk Implosion [he cowrote a lot of those records], guest vocals by John Doe, Lou Barlow, Tanya Donnely and others.
9) Beulah - Yoko
10) M. Ward - The Transfiguration of Vincent.

View the chalkboard from School of Rock in its entirety. It’s a pretty thorough flowchart/diagram. Of course I’m partial to the Punk-rock tangent that includes The Replacements, Husker Du, The Minutemen, etc.