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recommended boston area events

thursday, september 2nd

lou barlow + the missingmen

wye oak

the unfamiliars

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, september 4th

mg lederman (ex-victory at sea)

cd release show with

the wrong reasons

the beat awfuls

brant deatley

@ the plough & stars


sunday, september 5th

sweet apple

(w/j mascis on drums)

black helicopter

zombie radio

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, september 5th

the milling gowns

what time is it, mr. fox?

faux ox

jaggery

@ harper's ferry


monday, september 6th

wallcreeper

@ charlie's kitchen


monday, september 6th

shellac

helen money

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, september 7th

tortoise

greg davis

ben vidas

@ the paradise


tuesday, september 7th

someone still loves you boris yeltsin

telekinesis

golden bloom

@ tt the bears


tuesday, september 7th

kele (from bloc party)

does it offend you, yeah?

@ the royale boston


wednesday, september 8th

hot hot heat

22-20s

hey rosetta!

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, september 8th

airborne toxic event (acoustic)

with the calder string quartet

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, september 9th

apple betty

this blue heaven

the backup factor

apollo run

@ tt the bears


friday, september 10th

i, pistol

black fortress of opium

the crushing low

@ precinct


friday, september 10th

the charlatans uk

sherlock's daughter

@ the royale boston


saturday, september 11th

school of seven bells

active child

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, september 11th

neutral uke hotel (nmh covers on ukelele)

the michael j. epstein memorial library

@ cafe 939, berklee


saturday, september 11th

28 degrees taurus

magic shoppe (record release!)

@ the rosebud


saturday, september 11th

jamie lidell

@ the royale boston


friday + saturday

september 11th + 12th

the life is good festival

lots of bands, raising money for kids

over 2 days in canton, ma


sunday, september 12th

jarrod gorbel

(of the honorary title)

air traffic controller

@ great scott


sunday, september 12th

blondie

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 12th

vampire weekend

beach house

dum dum girls

@ the boa pavilion


monday, september 13th

dirty projectors

owen pallett (final fantasy)

@ the wilbur theatre


monday, september 13th

isobel campbell

mark lanegan

willy mason

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, september 14th

rush

@ the td garden


wednesday, september 15th

laura veirs + the hall of flames

the watson twins

led to sea

@ tt the bears


thursday, september 16th

of montreal

janelle monae

@ the house of blues boston


friday, september 17th

one happy island

kevin dunn

cotton candy

7:30pm @ the lily pad, cambridge


friday, september 17th

broken social scene

@ the house of blues


friday & saturday

september 17th & 18th

the 5th annual

viva la vinal festival!

with live performances from

audrey ryan, kingsley flood,

this blue heaven, bridget + the squares,

the international string trio, & justin shorey

6-10pm on friday + 12-9 on saturday

@ somerville community growing center

on vinal ave. in somerville's union square


saturday, september 18th

pavement

jenny (lewis) + johnny (rice)

@ agganis arena


saturday, september 18th

wavves

@ brandeis university, waltham


sunday, september 19th

thee oh sees

the human tail

thick shakes

@ the magic room gallery, brighton


sunday, september 19th

caribou

holy fuck

emeralds

@ the paradise


monday, september 20th

girlfriends

carnivores

weekend dads

@ o'brien's


tuesday, september 21st

superchunk

versus

@ royale boston


tuesday, september 21st

basia bulat

the acorn

john shade

@ tt the bears


tuesday, september 21st

sea wolf (alex acoustic)

sera cahoone

patrick park

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, september 22nd

phantogram

railbird

@ the paradise


wednesday, september 22nd

david bazan

the mynabirds

@ tt the bears


wednesday, september 22nd

field music

@ great scott


thursday, september 23rd

aloud (album release party!)

st. claire

old jack

with special emcee

poet/author james caroline

@ church of boston


thursday, september 23rd

stars

wild nothing

@ the house of blues


thursday, september 23rd

!!! (chk chk chk)

fol chen

@ the royale boston


thursday, september 23rd

bettie serveert

meandjoancollins

the painted lights

@ tt the bears


friday, september 24th

eels

@ the royale boston


saturday, september 25th

teenage fanclub

@ the royale boston


saturday, september 25th

james

ed harcourt

@ the paradise


sunday, september 26th

come (reunited!)

wussy

@ tt the bears


sunday, september 26th

mr. sister (debut album release!)

coyote kolb

tallahassee

@ great scott


sunday, september 26th

mates of state

@ the paradise


monday, september 27th

rogue wave

midlake

peter wolf crier

@ royale boston


tuesday, september 28th

lcd soundsystem

sleigh bells

@ the orpheum


tuesday, september 28th

best coast

male bonding

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, september 29th

quilt

paper castles

toothache

@ the lilypad


wednesday, september 29th

foals

esben + the witch

@ the paradise


thursday, september 30th

mc frontalot

@ tt the bears


thursday, september 30th

menomena

suckers

@ the royale boston


thursday + friday

sept 30th + oct 1st

built to spill

revolt revolt

pretty & nice

@ the paradise


friday, october 1st

the tallest man on earth

s. carey (of bon iver's band)

@ the somerville theatre


friday, october 1st

ra ra riot

chikita violenta

we barbarians

@ the royale boston


saturday, october 2nd

gayngs

(with bon iver's justin vernon)

glasser

@ the paradise


saturday, october 2nd

film school

the depreciation guild

static of the gods

night fruit

@ tt the bears


sunday, october 3rd

the xx

@ the orpheum


sunday, october 3rd

tom tom club

caravan of thieves

tony castles

@ the paradise


sunday, october 3rd

lost in the trees

@ tt the bears


tuesday, october 5th

the vaselines

jeffrey lewis

@ the paradise


tuesday, october 5th

chapterhouse

ulrich schnauss

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, october 5th

ratatat

dom

@ the house of blues boston


wednesday, october 6th

gorillaz

@ agganis arena


wednesday, october 6th

the hold steady

wintersleep

@ the royale boston


thursday, october 7th

the walkmen

a.a. bondy

blood feathers

@ the royale boston


friday, october 8th

death

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, october 8th

fountains of wayne

marshall crenshaw (solo)

@ the paradise


friday, october 8th

bell x1 (acoustic)

@ the brattle theatre


saturday, october 9th

paul f. tompkins

@ the brattle theatre


sunday, october 10th

deerhoof

xiu xiu

father murphy

first show @ the paramount!


sunday, october 10th

miike snow

@ the house of blues


sunday, october 10th

primus

mucca pazza

@ the orpheum


tuesday, october 12th

ingrid michaelson

@ the house of blues


wednesday, october 13th

dead kennedys

@ the paradise


thursday, october 14th

the thermals

cymbals eat guitars

@ the paradise


thursday, october 14th

the morning after girls

the lovetones

the december sound

ghost box orchestra

@ tt the bears


friday, october 15th

nick lowe + his band

graham parker (solo acoustic)

@ the somerville theatre


friday, october 15th

jimmy eat world

@ the house of blues


friday, october 15th

bowerbirds

death vessel

@ tt the bears


friday, october 15th

belle + sebastian

@ the wang theatre / citi center


saturday, october 16th

deerhunter

real estate

casino vs. japan

@ royale boston


sunday, october 17th

the henry clay people

the dig

@ tt the bears


monday, october 18th

greg dulli

(afghan whigs/twilight singers)

first-ever solo tour

with opener craig wedren

(of shudder to think)

@ the brattle theatre


monday, october 18th

bad religion

the bouncing souls

@ the house of blues


monday, october 18th

the drums

the hairs

@ the paradise


monday, october 18th

phoenix

two door cinema club

wavves

@ agganis arena


tuesday, october 19th

massive attack

thievery corporation

@ the orpheum


wednesday, october 20th

the pains of being pure at heart

yuck

eternal summers

@ the paradise


wednesday, october 20th

helmet

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, october 22nd

gary numan

rasputina

playing 'the pleasure principle'

@ the paradise


saturday, october 23rd

local natives

the ruby suns

union line

@ the house of blues


sunday, october 24th

woven bones

frankie rose & the outs

@ tt the bears


monday, october 25th

the corin tucker band

hungry ghost

darren hanlon

@ the paradise


wednesday, october 27th

a sunny day in glasgow

candy claws

@ great scott


wednesday, october 27th

black prairie

(members of the decemberists)

sarah jarosz

@ the middle east upstairs


thursday, october 28th

the tt's halloween bash

with members of mean creek + campaign

for real time (as talking heads)

john powhida (as todd rundgren)

preacher roe (as guided by voices)

@ tt the bears


friday, october 29th

frightened rabbit

plants and animals

the phantom band

@ the paradise


saturday, october 30th

hallelujah the hills

magic magic

boy without god

@ great scott


sunday, october 31st

florence and the machine

the smith westerns

@ the house of blues


monday, november 1st

blonde redhead

pantha du prince

@ the paradise


monday, november 1st

social distortion

lucero

frank turner

@ the house of blues boston


tuesday, november 2nd

junip (jose gonzales)

sharon van etten

@ the royale boston


tuesday, november 2nd

black mountain

the black angels

@ the paradise


wednesday, november 3rd

the dandy warhols

blue giant

@ tt the bears


wednesday, november 3rd

land of talk

suuns

little scream

@ tt the bears


thursday, november 4th

through sunday, november 7th

the international pop overthrow

4 nights @ pa's lounge


thursday, november 4th

matt + kim

javelin

@ the house of blues


thursday, november 4th

blitzen trapper

@ the paradise


friday, november 5th

guided by voices

blitzen trapper

@ the paradise


sunday, november 7th

drivin 'n cryin

@ tt the bears


monday, november 8th

clinic

the fresh & onlys

@ the paradise


tuesday, november 9th

the morning benders

@ the paradise


thursday + friday

november 11th + 12th

sufjan stevens

@ the orpheum


thursday, november 11th

shearwater

horse feathers

damien jurado

anais mitchell

@ the house of blues


thursday, november 11th

deer tick

@ the royale boston


thursday, november 11th

mumford & sons

cadillac sky

king charles

@ the house of blues


friday, november 12th

bottomless pit

black helicopter

chris brokaw

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, november 13th

roky erickson

@ the royale boston


saturday, november 13th

grinderman

(nick cave, warren ellis, + more)

@ the house of blues


sunday, november 14th

elizabeth mitchell (of ida)

and friends

(a children's show!)

4:30pm @ club passim


sunday, november 14th

man or astro-man?

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, november 15th

la roux

@ the house of blues


tuesday, november 16th

a night of springsteen covers

with chris keene (mean creek),

corin ashley, dave aaronoff,

brendan little, hilken mancini,

the dirty truckers, drew o'doherty,

and more to be announced

marking the release of the new

6-disk 'darkness on the edge of town'

box set @ tt the bears


tuesday, november 16th

the posies

brendan benson

aqueduct

@ the royale boston


wednesday, november 17th

cornershop

@ the middle east downstairs


thursday, november 18th

kate nash

@ the paradise


thursday, november 18th

bear in heaven

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, november 19th

township

the lights out

the organ beats

@ tt the bears


saturday, november 20th

delorean

lemonade

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, november 24th

idlewild

happy hollows

@ the middle east downstairs


thursday, december 2nd

director/actor kevin smith

@ the house of blues


saturday, december 4th

peter hook + the light

play joy division's "unknown pleasures"

@ the royale boston


saturday, december 4th

killing joke

@ the paradise


visit tourfilter for more shows






Monday, December 18, 2006

You're So Off You're On
Poor, poor pitiful me. Struck down for four long days by a brutal cold/flu thing, on the couch downing ginger ale and sudafed, alternating between tivo'd episodes of Showtime's perfectly creepy Dexter and the genius that is The Venture Bros. Season 1 DVD. But I think I'm finally on the upswing, feeling ok enough to sit up and finish an actual post, just in time to head back to work and another Monday morning.

Before I start, allow me to pause for a programming note: The URL for the Almanac RSS feed has changed. Please act accordingly. Thank you.

Artists ahead include Kristin Hersh, Dinosaur Jr., the McCarricks, the New Pornographers, Mark Kozelek, Low, the Retribution Gospel Choir, Superchunk, the Janovitz Bros., and more...


Kristin Hersh's long-awaited next solo album, "Learn To Sing Like A Star", arrives on January 23rd from Yep Roc, and the first full mp3 has been let out into the world...


A video for the song is on its way, and is being filmed by Orrin Anderson, former drummer for Syrup USA, whose previous video credits include "Yo Yo Yo (Please Don't Fall In Love)" by +/-.

If you pre-order "Learn To Sing Like A Star" through the label, you'll immediately get access to three downloadable bonus mp3s: the originals "Windowpane" and "Blackstone", as well as a cover of "Poor Wayfaring Stranger", which may or may not be found on her second disc of Appalachian folks songs, "Murder, Misery, And Then Goodnight II", which should also be out sometime next year. (update: those three songs will also appear on the "In Shock" EP that will be released on 4AD early next month).

If you're hankering for more solo-KH, the Throwing Music Online Store has just released a new live set called "Mississippi Candlelight". It's an intimate document of a candle-lit, un-amplified evening with Kristin back on July 6, 2006 at Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR. While you're there, you can download a song called "I Don't Want Anything For Christmas", a benefit mp3 that's posted for a limited time. Various Portland, Oregon area artists, including Kristin, contributed vocals to this song, and all proceeds go to the Henderson House for Battered Women.


"In Shock" is one of many tracks on Kristin's upcoming disc that features the always-gorgeous string work of The McCarricks, the talented husband-and-wife team who have contributed arrangements to a long list of artists (Martin was also a full-time member of Therapy?). The duo has just made available the first official release of their own, an ultra-limited edition handmade "box", which you can order at their new online shop. From their website...
"We are proud to announce the arrival of our first CD for sale. Since music has been so devalued with the advent of downloading we decided we wanted to do something special for our first release so we have put together a limited edition box set which we have designed, printed and put together with our own fair hands. Kimberlee (McCarrick) spent many hours spraying the interior of each box and then embossing each with our logo. After that she hand printed the front of each box and even printed and assembled the cd wallets whilst Martin created all the design features. The Box Set entitled '3' contains a CD with 23 minutes of music, three postcards and a specially created black silk rosette."
Not a lot of music, but at a fairly low price of 10 british pounds (which includes shipping to anywhere in the world) and limited to just 200 copies, it's well worth it. Ordering details are here.


Dinosaur Jr. just finished up the latest installment of their ongoing reunion roadshow, with two weeks of dates on both sides of the Atlantic, and area now in a holiday break that will hopefully include some time working on their in-progress post-reunion album. They played at least two of those new songs on the latest dates, one fronted by J. Mascis and the other by Lou Barlow, and thanks to the band-sanctioned live-set-sharing site FreeSoFree.net, we can get a taste...

Mp3: Dinosaur Jr. - "This Is All I Came To Do"
(live in Northampton, MA on 11/30/06)

For the other new track, the untitled Barlow song, head to FreeSoFree, create an account, and check out either the November 29th Boston show or the November 30th stop in Northampton, MA. Both are available in either mp3 or flac format. You can also check out a video clip of "This Is All I Came To Do" on YouTube.


The self-released New Pornographers "Live!" album is now available at their online store, and I've listened to it a bunch since mine arrived a couple days ago. They're such a solid live band, buying the limited edition disc was a no brainer, and that was before I knew about the hidden bonus: at the very end of the unlisted 27 minute 13th track comes their impromptu cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams", recorded on October 12th, 2005 at NYC's Webster Hall. Neko Case is in fine form on the song, remembering nearly all the words on the fly, and Todd Fancey almost nails the guitar solo. I know that the New Pr0ns are mildly uptight about live file sharing (they really should take a lesson from Dino Jr.), so I'll keep this up for just a day or two...


Order The New Pornographers "Live!" right here before they're gone.


Speaking of mild paranoia, at least Mark Kozelek's ultra-strict prohibition of recording on his last solo tour (which stopped here in Boston last May) eventually made a small amount of sense: He didn't want anyone stepping on the recent release of the double-disc "Little Drummer Boy Live" on his own Caldo Verde Records imprint. That also explains why he was so obsessive about perfect intonation, and spent almost 1/3 of our show on between-song tuning time.

"Little Drummer Boy Live" is a nice collection of career-spanning Koz songs (with Red House Painters & Sun Kil Moon numbers aplenty, along with a few of those unfortunate Modest Mouse covers), although I do wish he had eased up a bit on his adopted guitar technique of all-finger-picking-all-the-time. I miss the dynamics and occasional soft strumming on many of his songs, and a lot of his material can end up blending together, especially over two discs or a lengthy live show. Maybe I'm too emotionally attached to his originals... I certainly shouldn't fault the man for wanting to re-interpret his work in a live setting. Glad he had his longtime bandmate Phil Carney along to add some depth by contributing second guitar, though. Do I sound like I'm complaining? Honestly, any Kozelek live appearance is a gift.

In deference to the man's desires, I never shared the recording of that MFA show, and now that the live album is out, I'll still not share any of the material he's released on it. But here, if you will, is something of a little 'bonus track' for fans, from Kozelek's May performance at the MFA Boston, a song that wasn't included on "Little Drummer Boy Live"...

Mp3: Mark Kozelek with Phil Carney - "Grace Cathedral Park"
(live at the MFA Boston, 5/26/2006)

Order your own copy of the beautiful Mark Kozelek live album via Caldo Verde.


It's been a very long time since there was a newsworthy reason to talk about Low, but all that will change in 2007 when Sub Pop releases their "Drums and Guns" disc in March. I've got very high hopes for the disc, as a few of the songs (like the stunning "Dragonfly") have long been in Low's live set rotation, and others made their way into shows by The Retribution Gospel Choir, a side-project that includes Low's Alan Sparhawk and Matt Livingstone, with sporadic appearances by Mr. Mark Kozelek.

While the studio, the presence of Mimi, and the skills of producer Dave Fridmann will certainly transform those songs from their live previews, they already hint at a stellar album ahead. If you do the torrent thing, and want to check out the RGC versions of future Low songs "Hatchet", "Breaker", and "Pretty People", head to this YouTube link, which has video of those three songs from a September 8th, 2005 show in Costa Mesa, CA.

The full video recordings of that show and another from the same tour made their way onto DimeADozen.org, so head there if you do the torrent thing. In addition to the Sparhawk-penned Low songs, Kozelek contributes a couple of his own to the setlist (RHP's "Make Like Paper" & SKM's "Salvador Sanchez"), joins in on some RGC originals, and collaborates on a few covers: "The Carpet Crawlers", the Stones "Moonlight Mile", and Pink Floyd's "Fearless".

You can hear The Retribution Gospel Choir's own songs at their MySpace page, and keep an eye out for the second limited edition tour EP (the first is long gone), which should be available sometime soon at the Chairkickers online store.


Far too long since anyone's been able to say this: Superchunk has hit the studio. Unfortunately it was just to lay down a pair of songs, but hey, we'll take what we can get. Excerpted from the December 14th entry on Mac McCaughan's Portastatic blog...
"Yesterday Superchunk went into the studio to record a new song for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force film & soundtrack (film out March 16)... we wrote the song specifically for Aqua Teens and recorded & mixed it in a day at Overdub Lane with John Plymale (Indoor Living, Laughter Guns EP, Summer of the Shark, Be Still Please). the working title of the song was in fact "Meatwad's Lament" but in the end the song became something called "Misfits and Mistakes"...

...also, while we were in the studio we recorded a demo of "Learned to Surf" (we played that at Irving Plaza a couple weeks ago) so we don't forget how it goes..."
He also calls "Misfits and Mistakes" a "toe-tapper". Of that, I have no doubt.


Another one to file under: "when worlds collide"...

Fans of both the Washington, DC music scene and the DC-based Redskins football franchise might have had a mild freakout if they came across the Week 14 DVOA ratings on the Fox Sports website. I would have missed it if not for the Teenbeat mailing list, but you've got to take a look at this (scroll down to the Redskins, #23)...
"23. REDSKINS 4-9 25 22 26 15 30 15
It's no surprise that there's some unrest among the Redskins fans. They put all their eggs in the Joe Gibbs basket, and the faith was not rewarded. I'm sure Daniel Snyder will try to solve the problem by throwing money at more free agents; it's one of the NFL's most predictable rites of spring. Which overrated wide receiver will the Redskins embrace this year? I shudder to think. Look at the make-up of this team, and you'll realize that the Redskins will always be a minor threat unless they can build some depth. There's really only one word to describe this franchise right now: fugazi."
Yes, that's at least nine DC-based bands name-dropped in a freakin' Fox football write-up. The byline for the article is Aaron Schatz, and if he's the man responsible for the summaries, then I say: Well played, sir, well played indeed.


Because Frank at Chromewaves is perhaps too modest to point out this recently-posted footage he's part of (or I missed it when he did), may I direct your attention to the full video recording of the panel he appeared on as part of the Future Of Music Policy Summit in Montreal last October. Titled "The New Deciders: Metafilters, Blogs, Podcasts", it also features CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence, Superchunk/Portastatic/Merge-man Mac McCaughan, RealNetwork's Tim Quirk, CBC Radio 2's Patti Schmidt, and Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber.


Just a few of the good Boston area shows that are coming up in New Year, ones you'd do well to buy tickets for well in advance: Mark Eitzel with Drew O'Doherty in January, Midlake in February, Explosions in the Sky in March. I'm also keeping my fingers tightly crossed for the announcement of a February Sparklehorse date, since those tourdates have just started leaking out. Also exciting: That my friends in The Essex Green are teaming up with their Merge labelmates Camera Obscura for a tour that stops at the Paradise on January 27th. Can't wait for that one.


But before we hit '07, there are at least a couple can't-miss December shows: The first of those two Kimchee Records 10th Anniversary shows, and what has been dubbed "The Janovitz Brothers Christmas Spectacular" (or "Christmas Challenge"), which is happening this Saturday, Dec. 23rd at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. The family-full (and, as Bill says, "ill-conceived") evening will include all four Janovitz brothers (Bill from Buffalo Tom/Crown Victoria, Scott from Dragstrip Courage, Paul from Cold Water Flat, and Tommy of The Shout Abouts) performing not only a few Christmas songs, but "songs by famous brother acts such as the Everly Brothers, the Kinks, the Louvin Brothers, Bee Gees, Jackson 5, etc". There is no doubt that this will be a Christmas Eve eve well-spent, and since there are no advanced tickets, arrive extra early. That way you can also catch The Shout Abouts, who are opening up the show.


Congrats to the winners of the Silkworm contest I ran a couple weeks back: Brian in Brooklyn & Taylor in North Vancouver, who each won SKWM's new "Chokes!" EP and the Silkworm tribute disc, as well as Scott in Brooklyn & Sebastian in Somerville, who both got the tribute. Your packages should already be in your mailbox. I'll be picking the winner of my latest giveaway, a copy of the The Shipping News limited "Claws" single, in the next day or two.


In this, the so-called giving season (which should be all year 'round, really), there are a couple of families that could use your help, in the form of some donated dollars...
  • If you're a regular reader of music-related blogs and news sites, you've probably recently heard about Callum Robbins, the infant son of former-Jawbox/Burning Airlines and current-Channels frontman J. Robbins and his wife Janet. He was born with Type I Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) in January, and was diagnosed in September. The family holds out hope that Cal will be able to beat the odds and live a longer-than-expected life, but this can only happen with expensive alternative treatments that insurance won't cover. So those around them have rallied to help raise money, and have set up a way to donate right here. While I've never met J., some mutual friends speak so highly of the guy, and at the very least I owe the man for so many hours of good songs, not only from his own bands, but from ones he's recorded. Read some recent words from J. on his MySpace page, and drop some kind cash in the donation box if you can.

  • A truly heart-breaking tragedy took place a few weeks ago when 35 year-old CNET writer and podcaster James Kim, his wife Kati, and their two young daughters, Penelope & Sabine, became stranded during bad weather in the Oregon wilderness while driving home to San Francisco after a Thanksgiving trip north. After spending 7 days in their car, James decided his only choice was to set out and seek help for his starving family. Two days later, rescuers found the vehicle, with Kati and the girls alive and well. Everyone hoped for a happy ending as the search continued, but two more long days later, the body of James Kim was found.

    James was one of my favorite parts of the old TechTV channel, back when he'd do gadget reviews on the much-missed Screen Savers program. I can't say it any simpler than I just liked the guy, dug his writing and delivery, his whole friendly on-screen demeanor. I followed the story of his family's disappearance closely, was elated when Kati and the girls were found, and equally crushed when I learned he didn't make it. "The James Kim Memorial Fund" has been established in his name, so contribute if you're able.

  • I'll end this one on a surreal note with something perfectly strange, especially if you're a fan of early Sonic Youth. Here's The Young at Heart Chorus performing SY's "Schizophrenia" (via Brian)...


    And so the world gets just a little bit weirder.

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