What Year Is This Again?

I Was Sure It Was 2013

I did my usual Friday trip to Jack's today. I picked through the new vinyl and the used CD's and saw, mostly, the same stuff I see every week with a few, new additions here and there.

Jack's has a wall display where they display new releases and the top sellers in the store. As I walked out, I walked past the top sellers and this is what I saw:

1. Eric Clapton, Old Sock

2. David Bowie, The Next Day

3. Bon Jovi, What About Now

4. Jimi Hendrix, People, Hell & Angels

I think Van Morrison was number 9.

Really, people?

Nothing wrong with any of those artists, and I'm sure the albums contain some fine, fine music. But is this really where we're at now? Are we this conservative, nostalgic, resistant to change, whatever when it comes to our music? Is it a local phenomenon? Or is this saying something about the state of the music industry, who gets promoted, who buys albums?

This is just another one of those times when I'm jolted out of the little hermetically sealed bubble that is "indie" music, which, I'm beginning to agree, gets a great deal more press and attention than its cultural impact merits.

Maybe it's just temporary, and Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers will be back on top next week.

If it is more than just a temporary, local phenomenon, though, it sure would explain the lineup at that 121212 concert.

Bamboozle!

The Bamboozle Hits AP This Weekend

Yesterday, as I drove CoolDaughter #1 to the pool, I heard "Somebody That I Used To Know" for the first time ever.  I don't even really remember the chorus.  That reminded me that there's a whole world of hugely popular music out there of which I know nothing.

With the exceptions of the super-huge bands like Foo Fighters and Bon Jovi or the borderline indie bands like The Gaslight Anthem, that's pretty much where I'm at with the acts at Bamboozle.  I'm not making a criticism here.  I've just never heard a single thing that Skrillex has ever done, and he was just named as one of the world's 100 richest celebrities by Forbes magazine.  Kind of puts into perspective the impact that all of the mindie music I'm so into has on the industry.  It also highlights the way that the Internet allows us all to live in our own little worlds, where our opinions on music or politics seem so important, while the truth is... different.

I've already got a full weekend pass to the I'll Be Your Mirror event happening in Asbury in the fall.  All the blogs I read will be ablaze with news and photos from those shows, and I'll probably have plenty to post about myself.

For now, though, it's Friday night.

Rock on...