i don't expect people to "follow" this blog or the tiny changes i make to the sidebar over there every time i bump something up on my a-list or insert a link to a new review. but i'm not sure if interested parties are even aware of them. so while i self-promote all over twitter and facebook as is, i'm still compelled to maybe throw you a few "update" posts of my work from the last several months in this space. forgive my ego.

first my voice stuff from 2010 so far:

definitely cooled on this hot chip album by now, though i can see why i loved it in february (untapped valentine's day marketing there on "one life stand"): it's so punchy and in-your-face with its trope-y sentiments that i mistook airtight songwriting as i usually do for irresistible songwriting.

i'm baffled and flattered to have been asked to do another live music guide for the spring arts preview issue. at the last minute i chose the xx over gogol bordello (who i'd still love to interview, though i wish i liked trans-continental hustle more) for the feature part of it. romy madley croft had a lot of quiet personality over the phone that maybe didn't translate so well in quotes, though i'm really proud of the kicker. i think i'm starting to get good at those. and i'm overjoyed that i got her on tape wishing my katie a happy birthday. katie loves the xx.

i love the new against me! album so much that i used some outrageous hype in my review - thankfully one of my LAS writers, cory tendering, emailed me incredulously (and deservingly) with a list of bands who sound like them. my point of course was that no one in 2010 sounds like generic-guitar-radio-whatever and does it well, but it got away from me a tad. i'm happy enough with the weezer analogy and i probably won't get to use "aborted fetuses" in a review again anytime soon.