Vaca

Hello faithful readers,

In order to escape the daily depression that is our economy, I'm heading out tomorrow on a much-needed vacation to Southeast Asia. As a result, expect blog posting to be virtually non-existent for the next couple weeks (unless I discover some incredible Cambodian indie rock band that the world just needs to know about ASAP) (unlikely). Hopefully I'll return to amazing weather, a Dow back at post-2000 levels, politcal unity and a plethora of jobs for all! Or at least some good shows in April, and a decent Pitchfork lineup. Cheers!

Back!

I've returned from CR to the awesome news that DJ Lazer is (still?) in town. Best. News. Ever.

I've got the day off to update the website (finally!), so hopefully some excellent new shows have been added since I've been gone. After being forced to listen to hours of Ben Harper and Jack Johnson by the surfers on the beach and in the hostels, I'm craving good music again. Though randomly, we were watching a surf movie one night (basically just surfing set to music) and amongst all the emo punk music that made up the soundtrack was . . . the Black Kids. Go figure.

Costa Rica!

Guess what? Nicole's going on vacation! I'm escaping the Chicago winter for some tropical warmth in Costa Rica, leaving tomorrow morning and returning on Sunday, March 23. Chances of blogging during this time are slim to none while I'm out learning how to surf, so check back in 10 days for a recap on the Costa Rican indie rock scene (a short recap that will surely be).

Vaca

By some amazing stroke of good luck, I now have 2 1/2 weeks of paid vacation as I transition between jobs. This means I have a ton of time to catch up on any albums I've been missing out on, and see a couple shows I wouldn't have seen otherwise- I've never been able to go to a free Monday night Empty Bottle shows or the Schubas Monday night residencies, so now here's my chance! Any other suggestions for the next couple weeks, both show or album-wise?

P-Land

So tomorrow morning I'm leaving for a long weekend trip to Portland, OR, home of the uber-granola, hipsters and . . . mass quantities of strip clubs, according to tinymixtapes. Who knew the hippies so loved their adult entertainment? If I run into Stephen Malkmus, Janet Weiss, Menomena, or various members of the Shins during my time there (perhaps at one of Portland's many fine dancing establishments?), I'll be sure to let you all know.

The Hong Kong Indie Scene

Part of my vacation was spent in Hong Kong, where conveniently, I picked up a copy of HK Magazine (their version of the Reader) to find a cover story on Hong Kong's indie scene. Apparently it has a very small, burgeoning scene and a dearth of small venues for them to play at, but they managed to profile a few local bands. For anyone else curious about what's found in an "indie scene" outside of the US, UK and Canada, feel free to check these out with me. Some of their names seem amusingly lost in translation (genre descriptions taken from the article).

The Primary Shapes- Electronic pop
The Yours- Disco-punk
Ya Sei Mei- Party hip-hop
My Little Airport- Minimalist indie pop
Monogel- Groovy funk-rock
Salty Soggy Sour- a Hong Kong indie supergroup (!!!)
Atomic Bubbles- Garage rock

Enjoy!

Back to reality!

Just returned and am listening to indie rock for the first time in two weeks, as I didn't bring my ipod along . . . more tomorrow when I'm less on the verge of sleepless delirium . . .

Vaca!

So, for the first time since I've started this blog, I'm going on an extended vacation! We'll see how I can handle being away from my computer for that long, it is unprecedented . . . so for the next two weeks, I'll be galavanting around Asia and thus, probably not blogging and definitely not updating the website. Hopefully all you millions of readers will still be here upon my return on June 9, waiting with bated breath. I look forward to returning to 1,000 emails, 3,000 spam emails and catching up on reviews for all the albums that came out while I was gone.

Back soon!