Went to Bar One last night - http://www.myspace.com/bar1noho - for Christmas Eve. DJ Jebbers was spinning, and he dropped some funky tunes as well as some hippie rock (Dead, Phish, etc.). An interesting mix of people, but I had a great time. The bar is awesome. On the small side, dimly light with red undertones, a long stretchy bar, and they were playing great movies (some Christmas Clay Film and The Dark Crystal!!!). Good, versatile crowd. I highly suggest checking it out.

As for the turn of the New Year, I'm not going to give any advice here on New Year's Eve plans. There are a few good shows (I know Snoop is playing at the House of Blues), and concerts are always fun....no matter what day of the year it is.

The day after New Years, on 1/2, GREYBOY ALLSTARS and PARLIAMENT are playing together. I believe it is at Club Nokia downtown, and that show is really one you shouldn't miss if you love funk, love George Clinton, both or you simply want something fun to do. Denson is in the Greyboy All-Stars and he used to be the sax player for Lenny Kravitz's band back when they blew up.

Chromeo at The Key Club - FOR REAL

Write it in your calendars folks - Chromeo is playing at the Key Club on Thursday January 22nd.  Yeah - the proficient (and funky) pop-synth-hop duo is going to smash through L.A. in the smallest venue they've played at in over a year.  The Key Club, on Sunset, holds less than a 1,000 and these guys are coming off a year where their music was heard on the radio and in clubs across the world...not to mention getting hooked up with a few advertisement synch license contracts where I am sure they got hella paid.

Tickets went on sale this morning.  I copped 8 if you are looking for one.  My suggestion is buy them before they sell out...because they will.

Speaking of selling out tickets, one person who is not selling out is B.B. King at Club Nokia on December 27th and 28th.  I got hit up with a buy 1 get 1 free offer today, a mere week before those shows.  He is a legend.  I can't believe they are offering this, and yet I still am unlikely to go because I don't know who would go with me.  B.B. King is a legend, but he no longer shakes your bones.  You have to want to see him, and if you have seen him recently and you don't love the blues....you may not want to that bad.  If you've never seen him, there is probably a reason you haven't....so cheap tickets won't convince you to go.  That is the problem as I see it.

One group that should be selling out tickets is Nightmares on Wax - playing Monday February 2nd at the Echoplex.  I just copped mine.  They are dope.  That is really the best way to describe their tunes.  If you dig hip-hop, funk, soul or all of the above, you'll probably get down to some NoW.  They recently released a new record, but I think a good sampling of their style can be found on My Definition: Nightmares on Wax.   Check it out if you can, and then pick up the tickets...

I've heard good things about the new Common.  I've only grabbed a few tracks, but I intend on buying the album tomorrow and rocking out to it for the rest of 2008.  I will post with an update after its been listened to and digested....

Relentless Seven - Word's Out

So, looks like the word is out about Relentless Seven, Ben Harper's newest band. They are doing a 5 show tour through California, including 2 dates in Los Angeles - Thursday December 4th at Spaceland and Friday December 5th at The Mint.

The Mint is where Harper got his start, so it is going to be a memorable performance there I imagine.

I would say get your tickets, but they are already sold out. You might want to check craiglist, stubhub or some other avenue....except I know my tickets are will call. I think at The Mint that was the only option...Rolling Stone ran a story on the band and I think that may have let the flood gates open to people getting tickets. At the same time The Mint is only 100 people and Spaceland is tiny too.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE SHOW - PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I GOT TIX TO BOTH NIGHTS!!!!

Club Nokia is A New Top L.A. Venue

Went to Club Nokia's opening on Sunday night for Beck, and it was a great experience. Beck opened with "Loser" to a sold-out crowd. But, the venue didn't even feel packed. The planners of Club Nokia did a great job arranging the dance floor and upstairs to maximize comfort and concert experience. (the only biff is that the columns on the dance floor seem to be a bit larger than necessary and tend to obscure views from directly behind the columns)

Beck's performance reached a peak when every band member came to the front of the stage with handheld drum machines and headsets and broke into "Hell Yes." We were boogying like no tomorrow (we meaning me, Dylan, Elisa, Camille, Nate, Danny and their friend John).

I am already looking forward to going back to this venue. Definitely a great place to see a show. Lupe Fiasco is playing tonight (for those who are interested, I know someone with extras). Matisyahu and Flobots play on 11/18. Nas plays 11/26. The Wreck The Halls show with Bloc Party, Black Kids, CSS and The Pretenders is on 12/10. Don't miss your chance to go to this venue in it's inaugural season!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12th

How come Los Angeles always blows up with good music in the middle of the fucking week? I mean, I live for the weekends, but not when Wednesdays are like this ....

LUPE FIASCO @ CLUB NOKIA
GALACTIC (with Trombone Shorty) @ House of Blues
GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS @ THE TROUBADOUR

Are you kidding me? All 3 of those shows will be kick ass. Depends what your flavor is. If you want something somewhat pop oriented, but still hipster, go to Lupe Fiasco. You want some dirty, dirty funk that is going to rock out, go to Galactic. You want to here a sweet sultry voice, crooning over light melodies and classic rock, go see Grace Potter (plus, if you want to see a gorgeous women who can stroke the keys and the chords).

It would be hard for me to decide if I wasn't such a concert junkie. Having seen them all, I can say, unequivocally, Galactic puts on the best show. It is hard to hold a candle to Stanton Moore leaning forward from his drummer's seat beating his snare drum. They are the quintessence of dirty funk rock. Galactic owns the title and you should go see them if you haven't.

Obama's Way With Diplo

DIPLO IS PLAYING ELECTION NIGHT AT ECHOPLEX!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! Exactly. This is what I am talking about. Wouldn't you want to be at a party hosted by Diplo when you found out Obama won the election? I know I would and I know I will be.

I don't believe tickets to the event are sold out. http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=305465

Diplo parties are truly exceptional. He spins all the hip-hop we love - yet he mixes in flavors of things you recognize and things you wished you recognized - brazilian funk, techno, electronic indie pop, dub, etc. He has a special love for Los Angeles - and generally kicks in the indie rock crowd shout outs to stuff like LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and more. He even has some vested relationship with Cansei De Ser Sexy - so hearing them would not be a surprise either.

If you are a lover of music in Los Angeles, and you want to be with the concert crowd when history goes down...I highly suggest Echoplex on Tuesday November 4th, 2008.

Burning Down The House

I know this is late, but forgive me....David Byrne @ The Greek Theatre was incredible! A triple encore!?!?!?! I'm not exactly sure I have ever been to a show where the artist left stage and returned three separate times.

Sure, I've been to shows where "the last song" or "encore" was 5 songs....but those are fucking L.A. indie rock shows where the headliner only plays for 45 minutes, leaves stage for 1 and then returns to say it is their "last song"...and then proceeds to play another 20 minutes. Who the fuck only plays for 45 minutes when the ticket is over $30 with fees?!?!?! You owe more to your customer (fan) than that and a minimum of a hour of playtime should basically be expected from a headliner. But, David Byrne far surpassed that; he played for an hour and 45 minutes total.

Not only did the main man do a 5 song triple encore, but he straight rocked out like "Stop Making Sense." Sure, they didn't play that song, but his performance was exceptional like the film. He favored doing more Talking Heads music then stuff from the new Eno and Byrne record. Byrne delivered what the crowd wanted. He played "Cross-eyed" and "Take Me To The River"... but as part of the triple encore he played "BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE" which is not even an ENO AND BYRNE song, it is off of Speaking in Tongues.


I never expected that coming into the show and it totally rocked the crowd. Everyone knows the lyrics to that song. What a crowd pleaser. I wish I could see David Byrne every Friday night.

Shows I've Got My Eyes On...

Tuesday - 9/30 - House of Blues - TALIB KWELI, LITTLE BROTHER, and DAVID BANNER
FRIDAY - 10/3 - BYRNE AND ENO @ THE GREEK
Saturday - Detour Music Festival
Friday 10/10 - Duffy @ Orpheum
Tuesday 10/14 - Santogold @ Wiltern

WEDNESDAY - 10/15/08 - JAY-Z @ PALLADIUM --> The Reopening of the theater
Black Kids @ Mayan; Kings of Leon and We Are Scientists @ Nokia Theatre
FRIDAY - 10/17 - Roots and Gym Class Heroes @ Palladium
10/20 - mc chris @ Roxy
FRIDAY 10/24 - Devin the Dude @ Key Club; Girl Talk @ Henry Fonda; Mike Relm @ El Rey
Wed - 10/29 - JEL @ Henry Fonda
Thurs - 10/30 - New Deal @ Knitting Factory
Friday 10/31 - HARD FEST!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 11/4 - DIPLO DIPLO DIPLO @ ECHOPLEX!!!!!!!!!!
11/9 and 11/10 (sun and monday) - BECK @ ClUB NOKIA
tUESDAY 11/11 - Redman and Method Man @ House of Blues
Wednesday 11/12 - Galactic @ House of Blues; Luple Fiasco @ Club Nokia
Friday 11/14 - Ben Folds @ Wiltern
11/18 - Matisyahu and club Nokia
Friday 11/21 - Medeski, Martin & Wood (MMW) @ El Rey
Sarah Silverman - "Jesus Does Magic"
11/26 - Nas @ Club Nokia

Get your tickets....

MSTRKRFT

MSTRKRFT kicked ass at the Fonda on Friday night. Played until damn near 2 am. All I have to say is "All I Do is party ha ha ha ha."

WTF with all the little kids in the crowd? WTF with 18 year old girls asking me to buy them alcohol and getting pissed when I say no? 18 year old girls (1) would be too easy to target (2) are entirely to immature to deal with and (3) should've drank before they came to the show. Why should I risk 'corrupting a minor' so a young hottie can get a drank? I shouldn't and I wouldn't, and I still won't.

The best part is when they get mad because you won't buy the drink for them.

Re-Opening of The Palladium

So, the Palladium is re-opening in October with a hustler's bang.....Jay-Z with a 12 piece orchestra! Wednesday October 15, 2008. I think the show is likely one for the record books. Tickets were $150 face value and they are going in the $200 neighborhood on craigslist and e-bay. My guess is demand for this one is going to go up (not down) as the show approaches...

But, if Jay-Z wasn't enough, the Palladium is going to bang out to the Roots and Gym Class Heroes two days later on Friday night! Who is doing the booking over there? They really know how to start off with a good slate.

Indescribably Dope

Finally back in the states (and by states, I mean California) after a long set of trips after the bar exam. I'm ready to get back to music blogging with a new vengeance.

Although I could describe what has happened to me over the last 2 months, and the music I've seen recently, it would be a disservice to not immediately report on the dopeness that I witnessed first-hand last night at the Wiltern. Atmosphere put on one of the most memorable performances I have ever seen, and certainly one of the best hip-hop shows to ever occur in Los Angeles. To put it bluntly it was indescribably dope.

Atmosphere performed a sampling of cuts from the latest full length, When Life Gives You Lemons..., including "Any Man", a personal favorite. The crowd was on full throttle even before Slug dropped his first verse of the night, with many fans beginning to spit verse after verse as if they were the MC himself. Slug even commented on how L.A. must just like to hear their own voice. His opening words to the crowd, after a standing applaud and scream filled welcoming, were that "we needed to slow down, don't fuck me to fast."

What impressed me most was how Slug seamlessly whipped through song after song, most of which were slightly re-worked both from the band perspective (with unique instrumentation - girl on the vocals, anyone?!?!?) and the lyrics (plenty of L.A. and Wiltern shout outs). Fans seemed to know the full catalogue, dating all the way back to old school shit from original Sad Clown Bad Dub...Slug has truly come along way with his casual performance flow; his cadence and articulation are exceptional and he delivers words like bullets; they cut through the drowning bass tones just enough to hear what he is saying and truly understand his metaphors as he rolls them off his lips.

He dropped several tracks from his latest Sad Clown EPs, including a song he called his personal favorite (I forget the name).

I got my personal favorite somewhere during his tremendously long encore, Women With The Tattoed Hands, which is a cut that they do not often play anymore. Although I was surprised that not many people were singing along with me, I was just happy to hear him play the original Atmosphere crowd pleaser. He topped it all off with a freestyle with Murs and Abstract Rude at the end, where, amongst more L.A. spot dropping, he killed it with a shout out to the Wiltern.

I have not seen a show that had me reeling like this in a while. Quite honestly the best Atmosphere show I've ever seen (and this was #16). The feeling of joy I experienced during his 30 minutes of encore are hard to define. I guess the best way to capture last night in words is to say that Atmosphere was indescribably dope.

Lettuce Album "Rage" is the SHIT!

The new Lettuce album, "Rage", is one funky ass motherfucker. Every cut is great, and they even stuck a few covers on there. Although I love their original material, they have some fantastic covers too ("Move On Up" may be better than the original).

The best cuts, in my opinion, are "By Any Shmeeans Necessary" and "Sam Huff's Flyin' Ragin Machine."

The band is playing at the Key Club on July 17th. The show will be SICK! It is my last night out before the bar exam. If you can make it there, you should go.

http://www.lettucefunk.com/

Kelley James

Kelley James is going to blow up. He will be the shit in the future. If you don't know, now you know.

The Pimps of Joytime

The Pimps of Joytime @ Air Conditioned Lounge in Venice on Lincoln Blvd. Thursday May 22nd!

They are motherfucking bad ass.

Check em out... http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=21950694

Good Weekend in L.A. For Hippies

Melvin Seals and JGB @ The Mint on Friday
Stanton Moore Trio @ The Mint on Saturday
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Phil Lesh & Friends @ The Greek Theatre

If you are a hippie, you should already know. If you don't now you do.

If you are a jazz cat, go check out Stanton Moore...he is one of the best drummers alive.

Estelle (& John Legend) - On the Hush, hush, hush

For some reason, no one (by no one, I mean no one in the L.A. media who writes about music) is commenting much on the fact that Estelle is performing on May 1 at The Temple Bar in Santa Monica. http://www.templebarlive.com/

What blows me away is that she is a British pseudo-pop star and her music is great. She's got that single backed by Kanye that is sprinkled on the radio now - "American Boy." AND, to top it off, John Legend is allegedly hosting the night. Tickets are only $12. I haven't purchased mine yet...but come on.

Anyhow, if you see any media postings regarding the performance...please let me know, cause I have not seen them.

Cody Hudock

Just saw Cody Hudock perform at The Foundation Room @ The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip. Him and his band had a nice groove. It sounds like something that could be on indie college radio. Maybe we'll hear his name soon on the radio?

In the meantime, you can check him out at

http://myspace.com/codyhudockmusic

Skerik and Mike D are coming tooooooo town!

Los Angeles - wake up and smell the funk this weekend and as L.A. is about to get a heavy dosage of the nasty. I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!

Skerik and Mike Dillon, of Garage A Trois (my favorite band) and Critters Buggin will be at the Knitting Factory on Thursday performing is Illuminasti along with James Singleton of the Astral Project. I can promise it will be funky avant garde jazz. Brace yourself.

Than Friday, Skerik and Mike D will be taking the stage with Les Claypool at the Wiltern for a paired down version of the Frog Brigade. I am very interested to see how this trio plays out on stage without some of the stage antics and theatrics of the Frog Brigade. I imagine it can only be better...but some of the scenesters may hate.

For the uninitiated, Skerik is one of the best saxophonists currently recording. Skerik is a shortened version of Scary Erik. I believe that is his real name, although I may be mistaken. Nonetheless Skerik hails from the Seattle area and has a storied history in the music scene. His current recording outfits include playing sax in Skerik's Syncopated Septet, as well as Garage A Trois, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade, Critter's Buggin', Robert Walter's Super Heavy Organ and several other groupings of musicians. Mike D, in addition to the above mentioned bands, records with Mike Dillon's Go-Go Jungle, Hairy Apes BMX and the Polyphonic Spree.

To top it all off, Dirty Dozen Brass Band is playing the Mint on Tuesday the 8th. That is the end of the funk dosage...at least for now.

Steely Dan Cover Band

Dr. Wu, a Steely Dan cover band is coming to the Malibu Inn on Thursday March 27th. I'm going despite the fact that I've never heard of them. If you want to, check em out. Doors open around 8 pm. Band probably won't go on until around 8:45-9.

WEEKEND FOR L.A. HIP HOP

It is rare that Los Angeles gets blessed with a plethora of Hip-Hop shows over a short span of time. Even though there is love for hip-hop here, it is just harder to tour the West for hip-hop artists because there is more distance between venues which costs more money and the regional differences in taste are potentially more extreme for hip-hop. Although MC Chris is rolling thru the Avalon on Thursday February 21st for some nerdcore hip-hop of the Adult Swim genre...the rest of the artists hitting town this weekend are West coast residents.

Tonight, in Long Beach, CA at the Vault is one of my personal favorites Del Tha Funky Homosapien. A member of Heiroglyphics, and MC on the original Gorillaz record, and 1/2 of Deltron...Del is simply awesome in concert. He has great stage presence and energy and his rhymes are so unique. He's got great diction on the microphone and he delivers with flavor.

Friday, at Crash Mansion L.A. is Los Angeles residents and Cleveland natives Bone Thugs N Harmony are going ghetto downtown. Some of Bone's recent albums, like STRENGTH & LOYALTY have had some good pop material, like "I Tried (feat Akon)", while maintaining their thug signature "9 mm" and their light singing-type flow ("Flow Motion") . I hope they drop the classic E. 99 & ETERNAL cuts, or even better - "No Surrender" from CREEPIN' ON AH COME-UP. Jupiter Rising will be playing support, and from what I hear they have a good live vibe.

Saturday THE COUP is headlining at Crash Mansion L.A. and it will be dope, I promise. Boots Riley (MC) has recently been on tour with Galactic, perfecting his live flow. I've seen him 6 times in the last two years and he gets better every time. If you want some live funky ass hip-hop, sort of Roots-esque...I would check out THE COUP.

If you are not on the hip-hop tip...check out LIONS at Spaceland on Saturday February 23rd.

Black Keys New Album

If you didn't know, the Black Keys are coming out with a new album produced by Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley; The Good, The Bad & The Queen; Dangerdoom; etc.). Black Keys hail from Akron, OH and are bad-ass, blues-like rockers. I am very excited to see how their sound changes with the influences of Danger Mouse and also how material produced by Danger Mouse translates to live performance.

Black Keys are performing in Los Angeles at the Wiltern on April 1, 2008. Tickets are currently on sale.

Vince Gill is a bad ass.

So, yeah, I admittedly watched the Grammy's a day late. BUT, I was skiing.

Anyhow, I thought the performances ranged from half decent to absolutely bad ass. But, most bad ass of all had to be Vince Gill snagging his award and asking Kanye if he'd ever accepted one from a Beatle?

Kanye's performance was easily the best. Despite the fact that I think his egotistical awards speeches make him look immature, impatient and douche-baggy, he absolutely stole the show on Sunday. "Stronger" was dope. I really dig the illuminated outfit and the illuminated specs. Kanye could use some work on his robot, but I'll cut him some slack cause he was rhyming too. The lights and Daft Punk pyramid looked kick ass, and once Daft Punk was pushing buttons....I was straight bananas. I liked how the cameras gave an aerial view of the Daft Punk guys. Kanye's orchestral/accapella version of "Mama" was obviously heart felt. He seemed a bit shaken at the beginning, but I thought he pulled it together.

Beyonce and Tina were cute together, especially when they did Rollin' On A River. Doesn't Tina Turner look kind of funny when she cocks her head to the side? I swear Beyonce was lip synching when she did that history of females in music though.

I liked that The Time did their Jungle Love dance, and that Rihanna joined in at the end too. But, what the fuck was Rihanna wearing? She reminded me of Bjork, in a bad way. Nonetheless, Rihanna can wail. Any hating I may have done on Rihanna in the past, I take it back. She was adorable when she won her Grammy. I thought it was comical (but also a little egotistical and douche-baggy) when Jay-Z repackaged what Rihanna was trying to say.

Alicia Keys also was straight gangsta. I really liked the interposed video of Frank Sinatra over her piano on the opening number. Her version of "No One" was better though. The orchestral add on was a nice touch, and Alicia was looking dope in that black outfit. When she walked out singing and then started playing keyboard one handed - she owned it. John Mayer was an interesting touch...but I didn't think the guitar sounded that great.

Foo Fighters were great, but Grohl was trying to hard to get the crowd fired up. The Beatles number was nice to watch, although "Love" is 20 times better in person. I was actually a little disappointed with Cirque De Soleil's adaptation for the Grammys. The gospel number though was stunning. The lead female could fucking wail. Her eyes were crazy buggy though - she looked a little like those dolls you squeeze where the eyes pop out.

I didn't listen to the country cuts.

What was that Black Eyed Peas weird mash-up performance at the end? I really didn't get it. It just seemed like a generically bad Black Eyed Peas rap...I write better rhymes than that in my sleep.

What the hell was Chris Brown talking about when he referenced DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince? I guess anything you say when you are wearing a white and red suit sounds ludicrous.

Herbie Hancock appeared genuinely surprised at winning his award. I liked that. I'll have to check out that album...

Congratulations to all the victors. Oh yeah, and Vince Gill is a bad ass.

New Gnarls Barkley

The track is called "Run." It is just under 3 minutes and it is very catchy. It seems that Danger Mouse and the Cee-Lo combo really works no matter how they play it because this can hardly be called a hip-hop song. In fact, there is nothing hip-hop about it.

But, don't misunderstand...the song is GREAT. The hook is very catchy, about running away or something to that effect. Cee-Lo's voice is always incredible, and he displays his exceptional, gospel informed vocal range on this song. AND Danger Mouse leaves nothing to be wanted with his impeccable production.

For any Danger Mouse, Cee-Lo and or Gnarls Barkley fan...this is definitely worth the pick up. Their second album is allegedly coming out in March, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed. Cop this single before it becomes the next "crazy" and we all get sick of hearing it.

BOB MARLEY COVER NIGHT

In tribute and remembrance of Bob Marley, Groundation is playing a cover show at The Key Club tonight. Now, I have never heard of Groundation before, http://www.myspace.com/groundation, but they seem like your traditional dub reggae band. The real kicker is that Will Bernard, former bay area guitarist supreme (he recently moved to New York) will be sitting in with them for the show.

If you are a fan of jazz music, reggae music or simply are mesmerized by a fantastic guitar player who can move their fingers with alarming speed and precision...than this is the show for you. Will Bernard is one of the top guitarists around, as a permanent member of T.J. Kirk and Fully Loaded, as well as touring with his own outfits Motherbug and the Will Bernard Trio. Although I do not know exactly what to expect tonight, I have high expectations.

The Hooliganz open the show (never heard of them either). $15. Doors open at 7:30.

http://www.keyclub.com/index.php

SOLD OUT SHOWS IN LOS ANGELES - JAZZ TOO?

I am no stranger to sold out shows. Hey, they are a good thing because the venue and the band both benefit tremendously. The only loser is the shut-out (or claustrophobic) fan.

On Saturday night my friends and I did not get into PBS at the Mint. We went at like 10:45, after the opener had been on an hour...but the line was at least 12 deep and they were saying tickets were sold out. I never thought the show would sell out, especially since their last show at the Knitting Factory only had about 50 people. Nice call on the show Wagatail Productions, but I guess it should be at a larger venue next time.

Hot Chip is playing on Monday at the El Rey and that show is sold out too. It sold out ridiculously fast. In light of recent experiences I think I will shift back to the pay in advance method of ticket purchase rather than the gamble at the door.

PBS @ THE MINT (members of The Funky Meters)

George Porter Jr., Russell Batiste and Brian Stoltz, collectively known as PBS, are performing at The Mint ( 6010 Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035) on Saturday February 2, 2008. Delta Nove is the opener. Delta Nove is supposed to go on at 9 pm and PBS at 11:30 pm. Tickets are $20 at the door.

I have seen PBS once before, but have seen George Porter Jr. and Russell several other times. They are a tremendous rhythm duo and Stoltz plays a great guitar. George Porter Jr. is one of hte nastier bassists I've ever witnessed, especially when he plays slap. For any fans of New Orleans funk - this show should not be missed.

http://themintla.com/

END OF THE CONCERT E-MAIL UPDATE

I think I am going to end the concert e-mail update and just send people a link to this blog. I will write about upcoming shows and shows I've seen...and that way I can write about music regularly, rather than me going out of my way to package all upcoming concert information into one e-mail.

Ripping Music

I've been staying up incredibly late recently ripping music to my hard drives. Most of it is old music from high school and college, some is music I've never listened to. In the last few weeks I've increased my data collection by 15 GBs. I'm now over 240 GBs and counting.

One of the ways I've been expanding my collection is through emusic.com. It is much more affordable then itunes. I am paying about 25 cents a track. Although they lack most mainstream hip-hop and R&B artists, they've recently added some T-Pain and T.I. Plus, they always have recent releases from Ubiquity Records and Stones Throw Records. They also have a handful of popular indie artists, a decent jazz catalog, as well as some good blues and jam records.

Of course I am still sticking with CD's. I just bought two today: the Superbad soundtrack and an enhanced version of Sly and the Family Stone's "Stand." I hope my collection keeps expanding, but I wish I had the cases for my older stuff.

Once I've got all my owned music on the hard drives, I'll start worrying about weening down the collection. I often find you may think you don't like a song, but upon reconsideration you find it enjoyable. That is why I am trying to record it all onto the hard drive first. I realize I've lost several discs that need replacement. Ice Cube's album "The Predator" and The Lost Boyz first album that had "Renee" and "Jeeps, Lex Coupes, Beamers and the Benz."