Just a few notes before getting into the year end heavy hitters:
- 2nd & 3rd generation Mp3 blogs — Sure, they’ve been hated on and torn apart over ethics and style in the past year, but there’s no surer condenser of internet effluvia than a trustworthy, or short of that, well-trafficked mp3 blog. The emergence of sites like Destination: OUT [a jazz blog that’s not for dipshits, and perfectly understandable to the uninitiated!] and Prog not Frog, [see links] as well as slight return of sites like Lemon-Red more than makes up for the disappearance of other worthies over the course of 2006. Additionally, the aforementioned are like a breath of fresh air: none of the world-weariness that has tires so many of their predecessors with a critical malaise, and none [or less] of the incessant big-upping [oops!] “friends” to create a climate of inside-baseball clannishness.
- Podcasts — Too busy to bother with torrent of mp3 mania? Subscribe to podcasts! Now that iTunes got off its ass and made it an easy one stop hub to subscribe to everything from The Economist to Excepter’s show, there’s really no excuse to tune in to commercial-ridden radio. And you should seriously check out WFMU’s podcasts. The old-timey stuff and gospel shows are a treat.
- Film blogs — If you got the meme about how horrible Hollywood is these days, it’s due in no small part to the folks writing about it and cheering on pictures that are hopelessly bloated, or gutlessly re-written to achieve the broadest appeal. 2006 marked the return of Scorsese, but not until he’d deposited two stinking Oscar-worthy turds on our doorstep. If it weren’t for sites like Cinemarati and Filmbrain, or independent crit sites like DVDBeaver and DVDTalk, it would an unnavigable flux of syndicated silliness.
- Youtube — Well, at least until a couple months ago. What was once a haven for completely worthless ephemera, Youtube’s rabbithole was backfilled by corporate greed and dubious proprietary claims. Who would pay for age old clips of old news follies? Is the America’s Funniest Home Videos crowd that powerful? Before it became a conduit for well-designed viral marketing campaigns, it was a bottomless treasure trove of PSAs, Daily Show clips and old music videos. Now instead of laughing at the trailer for You Got Served!, you may actually get served.
- MySpace — Unlike YouTube, corporate America is having a hard time killing off this ugly, strictly utilitarian beast [I’ve seen some next generation social networking sites that are more user friendly and prettier.] The combination of viral marketing capacity on top of a patently old-school commercial inundation makes it too appealing to big money interests hoping to tap into cool. Which is great until they realize that anyone can get an adblocker!
- Del.icio.us — Post-it notes for the internet. In the ADD world of well, work, furtive pursuits online can be [and are] heavily monitored. Why bother trawling the internet when you can visit one page and minimize your online footprint? More than that, it’s easier than flipping page after page on other subscription services.
- Woebot — Come back soon. Your epic posts [and the minor prose too] are frequently revelatory.
- Philadelphia bands — If we’re finally in the post-Bigger Lovers era, I happily welcome our new overlords. Philadelphia now boasts a more diverse assortment of bands than just your typical indie rock fare [although that’s what the city has been exporting pretty heavily in the past few years.] But now for every Mazarin, Dr. Dog and Capitol Years, there’s something, well, worth mentioning too! From Plastic Little to Pony Pants to Panda Riot [Philly still rules nu gaze with Dragon City, sometime-locals Mahogany and Relay just to name a few] there are plenty of things to go out and hear [if you don’t believe me, check out Jon Solomon’s Local Support podcast]…and even more places to see them. Which brings us to:
- House parties — So we lost Plain Parade, but we gained some real pioneers in the batshit amazing West Philadelphia house party circuit! With names like Danger Danger and Clap it Off, there’s a ton of free music to be seen at safe, all ages venues. Special consideration given Mark Christman’s Ars Nova series, which also calls West Philly home.
- Johnny Brenda’s — One of the Fishtown gentrification hotpoints, this is a welcome alternative to all those nights spent choking on smoke at the Khyber, or a night’s sweat in the First Unitarian Church basement. Now Philadelphia has a miniature version of Bowery Ballroom in my new backyard. [Yep, as of January, Blackmail Is My Life will move to a new home in the upper reaches of Fishtown.]