CMJ Blues

tech glitches--actually some of them were more like fiascos--all but ruined Craig Wedren's CMJ set for me (and, i would venture, for him). i ranted about it on Time Out's new blog, so you can read that if you want to.

was, though, happy to hear two classic Shudder to Think songs in the set: "Hit Liquor" and the fucking incredible "X-French T-Shirt," both from "Pony Express Record." i had heard this record in high school and had a vague sense that i needed to revisit it later in life, but it was only earlier this year that i realized it was one of the most glorious records of the '90s--a kind of weird avant-garde offshoot of alt-rock and also a harbinger, or at least a prime example, of dissonant math-prog in parts (perhaps?). or maybe the mainstream alt-rock bands were just watered-down offshoots of Shudder to Think.

Wedren didn't play "Till the Night Is Over," which is this gorgeous song from his solo disc, "Lapland." in my opinion, that one isn't quite up to the Shudder standard, but it's worth hearing.

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got shut out of the Khlyst show b/c i forgot my goddamn driver's license. anyone see it?

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early reaction to the new Cat Stevens (now recording simply at Yusuf) disc: it's nice, but nothing special. he just sounds too damn contented, which i guess makes sense since he's been living a devout religious life for the past two decades. But still...