December 27, 2002

The rush of Christmas has finally subsided. Thanks to friends and family for the thoughtful gifts and good times. I now have a few moments to leave Real Space and focus on Net Space. Phew.

Best Music of 2002

Several websites have their best Records of 2002 lists. Pitchfork is particularly interesting. The Times Dispatch is not as interesting. I tend to agree more with the former. If you're interested in the unacknowledged rulers of music on the web, check out the reviews by Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Heather Phares on All Music; their reviews show up on sites all across the web – from Barnes and Noble to Yahoo Shopping.

Do I have a top ten? No, that's somehow too orderly for me. A name check should suffice – Wilco, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Interpol, Seater-Kinney and Blackalicious. Now, can someone explain Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to me?

Dissuading Suicide Bombers

Plastic points to an article in the University of Chicago magazine on suicide bombers. How do you prevent them? According to the article, not very easily.

December 8, 2002

Interpol at Alley Katz, Richmond, VA

Any review of Interpol throws out the same words – Joy Division, Chameleons, Pyschedelic Furs, the Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The comparisons have some truth: Interpol's singer Paul Banks' voice and delivery bear a striking resemblance to a half dozen singers from 80's UK bands. Also, Interpol is a band from New York.

The band arrived on stage, neatly dressed in ties and v-neck sweaters. They kicked off with "Untitled", the first track from their LP. After hearing it live, the song is clearly their "travellin' music". The four of them (plus a keyboardist) hopped across the tracks from their LP and EP. For their encore, they played the last two tracks that hadn't made the main set.

So are Interpol good? Hell, yes. However, their quality isn't due to some of their more obvious influences, but some rock and roll essentials. Guitarists Kessler and Banks have learned a lesson from Television, Sonic Youth, Jawbox, and even Sleater-Kinney – how to use two guitars playing separate lines to create a wall of sound. Between Kessler's Rickenbacher and Banks' Les Paul, Interpol generated a spectrum of sounds – from a sheer wall of "Roland" to grooving riffs on "PDA" to minimalist gloom on "Hands Away". Also, the band knows how to use dynamics – each song isn't just one riff or groove. Instead, each song changes tone – "Stella was a diver..." begins quietly then soars into the chorus and breaks as does "Obstacle One". Credit for this control goes to the guitarists as well as the rhythm section of Sam Fogarino and Carlos De.

There were only two down sides to the show. Interpol, like most new bands, doesn't have that much material yet. Since all they had was the LP and EP to draw from, their set was fairly short. Also, someone spilled a beer in the balcony above me. I was under the floor, but the beer have leaked between the boards, dribbling off of a ceiling fan on to a half dozen other folks and myself.