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Well... the weekend beckons.

We were supposed the play an outdoor show in Deerfield last night, but the rain ruined it. So we'll play it tonight. Then we're playing The Taste of Randolph tomorrow night, which should be great. Seems like the weather will cooperate too, which is always an issue with these festivals. Last night was a drag because we packed up all our gear and drove up to Deerfield, just in case the show went forward... and today we have to do it again. It was good that we went up though, because even though it was raining, a few dozen people still came out expecting to see us and we were able to tell them to come back tonight. Should be fun.

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On Tuesday and Thursday mornings such as this one, when I'm hanging out at home, I like to put on MTV and/or VH1 and check out their video countdowns, just to see what the kids are into. Or what large media corporations think the kids are into... or would like the kids to be into. And also the 18-34 year olds with disposable income.

You get the idea.

Anyway... I think it's a pretty interesting time for mainstream music. I approach this from the premise that there's always great music being made. What changes from time period to time period is whether or not good music is popular. And right now, a lot of popular music is good and a lot of good music is popular. Not all popular music is good, of course, and I'm not even saying that this "good popular music" is groundbreaking... but hell, Nirvana wasn't really that groundbreaking either: just great. 

Anyway... if you look at what's going on right now, it's encouraging. Coldplay, U2, The Boss, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, System of a Down, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Beck... all have put out big albums that are selling well.

I don't even really like all of those albums... but it seems like all those bands at the very least care about their music, treat it like a craft... and operate on their own creativity rather than at the behest of their labels. Add to that bands like Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, The Mars Volta and their ilk... bands that have previously put out music under the radar and have broken through to a bigger audience with their most recent efforts.

Very encouraging.

And the biggest wildcard to me, The White Stripes. Have you heard their new album? If the first single is any indication, it is even more dirty and low-fi than their last album... which is saying something. The fact that in the age of Pro-Tools and computer recording, a major label is willing to put out something that sounds like it was (and might well have been) recorded on a 4 track predating Sgt. Pepper's... you think that would have happened in 1997?

Add to that the rising (nay, exploding) popularity/artistic brilliance of anything Kanye West touches, Outkast, and the continued quality of Neptunes and Neptunes-influenced polished R & B/dance music... and Alicia Keys. Again, go back and look at what was popular in 1997... I'm even willing to give a measure of credit to the super-bubblegum of Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne... at least somebody is trying to make it rock.

Failing, but trying. I'd take those two over Brit-naynay/Christina any day. 

If death were not an option.

That's not to say that there's still not a lot of crap that's popular. That will always be the case. But the larger trend towards a wide range of good to great popular music, I think, is pretty strong.

And the Burn Rome Burn album isn't even out yet.

jbg