We've got the right to choose and there ain't no way we'll lose it! This is our life, this is our song!

After my visit with bbanzai in Chicago, he put me on the scent of Joan Jett's Blackhearts label. From there, I found a rather great driving hard rock band called Girl in a Coma.

This is the second hard driving, straight ahead rock and roll girl band I have encountered this year. I really hope that its a trend.

Those Darlin's which continue to defy accurate genre pigeonholing, being alternately described as country punk, roots rock, etc

and then there are The Dollyrots which seem to me more like Blondie in that the lead singer, like Debbie Harry, will happily embrace whatever will get her into the charts big time. But at least for the moment, blazing hard through three chords very loudly seems to be her thing.

One day you will tell me what you think of all the other music I exposed you to.

Maybe he's just trying to be tactful.

Meanwhile, BJ, check out a Swedish band (I think they're Swedish; it's possible they're Norwegian instead) called Mensen. I seem to recall you being impressed when I introduced you to Girlschool some years ago, and there's every reason to imagine that someone who likes Girlschool would like Mensen as well.

He liked the Gimmies well enough when I played them for him live, and he's a proven Spankers fan, but on the other hand, I'm not personally invested in his opinion of that I showed him. I just would like to know if he got some enjoyment out of it, because that's why I give it to him. The music, that is. Even if he didn't like it, at least he's been exposed to more, now, than he was before, and that's a good thing.

By that same token, those who like Girlschool would likely enjoy Dollyrots and Girl in a Coma. While not as reliant on the full bore guitar chord attack of the previous two bands, they seem to be leaning toward 60s girl band sound, Those Darlins more than make up for it in somewhat more crass songwriting.

They remind me a bit of The Ramones in that their studio work is pretty mainstream, but they kick it up quite a bit live.

Skip - I enjoyed a full bore eclectic onslaught of a mix on my reliable Sony Walkman which included mostly Gimmees, but also Old 97s, Hillside Thickets, Spankers, Eyeliners as well as my own Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis, and a generous helping of Telstarman, SSM, and Hugazombie's contributions.

The resulting wild swings of styles would have blown the aural receptors of ordinary men.

Well, that's all I wanted to know!

Speaking for myself, that's exactly what I was going for. Since I never got reciprocated in the disc trade I made that for, it's nice to get some belated notice that someone appreciates it.

Uh,oh. heads up, music lovers...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... s-20101207

I knew there was a good reason for being resistant to buying music downloads only.

Digital is inherently safer than analog, if you approach it properly. Which means, like, going through your archive every n years and copying it onto fresh media, and if appropriate into a fresh format. Doesn't cost much, and done right will carry you very reliably through the next century, by which time I bet there won't be any such problem anymore. Which is more than I can say for most hundred year old analog media.

Two hundred-year-old analog media, on the other hand, are almost universally in better shape than their most direct hundred-year-old counterparts. At the law library where I work, for example, most of our books and periodicals of 1911 vintage are yellowed, crumbling, and in some cases nigh illegible, but the stuff from circa 1811 just smells a little funny.

Currently loving Palamino by Trampled By Turtles, Grim Scary Tales by Macabre, and Doomsday King by The Crown. BJ's totally right about Trampled By Turtles, by the way. They may have no drummer and play acoustic instruments, but their attitude and execution are as metal as bluegrass is likely to ever get.

They're going to be one of the featured performers at ROMP this year and I'm stoked to hear them. I've heard from others that their festival shows are similar to that of the Ramones in that they try to play as many of their songs as fast as they can within the allotted 1.25 hours they get onstage.