Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Stranger in a strange land, part 1



As I make my re-entry into blogging -- I think I am back for real now, though who really knows -- I am trying to get a handle on how things have changed out here. Keep in mind that I've been writing JTMOU since 2004. That's an eternity in Internet time. I have seen a lot of folks come and go.

Some of the usual suspects are still doing what they did back in the day; that's good. Others have disappeared; regrettable, but understandable. But as I look around I am mainly interested in the writers who have jumped in since 2011 or so, when my own posting dropped off so drastically.

To that end, I thought I would start a series in which I point to blogs I like that are either new, or new to me. Generally, I'll be mentioning folks who deal with music critically, avoiding the road warrior / journeyman genres.

First up is my friend Frank Mabee, currently teaching at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts. Frank and I were grad students together at USC a few years back. He is also a guitarist, whose band, Full of Emptiness, performed in one of the first double bills the IJG ever did, back in 2000 or 2001, at the one and only California Institute of Abnormal Arts. It would be an understatement to say I have fond memories of that gig.

Frank's blog, Nonsailor, is literally days old, but he is already churning out great stuff, including this post on the cultural valences of punk and other music. We had a brief exchange about it in the comments that I hope you will also read.

Enjoy.

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