Buzzing in the hivemind

December has announced its arrival rather forcefully - freezing rain and black ice here, storms in the Midwest. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Blogdonia's own DJA, along with fellow big band explorers Sherisse Rogers and Charles Waters, are featured in this NewMusicBox feature. Kudos to all three, and especially Sherisse for her upcoming IAJE premiere. I am now green with envy over Darcy's record collection, visible in the video feature. Charles' music is the least familiar to me of the three, but sounds very much in line with the oft-talked-about '73-'90 list and the music stemming from that. Rife with CEF, I tells ya.

It seemed the end was nigh for the Village Voice's renowned Pazz and Jop Poll, especially with the dismissal of the esteemed braintrust Robert Christgau, but it has been resuscitated by Idolator, and is open to various contributors (pending editorial approval). I look forward to the inaugural edition. [via Zoilus]

Helen Spitzer offers a reflection on the social aspects of radio. The joy of discovery is wonderful (and all-too-rare in a time of cultural monopoly and predictability), and there is something special about sitting in front of one's receiver, perhaps sipping a hot beverage, and not knowing what will pour out of the speakers next. I try to convey the elation that comes from digging through the CKUT library and other resources, finding previously unknown-to-me gems of music, whenever I program radio. I have nothing against the "simultaneous futurepast" that allows me to catch WeFunk after my own Friday night commitments (gigs or sleep, normally), or the series of tubes that let me tune into CIUT's What Is Hip? while I'm hundreds of kliks away.

And for the Montreal ex-pats that haven't yet heard, here sounds the death knell for Avenue du Parc. My opinion of this whole debacle is here (scroll to comments), and is now flushed out with a long list of bilingual expletives for this bunch of municipal politicos. Aside from the cultural importance of Parc, it's really the initial lack and subsequent dismissal of public consultation that enrages me. 40K signatures to the contrary and the motion still gets a governmental green-light? And we have the audacity to consider ourselves democratic? Come on...