Dispatches 29 September 2000

HERE I AM

Introductions are in order, I suppose. This isn't the omnivorous pop-culture compendium that is In the (K)Now; for that, you'll have to see Soman's website. This is In the Mix, a column specifically focused on music, with previews of upcoming concerts in the Boston area, plus commentary on current musical trends and occasional recommendations of what's good. Since everyone's musical tastes aren't background, I'll say where I'm coming from: I DJ on the side, which inspired the name of this column (props to those of you who can ident the source), and in my room I listen to a mix of house, '70s soul, R&B, British indie, and bossa nova. Oh, and if I'm not careful I'll grow up to be the lead character in High Fidelity, endlessly viewing life through the prism of lists of top-5 songs.

I would do a summer roundup, but having spent the entire summer overseas, it's hard to comment on musical developments in the US, since London's music scene is very different from any American one. In any case, I spent a large part of my summer hunting down rare recordings and obscure vinyl records. I will say my favorite new songs of the summer were probably Coldplay's "Yellow," k.d. lang's "Summerfling," Spiller's "Groovejet," and Bebel Gilberto's "Samba de Benção," which probably shows the tone of my summer. Of course, by the time you read this, depending on what the administration decides, you might not be able to go onto Napster and just check out those songs. Not that people ever do that of course.

YOU NEED TO KNOW

Teaser question of the summer, and one which I hope more and more people will know the answer to: Who is Jill Scott?

HMM....

Okay, now for the music news of the week. Mark Chapman, John Lennon's killer, is up for parole after 20 years of jail. And apparently the reason he killed Lennon was that his father didn't love him. ("I think the main problem was that my father never talked about life or problems," he's quoted as saying.) Hmm. Can you say "dubious pop psychology"?

MUSIC RELEASE NEWS

As for release dates, next Tuesday (or if you're hardcore, next Monday night) looks set to be major in the record stores. There is, of course, the official release of Radiohead's Kid A on Capitol Records, and seeing how everyone's called them the greatest band in the world and every album they've released has been hailed as a classic. Then there are the new Green Day and Paul Simon albums (titled Warning and You're the One respectively), both of which presumably would have been bigger news in their respective heydays but are still major. But aside from those releases, there's some real gems among the other names on the release schedule that deserve checking out: Emiliana Torrini, an Icelandic trip-hop singer, releases Love in the Time of Science while indie rockers Badly Drawn Boy releases The Hour of Bewilderbeast. I was there when B.D.B. performed at a Virgin Megastore in London and caused a massive jam as a crowd accumulated.

Yes, it's well and truly fall, with miserable weather (record lows this morning!). At least there's the promise of better concerts over the horizon. Indeed, there are a few good ones over this weekend and next week, including Saint Etienne at Axis on Oct. 2 and the Roots at Avalon on Oct. 4. Oh, and the Bangles, staples of 80s dances, at Avalon tonight! (Trivia fact: lead Bangle Susanna Hoffs is married to Jay Roach, director of Austin Powers.) Altogether now: "am I only dreaming / or is this burning an eternal flame?"