I had some realizations about the music scene last week.  Without much pomp and circumstance, this is what I’ve been thinking:

1) Does everyone sound like Daughtry?  Or does Daughtry sound like everyone?  Seriously… listen to the male leads on modern rock radio.  Bands like Sixx Am, Seether, 3 Days Grace, and (this hurts, because I kind of like them) Breaking Benjamin all have gravely-voiced, yet sensitive and occasionally melodic frontmen.  When did rock radio become so… homogenous?  Maybe that’s why the hipsters love weird voices so much… although rock has frontment like Maynard James Keenan and Serj Takanian who sound like no one else.  Am I missing something or is rock radio… boring?  Please pass smelling salts in comment form if you disagree.

2) Why, for the love of hiphop and all other things holy, is T-Pain popular?  I’m a fan of synths and electronic music (Paul van Dyk, Tiesto), but come on… there is so much more to hiphop and rap than hooks and synths.  Thankfully, two albums have recently renewed my faith in the genre – Kanye West’s Graduation and Jay-Z’s American Gangster.  On first listen, Kanye’s album comes off quiter than expected; it’s not a club-banger.  But given a second, third, umpteenth listen, it reveals itself as an introspective look at a life of fame and indulgence tempered by a consciousness of the fleeting notion of it all.  Often-collaborator Jay-Z comes back triumphantly on Gangster after a somewhat uninspired (and boring) showing on Kingdom Come.  Gangster melds Jay-Z’s street sensibility and urban poet persona seamlessly, offering both catchy beats with intelligent lyrics.  My favorite track, Ignorant Shit, features a guest spot by Beanie Siegel and offers a hilarious take on the celebutards in both popular culture and politics.  Kanye and Jay-Z are the kings of hiphop… let’s hope the general public takes notice.

3) I heart the Khyber.  Located in Olde City in Philadelphia, it’s a small bar/concert venue, but is supercool.  Upstairs you’ll find exposed brick and $1 Pabst on tap.  Downstairs is a more chic venue and the surprisingly small concert room.  However, it’s pretty cool seeing relatively popular indie and local acts in this type of intimate (yet loud) venue.  The only downside?  You leave smelling like the sweat and passion of your fellow hipster revellers.  I must also give props to Ginger Vitis (aka Kristen) for inviting me to see The Electric Six there last week.  Damn - this band (fittingly, six-piece) rocked the Khyber with their synth-backed guitar rock and blistering stage performance.  The vibe was amped, but friendly.  After seeing my friend Paul get ensconsed dead-center in the pit, he emerged at song’s end, high-fiving the guys (with 20 lbs or more on him) who gleefully slammed into him.  Too cool – I recommend getting to a show there immediately.

That’s what I got on the scene for the time being.  Thanksgiving week is going to be killer, with shows by Head, Jealousy Curve, and Silvertide at WMMR’s Gobbleroo show at the TLA (Wednesday, Nov 21), the Sloth reunion at Grape Street the same night, Fat City Reprise returning home and rocking the TLA on the 23rd, Stillicide’s record release party at the Grape on November 24th, two shows by the Hooters at the Electric Factory on the 21st and 23rd (for which I still need to grovel for tickets).  Check out SOMETHIN’ banging this week.  Gobble, gobble muthasuckas! :)

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