Les Yper-sound has a hott new layout up. (Too bad that blogname grammar is still screwy!) You know, it figures that as soon as I find another Chicago blog, I leave in about 2 months for another city. Does anyone know of any Minneapolis blogs? Tell me.

Pitchfork disses the new Mars Volta album. Prog rock SUCKS. But I think this is especially funny, because the Mars Volta has been one of those bands that Pfork keeps talking about in the news section and making clouded references as to how good they are. But they actually don't like them. Fuckers.

How much you wanna bet they pull this with Echoes? Which happens to rock the fucking catbox, if you skip past the cheesy shit.

Also, Broken Social Scene is coming to Chicago. So far this summer, I have found salvation from 18+ and 21+ shows by going to street festivals. Well, Schubas is setting up shows for a street festival, featuring BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE and THE WALKMEN on August 1 and 2, and IT'S MUFCKIN 18+ for the outdoor part. How can they DO that!? Is that even LEGAL!?!? I NEED to find a way to Siren fest.

Pfork also dug the new Earlimart album. I need to borrow that from my brother. It's not often that your lil brother finds out about cool indie bands before you do. You've learned well, Ben.

And Liz Phair gets the dreaded 0.0 rating.
She also got a terrible write up in the NYTimes, and actually wrote a letter to the editor about it [link from Modern Age]. I'm telling you, it DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS. The letter is the story of Chicken Little, as if she were a journalist, and in the end the moral is to "to experience the mystery of the storm [album], without thinking, without deconstructing, without checking what the other [critics] would do first."
This is the most ludicrous thing we have ever heard. IF YOU MADE A SHITTY ALBUM, YOU MADE A SHITTY ALBUM. While music shouldn't necessarily require thinking to listen to (debateable), you shouldn't have to listen to it without thinking to enjoy it.