I Ate Your Microphone

This Austin, Texas group certainly does not try to imitate, nor does its sound fit with some of the too fresh pop rock of the last five or six years. There is a taste of techno/David Bowie/British punk here as well. If you don’t believe it, just listen to "Firecracker Ova Looven" remix. I was not sure what I listened to at first, but I liked it. "Firecracker" (Playlouder 2007) is rather fascinating, actually. The keyboard creativity makes these tunes work, holding the crisp vocals together. Some may argue that this is not new or fresh. Others will not be so sure.

"Every Day" starts out innocently enough, a melodic tune that is easy on the ears. But why does this group’s music bring Andy Warhol and Devo to mind? I can’t quite make the connection. There’s something disconnected in there, frightening in the way that Warhol’s view of reality was. Then there’s that song "Your Biggest Fan" which for some reason reminds me of Donovan Leitch (Mellow Yellow), even of the Beatles in their Sgt. Pepper days.

Band members include Jason Chronis, Mitch Calvert, Matt Simon, Jared Van Fleet and Ramesh Srivastava. First formed about five years ago, Voxtrot only recently released a full menu of tunes for their growing number of fans.

Voxtrot at MySpace

Tags: independent music, indie music, voxtrot, indie, music

In most records of the alternative music scene, the 1990s is considered a decade of explosion for this genre. In keeping with that theme, Jim DeRogatis penned a book that drew immediate attention on publication. "Milk It" (De Capo Press 2003) was soon hailed as a "cool book" (Gina Vivinetto, St. Petersburg Times) and a book of truth that pulled no punches (Dave Chamberlain, New City).

His subjects included Kurt Cobain just months before he died, Arrested Development (DeRogatis said this group best "updated" the feeling of Woodstock ‘69), and Pearl Jam. This very brief list of subjects from DeRogatis’ tenure as pop music critic for the Chicago Sun Times does little to show the breadth and depth of the writing this fellow offered in the Alternative Nation decade.

So what is DeRogatis up to now, during this explosion of indie music that includes everything from legitimate rock/alternative groups to single artists who just want someone to listen to them? In 2002 he was still at the Sun Times as pop music critic and hosted a radio show called Sound Opinions. In 2006 he published a book about the Flaming Lips: "Staring At Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma’s Flaming Lips" (Broadway Books 2006). Apparently he still has something to say about the fascinating world of alternative and independent label music. www.jimdero.com

Tags: indie, music, independent music, indie music