Damn. I thought they'd make it through the new album at least. Or I'd hoped.

And dammit, the upcoming FOB album better be STELLAR, because I need something to get me through this.

To be fair, I think it might be. They seem really happy and we know how I feel about the lyricist/singer combo.

I know that any artist is always dependent on fans for success, but no one "deserves" anything other than what the band wants to create and/or share.

We're entitled to a copy of their work after we pay for it. That's it. They choose whether to create the work, we choose whether to buy it. If both work out, success. If not, there wasn't a contract, we just liked each other for a while.

I hate how entitled some of the posts are, all about how the fans deserve more than a one paragraph explanation, why is there no farewell tour and blah blah.

Yep. They're ticking me off more than a little. No chance you whiny brats made this less appealing for them, is there? Hmmm?

I don't know how any band stays together at all. Most other artistic collaborations are finite by design and/or collaborators get to have some sort of a personal life.

I assume we'll see Frank in plenty of other projects. I imagine we'll see Ray making music as well. I'm looking forward to both. And whatever comics Gerard comes up with.

I can only hope that at some point the bad parts begin to fade and the good parts are missed and they want to say something together. It seems more likely than not, really.

We've got a longer message from Gerard. [link]

Well THAT just made me cry. Oh boys.

Yeah.

This is the song in my head for the past few days. Between the meteorite and the announcement... it just feels right. And then the letter? Oy.

[link]

They'll do other gorgeous things.

We rarely (ever?) talk about opera here, but I thought Buffistas might appreciate this: Nico Muhly has written an opera, to be performed at the Met this fall, about sockpuppets. [link]

10 Things You Didn't Know About Robyn Hitchcock

My faves:

He is available for weddings.

“I’m a minister of the Universal Life Church of Arizona: I can marry people in the States, although I’m not sure I can do it in Britain. I married Colin Meloy of The Decemberists and his wife [artist] Carson Ellis five years ago. I haven’t done a marriage recently, though.”

...

He suspects cats may one day rule the Earth.

“The dinosaurs ruled for something like 100 million years and we’ve been here 30,000 years. I don’t know if we’re going to outdo the run of the dinosaurs. Will a feline dynasty in 5 million years be looking back at us, the super-cyber cats who survived the next apocalypse? Have you seen those Bengal cats with silver skins? I can imagine them walking around museums that have our iPhones in, looking in wonder.”

Hey a couple of music questions for those in the know.

1. How would you explain New Wave to someone?

2. Say I was interested in exploring a bit of progressive rock. (Because I am.) Current exposure is basically Pink Floyd. Where should I start?

1. How would you explain New Wave to someone?

Well, "New Wave" was a marketing ploy to find a more palatable name for Punk. But really it was a splitting off of one part of early punk - the part interested in pop hooks and dance beats and wacky imagery. Bands like Devo, Rezillos, B-52s were all kitschy and catchy.

As a genre it's more keyboard driven, and - as I put it in the Bubblegum book - the refuge for gays, geeks and girls as punk turned into hardcore (white, suburban, skater boys).

In a way it encompassed the bands that owed the most to Bowie and Roxy Music, the artier end of glam rock. And less to the Stooges/NY Dolls.

So Gary Numan, Devo, the Cars, B-52s, Lene Lovich...

Slate did a series on the history of prog last year: [link]

Check out this 60-minute concert (5 songs) of Genesis with Peter Gabriel from 1973: [link]