Quick Hits Before I Return to California

(1) I just saw the White Rabbits. Boy, they were pretty good. Their percussion section, which consists of 2.5 White Rabbits, is particularly “sick.” I kept trying to concentrate on how they were making such amazing sounds. Also, the White Rabbits are mostly tiny, which I appreciate. The keyboardist looks potentially very tall, but he was sitting down for the entire set. Bad for your back, I say. So which songs should you download? “The Plot” is a reliable crowd pleaser.

(2) Because I’m about to hit the road, I am trying to assimilate the last two albums from The M’s, the new Bonnie “Prince” Billy,” and also Shearwater. I met a very charming Shearwaterer during SXSW, as she is a friend of one of my good friends, and an even closer crony of the gentlemanly mathematician who is now her boyfriend. This is a pretty extended connection. But I’m actually going to miss their show in Washington as I’ll still be away, which is kind of pitiful. Also, I’m guessing I’ll keep listening to a few other excellent albums that will provide fodder for my next muxtape.

(3) Asians in pop music: let’s dwell on this for a second. Dorian Dumont, one of the members of The Teenagers, a band I like very much, is almost certainly Asian. One of The Dodos is half-Asian, I believe, which makes The Dodos a quarter-Asian, i.e., a “Quapa.” The Dodos are also excellent. All in all, I’d say Asians in pop music are doing pretty well at the moment. For those who find this crude racialism distasteful, I understand and respect where you’re coming from. But I do feel some vague sense of camaraderie with Asians who are “keeping it real,” particularly since my not-so-secret goal in life is to become, as a friend put it, the neocon Raffi.