Twenty

Though there is a little blurb each week on the WBER website under my playlist to check out the blog, I'm afraid I have been burrowing in for the winter. Strange really, as nothing is at all wrong on this end; in fact this fine month of March is the 20th Anniversary of the Spotlight Review.

That's as in 20 years; I was ready to hang it up at ten, then fifteen. Somehow inertia has kept my little half hour going. Of course, getting access to some great music and meeting some great people doesn't hurt in the slightest.

If anything, Web 2.0 is a little overwhelming, and the pop culture explosion that surrounds me doesn't help. A lot of blogs which I follow seem to have cut back on their updating as well; hey, real life does intrude, in good and bad ways. I must have some fifty-plus CDs which have come my way over the past few months that I haven't even cracked yet, whether they be promos or ones I even paid the hard-earned cash for. Throw in the ever-growing mountain of books to be read, the 48 shows still sitting on the DVR (including two seasons of Dexter), the pile of comics which I still love; the Myspace/Twitter/Facebook universe which I fruitlessly try to respond to. What's a boy to do?

At the very least, my family continues to keep me sane and happy. Sheila and I got to see the great Bruce Peninsula (the band, not the park, though I'm sure that's pretty great too) at their Toronto CD release, and it was as magical as I hoped. Their CD remains one of my favorites this year. As for the big favorite, we are going to see her in April, and Middle Cyclone has been in heavy rotation in just about every corner of the Scheffel household.

And yes, the show keeps right on trucking; I'm more committed to making that work than blog updating. For the next couple of weeks:

3/9: 20th Anniversary show: R.E.M., Pavement, the La's (deluxe reissues)
3/16: 20th Anniversary show: bands I have interviewed
3/23: Junior Boys, Ra Ra Riot/Passion Pit/Cut Off Your Hands

And following that, more installments with a wider variety of music and smaller reviews, at least just to clear the decks for a little bit, though that may be the way the format ultimately shakes down. Comments as always can be directed to the usual suspects.

Speaking of which, there is now a rudimentary Spotlight Review Facebook page, which is still being tweaked, but would love to have interested parties jump on board.
Take a look here, but if that doesn't work, try searching for Spotlight Review in the Facebook search box.

And as always, for 20 years and beyond, whenever I feel like taking a big break, I think of the few people who do comment or have told me that I turned them on to a group or artist that they wound up loving, or went on to explore further. That's a cool thing indeed. I can't say it enough: thanks for listening.