A Paler Shade of White is an interesting article about indie rock and race. Its basic premise seems to be with the rise of legitimate black mega-star musicians, white people are self-consciously limiting themselves from doing what has previously made white music good -- namely stealing from black people. Mostly he pins it on a lack of rhythm:
How did rhythm come to be discounted in an art form that was born as a celebration of rhythm’s possibilities? Where is the impulse to reach out to an audienceâ€â€to entertain? I can imagine James Brown writing dull material. I can even imagine the Meters wearing out their fans by playing a little too long. But I can’t imagine any of these musicians retreating inward and settling for the lassitude and monotony that so many indie acts seem to confuse with authenticity and significance.
It's a neat analysis and it's fun to put down boring jangly Pitchfork whiteboy rock. I liked this quote:
But by the mid-nineties black influences had begun to recede, sometimes drastically, and the term “indie rock†came implicitly to mean white rock.
But there are lots of counter-examples. The White Stripes for instance are still healthily stealing from black people and are doing just fine by it. My city has more blues-rock bands than you can shake a stick at. But I guess they don't get called "indie rock" as they're not white enough.
Weird, just got a call from my drummer saying "Turn on the radio! There's a song called Fake It that sounds like yours but it's some other band!" I realize I don't even have a way to listen to radio in the house so I went and looked it up online. It's 
Hey, Dead in the Water, a film directed by Marc Buhmann that used my music in it, was released on DVD yesterday. 
Wow, it's been a week of death and terminal illness in Brad-land. Not sure what brought that on, but I apologize.
I've known Adam Finley since 2002 when he wrote about Brad Sucks in 
The GT-8 + Power Engine combo got a tryout in rehearsal last night. Verdict: thumbs up. It was sorta touch and go with levels and patches for a first try, so I don't think I'll be using it at tomorrow night's show, but with some tweaking I think it'll be a big improvement.
The biggest difference is the amount of tone control available. It's wonderful and horrifying at the same time -- so many choices! Also there's a fair amount of difference between what the tones sound like at whatever level I can manage in my house and band levels. That'll take some adjustment -- as well as probably me sitting in the garage diddling with settings and being eaten by mosquitos.