Campaign (semi-)endorsement of the week: "I'm sort of supporting Al Gore, which is bizarre. I don't trust the guy as far as I can throw him. He's a conservative liberal, but I think he's going to chew up George W. and spit him out"

-Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, one of the bands that spoke out in the '80s against Tipper Gore's campaign for parental advisory stickers on albums.

Appropriate song lyric for abovementioned endorsement: "I wish that I knew what I know now/When I was younger"

- "Ooh La La," The Faces.

BORDERLINE

Shorter column this week, to allow us to talk about NEMO (see box on right). Who hasn't seen those SonicNet.com commercials where various music stars sing "me"? They're intriguing, they feature big stars (Springsteen doing endorsements?) and yet it still does nothing to induce me to visit the website. It just seems the Net-marketing strategies get crazier and crazier. ChickClick.com is running a contest to find an online DJ (or "chick-jockey" as they call it), and they promise one year's free rent in Los Angeles and "all the coolest parties" to the woman who sends in the best demo tape. That's a cool deal, but is this an indication of a true boom in on-line listening? Or just trying to grab a slice of a fixed pie? Has any singer or band become famous solely through Internet distribution?

KEEP IT TOGETHER

Still, the rise of the MP3 format seems to have inspired a move towards a mix-and-match approach to music, which means compilations and DJ mix albums are probably going to be increasingly popular in the U.S. and will lose the K-Tel cheap-and-awful stigma. For instance, Essential Selections, one of the major British DJ mix labels, announced that they're starting to release mix albums in the U.S. My question is, how come American compilations ("Total Hits '99," etc.) are designed to look so much uglier than their glitzy British equivalents, even if the quality of songs is just as good (or bad)? Walk into Tower or HMV and compare the two...

CAUSING A COMMOTION

Random music news item of the week: a weekly paper in Australia got into trouble for excoriating Natalie Imbruglia for promoting her supposed lesbian affair, saying "Not only does no one criticize some stars for their lesbian relationships but now it's a form of advertising." As the paper accurately noted, Imbruglia is dating the lead singer of Aussie band silverchair. Problem is, the lead singer of silverchair is Daniel Johns, who at last check was certifiably male.

CONFERENCE

NEMO, New England annual's music conference, takes place this weekend at various clubs and bars around Boston and it's a good chance to catch quality underground music, not just from New England but from as far afield as Australia and Los Angeles (which is arguably another foreign country).

On the right, we have our selection of the most interesting events, although since each venue features multiple artists each night, if you're going to see any one of them you may as well stay to see the other artists performing. Have fun!

Comments? Queries? E-mail dsng@fas

nemo highlights

Friday, April 14

Melissa Ferrick and Push Stars at Club Passim: a great female singer/songwriter, along with hometown favorites-and they're in the Square!

The Exies at the Middle East: this Californian band rocks with a British invasion-like sound. Pity about their name.

Starling at T.T. The Bear's: Canadian alt-pop, at times almost too catchy.

Tidewater Grain at Common Ground: intense rock from this Baltimore band.

Saturday, April 15

The Allstonians at the Greek American: one of Boston's premier ska bands in a town lousy with them.

Angry Salad at the Middle East: what you'd hear on 100 different college radio stations-indie rock done well.

Little Red Rocket at Bill's Bar: lush female vocals over guitar-based rock (a la Veruca Salt) from this Athens band.