Ahhhh, the glorious mid-90s. While we were waiting for the information superhighway to bolster to 8 lanes a side, we were still figuring out what was cool courtesy of zines.

The lovingly compiled, hipper than hip cut and paste missives from the dawn of desktop publishing were a stapled together staple for (I have to say it… gross!) Generation X denizens looking to keep up with wot was worth keeping up with.

Buffalo had a few great ones, one of which was Slack. While hitting the strip for a tandem of Village Green, Apollo Records, Adr-Ian’s Bagels and (insert yer favorite long-gone Elmwood Avenue business) you could pick up a copy of the mostly monthly zine for free.

I was still a year away from the legal age of 21 when Slack published issue #8 all about beer, glorious beer. Boy, can I use it now

Luckily, Slack publisher Mark Wisz - former ne’er do well, now local design maven - has put it online. You can and should check it out here at his blog:

RoamBuffalo blogspot

Now that Slack is making its way to online archives, it’s time for Avenue Player. Chris Celeste, are you reading this?

Is this a great music city or what?

I was talking to my friend Al-x in Chicago and he says that Buffalo’s choice of music on this fine Friday evening kills Chi tonight.

He’s right. You can’t go wrong with the choices:

TECHNOIR Goth Night at Mohawk Place - That is not a misprint! The boys with eyeliner and girls in plastic invade the venerable rock and roll room to dance into the wee hours to the sounds of Bauhaus, Alien Sex Fiend and KMFDM. How long until the Mohawk has to put up mirrors all over a la the old Continental upstairs?For those in need of a refresher on how to prepare for this event:

In the colossal, radio-ready but road-worn rock and roll machine of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, it’s hard to separate one single great part from the sum of the whole. There was a guy they called “the Phantom” who was anything but a ghost. Springsteen would introduce him as “Mr. Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” because at times he would seemingly be hiding in the shadows but when the notes from his organ started swirling through the air, his presence was beyond entrancing. You couldn’t miss what he was doing.

When I put on 1975’s landmark Born To Run - beyond the Boss’ alleyway poetry and boardwalk-commanding vox - what I always hear that pulls me in is coming from Danny Federici. His glockenspiel punctuates the redemptive escape on “Thunder Road” and his glock and organ-combined attack is the high-octane thing fueling “Born To Run” past the finish line. He gave The River’s “Hungry Heart” its bounce and there’s his unforgettable, somber accordion part at the core of “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.

There are simply too many great Danny Federici moments to go on about. Any Springsteen fan worth his or her salt will have a unique list.

In November of last year, Federici was forced to exit Springsteen and E Street’s Magic Tour to pursue treatment for melanoma. He sadly lost the battle, passing away yesterday at the age of 58. His sound - however - will stick around forever and woosh through the ears fo generations to come with the kind of power and beauty one might get listening to the Atlantic Ocean crashing along the Jersey shoreline.

Bruce Springsteen & Danny Federici on YOU TUBE:Bruce & Danny

I never really got around to fully recapping my SXSW 2008 beyond this Day One report featured in ARTVOICE. At this late point, a full rehash of the dirty particulars is just not gonna happen.

Needless to say, my trip to the annual music conference last month was everything I expected. Perhaps I’ve come to expect a lot because hopes were high and it was ultimately tremendous. There’s more to it than seeing 80+ bands over a week. There’s more to it than getting into the Texas sun in throes of a dreary Buffalo March. There’s more to it than the over the legal limit of bbq and mexican food.

In my five years of attending I can only put it as something kin to a lost week at a music lover’s Disneyworld. It’s overwhelming, overloading, kinda surreal and often like a dream come true.

Yeah, dreams come true. Like those Disneyworld vacation ads. Is this a hokey take on what’s supposed to be a music industry powwow? Maybe, but I do mean it with sincerity.

Where else can you see the bands that everyone will be talking about in the coming months, bask in the sheer ego of Lou Reed celebrating himself in conversation about what a genius he is or stand by side with one of the guitarist/singers of the only band that mattered?

The good news for Clash and Big Audio Dynamite fans: Jonesy has lost nuthin’, erm… ‘cept maybe some hair. His latest project Carbon/Silicon (with Generation X/Sigue Sigue Sputnik guitarist Tony James) is sharp, worldly punk-infused rock and roll heavy on thoughts and hooks. Carbon/Silicon’s full length The Last Post (Caroline) is a refreshing record loaded with rock that you can believe in and raise a flag for.It’s the perfect antecedent to The Clash and B.A.D. Punk ain’t dead, it just keeps getting funkier.

DOWNLOAD NOW:
Carbon/Silicon-magic-suitcase