While We Were Out

Three months. A quarter of a year. A lot of albums, and a lot of news.

I haven't been ignoring things - it's very difficult not to hear change when the ground is shaking around you - but it's fair to say that I haven't been broadcasting myself as much. My passion became a job, of sorts. Interviews started sounding the same. Shows were repetitive - or at least covering them became so.

But it's still exciting.

When I first started ÜberDrivel - almost three years ago now - I just wanted something to pass the time. I didn't really know where it would go, and it has completely surpassed my expectations. And I realize that's too much to just throw away. Too important.

So, ladies and gentlemen, to make it official: I'm back!

Here are some things that happened during the hiatus (mostly depressing):

-Blender runs out of juice. I interviewed for an internship there last year, and it seemed like a really cool place. While not always my style or subject matter, there was some good journalism in there, and some really good writers. It's sad to see yet another print publication go under, but at least there's still the website.

-Google pursues free, "legal" downloads in China. The fact that the major labels have bought into this means two things to me: business is so desperate that they're willing to pursue anything that might give them a market share and China is a serious deal, and potentially a huge chunk of the pie. I was born in Beijing, and it always discouraged me how little interesting music seemed to emerge from China, so hopefully that will change. (More on this later...)

-R.I.P. Etherea, R.I.P. Kim's, R.I.P. Virgin (soon), R.I.P. Sound Fix Lounge (maybe not?). Other Music, please hang on!

-Sirius and XM merge. Which would seem like a massive antitrust issue, but people don't really want to pay for anything these days, least of all radio. On a related note, I have a newish radio program on WNYU, called Telephasic Workshop. Deep house, minimal techno and IDM, enjoy.

-ÜberDrivel is on Twitter - free NYC concert feed all summer!

And, since it has really been a while, here is a musical treat. I dare you to not get it stuck in your head.

MP3: Gabriel Ananda - Babypunk