Indie Fantasy

With Fantasy Football a long ways away, and with Fantasy everything else sucking, we have created the obvious next step in “fantasy gaming”…. Fantasy Indie Rock.

Is there any better way to monitor the commodity that has become “indie” than by drafting artists as properties and tallying points?  I don’t think so.  It’s a simple formula:  Their name gets mentioned on Pitchfork or Stereogum news, you get a point. Simple as that.

So me, Curran, Kenny, Matt and Rob sat down and did our inaugural “Indie Rock Draft” this week, and began tallying points.  The scoreboard is on a Google cloud spreadsheet so everyone can make changes and update their rosters as need be.

I’ll keep you updated on it’s progress, but for your enjoyment (and so I can tag the shit out of this post), here’s how the draft went (please note, Matt came late):

Round 1

1. Curran    Kanye West
2. Kenny    Wilco
3. Rob    Animal Collective
4. Brian    Colin Meloy

Round 2

1. Brian    M.I.A.
2. Rob    Lily Allen
3. Kenny    Radiohead
4. Curran    The Decemberists

Round 3

1. Curran    Neko Case
2. Kenny    U2
3. Kroll    Conor Oberst
4. Rob    Girltalk
5. Brian    Death Cab For Cutie

Round 4

1. Brian    Peter, Bjorn & John
2. Rob    Sigur Ros
3. Kroll    Ladyhawke
4. Kenny    Andrew Bird
5. Curran    Grizzly Bear

Round 5

1. Curran    Jane’s Addiction
2. Kenny    Bruce Springsteen
3. Matt   Jesus Lizard
4. Rob    Dangermouse
5. Brian    No Age

Supplemental Draft

1. Matt    Crystal Stilts
2. Matt    Pains of Being Pure At Heart

The strategies were interesting… do you draft small-time bands with their SXSW stock rising, do you try to take a big guess on who’s going to be announced at Lollapalooza (or the billion of other festivals doing press releases),  do you risk taking the frontman of a band in the hopes you can double-up on points for their solo AND group material, or pick-up a producer who has his hands in a LOT of recordings but sometimes isn’t mentioned in shorter news articles.  Ohhhh, strategery.

If you’re curious, here are the top-5 scorers as of yesterday, 3/25:

1. Animal Collective - 6
2. Dinosaur Jr - 5
3. Death Cab For Cutie (tie) – 4
3. Passion Pit (tie) – 4
5. *13 bands tied with 3 points each*… Beach House, Billy Corrigan, Black Lips, Conor Oberst, Department of Eagles, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Jimmy Chamberlin, Kanye West, No Age, Soundgarden, Vivian Girls, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

BPRB: Groundhog Day Update

As you may or may not know, I’m trying to list good events to check out in Chicago, this week we have the first May dates scheduled and they’re DOOOZIES!  Check dates, times and ticket costs on the “Bored People Are Boring” Calendar of Events.

New Adds…

February:
French Horn Rebellion
Kid Static
The Interiors
The Picture Books
Coupleskate
Euphone
Reds and Blue

March:
Coltrane Motion
The Fake Fictions
Clem Snide
Heligoats
Takka Takka
Sister Suvi

April:
The Mountain Goats
John Vanderslice
The Tallest Man On Earth
The War on Drugs
Peter Bjorn and John
Chairlift
Neko Case

May:
Dan Deacon
Future Islands
Teeth Mountain
Vast

BPRB: January 23rd Update

LOTS of new Chicago concerts listed, including the first May concert date.  ALREADY!  MMMMmmm, I can feel the non-subzero  temperatures already.  Check dates times and ticket costs on the “Bored People Are Boring” Calendar of Events:

January:
Lambchop
Lasers and Fast and Shit
Friendly Foes

February:
Tortoise
Danger
Lazer Crystal
Kid Color
Leo 123
Flosstradamus
Gatekeeper
The Chamber Strings
Kevin Tihista
Lonesome Cougar
The 1900′s
Mazes
Cotton Jones
Headlights
Maserati
The Pomegranates
Oceans

March:
Matthew Dear
Guido Schneider
Frankie Vega
Gianna Hardt
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Fruit Bats
Disappears
Bishop Allen
 
April:
White Lies
Friendly Fires
Golden Filter
Marah
Simian Mobile Disco
Great Lake Swimmers
Kate Maki
Neko Case

May:
The Books