Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday and New Year's Celebration! I sure did!

I'm finally back to my blog, and I have made a few resolutions to make my blog better for my readers. So here they are!

Number 1: Make blog posts more of a conversation with my audience.

I've noticed that a lot of my posts are one sided conversations, so what I'm going to try to do from now on is ask you, the audience, how you feel about the subject. How do you feel about this artist? Who do you want to come to the Portland area? What is your favorite album from this artist? Do you want to find similar artists? These are only a few possibilities of ways for me to open up a conversation with the audience. I'm sure as I experiment, I will learn a lot and establish a new style.

Number 2: Create a greater focus on the local music scene.

In 2007, I discovered three local bands that stand out to me now more than ever before. These three bands are Satellite Lot, Fire on Fire and Gully, and they are all based out of the Portland area. They are really talented bands, and they deserve some good buzz, so I will do just that. I'll also make more of an effort into discovering other local acts.

Number 3: Review more CDs.

This is pretty self-explanatory. Every now and then, I splurge and buy a few CDs at Bullmoose Music (just did this on Saturday). I really, really like some of these albums that I buy, so I think I should tell you, the audience, about them.

Number 4: Write more often!

I'm really bad at putting the next big blog article out sometimes, so I'm really going to work hard at cranking them out more. I'm going to post a minimum of three articles a day, even if they're really small blurbs.

Number 5: More photography!

My girlfriend is an aspiring photographer, so she'll be coming along with me to some of the concerts to take really neat photos to accompany my reviews!

Well, that is all. I have some good stuff coming this way: reviews of new albums by local bands Gully and Satellite Lot; concert review of The Fiery Furnaces (coming to The Space in Portland on 1/18); and a special update about my band (The Cheese Grater Experience, now known as Tony Smokes and the Ladykillers).

If there is anything you would like to see on my blog, please drop by a comment! I would love to see them!

In a very unexpected move, Radiohead has just announced that their forthcoming album titled In Rainbows is coming out in 10 days. This is madness, but no, this is not Sparta. Find out more about this exciting announcement under the cut!

Remember the song "Bittersweet Symphony"? Let me refresh your memory.

The song is done by The Verve, a hit 90's alternative rock band from Great Britain. They've been broken up for a while, but now they are back for a reunion tour and a new album!

So far, they are only touring in the British Isles, but there's no doubt that they will expand their tour in due time. Their upcoming album should be released at the end of this summer.

To find out more, visit their website or visit their Myspace page.