Tonight, in brief:

I'm working out a few hosting issues that should be resolved in the next 24 hours. After that, I have a few big posts planned for the month of March, including some new Wilco stuff (as part of my continuing Tweedy 100 series), a tribute to Modest Mouse (whose new record absolutely SMOKES) some of my favorite instrumental tracks and more.

For right now, I'm just posting one link, to my first of many monthly music columns in this week's issue of PLAY, a Philadelphia based weekly entertainment rag for whom I just started writing.

Initially, it was pitched to me that my column would be the print equivalent of Pimps of Gore. Eventually, the editors decided that the name of my blog was a little too obscure and wanted a more accessible, generic title. I told them that I was sorry I couldn't come up with a generic title, and gave them one other option: the title of a Spinal Tap song, "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight." Amazingly, they went with that as the name of my column!

My column pertains to the recent announcement by the Rock Hall of Fame and NARM (the National Association of Record Merchants, or some shit like that) of the "Definitive 200" list of albums they think everyone should own in their record collection. Along with the obvious choices, they went for a lot of multi-platinum sellers that I would call pretty fucking far from essential (Creed's Human Clay?! Essential?!). In my column, I recommend a handful of albums I think are just as essential but typically unsung by groups like NARM (why would this organization care if you bought a Fugazi album? They don't, and Fugazi are not on their list).

If you live in the Philly area and are able to find the print version, you'll also get to enjoy some hilarious graphic design features, including lightning bolts, heavy metal font and a picture of me dressed up as one of the dudes in Breakin. It's pretty impressive work on the magazine's part, and I'd love to give my kudos directly to the designer. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to email you the .pdf of the article.

I will follow up on this post in the next day or two with actual music from all of the albums I mention in the column (including some random rarities or live tracks where available). Stay tuned for classic and rare stuff from the La's, Miles Davis, Neutral Milk Hotel, Fugazi, Funkadelic, Sam Cooke and Sleater-Kinney.

Most importantly: Thanks to all of you out there for reading.