April 28-May 4, 2005

musicpicks

Rock Town Hall 2005 First Annual Meeting

ROCK-DORK REVIVAL

When Jim Slade (Grooves Disques, Nixon's Head) started his obsessive web-hub/chat line Rock Town Hall, the pop snob sought to emulate the confines of home in a way that'd make High Fidelity seem tame. "The list was formed to reflect a typical dynamic that develops in my living room whenever we have a party," says Slade. When he says "we," he means Trouser Press heads, nerds and the two women who like them. Slade, a self-designated mega-crit, "The Accuser," and bozos like City Paper's Michael Pelusi and myself discuss the minutiae of rock — Kinks versus Small Faces, Creation B-sides, Soft Machine: Ayers or Wyatt — with the fervor of a C-SPAN screening. Laughs ensue. Yet without harping, RTH instigates genuine debate. "We'll work that into a live format with style and spirit," says Slade of this first nonvirtual gathering featuring live music and panels on "The World's Greatest EPs," "Pulp" and "The Accuser's Randomly Selected 45s vs ANY Song Recorded Post-1981." Yay, nerds.
Sat., April 30, 8 p.m., $5, with Nixon's Head, The Pearly Gates, The Knife & Fork Band and The Sour, The Parlor, 1170 S. Broad St.

—A.D. Amorosi