Rock Out. Get Sprung. Reconsider K-Fed.Say Goodbye to Love Monkey.

Comments (0) By Alec Hanley Bemis Wednesday, Mar 8 2006

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K-Fed considers the nuances of baile funk.

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Gary Benchley, Rock Star by Paul Ford (Plume) This novel, which came and went in late 2005, should be required reading for aspiring rockers living in hipster enclaves like Silver Lake or Olympia, Washington. Originally serialized on TheMorningNews.org, the book posed as an actual journal by a 20-something named Gary Benchley. Later it was revealed as a hoax perpetrated by Paul Ford, Web editor for Harper’s magazine. It doesn’t hold up quite as well in book form as it did online, but you’ll fall in love with its warmth and telling details if you share the protagonist’s raisons d’être: “1) Rock out. 2) No more data entry.”

Pandora.comvs.WOXY.com In late January, a raft of stories appeared about the customizable online radio station Pandora.com. You enter the name of any artist or album and it creates a personal “station” based on that selection’s musical qualities (e.g., mild rhythmic syncopation, major-key tonality). It’s a neat party trick that doesn’t work all that well. When I entered the names Brian Eno and Metallica, for example, I got a schizo mix of thrash rock and art song, and not one track that split the difference. Ick! I prefer Cincinnati’s WOXY.com, which sponsors live sessions and programs an eclectic mix of new music rivaling KCRW or Seattle’s KEXP. Unlike those stations, WOXY has no physical transmitter, and no wealthy benefactors. If its current subscription drive is not successful, it may go out of business.