With Noise Pop 2008 ending yesterday, I thought it a good time to ask a simple question: What the fuck happened? Last year the line up was an indie kids’ wet dream with the likes of Tapes ‘n Tapes, Josh Ritter, Sebadoh, John Vanderslice, Ted Leo, Midlake, Spinto Band, Vic Chesnutt and The Coup. The 2006 lineup featured a pre-iPod commercial Leslie Fiest, The National, a Britt Daniel (of Spoon) solo set and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips exploding one of his famous confetti balloons all over Bimbo’s 365 Club.

This year, we get the Mountain Goats and the Magnetic Fields? WTF? Don’t get me wrong, I actually like some of these bands, but for an event that touts itself as one of the premier independent music festivals alongside Austin’s SXSW, this lineup is not even close to acceptable. I’m writing off Noise Pop 2008 as both an anomaly and a blessing, given that I don’t have the extra few hundred bucks I’d likely blow had the list of performers been anything close to years past.

One bright spot on this year’s bill is local yay-area DJ, Amplive, of Zion-I fame. The Oak-town native got the party started this past Tuesday night at the Rickshaw Stop by spinning his recent remix of Radiohead’s In Rainbows. If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard the RainyDayz EP (which features none other than Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Chali 2na of Jurassic 5), download it now while it’s still available, and in true Radiohead-style, free.

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