Best Place to Read Snarky Comments About the Local Music Scene

The image of the Internet as an "information superhighway" has always been a little far-fetched, if not outright preposterous. But, if you can get past the idea of bits of knowledge zooming back and forth from brain to brain, there's much that can be learned from some serious mouse-clicking. Take, for instance, the SF Indie list, a Web bulletin board for information about the local music scene. Begun in August 1998 by Jasmine Jopling, the list now has over 500 members, many of whom play in local bands (the Court and Spark, Tarentel, Soapbox), run labels (Absolutely Kosher, Omnibus), or DJ at clubs and radio stations ("Modular Lab," "Node," KUSF). But mainly the board is open to anyone with an opinion, bit of gossip, or ax to grind. Posts include helpful information like show announcements, ticket offerings, and pressing plant reviews, along with heated discussions about the best drummer ever, emo pants, and Belle and Sebastian. With all the insidery dialoguing, it can be difficult to comprehend some posts at first. For instance, do Kenny Kaos and Roy Ishida really want to pummel each other or are they just getting all sexed up? Why is everyone going on about twee and emo? Don't these people have anything better to do? The latter answer, of course, is no; a few stays and you may not either.