Some of my favorite music comes from the late 80s/early 90s. The whole DC/Dischord movement was highly influential not only for the music, but for the ethic (see an article I wrote with Jason Evans over at the Ecclesia Collective site, What Would Ian Do?).

Indie labels like Merge (current home of Arcade Fire), Caulfield, Simple Machines, Gravity and Touch and Go documented regional scenes from far-flung places across the country — allowing a land-locked Michigander kid, like myself, to be connected in some way to places like Chapel Hill and San Diego in the pre-internet Stone Ages.

For my birthday, I just purchased an old album by seminal Louisville powerhouse Rodan. After all these years, it still sounds amazing! And, I finally picked up that Sonic Youth shirt I’ve had my eye on! Happy mid-90s indie rock birthday to me, indeed!

At the end of August, one of my favorite noise-rock bands from back in the day will be playing in SD — the mighty Polvo has reunited for a short summer tour. While I would like to catch this show, it does make me wonder about all of the reunion shows that are happening.

Coachella has practically become a “Name That Reunion” event [h/t: Brooklyn Vegan for compiling a nice list of Coachella reunions shows here]; the “Don’t Look Back” series from All Tomorrow’s Parties has bands performing entire albums of vintage material. When does one cross the line from nostalgia into blatantly cashing in? And does the Spinal Tap performance from Live Earth count as part of this trend?