Hey gang. Tim Duffy is one-third of the comedy group "MANCRUSH"(www.myspace.com/mancrushcomedy) and quite the authority on Indie-Rock. So I decided to contact him and offer him a monthly sub-section of my blog. I now present you with article one of "Indie'd: with Tim Duffy." Be sure to leave some feedback and make Tim feel welcome.

I[Tim Duffy] have no authority to write an indie-rock blog. I have not heard the latest Deerhunter album, the supposedly awesome 'Microcastle'. I am nostalgic for my PC days as downloading an album to my Mac has become a chore, full of bum torrents and even bummy-er searches that turn up nada. Remember when catching the latest leaks was almost too easy?

So it is with a heavy heart that I can only report that seeing Deerhunter less than a month ago at the Ptichfork vs. ATP fest in England I was mildly underwhelmed with the seemingly jammier nature of their new material. I can say that the latest recorded Deerhunter song I've heard (from the rather awesome 'Living Bridge' compilation released a few months ago) "After Class" is one of the finest songs the band has ever recorded. I still have a feeling of deep anticipation for the new album. I'm sure any number of more credible bloggers have already weighed in on it's awesomeness.

Speaking of Pitchfork vs. ATP, it is the best rock concert experience one can hope for. I don't say this lightly. It was literally one of the best things I've ever done in my life and an excellent use of a thousand bucks or so. It allowed me to indulge in the 8th Jay Reatard Show I've seen since last October. That man is on a roll right now. His Matador singles series is proving to be consistently awesome, fitting his sound with squishy lo-fi synths and explosive bridges(I speak of course of the awesome "She creeps me out/She crept me in again" movement on first single A-Side "See/Saw").

Other high lights of the festival included an amazingly funny set by Jens Lekman, uniformly wonderful sets by Les Savy Fav and the Hold Steady(debuting material from the sure to be more mainstream new album 'Stay Positive'). No Age blew my mind, though they had the good fortune of having just released the amazing 'Nouns' that week. Hot Chip were surely one of the best live sets I'd ever seen at least as far as I've been told, I simply can't recall anything past the Black Lips on the Saturday night line up.

My favorite band of the weekend and of the year thus far was surely Times New Viking. More than just the best band name in the business these guys fuck shit up but in the most innocently catchy way possible. I am having an inner debate about the comparative merits of this year's 'Rip It Off' vs. last year's 'Present the Paisley Reich', but I do know that for power pop(with extra emphasis on the screachy power) there is no one better in the business.

In other new listening high lights I was recently wowed by a show put on by www.poptartssucktoasted.blogspot.com featuring an excellent band called Screaming Females. They split the difference somewhere between Mission of Burma and Bikini Kill. Last night a wonderful electronic-noise-rock record called 'Ghost Town' by Dan Friel entered my life. I would love to go into more detail about both of these things but my brushes with them have been short and fleeting thus far.

Speaking of fleeting: I hate Fleet Foxes. Surely there is nothing to truly hate about them but that to me is the problem. Like Band of Horses before them they are so utterly inoffensive and unoriginal that I don't want to be bothered by them, and yet there they are receiving glowing endorsements from the blogosphere and pitchfork. To be frank I'll take the new Death Cab over them.

But I don't want to leave on a negative note. So I suppose all I can do is shut up.

**All pictures and captions added by Vin Forte.