Bill Drummond says tommorrow is No Music Day and 'music is dead' - see Guardian. I don't agree, although I think there is too much music everywhere bombarding us - on TV, in shops, chav's mobiles on buses etc! Not that we can do much about it. But talking of who is cool - NME cool list, and Word cool wall of previous issue, perhaps the old guys are now the cool ones and current recent artists are not so much, for the most part. Old performers have often had their day, their new work not their best but that doesn't seem to matter, as they are hailed for their ground breaking earlier work (hello Led Zep, Sex Pistols). So are new bands all barely disguised tribute bands (hello Enemy, Editors?),and did it all go wrong when Oasis came along and made the blatant copying of old classic stuff pretending to be new, acceptable - they also produced some great music, don't get me wrong! So is it now all too predictable, like one of Radiohead said (Colin Greenwood was it?),which is partly why they released 'In Rainbows' as free download - see BBC news online, I think? Does anyone come up with anything really radical and original nowadays and really takes risks - is that possible anymore? Does music matter as much now (did it ever really matter that much or as much as some liked to think?) - probably it does to some? Was the last move forward in Rock back in the 90s when grunge made it's impact and brought about a new style? I loved the Strokes 'Is this it?' but it's a retro thing really that reminded me of past wonders - Stooges, Velvets, New York new wave from 70s. Everything now is so clearly categorised and compartmentalised - indie, classic rock, metal. You know exactly how it's going to sound before you hear it - which is so boring and, yes, predictable. Perhaps new artists are too reverential towards past masters as it were. Great music of the past was of course a reaction against what went before and often involved really saying something new.I do like new music too. Am I just a grumpy old git? It's quite likely!