Of site redesigns, podcasts, and kids

Last year around this time, I began posting about the kinds of things I’d like to see from the nerd music community in 2007. Without dwelling too much on whether or not my exercise in wishful thinking and prognostication was effective, today I’d simply like to use that as more of a jumping-off point. Last time around, I spent many-a word enumerating what I’d like to see from you in the coming year, but today I’d like to tell you a bit of what you can expect from me both in the waning weeks of ’07 and in the early months of ’08.

First and foremost, you can expect a site redesign. Assuming you’re reading this yourself – as opposed to, say, someone relating it to you via telephone – you’ve already noticed that things look a bit different. As, Hipster, please! has pretty much looked the same from its inception, I felt it was time to switch shit up a bit. The new layout boasts not only a new color scheme and a swanky new logo courtesy of my friend Denika, but also some bells and whistles. I’ve dropped an abridged version of the feed for RFH right into the sidebar, and I’ve also enabled Digg buttons for each individual post. (That’s not to say I’m gonna beg you to subscribe to the podcast or Digg what you read here, but the options are there should you feel so moved.)

Unfortunately, this changeover hasn’t been without its hiccups. My grand new logo, for example, seems to want to display 25% smaller than it should despite my best efforts to rectify that, and the Sites and Sounds links are, as always, in constant flux. I reckon what I’m saying is this is a work in progress. Don’t freak out too much if things change from day to day for the next few weeks, and feel free to hit me up with any suggestions.

On the subject of the podcast, you’ll notice that the full back catalog of Radio Free Hipster episodes is now available through the feed. Well, except for episode 12, but even that elusive bastard has been recovered (Thanks, Church!), and it should be in there tomorrow. Let me warn you, though, that the first few eps are dreadful, production-wise, but most of you old schoolers doubtlessly remember that.

Concerning more tangible issues, you should get two more podcasts this year. The holiday-themed ep will, hopefully, be up tomorrow, and the year-end wrap-up should drop shortly thereafter. I’ve also got another feature interview and a final set of album impressions that should trickle out this December as well.

Next year – probably around late February – I’m hoping to drop a second Hipster, please! compilation. This one will be vastly different than the last, and, though I can’t divulge all my secrets, I will make it a point to leak the occasional nugget of info as the release draws nigh.

I’m hoping this comp will really blow folks away, as I anticipate a pretty sharp drop-off in my productivity come March. This is due to the pending arrival of a new baby in the Z. family. Yes, Li’l X. will have a baby sister, and Em and I will have another mouth to feed/arse to wipe. Truthfully, I’m pretty excited, despite the fact that my childrearing skills are rudimentary at best. I can’t fully anticipate how much this new bundle of joy will affect my writing schedule, but I suppose posts will be few and far-between for a while there, so be forewarned.

In the meantime, feel free to poke around the new digs. Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge and don’t sweat putting your feet on the sofa. This will be the shape of HP for the foreseeable future, so it’s best if we all break it in as quick as possible. And if you hear any hammering, that’s just me trying to gussy the joint up a bit more.