Maybe you read the story I wrote for today’s SoundLife on making your own sample-based music and hip-hop and electronica as D.I.Y. movements. Hope you did, and maybe it inspired you to build your own beat station at home.

Along those lines, I also got an e-mail from a guy at TCC who’s making it that much easier for his students to get involved. Here’s what he wrote about a class he’s teaching:

In case you wanted to follow-up article on this topic – I have designed a class at TCC that uses

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If you’re a fan of new wave – or maybe just just tiered, red hats – you’ll want to check out one show in particular at this year’s Puyallup Fair. I just learned that Devo will headline the grandstand at the Puyallup Fair & Exhibition Center on Sept. 21. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Saturday through Ticketmaster.

Devo joins Buckley’s Blaine Larsen, the Steve Miller Band, Gary Allan, Reba McIntire, Big & Rich, Weird Al Yankovic, Daughtry, Clint Black, Kellie Pickler and Kenny G, among the acts that have been announced so far.

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I was just checking out the Three Imaginary Girls site, which isn’t where I’d usually go to find news about Back Street Boys founder Lou Pearlman. But that’s where I read about him being charged with fraud. Hmm, does not look good.

Haven’t been to the Viaduct yet, so I can’t yet vouch for what the place is like. But the folks behind short lived all-ages rock spots the Frame Shop, the Hall and the Junkyard are behind it. And they’ve posted this.

JD’s Wild West Saloon’s doors are closed indefinitely. But those doors were apparently wide open when they weren’t supposed to be early Tuesday morning after an apparent burglary, according to a police report.

The dance club had operated adjacent to the Red Lion Inn at 84th and Hosmer streets since December. And Tacoma police received a call to that location shortly after midnight Tuesday after a hotel patron wandered down to the nightclub – which was supposed to be closed that night – and became suspicious.

The patron saw people inside playing pool and helping

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The bass is to reggae as the guitar is to rock. And as bassist and a producer and songwriter for Bob Marley & the Wailers, Aston “Family Man” Barrett is among the most important figures in reggae history. Fans will see the man at work on Sunday when the Wailers headline the Pantages.

That said, I figured I’d have tons to cover with Fams when he called last week. But I had not idea of what kind of rant I was unleashing when I asked about his failed bid to collect royalties he said he was

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See, I told you so. We’re that much closer to being overrun by mullets and parachute pants again after Journey’s ’80s hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” got yet another bump from the “Sopranos” finale.

Just check out these stats from Billboard:

- The track, Don’t Stop Believin, has re-entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at No. 21 with 41,000 paid downloads – an increase of 371% in online sales from the previous week, and the song’s BEST digital sales week ever!

- Journey’s "Greatest Hits" album sold nearly 11,000 units this week—a

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The Alano Club just got up and running this month. But it appears they may have hosted their last all-ages rock show – for a while at least – after the comments Tacoma deputy fire marshal Phil Ferrell e-mailed me this morning:

I have inspected this site and issued the notice that no public events are permitted at this location. The building does not meet any requirements for this use nor are the operators licensed for this activity.

Phil

Oy! Get your papers and inspections in line before you open, people.

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Portishead is one of my favorite bands from the ’90s. They’re also unfortunately the Axl freakin’ Roses of trip hop – cryptic recluses that have left their fans waiting for a new album for more than a decade.

Massive Attack’s Daddy G got me all excited last year as he described demo tracks his fellow trip-hop idols had played for him. Then Portishead’s Geoff Barrow surfaced on the NME site a few weeks later to offer up more details. But after a disc failed to show up by year’s end as suggested, I figured

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And we hardly knew ya, South Sound Garage. I figured there was trouble at the recently opened downtown music venue when I dropped in to catch Whild Peach (Outkast’s backing band) and counted three more people in the crowd than on stage. Then I drove by this weekend at about 11ish to see the place dark and locked down like Oz.

So I went to booking agent Ed Shaw for the skinny. He said the decision to close the club was based on consistently low turnouts headed into the summer months — this spite of a national

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