It has been suggested music is the emancipator-saviour of the species. If that's true then does the hit parade justify genocide? Whatever. Here's some stuff I done went to.

Organ-ize Me - The Basement, Wednesday 23 February. Take two Hammond B3s, some of the best players Sydney has to offer, season with house band, Sandman as host and we have a promising brew. But while this showcase absolutely confirmed the Hammond to be audio bliss, the sheer skill of its masters became overwhelming. Frenzied fingering action initially enthralled but eventually wore me down, leading to the realisation that the older I get the simpler my taste becomes. When I'm 75 I will be captivated by the ticks of a life support machine. Its flatlining drone will be a fitting send-off to music geek heaven.

The Organ - Sandringham Hotel, Sun 6 March. Canadian girl rock vaguely recalling the likes of Joy Division. Simple, unpretentious, but perhaps, due to my coming from a Kill Bill screening, it seemed to be missing that feminine touch of pseudo-mystic murderous revenge.

Kronos Quartet - Sydney Opera House, Mon 7 March. That the Visual Music performance was a trip is not open to debate. That they're the world's "most innovative" string quartet may be true. But being a classics philistine I'm hardly in a position to verify their greatness. So, in the interest of critical integrity, I've booked my ticket for the mid-year performance by the Darlington Public School year sevens, after which I will proclaim Kronos to be unparalleled in their brilliance.

Violent Femmes - Enmore Theatre, Wed 9 March. Fears that they would be sad old grandads was allayed after just a few VBs (nb. thanks to the venue for only offering the taste of vomit) and the band became the coolest nerdy grandads you could imagine. Sure there's is a touch of the predatory in Gordon crying out for Dad to give him the car so he can get his girl drunk, high and have his sordid way, but this was two hours of living legend goodness I woulda never had had. Worth it for that glockenspiel solo alone...

The Model School - Excelsior, Fri 11 March. Syd-indie country rock that has one arm around Beck but allows the other to slug a drink and the eyes to scope the room. Nice - I will be back.

King Brothers - Spectrum, Sun 13 March. Anarchic Japanese garagepunk noisemakers who revealed support act The Dolly Rocker Movement to be the flower-munching hippies we always knew they were. King Brothers exploded The DRM's valve guitar amp simply by looking at it during soundcheck. Included: fellatio of vocal mics, drumming that wouldn't have gone amiss in Dresden and enough energy to power, say, Adelaide. Lacked: silence, return tour dates.