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I am clearing my head; in fact it may now be cleared. I had a busy day. I am feeling very excited for what is going to happen in the coming months.***I am always fascinated by breakout bands. What is it, I wonder, that makes them able tosucceed above all others. My current fascination - Vampire Weekend. I heard about them on a blog sometime last year, the buzz started to catch on (I know San Francisco caught it pretty early), Pitchfork loved it, the album came on and everyone anticipated a backlash. Then I saw them on Saturday Night Live and then on MTV, and it seems as though they played a few dozen hot South by Southwest parties. I see the band members met at Columbia University - so clearly they're smart and probably plotted this all out from the beginning. You figure they said, "If this doesn't work out, we can just go to law school." The sound is distinctive, but also easily accessible. The choruses are easy to remember. And the timing was probably right too. Seems like everything is about timing.***On the subject of SXSW, a funny article in today's Wall Street Journal paints a portrait of this year's festival, and one of its major challenges (rebellious guys in corporate suits).