Happy Bomb20 Day!

This year, I think I'll let the man (circa 15 years ago) speak for himself:

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            KELLY BUNDY                 

         KELLYZ iN DA HOOD              

                                        

                                        

    THEY SAY iM A KELLY TO SOCiETY      

     BUT SOCiETY iS A KELLY TO ME!      

                                        

       THiS JOKES ON YOU AGAiN!         

              HA!HA!HA!                 

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Genius.

Good luck, reptile

You are the only snow salamander in the universe. You should listen to Aleksi Eeben's Various Secret Continents. The fact that salamanders are amphibians is immaterial.

Now is your chance.

Now is our chance.

Producer demanded more panflutes!

Happy Bomb20 Day!

In 1998, David Skiba recorded "Made of Shit!"

All other techstep — past, present, and future — instantly became obsolete.

Why f.y.e is a better place to buy music than Best Buy

Apartment/condo-hunting dies with business hours, so I stopped by the f.y.e in Woodfield Mall this evening to burn some time. I'd tried to do the same thing at the Schaumburg Best Buy yesterday night, but it didn't go well because I wasn't able to find what I was looking for. More specifically, I wasn't able to find a recommendation-engine-defying collection of albums like this:

• Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77
• Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
• Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
• Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse (purchased with reservations about the band's history, but I figured I had to see what black metal sounds like sooner or later)

Unfortunately, the humorless man at the counter refused to acknowledge my deliberately baffling purchase with even a raised eyebrow. He also didn't seem amused when I pointed out that the Public Enemy CD had a plastic sleeve to keep kids from cracking it open and the Emperor CD did not.

Also, the brakes on my new used car may be failing. Or the transmission. I'm not sure which.

2009: A great year

Forget the economy. 2009 served as proof that a recording artist can stay active well beyond anyone's expectations, and even past the point where anyone cares. As proof, I give you the following list of studio (yes, studio) albums that were released this past year.

72 is less than 74

Wolfmother released a new album a few days ago. I picked up a copy earlier today at Best Buy (curse them and their sale on video games that I don't have time to play) and gave it a listen.

My main complaint with the album has nothing at all to do with the music itself, but rather with how the album is being sold. I had my choice of two different versions. One version came on a single disc, and included twelve tracks. The deluxe edition came on two discs, and included four additional tracks that were mixed into the track order on disc two.

Making a separate version of an album with extra tracks doesn't bother me too much — I've been willing to forgive other bands for doing it before — but the packaging for the deluxe edition is simply baffling. Instead of a jewel case, you get a folded-up cardboard sleeve that I'm pretty sure is going to rot out within ten years. More irritatingly, the sixteen songs included on the deluxe edition only run for a total of just over 72 minutes. A standard CD can hold 74 minutes of content. There's no justifiable reason to split the album up, unless the band that thought the listener might need a break in the middle.