I didn't mean to start a backlash, honest!

From a live review about Catfish Haven's Memphis show, in Spin.com:

The trio have been covered extensively in the blogosphere, stirring up so much hype that a backlash has already begun on hometown site Chicagoist, where a debate was sparked on whether the band is genius or generic.

The aforementioned Chicagoist review is here. I don't feel the need to say any more, since the review and ensuing comments pretty much says it all.

I will say, however, I really think it would be a good idea for Scott and I to do more head-to-head reviews, especially since I think all criticism flowers under well-reasoned debate.

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A backlash I’d be happy to start.

Has anyone else noticed a true degradation in the quality of the adhesive used to create the tape that seals CDs lately? In the olden days, I could forgive tape that pulled away in frazzled strips and left a sticky residue when the discs it was sticking to were clearly made on the cheap by labels that needed to cut corners (i.e. indies to whom the roster was more important than the packaging.) Lately, though, this phenomenon seem to ONLY occur with Major Label product! Have the downloaders finally cut into the profit margins so severely that poor Capital / EMI can’t afford anything but flypaper and saran-wrap with which to seal their product?

Now look, but griping about this in the first place I betray the fact that even though I do get lots of free music, and download music that's available, I still go out and pay for artist output on a pretty regular basis (much to the chagrin of Photogal and a two-flat whose basement, and a quarter of the first floor, has been usurped by music recordings / gear / paraphernalia.

This seems awfully simple to me: If you want people to keep buying your physical product, DON'T SKIMP ON STUPID SHIT!

Makes me wanna beat on the brat with a baseball bat, oh yeah.

Also, if you’re going to offer free downloads as a premium for folks that actually go out and buy the album on opening day¹, please don’t make it in some protected format that urges you to download "security keys" or "software" in order to make it playable, did you people learn nothing from that whole Sony/BMG debacle? Just make it a simple mp3, and let us skulk off with our digital music player of choice and listen to it at our leisure without any string attached.

Okay, thus endeth today"s rant.

Tomorrow we"ll talk all about puppies and squirrels and rainbows ... and why the Major Labels want to crush them all under their boot!

¹Beck sort of gets off the hook for this one since he inlcuded a free DVD with a $9.99 CD, however there was no excuse for R.E.M.'s "bonus downloads" to be protected WMA files.

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Here, this will make me feel better.

Please enjoy these two photographs of my girlfriend tearing it up on a racing track on her vintage BMW.



Isn't she hawt?