Edwin MacPhisto

Can - Tago Mago Trippy hypnotic droning dripping fantastic tunes. This fills a void in the collection as my ultimate "time to let my brain get ripped apart and/or zone out" album. It's my favorite Can album by a pretty good margin these days. The opening trio of Paperhouse/Mushroomhead/Oh Yeah is a great swirly psych-rock nightmare. That gurgling sound followed by the first note of "Paperhouse" is one of my favorite beginnings in all of music. Then, the album really opens up into the loooong, propulsive pieces like "Halleluwah" and "Peking O" that are so easy to just get lost in (or explore at your leisure). The album feels like it's 3 hours long by the end, but in a good way. There's a whole lot of content and room for rumination. That's good stuff.

Let's talk Cars tiers. Complete Greatest Hits is one of the best compilations I know and probably the best $9.98 sale rack purchase I ever made. From there: Tier 1: Just What I Needed, My Best Friend's Girl, You're All I've Got Tonight, Since You're Gone, You Might Think, Magic, Moving In Stereo, Drive Tier 2: Good Times Roll, Let's Go, Bye Bye Love, Dangerous Type, Shake It Up, Tonight She Comes Tier 3: It's All I Can Do, Touch and Go, I'm Not the One, Hello Again, Why Can't I Have You, You Are the Girl I really love all those songs, though. I really fucking love the Cars. And I'd definitely put "Jessie's Girl" on par with the top stuff.

This thread, from the man once so disdainful of the word "hooks" and all it implied? Impressive. This is a perfectly timed thread, as right around the middle-end of spring is when I start busting out these albums to get ready for the summer. Ricky Springfield's "I've Done Everything For You" is an underloved gem, too. It's no "Jessie's Girl," but it might be even better for karaoke. Also, I'll throw out my requisite Exploding Hearts plug for something on the contemporary side, even though they're dead.

I'm sure someone in Dipset has at least tried to rap over "Rock You Like a Hurricane."

I mean, drug dealing is pretty hard work.

"I believe in a hard day's work for my pay" was the most confusing part.

Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel? Decision 2008.

I really enjoyed this one. I'm already dreading the end of these first 10 episodes, followed by the wait for the last 10 ever.

New Pornographers tickets sold out before public on-sale for both shows here in D.C. I was too slow to get them during the soft sale period. Setlist heavy on the new album + sick Neko - Dan Bejar means I'll cope, though.

The Replacements - Tim Listened to this in the car today, in anticipation of picking it next. I love this album endlessly. I really love their other two big albums too, but this one's the pinnacle. Maybe it's because it was the first one I heard, and maybe it's just the songs. "Hold My Life," "Kiss Me on the Bus," "Left of the Dial"--you could have stopped there and I would have liked it--but throw in "Bastards of Young," "Little Mascara," and "Here Comes a Regular" and I'm sold. Anthemic without being boorish, snide but sensitive, sad and happy. I only first heard Tim the summer of 2005, and it's quickly climbed to the top of my personal pantheon. This is probably a top-5 of all time album for me, and one of my quintessential "I just feel like listening to some music" first picks.

The off-the-beat guitar part starting at 2:06 of "Safe European Home"--really it's just the one fantastic sound repeated, again and again with very slight variance for 100 seconds--is one of my favorite things ever.

Why is Clemson/Alabama in Atlanta? You can read the details here, but the short form: the Peach Bowl committee was looking for a big game to host and open the season. The money, excitement for the fanbase, and attraction of national exposure--the teams haven't played each other since 1975--got Clemson involved. Central Florida asked to get out of their 2008 game against Clemson (or Clemson bought them off), and they replaced them with South Carolina State so they'd have an easy win to make up for a possible season-opening loss. Neither Clemson nor Alabama would have been willing to play that game at the other's stadium without a return game, so the neutral site made sense. I think it's cool, even if a few smaller schools probably got dicked around as a result of the negotiations. The Peach Bowl is a great venue for big-time regional games, so I think it's pretty cool for them to do a showcase game every year.

Metallica-loving nancypants.

Okay, this is pretty funny.

Maybe you can transubstantiate the "body" into a communion wafer, then eat the corpse, and then put the wafer in a little afterlife reference folder that says "THIS IS EL BRUJO NOW." Catholics are on to something. The meat off the guy that got cooked and eaten in Doomsday actually looked pretty tasty. Like a nicely cooked pork roast, actually; maybe they read the same references that VX read.

Bob, the speed and depth of your ombudsmanry amazes me.

It did.

They're playing a show here tomorrow night for $10 (Yeasayer, not Nick Cave). Thinking about giving it a shot. The songs I've heard are pretty neat for a TV on the Radio/Grizzly Bear mood.

I will fully grant that "Regulate" is better than everything on The Black Album. It's better than almost everything on anything.

Yeah, I do. Miles is great but Andrew W.K. wins my heart. There's no question Miles is a better musician--in terms of importance/relevance/mastery of craft, he probably beats everyone on my list but maybe Dylan--but I don't like him better. If I had to swap someone out for Miles on that list, it would probably be either Morrissey or Joe Strummer. I would attribute the fact that Miles/Coltrane/etc. haven't booted one of them to my lack of familiarity with their overall catalogs. I've really only given a serious listen to 3-4 of each of their albums, to my detriment. Andrew W.K. is my huge outlier for musical credibility. The guy somehow has found the resonating frequency of my brain and pounded it into pleasantly overproduced submission. But, I'm happy to know I'll always have PLAGIARISM!!! on my side.

I think individual musicians only-not solo career, just their role as whatever--is a lot more interesting for this topic than full bands, so: Prince Tom Waits Bowie Dylan Eno Sam Cooke Andrew W.K. Joe Strummer Bernard Sumner Morrissey

Actually his second or third-best album, I think, though I know you don't care. A little surprised to see the more contemporary rap albums going now (this, Kanye), but they're both very good.

Sorta kinda. What I've picked up from my various law school buddies: I believe weekly salary for a summer associate in urban centers is around $2100 now. Maybe a little higher. Most summer positions are 12 weeks, so that's $25k before taxes. Unfortunately, even being in the top 10-15% of your class doesn't guarantee you'll get a summer position after 1L year. Most people can get them after 2L year. You obviously have to pay for where you live then too. Seems that summer positions can pay a portion of your tuition, but probably not a majority of it. My roommate went to William & Mary law for a year, and they gave him a scholarship that paid a good chunk of his tuition. Maybe half of it? 2nd and 3rd tier schools may throw some money at you if you're a very strong candidate. Now he goes to George Mason and gets an in-state tuition break.

Perfect ending to the "Memphis can't hit free throws!" story that's been building all year. Hilarious and evil. I actually felt kinda bad for the guys.

Conversely, I haven't really paid much attention to any of these changes, but the Sports and Music folders seem to be fine. Ergo, I am fine. Good work.