I'm a little suspicious about that single title, which almost seems to acknowledge how much this sounds like a (bad) version of Curve.

Unfortunately this is part of an overall RNC effort - they recently issued a memo urging all Republican state legislatures to pass these fucked-up anti-trans bills. They think it's an effective wedge issue for them in November (see: gay marriage in 04). I really hope they're wrong, because this is truly…

I don't know whether they'll work for scortius here, but you deserve credit for an excellent set of recommendations. Wouldn't have expected to see Jay Rock in there. Nicely done.

Yeah, until digital music is sold in a lossless format more widely and cheaply, I'm going to keep buying CDs. Paying $10-15 for a CD (with the bonus of packaging) is preferable to paying $15-25 for lossless digital files, assuming the latter are even available.

Prometheus Games: Making Fire

Driving Miss Daisy

Totally fair. I might have been a bit later, but I also remember local punk shows (especially basement shows by fellow kids) in the late 90s/early 00s having at least one Op Ivy rip-off on the bill much of the time. For whatever reason that hasn't dulled Energy itself much for me, but I may be resistant to that…

Honestly, I listened to it again earlier - you're right, it's not awful. I think at the time I lumped it in with "Can't Hold Us," which is considerably more deserving of scorn. I'm never gonna love it, but on an album I otherwise liked, the production wouldn't make me toss the CD (er, my phone) out the window.

This sounds pretty solid, but I'm also admittedly not in the headspace to give anything in this style a fair shake at the moment. I respect the ambition to nominate anything other than Energy, though. (If I went off-book, it'd be Tyranny of Distance or one of the American Steel/Communique releases.)

I'm sorry I missed it at the time. I'm making a note to read it after I do a long-overdue rewatch (soon).

Granted, plenty of rappers I like have regrettable lines here and there, but those are spectacularly awful. I've taken extreme steps to avoid hearing any of his music since "Thrift Shop" (positive commentary here about Ryan Lewis be damned, that was a weak fucking beat even absent Macklemore) - your noble sacrifice…

I probably shouldn't complain, especially after getting Chimes at Midnight so recently, but this is frustrating.

Me, registering under this name 2 years ago: "What could possibly go wrong?"

An amazing resource. The crowd-sourced data on pressings is incredibly useful for older records (and the occasional multi-run newer one).

It's a genuinely interesting, instructive watch.

Yeah, in all seriousness, "if we want a narrative synthesized out of our shared history, ideals, aspirations, and sins," it's Native Son. The depressing thing is that it has as much to say about our present as our past.

Travels in Hyperreality is a great starting point on the essay side. Wildly diverse in subject matter and very readable.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to drill down into the specifics of the disagreement - I always prefer to get into some real discussion instead of leaving it at "this sucks" or "this rules," particularly when it comes from a clearly genuine place on both sides. (Although I promise I won't throw 600 words at…

Pitch-manipulation technology does get into some interesting areas, particularly when we try to compare it to other effects/techniques. It's deliberately artificial, but it bumps up against some other things that get deployed a lot. Octave pedals most obviously, but even spring reverb, delay, chorus (name a…

I appreciate you engaging in more detail, since it lets me see where you're coming from on the music/performance side. I think there are a few different things to cover.