Sub-Bass! What Is It Good For? Absolutely Nothing!

Except perhaps annoying the crap out of everyone around you.

Yesterday I was driving in my car testing a mix when along comes a powerful low frequency rumble. Because I was listening carefully to my mix my first reaction was holy crap did I mess that up? Slowly I realized that must be from some joker with a subwoofer in a nearby car.

People have learned that some of us don't like having smoke blown in our faces. How hard is it for people to figure out that not all of us like the sound of your music, your Harley, your leaf blowers or the tinny techno beat leaking from your crappy ear buds when you're on the train beside me.

Your noise is just as much an encroachment on my personal space as your physical presence.

Grow some manners. Stop it.

Geo-blocking Bullshit

I am a fan of the band Animal Collective.  Today, (for the nth time) I looked up their latest album on emusic.com and got this:

We're sorry. This album is unavailable for download in your country (Canada) at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

I've complained directly about this before.  Once to an artist.  They didn't respond.  Another  sent to emusic who were kind enough to send this corporate bullshit speak:

eMusic shares in your frustration with the inability of international customers to access all of the content offered on our site.   Many labels sign geographic-based distribution deals that limit worldwide distribution of a particular album.  That is the reason that some albums are available worldwide while others are limited to certain geographic regions.

So to whoever is responsible for this sorry state of affairs.  You are retarded.

I suppose I could get off my ass and buy the CD in a store.  Not likely.  Turns out there aren't that many stores that have interesting CDs in them anymore.  The cool ones that do are in the city getting to them is a full-on event.  I could buy from iTunes.  Not.  Won't on principle.  Between DRM and their pricing I'm just not interested.  I could torrent/steal it.  Not.  I'm an adult now and I think it's ok to pay for music.

I get 100 tracks per month (subscription) from emusic.  Honestly, I have trouble absorbing them all.  Between working for a living, working on my own stuff, listening to the music of my friends, and commercial music I am practically drowning.

So if you're unwilling to sell me your album, that's just fucking fine.  You will not be missed.