I was in BMG for a year or two in college and really enjoyed it. The selection and prices were both fair.

Amazon apparently has some sort of CDNow club -- the number of things you have to buy is much less and I don't think that there is a regular selection. You get about 20% off of their regular prices though. (Or so I understood it when I read the rules. I haven't joined yet.)

A reunited Dinosaur Jr. (J./Lou/Murph) are doing a few shows in the UK and Japan [link] but they make their "debut" on CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Friday, April 15!

I felt like I'd received something better than a Grammy.

Wow. High praise from Pete T.

High praise from Pete T.

Your reading of Pete's reaction is clearly what he meant, but cynical bastard that I am, had I read "I felt like I'd received something better than a Grammy" out of its context I'd think he was damning it with faint praise.

I found the link to the Petra Haden interview.

Marianne Faithfull was on Fresh Air today. Interesting trivia: her great-(great?)-uncle was Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of Venus in Furs, whence the term masochism and the Velvet Underground song; her dancer mother used to see Brecht & Weill all the time when she danced in Berlin; and her father was a British spy.

Hayden, the new High Hat is great. I started reading Phil Nugent's Bush article, but when I realized (a) how absorbing it was & (b) how long it was I decided to print it out for the subway ride home. Looks like a lot of other good stuff, too. It was a long time coming, but I'm glad you kept at it.

Your reading of Pete's reaction is clearly what he meant, but cynical bastard that I am, had I read "I felt like I'd received something better than a Grammy" out of its context I'd think he was damning it with faint praise.

Yeah, I thought it was a funny thing to say, but figured that Pete meant it (and I meant my post to be as ambiguous as the 'compliment'). Which is kinda sad, really. Especially the part about me.

Thanks for the kind words about the High Hat! Nugent's a bad-ass writer. I've been trying to convince him to apply for Pop Matters' thematic columnist spot, which would be 77.4% more prestiguous than writing for the HH.

Interesting stuff about Marianne Faithfull, too.

Would there be any interest on starting round 2.0 of the mix trade? I'm thinking something shorter and snappier than msbelle's -- something like, send X copies of your mix plus postage to the contact person, get copies of X other mixes back within two weeks. I'm not sure how we'd do it so everyone got everyone else's mix without it taking a year or costing a fortune in postage -- thoughts?

I'd love to participate in something again!

In other news, I would give a toe to be down in San Diego right now, with a ticket in my hand for the opening date of the U2 tour tonight. Am starting to feel squee-age for the upcoming Seattle shows!

I lucked out and scored a cheap single seat for the first Seattle show through eBay. It's almost behind the stage, but it only cost me $41 including shipping. Woot! I may also be getting a GA ticket for the December Portland show from a gal in England. Being at the final show of the tour would be extremely cool indeed!

Something we've tried on PF is to set up a Gmail account and do a quick round robin thematic mix from the comfort of our own homes. This is different in that each person adds a song to a mix with a pre-conceived topic, rather than having a list of topics to create a full mix disc, but it's definitely fast-moving.

In other news, I would give a toe to be down in San Diego right now, with a ticket in my hand for the opening date of the U2 tour tonight.

I wouldn't give a toe for that, but i would give one to have been at the dress rehearsal this weekend. Because ... U2! Dress rehearsal! *incoherent squee!*

It sucks that I have to wait until OCTOBER. And I only get to go to one show! Woe is me.

hayden, the Gmail thing sounds intriguing. I don't really use my gmail account -- can they hold a whole bunch of music? How does the trading start?