As close to perfection as you can get. Future release. Chinese Democracy, finally? Stories I'm writing.

About three times a year I make a list of the (usually 50 or 100) greatest albums of all-time. Sometimes it's just hip-hop albums. Sometimes it's everything else. It can be both, too. I'm listening to The Score by the Fugees. It'd definitely be on my list. These would be on the list too:

I Can Feel the Heart Beating as One - Yo la Tengo
London Calling - The Clash
In the Wake of Poseidon- King Crimson
Appetite for Destruction- Guns 'n' Roses
Giant Steps- John Coltrane
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables- Dead Kennedys

Madvilliany- Madvillian

That's part of it. I love lists. It satisfies my urge to implement hierarchy wherever I go. Lists make you president or ambassador, until you finish.

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I cannot wait for this album. March 10th. New Yo la Tengo. New name. Prince without the symbol or the feminine stature. I could whip Prince's ass.

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This is probably the best album review I've read. Intellegent. Sharp. Direct. Actually takes a stance on something outside of the finished product.

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In Gang Starr's Rolling Stone biogrpahy that accompanied the release of their most recent LP, The Ownerz, an unnamed journalist described their most heralded release as follows:

"Daily Operation delivered darker, denser atmospherics while still never losing touch with the funk; in the era of gangsta rap, this New York crew rewrote the hip-hop playbook. Premier proved that less is more on the stripped-down opening track, "The Place Where We Dwell," while the rest of the album continued in the inventive vein of its predecessor, though with more claustrophobic production. On Hard to Earn, it seemed they could do little wrong, though after this album Gang Starr began a slow slide from relevance, but not a dramatic or devastating one. "

That last sentence irks me. Certain things are always relevant. Music especially. The Beatles are always going to matter. If nobody talked about the Beatles for ten years, they'd still matter, simply because of all the conversation that's been created over the past 40+ years.

It's pretty weird to think about what'd happen if the Beatles released an album now as a new group. They'd be indie. I'd be considered an elitist or some hipster jerk for listening to them. They'd probably be on Drag City or Matador. Reviews would be mixed. Non-stop touring, back-to-back nights in Milwaukee and Kansas City. Revolver would be the turning point in their discography. Their 13, White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean.

Five more albums then that's it. It's over and done for. Solo endevors, expensive drugs alone in hotel bathrooms. They would be the economic downfall, rise and collapse.

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I'm working on two short stories right now. One will probably turn into flash. The first one is called "I promise this is being videotaped." It's about a husband and wife splitting their possessions for a separation. The other is called "Two blue shirts, two necklaces." I looked at this picture, and started writing. It's not about Primus, though.