Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

Two fine things I noticed while perusing The Onion today.

1) Gotchaboxes. Real-looking boxes for absurd products (although a USB toaster is not at all inconceivable–I had to check around to make sure someone wasn’t actually making one) that you can put your real Christmas gifts in. I bet if you spring for rush shipping you could still get them in time for Christmas. You’re probably pushing it for Hanukkah.

2) I’m so far a big fan of Rhapsody. Normally, I’d be reading the A.V. Club, note that they have something nice to say about the Sam Roberts Band, and dismiss them (noting their Canadian-ness) the next time I’m faking being a music snob. But Rhapsody lets you access a huge catalog of full albums that you can stream as you please. Since I spend most of my day in front of a computer anyway, it’s well worth my $10 a month, even if I can’t (easily) take any of the music with me on my iPod. (I view it as kind of a try-before-you-buy-elsewhere.) Obviously it’s not going to have the most cutting-edge indy stuff, but it’s not bad, especially when you need to hear that one Grand Funk Railroad song just to get it out of your damn head already. If you want to download the tracks, they’re encrypted and you don’t actually own them, but I’d look at it as more radio-plus than music-store-minus.

Thanks to Rhapsody, I can confidently spew out, “Sam Roberts? Yeah, pretty straight ahead jangle-rock sound, kind of confessional songwriting but with more energy than that would normally connote. Good organ; a guitarist who liked prog after it was cool. Flat, gravelly lead vocals with drippy harmonies. Kind of Exile-runs-over-Counting-Crows-by-way-of-Ziggy-Stardust,” and probably get punched in the face by someone who hates people who insist on trying to sound like Pitchfork when they talk about music.

Aram