My thoughts on this article are mostly disconnected and anecdotal, so I apologize if I don’t offer a linear response.

It seems to me that Amazon has to be in this conversation. I worked at UPS for a long time, before Amazon had a contract with UPS and while they had (and still have) a contract with UPS. Amazon is *huge* business for that company. Believe me, the amount of Amazon packages that move through UPS hubs at Christmas time is nothing short of amazing.

Now, it’s my understanding–anecdotally–that Amazon, in the myriad ways that it has contracted its services to smaller sellers, also ships with FedEx and the USPS. I don’t know the details of those contracts, but I do know that I’ve ordered some music and some DVDs–_Mad Men_, in particular–that are merely “fulfilled by Amazon.” Those packages almost always come to me via the USPS.

I’ve noticed that there are a whole lot of indie labels out there that do not sell on Amazon (or who do not sell on Amazon with regularity). Captured Tracks comes to mind. A few years back, I bought Wild Nothing’s _Gemini_ on Amazon, but then I had to purchase the _Golden Haze_ EP, as well as some Beach Fossils records and the Medicine remasters directly from the label because they weren’t available on Amazon (though they seem to be now). That’s fine with me. No problem.

*However*, shouldn’t we be asking what kind of picture we get when we piece all of these parts together? Could contracting with Amazon be a cheaper and more efficient option than standard mail order?

Perhaps the answer is just a blatant, “no.” That would be fine. It just seems like we should be talking about that question.

I believe in my heart that what I’m about to say actually happened. However, the mists of time have suggested to me that I could have imagined the whole thing.

Back when tears were perpetually flooding heaven, I was in a record store. I owned a copy of _Pablo Honey_ at the time. I remember looking in the CD singles bin. (“CD” is short for compact disc, by the way.) Every ounce of me has a recollection of staring at a copy of Radiohead’s _Drill_ EP and noticing that three of the EP’s four songs were already on _PH_. Therefore, I recall putting it down and purchasing something else. Since that time, I have repeatedly thought that I made one of my dumbest decisions that day. I don’t think I made that decision on a Friday, but still.

I know that _Drill_ was severely limited, so again, I might be imagining this whole thing. However, the record store I patronized on that day specialized in all kinds of import stuff. Eventually, they would stock all 20 versions of the _Dissident_ EP, as well as Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of the _March of Pigs_ single. Therefore, I really do think this event happened. I spent the better part of the 90s trying to track down “Stupid Car,” a song that I wouldn’t have known existed had I not seen it somewhere. Eventually, I heard the song, further proving my apparent misguided move. “Stupid Car” is not very good, so I could have sold the EP for much more than I would have paid for it, had I paid for it. Alas.

And of course I would misspell “its” while typing that comment. Extra awesome, Joe. Extra awesome.

“But there was nothing challenging about plenty of the stuff that blew up on modern rock radio in the years immediately after Nevermind: Counting Crows, World Party, Spin Doctors, Cracker, Belly.”

I think it’s about time that you back up for a moment to take back that nasty thing you said about Belly. The rest of the sentence is fine.

You are officially the tallest, and quite possibly the largest, cat on the planet, plb102.

I always suspected that Samus Aran was the true Mother Brain behind the Radiohead operation.

Okay, I’ve strapped in for what should be a roller coaster comment thread. May the best RubberJohnny win.

Grrrr . . . Any other place where I can watch Explosions in the Sky? Preemptive strike: please don’t tell me “in the sky,” unless that happens to be true.

A good friend of mine saw Faith No More perform way back in the early ’90s. He claimed–and I have no confirmation of this–that they played one song (I can’t remember which one) over and over and over again, each time concluding by asking the crowd if they wanted to hear it again. As the crowd got more irritated, the band only continued to play. The gag sounded kind of funny, kind of like this “My Sharona” thing does. *However*, I say that as someone who was not at either show, so I really don’t know how I’d feel if I had to stand through this kind of thing.

Downvotes aside, I can’t help but earnestly wish that Cox would just settle down, get disciplined, and do one thing really well. He’s not a convincing shapeshifter–and his endless contortions just make me long for the days where he sounds like he does on “Cryptograms” or “Heatherwood.” Or, like, all of _Weird Era Cont._.

I meant “wrap.” Though, depending on what you’re into, I suppose “warp” could work, too.

It’s worth noting that the word “special” is being rethought, too.

I’m not issuing this comment in criticism. Rather, I’m furthering the discussion. Check the link:

http://www.michaelberube.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1257/

Fantastic!

Okay, Stereogum, and 2:54, you’ve got me paying attention. Now, forgive me for asking (particularly if this question is addressed elsewhere), but why aren’t these columns titled “Band to Hear”?