So here’s a lesson in deductive reasoning.  I started to foam at the mouth for downloading again, so I check the Pirate Bay’s top 100 music torrents.  “Gimme stuff and right quick,” I demanded.  But the choices were lame; Coldplay was at the top of the list by a ton but I’m not really interested in them.  But hey, there’s something for a band named Paramore, an album called “Riot”.  That’s the kind of title you’d give an album if you were edgy but hip and cool, right?  A little hop over to AllMusic again tells me they’re “neo-punk” or something.  Whatever, gimme.

Paramore – Riot
You’d think this would be a little obvious but you’ll have to forgive me as I catch up.  I’m looking at the top 100 downloads, meaning stuff lots of people have, and I give it a shot.  I listen to it.  I decide it’s kind of pop-y and something to appeal to the masses.  Wait for it, I’ll get there…  Top of the download list, liked by the masses…  Yeah so I dig the band and album because girls’ singing just melts my cold, lonely heart but still, sounds kind of generic.

CSS – Donkey
I’d say I love this band but the truth is I love the song that Apple used for their iTouch commercials last year.  The lead singer girl is hot and has a cute voice (girl singing, I tell you I’m pathetic).  However I never really listened to their first album very attentively.  But they release another one and I’m like, “hey I wonder if she still sings like a girl.”  Guess what, she does!  Too bad the songs are kind of lame this time around.  Pitchfork got it right, the magic of the first album isn’t really here this time.  Oh well, lead singer girl still wears skin-tight onesies on-stage I think.

Timo Maas – I forget the name of the album
Another recommendation from a friend.  A techno mix, DJ set.  Good stuff albiet generic (or maybe I was just really into debugging code and it washed over me).

Taproot – Blue Sky Research
Ladies and gentlemen, please buckle your seatbelts while we ride the Wayback Machine.  Ann Arbor, turn of the century, Limp Bizkit was hot shit and Fred Durst owned the world (yes he did.  no you shut up.)  This band from Ann Arbor (omg I went to school there!  squeee!) is talking on the phone with Fred!  I saw them at a ratty bar that has some extra space in the back where occasionally bands play (Blind Pig).  I was in on the ground floor, baby!  Those were good times.  Then Fred became not cool or maybe he still is and I don’t care anymore.  Anyway, Taproot still sounds just like that and while it may be nostalgic for me, that’s about all it has going for it.  Maybe if I dig up the mp3s of their pre-Fred-tainted work, it’ll remind me of the Old Ways.

System of a Down – Hypnotize
The companion work to Mezmorize.  Remember how I panned One Day as a Furry by that guy Zack because it was focused on lyrics and political messages instead of on music?  I get that feeling about System of a Down, they seem to be really charged with opinions and their music seems to be overflowing with that stuff.  For some reason I totally dig Toxicity since it seemed to be goofy short songs between good longer songs.  Now everything past that seems to be more of the same but without the oomph that keeps “Chop Suey” on my playlist and everything after it not on my playlist.  Man I’m negative and nostalgic tonight.  I remember going into the girls’ dorm to visit a friend and she had Toxicity on her dresser.  You see what I mean about making an impact?  How am I going to recall Hypnotize?  “Oh man, this is the part where I totally found that missing table lock that was causing the code to violate database constraints!  Rock on!”  \m/  No sir, nothing yet about this album reaches out and grabs me by the balls like she did.