The Default State Is Broken

Having now purchased and listened to the new Jonathan Coulton album, I am reassured that my first impression of the newly-electrified and studioized JoCo was correct: I very much like his music, and his work is as good or better than his previous stuff, but his live shows suffer from the inevitable "volume problem" -- the plugged-in stuff ends up being played at a level that washes out the melodic subtleties that make his work really touching, as opposed to just clever. Artificial Heart is really good. Like, really really good. Space Doggity , Always the Moon good. You should buy it now ( go here ) -- it's $10, which is a fucking steal these days -- and I especially encourage you to listen to Nemeses , Nobody Loves You Like Me , and Glasses if you're on the bubble about it. JoCo has moved impressively past his "nerd-core" beginnings without forgetting about it or leaving his audience behind, finding a tone and voice that makes him a legitimate breakout th...

Obligatory Politics Post: GET INVOLVED. President Obama's "American Jobs Act" is probably the very least we can do to prevent a double-dip Recession and get us back on a possible path to recovery. Contact your Congresspeople, contact the leadership, contact everyone you can think of and get them to pass the damn bill. This link will tell you who your reps are. This link is a list of the current leadership in both houses, and how to contact them. Call, write, fax (don't email, email isn't impactful enough). DO IT NOW.