I'm always in the market for new music. I'm very much addicted to loud tunes, especially of the hip-hop and electronic variety. Therefore I was very excited to see a new release from The Crystal Method in the store yesterday.

Alas, the music isn't really exciting. I've been a huge TCM fan ever since their first album Vegas. Their second, Tweekend, was less impressive – but certainly still quite exceptional. While it didn't cohere as an album the way Vegas did, Tweekend still had some very superb tracks. Their third album, Legion of Boom, disappointed me pretty harshly. It grew on me a little, but I've never played it a whole lot.

Drive, meanwhile, is a bit of a flop. By now their music reminds me of a fair-to-decent breakbeat mixtape. Nothing new or astounding – they clearly know how to make music, and their style is still somewhat distinct, but the magic's gone. I suppose what happened on Vegas stayed on Vegas.

More alarmingly, however, was a tiny little line in the insert which read:

Drive was originally conceived as part of the Nike+ Original Run series as a soundtrack to guide athletes through the progression of a 45 minute workout, from warm-up to cool down. For more information on the Original Run series visit real website omitted because Nike sucks.

Now, leaving aside the question of whether or not this music would inspire me to do a 45 minute workout (no), I was astounded to learn that I had purchased something affiliated with Nike, or – worse yet – that maybe some of my money went to Nike. Ew! (TPCQ: "I think it would be more appropriate if the box bore a big red label – WARNING: LARK'S VOMIT!")

Of course, I can't really say I'm surprised, given the band's history of selling out. Still, Nike takes things to a new level. Yuck. I feel so unclean. You gotta admit, though, that part I wrote about "what happened on Vegas" was pretty good. C'mon, admit it.

TimeWaster™

This is quite possibly the best learn-by-billiards video set money can buy:



Today I'm listening to: TCM back when they didn't make me sad!