2007 won't go down in the history books as a particularly memorable year, although with NO competition from the other 200x years, I would say 2007 wasn't that bad.

Things worth Raving about in 2007:


-jaggedspiral.com The website got a MAJOR overhaul, and I personally programmed every last line of HTML/CSS by hand using an esoteric combination of Notepad++ and Adobe GoLive. Thanks to James for the new, shiny band logo.

-Days From Evil the two-year long project finally released at the end of 2007 with one track released on the internet (FOR FREE) over the last 9 weeks of 2007. Click here and scroll down for the download links. Fans can use the "donate" buttons on the website to set any price on the album they like. Note that Radiohead took the same approach with their latest album, "In Rainbows".

-The Demonslayers Handbook - Is done. Finished in the middle of 2007, I set the book aside, and came back to it over the Christmas break, and read the whole thing, cover to cover. It is finished. Now, I'm ready to send copies out to those who are interested, and procure the help of an agent...

-Nine Inch Nails marketing genius. The Alternate Reality Game / Marketing behind the Nine Inch Nails release "Year Zero" was nothing short of genius. Trent Reznor remembered that an album is more than just an album, it's an experience. The more you can add to that experience for the fans, the better. In the case of Year Zero, the album is great on it's own, (and if you haven't heard "Capitol G", you're missing out) but the experience of the online phenomenon/pseudo-conspiracy pushed this album to the top for 2007, and showed the rest of the world how its done.

I-[fill in the blank] "I" is the new "E". Pretty much anything that started with "I" in 2007 was something you shoulda bought stock in. I-Pod, I-Tunes, I-Phone... And as much as I railed against the horrific, poisonous, anti-consumeristic atrocity that is DRM, you simply can't stop what the consumers want. The battle isn't over yet, but it's obvious that people want music, and they want to get it through the internet and not over the counter; badly enough to put up with DRM. The only thing holding up the works are the record companies who simply DO NOT understand the new system and keep trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

Things worth Ranting about in 2007:

-DRM = Dumb RIAA Morons I railed on DRM in 2007. A Lot. I'll let up once its dead, along with those who supported it.

-35W Bridge Collapse. I was surprised at the reaction of many Americans to this disaster, specifically those NOT involved. If someone in Minnesota gets hit by lightning, you generally don't have people calling in from other states to see if you are alright, or bloggers posting announcements that they and their families are OK, and everyone running to twitter.com to update their status as "Uninjured". Strangely, if you talk to anyone in Minnesota (Except myself and Xtina) they will tell you they JUST drove over the bridge, moments before it collapsed. That's about 4,919,477 people, which pretty much explains *why* it collapsed.

Things to look forward to in 2008:

The End of ze world. Well, if we assume that Nostradomus made some kind of mathematical error...

-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Not that I want to get my hopes up too much, but hey, it's too late. 22 May 2008 Baby!

-Guitars, not DJs. DJs are dead. Good riddance. Long live guitars!

-Jagged Spiral LIVE Look out world! Jagged Spiral is coming to a town near you! (...as long as you live near Minneapolis.) The band already held court at a private party back in October, and the first official public performance at Stasiu's on December 11th. Look out for two upcoming shows, at Club Underground on Thursday 31 Jan 2008 , and a Battle of the Bands at the Dinkytowner on 10 Feb 2008! Check out the band blog for more details, pix, and future concert updates...

-The Death of Emo

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Labels: year-in-review