The new Duran album isn't all bad, I'm kinda bustin' a move here. And Falling down is pretty good. Not Astronaut or Wedding Album good, but better than okay. 

But I still mean it about the bass. Hello? Where is it?

 (BTW, if you have it the chorus of Night Runner totally sounds like Simon's saying "knight butter", I know some folk who would buy that.)

Freakin' morons at Etsy have set thier server-side image handling application convert your store graphic file to jpg format and reduce quality to somewhere around 35 no matter what file size or type you upload. Even if it's smaller than the size it converts to. It made my nice crisp and clear graphic all schmutzy and look like such crap that I ended up replacing it.

I have given this affliction a name: "Jpeggery".

That's right. I just made jpeg into in a verb.

Go me. 

He just sold his copy of the Magna Carta. $19M.

They didn't say it was, but I know it since they said the firm that bough it would put it BACK on display at the National Archives. I was there about 10-12 years ago with Mr Man and pal Broom,. The copy on display had a plaque that said it was there due to the "courtesy of Ross Perot". 

That little dude was big news then.

DVICE: 101 of the best, strangest and coolest gadget gift guides on the Net and the 5 worst

You want to know what *I* think of the new Duran Duran album, Red Carpet Massacre. You’ve been sitting there for a month waiting for my definitive review. Well, want no more.

I don’t like it. I hate to say it, I really do, but it’s just not grabbing me. Not even a little.

Which is sad since the last album, Astronaut, was so spectacular. It woke up critics who aren’t fans that they still are a great band and still existed. Every album they made over the last two decades got spun into the “comeback” album for the band over the years, but Astronaut really was that comeback. There were no bum tracks, was infinitely catchy and singable, and unlike their early work had lyrics you didn’t have to decipher like the DaVinci Code. And it had some actual radio airplay. Diehard fans weren’t the only ones buying it either. It for me is my favorite Duran Duran album. So it’s sad for me to see it turn around so much on the next album.

A couple of the songs On Red Carpet Massacre are marginal at best, like Falling Down, but overal it’s down at the bottom of my list with their Pop Trash album of a decade ago. Just, so… not good. I don’t know what went wrong but I think this shift is the result of them bringing in Timbaland and Justin Timberlake (a fan btw) to produce some tracks.

I think the main problem with this new album is, other than Simon singing, it doesn’t sound like Duran Duran. Tunewise it reminds me of Arcadia, which was a side project of three of the members back around ‘87 which was okay, but not great. I couldn’t really place what the biggest difference until after playing it I put on the last album, the spectacular Astronaut. After just a couple songs I managed to pin what was missing.

Too much Nick, not enough John.

Depth, melody and bass are what I seem to miss on this album, they’ve replaced it with some shallow thumping Euro club stuff and lots more electronia, even for them. Where would Duran Duran be without substantial pounding bass? On the road to hell I say! While writing this I realized when I first fired this album up that after a few songs I did what I rarely do - went for the Equalizer in iTunes. I hardly ever use this function other than when some comedy or spoken word tracks need some volume or equalizer help. I found myself trying to find the bass, and it was impossible in some tracks. We saw Duran Duran without John when he left to find himself and get off the coke, it was a dark era.

I fear they might have fallen into the “too much too soon” trap after the success of career-reviving, band-reuniting Astronaut. They actually made an album before this one with Andy Taylor, before they kicked him out of the band once again, and had it nearly done - and abandoned it and made this afterwards.

Throwing out the baby with the bathwater perhaps? Oh I do think so.

Will this mean I won’t go when they come around on tour? Oh hell no. I’ll be there with freaking bells on. They are a band that plays lots of “back catalog”, and never dissapoint in concert. I’m still a fan, but Red Carpet Massacre might not be on any playlists anytime soon.

Feel free to comment, I’d love to hash it out with other fans!

42Below Vodka in New Zealand makes some funny ass commercials! It’s a self-running playlist, so click it and forget it!

All totaled this might take 10 min, watch them all - you can do it!

Dave reminded me it's time for the annual VBB Holiday Bum Fest!

 I always kick it off with the same song - the most fucked up, weird and creepy Xmas song ever.

Red Sovine's "Faith In Santa"