666



Today's comic is the 666th Sam and Fuzzy website update ever! Creepy, huh?



I wish bands that I like would stop offering "exclusive bonus tracks" as rewards for downloading their entire albums on iTunes. Count me among the prehistoric listeners who still like to buy their music on plastic discs. It always bums me out when I have to miss out on an extra song because I'd rather buy a CD than a bunch of lower quality, DRM-crippled computer files.



If you could buy the bonus tracks individually, it wouldn't be a problem. But because they are "exclusively available" to folks who bought the entire albums on iTunes, all us CD buyers can't get them unless we feel like buying the entire album over again in download format. (Or pirating them. Arr!)



This didn't turn into a pet peeve for me until I found out it was happening with both the new Sloan and Barenaked Ladies albums. But now, now I am officially grumpy about it. I think I'm ready to become a crotchety old man who complains about the latest media formats and uses words like "newfangled."



Sam Logan

Blink!



Orneryboy has been doing some really slick things with animation lately. Mixing animation and comics, much like mixing website navigation and Flash interfaces, is one of those things that almost always results in disaster... but as usual, Michael has exercised restraint and come up with something seemless that really complements what he is doing. It certainly outclasses those creepy blinking people in the online version of For Better or For Worse.



Man, those blinking people give me the creeps.



Sam Logan

Fading into obscurity



I've gotten a few emails lately from folks who claim they've actually been enjoying the music recommendations I've been tossing about recently. So, what the heck... here is another one.



Sloan is a Canadian band that, in various phases, has leaned towards many of the "classic" rock sounds that fall anywhere between the Beatles and ACDC. Each member of the band writes and sings their own songs, which makes for some pretty ecclectic and interesting material. They've been around for over a decade, and have managed to put out quite a few good albums. But as a Sloan fan I feel like I am still waiting for them to put out that one truly incredible "defining" album that I know they've got in them somewhere.



Well, a new Sloan album is dropping on the 19th of September -- a beast of a disc with thirty (thirty!) full length songs. So, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this is "the one." Double-length albums can be risky and often filler-heavy affairs, but with four talented (and generally consistent) composers in the band I'm expecting this won't be a problem.



You can hear two of the new songs on the band's MySpace page. The surprisingly complex "Fading Into Obscurity" in particular has got me feeling pretty optimistic. I think it might be one of the best songs Chris has ever written!



Sam Logan