The Hopp Stop

A couple music articles to check out:

• There’s a new Metallica album out tomorrow, Death Magnetic. I had written it off out-of-hand based on the suckitude of all albums since, arguably, …And Justice For All, although I enjoyed the Black Album quite a bit when it came out–I just don’t think the songs stand up compared to the prior albums. Howeva!! this AllMusic story has me fired up for Death Magnetic. At the very least, worth a couple listens if it’s on Rhapsody; if not, I may drop the $9 on it and take a flier.
• Related note: whatever happened to the Tuesday CD release date? Obviously if a band pulls a Radiohead and does electronic-only distro, doesn’t really matter what day they release the album, but I’m surprised to see rock dinosaurs like Metallica breaking from tradition.
• Via Stereogum, I found this analysis of the latest Girl Talk album. It’s crazy how much sampling takes place: “There are 14 tracks on Feed the Animals, with a total of 264 sampled songs. “What It’s All About” and “Like This” have 26 sampled songs each, tying for the most, while “Don’t Stop” has the fewest at 11 songs. Overall, the album averages 19.8 songs sampled per track.” GT is playing at the Fillmore this fall, FYI. Tickets on sale now.