FEAR: I'd never heard of Little Marcy before a friend sent me this link. I feel as if I was robbed of a deeply amusing portion of my childhood.

A moment of zen: I've found that I can induce an almost trance-like state by repeatedly playing a particular piece of music. The characteristics of the trance induced varies wildly depending on what I'm listening to. Lateralus on repeat put me into a dark, creepy place that mildly freaked me out. "Daphnis et Chloe" on repeat turned me into a teary-eyed romantic, gushing at everything I saw.

This week, I've been playing Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" because I have to memorize it in two weeks. (I await gasps of shock and horror from the people who know the piece.) So ,far, I've been very listless and sluggish; I've stopped eating regularly and can't be bothered to do anything around the house when get home. I think this is more due to stress over having to learn the piece than the music itself. It's pretty easy and extremely repetitive, but has approximately 1,395,660,326,425.59 words in it, all of which are either an early form of German or Latin. GRR. I haven't been this stressed about music since doing that 2-second Ravel solo for the last Concordia Society concert (which went well, but was HORRIBLY recorded).

A word to the wise: If, by chance, you are browsing through a record store and you come across a CD titled Jorio Presents Cyberdiva which bills itself as trance music based on operatic arias and you find yourself intriguied, DO NOT BUY IT. Instead of a bunch of thrilling reinterpretations of Purcell, Martini, Vivaldi, and Puccini, I got substandard no-imagination trance music with a decidedly average mezzo warbling in the background. 65 minutes of my life wasted, just like that.

DAN'S RATING: GRRUESOMELY BAD.

Rock and Roll: Friend Kate's band The Lollies has been mentioned as part of NME's coverage of the Ladyfest tour. Check out the article, then check out their site. Fun stuff, sez I.

Air Guitar World Championships: This is just the thing needed to kick off the work week. Feel the RAWK and remember not to lose you air guitar.

By the way... Did I mention that Freaky Trigger is back, complete with:

- reviews of Rooty, Amnesiac, 10,000 Hz Legend, and Moulin Rouge;
- Otis Wheeler's Third Door;
- a Pop Art interview with Momus;
- 24 hours of MTV with Mike Daddino (is he MAD?)
- the fourth Freaky Trigger Focus Group (including commentary from Yours Truly);
- A sleek and slick new look that has me seething with jealousy?

I didn't? Well, it is. Go, click, and be merry!

Aaliyah pushes boundaries further on radical new album: I'll admit that "We Need A Resolution" had begun to grow on me, but when I first heard it my overall reaction was that the Aaliyah/Timbaland synergy had just about dissipated. Apparently Aaliyah's been feeling the same way, because she's brought in a group of unknowns to produce the majority of her new album. She's also doing some deranged song about rape and cannibalism. WTF? I might buy this one. At the very least, it will go on the Amazon wish list.

One Inch Punch has redesigned and looks really, really cool. I'm all jealous and stuff.

I got really excited the other day because MTV played the video for Craig David's "Fill Me In". This is a song I was largely ambivalent towards until approximately three weeks ago, at which point some switch in my brain was flipped and I just went googly for it. It's really all about the choruses; the dull-as-dishwater verses would really benefit from the sparkly two-step beat that propels the choruses into the stratosphere. I am in love, I don't care what you say...

What a girl wants: Psychotherapy. I dare anyone to try convincing me that that is not a cry for help. Maura pegged the Dee Snyder connection over on NYLPM; apparently the first thing Christina isn't going to take anymore is her medication.

NME is chock-full of goodness today. A sampling:

Stereophonics and Feeder bottled off at Imola Festival
Ash music makes Havana roof collapse
Insane Clown Posse star in arrest drama

Also, today's Tabloid Hell references the unfortunate Mecha-Christina, but doesn't provide you with a picture like I did (even if I did steal it from someone else).

What a way to start the week! Some account of the weekend shenanigans involved in Ally's Boston visit will go up at some point. As an appetizer, here's a fairly hilarious link pulled off of the I Love Everything board about Nad's. (No, I won't explain further. Just click on it.)

EEEK! Normally, I would have some commentary on the linked article, but the accompanying picture was so disturbing that I couldn't bring myself to read it. I will say, though, that it takes a special kind of confidence to name your first album in half a decade Invincible.

That's some good writin': I feel bad about not discovering Glorious Noise earlier. They have some startlingly good pieces there. Today's piece about over-exaggeration and the need to have The Right Persona strikes particular chords with me.

OW! I like cats and all, but GIVE ME A BREAK. That thing should be put down post haste. (I'm trying to imagine the horror of actually being at the scene. EEK.)

Take that, you smug bastard: gsv at Glorious Noise drops some science on a New Yorker writer who appears to be vanishing up the rear end of classic rock at the speed of light. The defense is applicable to any genre, not just nu-pop, which makes me smile.

Track-by-track preview of New Order album: The album, titled Get Ready, is due to hit stores in the UK August 27. Going from this description, it's going to be the most exciting New Order album since Technique. Hands up everyone who can't wait to hear "Vicious Streak" and "Primitive Notion"... *raises hand*

You can't touch this! A slice of insanity stolen from Guns over at One Inch Punch. He also has a link to the family-only feed of the McVeigh execution, which will not be linked here because my skin just will not stop crawling. Go check out his site; it's pretty good, despite the unnecessary T'Pau-bashing. (I mean, so what if "Heart And Soul" was their one good song? It's a fantastic song. Had Roxette faded away after "The Look", I'd be giving them props, too.)

BBC pledge action against Britney death hoax pranksters: Looks like my initial inclination not to link that one was a good'un. In a way it's too bad, as the fake report was kind of funny. (Most of the humor is admittedly derived from the mental image of someone running over the startlet and saying, "Oops, I did it again.")

I love The Onion: This has been cracking me up for the past 10 minutes. How brutal!

In other Onion-related news, Chuck D is a juggalo. See, I'm not crazy!

Robbie Williams plans album of Sinatra-style big band covers: Jesus. Someone's ego is sprialling out of control, I think. What would be less appealing than Robbie Williams proto-bleating over big band music? Hmm... how about Dido singing over the sound of screaming rabbits? (Um, wait; that would make Dido interesting. Scratch that.) Ah, here we go; A.J. of the Backstreet Boys singing cabaret songs!

Okay, I've officially disturbed myself. Must think happy thoughts...

Tim blasts the ballads on the second half of Survivor and I can only shake my head in sorrow. Only playing the first 30 seconds of "Dangerously In Love" means that you never get to hear the soaring, aching chorus, where the emotions overwhelm the girls in a terrifying rush of tears and joy. It's a complete emotional meltdown that mixes elation and pain so thoroughly that the listener isn't sure whether to feel scared by the intensity of love offered or to just bask in its thermonuclear glow. It's absolutely beautiful.

Perhaps I'm getting sentimental, considering that my two-year wedding anniversary is coming up at the end of the summer. Maybe approaching thirty is bending my emotions towards things I would have scorned in my callow youth. Or maybe "Dangerously In Love" really is excellent and I should stop trying to come up with excuses for my admiration.