Spoon Limited Edition Vinyl

The luck of 7-7-07 has found me today, but I won't brag because the day isn't over yet.

A few months back Merge announced the pre-order promotion for the new Spoon album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. The first 200 people to pre-order the album would get a limited edition 7" vinyl, autographed by the band. Of course I raced to the website to put in my pre-order, and after I got the order in, the site was still advertising the promotion. I kept my fingers crossed in hopes that I got mine in on time. I clicked over to Spoon's site, and the promotion had already been removed.

I figured that I probably didn't make the cut, but it really didn't matter. I got my order in for the album anyway, which I obviously planned on buying, so no loss if I didn't.

So here we are, 4 days before the release of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and in the mail today was a package from Merge. I got excited about opening it up, just due to the fact that I have it before the actual release. I completely forgot about the promotion of the autographed 7". I opened the package and dug right into the CD. I was pretty excited about the bonus disc. Stumbled around the extras that i got with it, a poster and a button, and then i eyed up the 12" of the album. I wasn't until I picked it up that i found tucked underneath of it was the 7" bonus...AUTOGRAPHED BY THE BAND!!!!

So being a huge fan of the band, I am thrilled. Im a firm believer that an autograph really doesn't mean much unless you obtain it yourself. Its fun just to meet the band, get a picture and maybe an autograph to show off later. But with that said, I am always willing to snatch up a freebie like this.

I've taken a snapshot of the entire package. And in case you were wondering, Britt's autograph is on the back of the sleeve, so you cant see it in the photo.

Smashing Paris

Having been a fan of The Smashing Pumpkins for quite some time, and really not much of one for the past few years, I'm obviously intrigued by the release of their first album in 7 years, Zeitgeist. I'm not going to dwell on the fact that we are only dealing with 1/2 of the original lineup. Its aways been about Billy anyway.

The first single from the album, Tarantula, is pretty great. It honestly brings to mind that old familiar sound that only the Pumpkins could make, without a hint of The Future Embrace or even Zwan. As much as I wanted to shrug the album off, and declare that using the name Smashing Pumpkins again was just a way to bring back a brand...I really dont feel like it is. And best of all, its not Machina III.

Shockingly, the album artwork for the UK single for Tarantula features none other than Paris Hilton. The single was released on Monday July 2nd (why do we release albums on Tuesday?). I think just based on the fact that is so funny, I have to order it.

UPDATE: I just ordered the CD single from amazon.co.uk. Pretty cheap too. I can't wait to get it!