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There aren’t many bands who could convince me to buy an album twice, and I can’t help feeling They Might Be Giants are exploiting their status as my favorite band by releasing their new album, “The Else,” as an exclusive iTunes download, ahead of its CD release on July 10.

Though “casual” Giants fans (if such people exist) might not know it, the release of a new TMBG album is not that big a deal. Pioneers of internet music distribution since the late 90’s, the two Johns (Linnell and Flansburgh) have released 300% more music, digitally, than most artists do through traditional distribution channels. The fact that I not only made up that statistic, but refuse to apologize for it should be proof enough these guys put out a lot of music. A lot!

They roared onto the information superhighway in 1999 with web-only mp3 album “Long Tall Weekend.” In the months leading up to the 2001 release of their album “Mink Car,” subscribers to emusic.com’s “TMBG Unlimited” service (myself included) downloaded live, unreleased, and work-in-progress mp3s. Letting us in on the creative process was as unprecedented as it was risky: by the time the final album came out, it didn’t feel like as big of an event, and some of the finished songs were arguably weaker than their unreleased counterparts. Still, it’s hard to criticize a band that eager to get music to their fans.

Now, more than seven years after joining the internet revolution, TMBG have settled into an online groove, pumping out music through paid album and live show downloads, as well as a free mp3 service and official podcast (all of it found at www.tmbg.com). End result? Since the Giants’ last album (2004’s “The Spine”), we’ve gotten to hear way more songs, total, than the thirteen tracks of “The Else.” At some point, They Might Be Giants traded the every-few-years album schedule for a steady flow of digitally distributed musical ideas. By force of quantity, it means they’ve hit way more than they’ve missed. And those times they have missed? At worst, the song was cheap-to-free; at best, the good ideas got added to a better song down the road.

“So TMBG are no longer about albums.” you say. “Are you getting ready to make an excuse for ‘The Else’?” Well, maybe. I went into “The Else” expecting something that felt like the culmination of three years’ work. As good as this new album is, it doesn’t rise much above the freebies and demos they’ve released since “The Spine,” which means either the new album feels unfinished, or the other songs are just that good. If I had to declare the glass one way or the other, I’d say it’s pretty darn full. You can keep your well-crafted, over-produced opuses. I’ll take the spit ‘n’ polish musical stylings of They Might Be Giants.

“The Else” is as polished as TMBG get. Underlying drum loops and fuzz-colored instrumentation, courtesy of production help by The Dust Brothers, give the album a unified feel, keeping the Johns’ disparate writing styles and subject matter under the same rain cloud, if not the same umbrella. True to form, song themes are all over the map: pleas to dump a live-in deadbeat (”Take Out the Trash”), an ode to the weirdness of occasionally pirate-related dreams (”With the Dark”), some dude who equates channel surfing to riding the high seas (”The Cap’m”), cranial injury as relationship metaphor (”Contrecoup”), and the story of the hardest working rock band this side of the fertile crescent (”The Mesopotamians”).

Most Giants albums have stand-out tracks, with hooks catchy enough to keep you coming back until you like the other songs. “The Else” doesn’t have anything I’d call a single, which means you have to get to know all the tracks at once. That made my first few listens tough. Two weeks later, though, there’s not a song I don’t have at least an appreciation for. Even my least favorites (”Upside Down Frown,” “Feign Amnesia”) have a tendency to pop by my brain unannounced, usually when I’m waking up in the morning, or singing in the shower.

I thought about not downloading “The Else,” and waiting until July. That lasted about thirty seconds. I take fiscal comfort in knowing the final CD release will come packaged with a second disc of bonus material. That’s a good sign. It means TMBG appreciate their fans. And if, as a fan, you can’t wait two months either, download the album. Either way, buy “The Else.” It’s not their best, nor will it end up on any Top Ten lists, but it doesn’t matter. They Might Be Giants music isn’t meant to be enjoyed one album at a time. Their genius truly reveals itself when you look at, and listen to, their work as a whole. How to explain it? Think of “The Else” as one piece of string, added to a towering, musical ball of twine. Yeah, that’s it… a musical ball of twine.

Click here to buy this album on iTunes!

Dave:  Well, Monday came and went and for the first time in a boatload of weeks, there was no 24.  And guess what–I was sorta relieved.  Let’s not sugarcoat the fact that 24 Day Six was pretty darn horrible.  There were some fine moments, but they were few and far between, sandwiched between exruciating dialogue, tedious plotlines and characters no one cared about.  In short, the show became a season-long self-mockery and Jack Bauer, he who snaps necks and hacksaws heads and tortures his own brother, wandered into the realm of parody.

So how do we resuscitate this once-proud show?  Hey, I have access to the Internet and have some ideas so I will make them known to the world!  Now!

What Needs to Happen 

1.  More Jack.  Of all the bad decision that plagued the storytelling this past season, no misstep was worse than keeping Jack in the background.  He would sometimes be off screen for a good half of the show.  Unacceptable.   Nobody puts Bauer in a corner.

2.  Less CTU.  And by “less” I think I mean “zero.”  Where else can you take CTU plots after this season?  How many more moles?  How many more security breaches?  How many more dead red shirts?  Worse, CTU has now completely turned into a government-run counter-terror version of One Life to Live.  You’ve served your country well, porous defenses and all, and now it’s time to close down and make way for a Home Depot or something.

3.  Get out of L.A.    This may be a logistical impossibility as far as filming the series goes, but the doomsday-in-Los-Angeles-scenario has more that run its course.    I’ll use the 24 hack joke and ask why the terrorists don’t warn each other to stay away from L.A. on the Jihadist Message Boards and take their chances with, say, CTU Wichita.

4.  Find a way to bring back characters that we actually like.  One of the biggest mistakes the writers made was to dispatch Tony, Michelle, et al in favor of new blood.   As this season reveal, though, we were left with nothing but clots.  From the incredibly annoying President Wayne Palmer, his idiot sister and the clowns he surrounded himself in the Oval Office to the mouth-breathers in CTU (Milo, Nadia, Morris), who besides Jack, a sometimes interesting Mike Doyle and a de-clawed Chloe did we have to pull for?  And if you say “Audrey,” you’re off the Christmas card mailing list.

5.  Just nuke the thing from orbit.  It’s the only way to be sure.  Writers, you have a daunting task and I’m encouraged by the news that you’re ready to re-create the series.  But the challenge will be to resist the easy temptation of reverting back to formula.  How you punch this series up, I don’t know (though I will echo my desire to see a flashback season) but it’s gotta happen.   I’m as big a Bauer fan as any, but if Day Seven is anything like Day Six, I’ll be writing about the glory of Dancing with the Stars in this space next year.  And no one wants that.

Dominic Santini is the fictional co-pilot from the hit ’80s action show Airwolf. Grizzled and wise, Dom served as a level-headed balance to the fiery Stringfellow Hawke, the pilot of the titular battle copter. To channel his anger from having to play second fiddle, Dom poured his angst into the composition of aggressive Japanese poetry.

Winter’s Chill

Cold air sweeps through me,
I clutch my arms and breathe deep
And yearn for hot soup!

–Dominic Santini

Dig into more Lost with Dave and Erich and the roundtable, post-finale podcast hosted by our chums at DVD Verdict.com. Listen here!

Dave: Okay, I’m hooked again. As I’ve aired repeatedly here I had lost some fondness for Lost. I wasn’t feeling the initial chunk of episodes and their focus on the “Others” HQ. The Losties we had grown so accustomed to had been replaced by new characters that I didn’t find as compelling. Worse, I was getting frustrated with lack of answers to the myriad of mysteries that had been left hanging from the past two seasons.

Yeah, that’s par for the course for Lost, I know, but my patience was wearing thin and it got so bad that during the show’s extended hiatus, I didn’t find myself missing it. The show righted itself in its run-up to the finale, however, giving us more face time with the original survivors that we’ve come to love and the writers cranked out some very, very good episodes in the home stretch.

None, however, even approach the sheer greatness that was this two-hour finale. Put aside the back-breaking, mythology-contorting twist that we were stuck with at the end–and it was a doozy–and you’re still left with two profoundly entertaining hours of television. The exploding tents, the Charlie torture scene, the invincible one-eyed Russian maniac, the Sayid neck snap, Hurley’s homicidal bus ride, Locke’s renewal of faith courtesy of a surprise guest–brother, that adds up to prime prime-time viewing.

This show was dark and our main characters made some dark choices. Though I was grooving with the survivors’ reclamation of the beach, when Sawyer capped the helpless Friendly, man that was harsh. The guy started out as a reluctant murderer, but after he choked out Locke’s dad in the pirate ship, he got a taste for bloodshed. Jack didn’t soften his personality either, allowing (what he thought was) the murder of three friends to ensure he got everyone off the island, then beating Ben to a watery paste. And Locke rebounded from his injuries with enough juice to sink a knife in the back of Naomi before she could radio for help. These are characters so committed to their faith, they’ll do whatever it takes to serve it. Dark, man. Dark.

So what does the big twist-a-roo mean? Lots obviously. What can make Jack, who so desperately wanted to get off this island as evidenced by his dealings earlier in the season, totally fall apart at as a human being and consume himself with returning to the island? Who knows, but the writers have 48 episodes to tell us. The island certainly looks a lot better compared to the miserable, broken lives the survivors left behind.

Finally, poor Charlie. We’ll miss you. But after seeing Evangeline Lilly all dolled up in that final scene, I don’t think too many men will be shedding tears for Dominic Monaghan. Yowza!

Erich: What does it mean to be rescued? Does it mean accepting destiny? Denying fate? Having faith? Being a skeptic? Since crash-landing on our mysterious island 90-plus days ago, the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 have been desperate to go home. Say what you will about the resourcefulness of the Swiss Family Robinson, but they never had to deal with nebulous smoke monsters, freaky visions of the dead, and a hostile cult of khaki-wearing “Others.” Now, after the third season finale, we’re all left to wonder: have our Losties really been rescued?

The mega-ultra-super-shocker of a twist suggests getting off the island, at least for Jack, wasn’t rescue at all. Despite returning to civilization, our doc is sporting a Jim Morrison beard with a drug problem to match. He crashed on the island with daddy issues; now he’s become his alcoholic father. Do all the rescued Losties share the same fate? Has Hurley’s curse returned to kill the rest of his family? Has Jin returned to a life of crime, under the thumb of his mob boss father-in-law? Is Kate still on the run? By leaving the island, did they miss their chance for redemption–to be rescued from themselves? And who, exactly, was in the casket? Was it, as some have suggested, Sawyer? Whoever it was, Jack’s attempted suicide seemed driven by guilt over having been responsible for their “rescue,” and the troubled life they led afterwards.

Future Jack’s broken life (especially the chilling admission he flies constantly in hopes he’ll crash again), is disturbing because it suggests maybe Ben was right. We won’t know rescue details for eight long months, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the landing forces turn out to be, as Ben put it “bad guys,” and the Losties’ actual rescue doesn’t occur ’til much later. After all, it’s “not Penny’s boat”. There must be a reason the island sent an apparently twenty-something Walt to act as Clarence to Locke’s suicidal George Bailey, resurrecting him from the DHARMA grave so he could stop the rescue. For all his lies, this otherworldly intervention appears to legitimize at least some of Ben’s claims. What is the island trying to protect itself from? If the island was so desperate to remain hidden, what does that tell us about Desmond’s flashes? His vision of the future led Charlie to accept what he thought was his fate: flipping the switch and exposing the island. Does Desmond’s power come from the island, or somewhere else?

What can we expect from season four? My predictions: the “rescue” won’t go as planned; Locke will succeed Ben as leader of the Others; Sawyer and Kate will part ways; we’ll learn more about the island’s ancient civilization (the Temple!) and about Jacob (maybe his pleas for help suggest a broken life similar to Future Jack’s?).

This was the best finale I’ve seen in a long time. For a season that started with separate storylines, the plot threads all came together in a satisyfing way. It was touching (Danielle and Alex reunion; Charlie’s ultimate sacrifice), funny (Rose making Bernard say “I’m a dentist. I’m not Rambo.”; Hurley’s ride-of-the-microbus) and brutal (Charlie’s interrogation; Jack’s Ben beatdown; Sayid’s Bauer-esque neck snap; the demise of Mr. Friendly). Mostly, though, it was bittersweet. Had the finale ended with Jack’s rescue call, I could have finished the season hopeful. Now, though, we know it takes more than leaving the island to be rescued.

The series-ending finale is over, and that little janitor guy is sweeping the stage, but there’s time for one more shocking cross-over episode! Listen in as Dave (taking a break from laying the judicial smack down on some mighty meaty movies over at dvdverdict.com) and Erich autopsy the third season of The CW’s Veronica Mars in a special edition of “DVD Verdict Presents,” the official podcast of dvdverdict.com:

DVD Verdict 044 - Veronica Mars Post-Mortem

Check out our Post-Mortem Veronica Mars podcast, hosted at DVD Verdict! Click here!

Erich: Ah, Veronica. You were too beautiful for this world. Last night marked the end of Veronica Mars’s three season run, capped off by two of the best episodes this season.

The first featured the return of original gangsta Eli “Weevil” Navarro, former leader of a Neptune motorcycle gang, and current janitor at Hearst College. At least he was, until a couple rich kids get caught using faked student account cards, and finger poor Eli as the guy what sold ‘em the goods. Veronica, flexing the folded leather of her brand new P.I. badge, takes the job, proving Weevil’s innocence while doing what she does best: cutting spoiled brats down to size. But life is about more than cracking cases. Nice guy boyfriend Piz is majorly bummed Ms. Mars will be spending the summer as an FBI intern. She tries to ease his pain—and that “tender moment” gets caught on video and emailed to the entire school. Logan, figuring Piz for the perv, tracks him down at the college radio station and beats our little eggplant to a pulp.

Veronica finds out about the tape and the beating as the second (sadly, last) episode begins. Sending LoVe ’shippers everywhere weeping into their heart-shaped pillows, she informs Logan he no longer has a place in her life. Thanks to the racy vid, Veronica finds herself back where she began the series: publicly shamed and openly ridiculed. But a wronged Veronica is an angry Veronica…and there’s nothing more fun to watch than an angry Veronica. Leaving a pile of leering frat boys in her wake, her investigation into the video’s origin takes her deep within the bowels of entrenched patriarchal power: “The Castle,” Hearst’s own “Skull and Bones”-like secret society. When she finds out best friend Wallace has been tapped for Castle membership, she enlists his help in carrying out her twofold plan of avenging her honor and exposing the group’s secrets. She succeeds, but there’s a casualty in this final battle: her father, Keith, whose bid for Sheriff is ruined when he decides to break the law to help his daughter. As the season—and the series—end, we’re left unsure of his fate, knowing only that we’re never going to get the chance to find out what happens next.

I think they knew this was going to be Mars’s last hurrah. As much as the show was retooled this year in an attempt to capture the CW’s lip-gloss demographic, these last two episodes were a thank you card to fans of all three seasons. Just about every character who’s been important to the series got some screen time, and past season plot threads, mostly ignored this transitional year, resurfaced, including Dick dealing with Cassidy’s death, and the return of the Kane family. Best of all, though: the “edge” was back. For a show that has dealt with rape, murder, and molestation, things got a touch squeaky-clean this year. It was great to see the return of the dark and scary moments (the stuff that guaranteed my wife would cover her eyes for at least part of each season finale).

There are many reasons Veronica Mars never found an audience. The most compelling argument I’ve heard (thanks, Dave) is that it was too clever for a teenage crowd, while appearing too kiddy for adults. As I watched these last two episodes, I asked myself: what set this show apart from other “youth” programming? After all, it dealt with the same topics—school, parents, friends, and relationships. The difference is the writing quality. Sure, Mars had some edge-of-your-seat mysteries, but even in the past few episodes, where the mysteries took a back seat to relationships, the strength of the writing—the humor, the rhythm, the pacing—convinced me the subject doesn’t matter. I’d watch the show even if they rewrote Veronica as a sassy waitress working a small Texas diner run by Vinnie Van Lowe (there’s your spin-off, Rob Thomas!)

I can only hope Veronica finds new life on DVD, sharing shelf space with other classic, prematurely canceled, series like Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development. I could end this post by making some joke about getting the “FBI” to solve the “mystery” of why the show’s gone. But I won’t. I’ll end with a simple plea: if you love the show, lend a friend the DVDs. If you’ve never seen the show…well, here’s a link to Netflix.

Dave: I agree with Erich that these shows were top-shelf and vintage V-Mars goodness. I’ll try to avoid rehashing my remarks from the podcast (which, by the way, you can check out here), but the nitty-gritty is this: as a season finale, the capper was excellent; as the series finale, it’s hard for me to summon up a feeling besides disappointment.

Or maybe dismay is the better word. Dismay at the dishonorable discharge issued the show by the highers-up in the CW Ivory Tower; dismay at the dangling plot threads left flying in the breeze; dismay that we’ll never see Kristen Bell tazer a punk again (unless Access Hollywood gets their hands on some provocative candid footage). Frankly, the VM’s shutout from the Fall slate is a typical shaft job from networks who don’t want to give a show the proper farewell.

That aside, again, good set of shows. I preferred the latter myself, as it played up the “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” thing perfectly and allowed Veronica to really sink her claws into those that wronged her. Plus the throwback to Cassidy and the Kanes was a nice hat tip to seasons of yore. My only complaint: the ham-fisted “let’s screw over these powerful men” theme Veronica and her whiny college editor friend cooked up–sue The Castle?! Frankly, I wasn’t aware the practices of a secret society fell under the jurisprudence of the Department Labor.

The shows actually laid the foundation for a compelling follow-up season. You had Keith’s career in jeopardy (and more Vinnie Van Lowe goodness sure to come; how great was that radio interview by the way?), the looming threat of the mafia coming after Logan, and Veronica’s soon-to-be rocky relationship with Piz.

Of course, all that will only live on in the nebulous ether of online fan-fiction. Sigh.

R.I.P.