In a message dated 1/5/2004 3:02:38 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
audities-owner@smoe.org writes:

<<It still happens today (Nelly Furtado is an example), but it's so rare.  
This isn't to diminish the Andre disc (not to slight Big Boi's disc -- it's 
very good, but it's accomplishment is more lyrical/thematic -- the music 
tracks are more straightforward) -- but I don't know if it's so much 
groundbreaking as liberating -- maybe others will realize you can experiment 
and have fun while doing it.>>

Right, Mike, what I was trying to get at with my post wasn't so much that it 
hasn't been done before (I mean, umm, Prince and Michael Jackson used to be 
pretty important) but that this was one of the rare times that people (and a set 
of Auditeers represent this group nicely) have been willing to cross the 
aisle to the hip-hop section and pick something out. It's been exciting to see 
this as a retailer; that there's actually a mainstream release that vastly 
different audiences--hip/hop fans, indie kids, eclectic music fans, and mainstream 
radio junkies--are all agreeing on. Outkast have certainly been building up to 
this--and "Stankonia" was a great album in its own right that many may feel is 
better than "Speakerboxx/The Love Below". But at the basest level it's just 
plain exciting to see so many people get so excited about something that's both 
good and diverse.

As far as the "is this record good for me" questions--which I've seen a few 
of--I would say try and sample some of it online first. If you're looking for 
some good places to start, try the two singles--"Hey Ya!" and "The Way You 
Move", and then also try "Ghettomusick" from Big Boi's disc and "Roses", "Spread", 
"Love Hater", "Happy Valentine's Day", and "Dracula's Wedding" from Andre's 
disc. It's unlikely you'll like EVERY track--after all, it is a deliberately 
sprawling disc--but if you enjoy this smattering you'll probably enjoy most of 
it. I'm not trumpeting this album because it's somehow "the thing to do", I'm 
trumpeting it because it really is quite good and quite appealing to many 
stripes.

<< R.I.P.- Manifest in Charlotte. One of the best independent record stores 
in the county just announced it's closing. I'm still holding out hope that a 
new buyer will swoop in and save it... >>

And it's interesting to note that they announced that their motivation for 
closing dealt directly with, and I may be misquoting this, the practices of the 
copyright holders edging out the retailers. Big ouch... though I do agree in a 
big way. Record stores--not just indies, but chains too--are dropping like 
flies right now. --Jason