Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/stray-bullets-feat-weerd-science-ep/1512822699
Spotify
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6befoKm69aHNkcB54S0Ufq
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTMr59Wc5Nw&list=OLAK5uy_lx1jN8DGlwOR83MvufGx5k21P_D7lJpAI

Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez is finally revisiting his acoustic and electronica side project The Prize Fighter Inferno after being away for almost a decade. No doubt fueled by the pandemic shutting down live performances and what not, the return of Prize Fighter Inferno is mostly a return of the same sound the project has been know for up to this point. Spacey, electronic beats and SFX pepper around Claudio's high tenor voice and occasional uses of an acoustic guitar will add more melody to any given track. The exception is the very first track, which features Coheed and Cambria drummer Josh Eppard rapping under his own side project name, Weerd Science.

Like past Prize Fighter Inferno tracks, it's assumed the lyrics are part of the concept that spreads across most Coheed and Cambria tracks as well. But with Coheed and Cambria entering a new continuity with their most recent album, it's possible Prize Fighter Inferno may have done the same with this release.

For fans of down beat electronica like (some) Purity Ring, Grimes and The Knife.

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/transitional-forms/1502187566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6pHXuiWvMSPTyBb0hHe8Yv?si=gPRk-8hoRD2qoFZI91LSfg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYQhPJrQIlgNxrODF9mS-wAC5BS6jET0c

Baltimore hardcore outfit Sharptooth is back with their sophomore effort and it's no slump. The riffs are crunchy as hell and the vocals are more brutal than ever. Remaining is Sharptooth's political edge, which is as sharp as ever. Stand out lyrics include "You're not a feminist just because you fucked one" and the album opener "This is a song about nothing/Oh no, not a single thing/'Cause in the absence of content/I hope that you'll forget/That all this shit never meant a thing."

Lauren Kashan's vocals are vastly improved. Her unclean vox are much more guttural while her cleans include more harmonies and layered work. Fellow song writer of the group Lance Donati employs a lot of inverted power chords to keep the sound aggressive and explosive.

For fans of political hardcore punk like Stray From the Path, seeyouspacecowboy, Knocked Loose and Every Time I Die.

Inspired by the news of the new 13" MacBook Pro and Surface Book 3, I was thinking about just how much I hate not being able to replace the RAM, SSD or even battery in newer MacBook models. It seems like such an extreme decision and I wonder why.

The obvious answer is to make the devices less repairable thus forcing people to upgrade sooner.

But Apple isn't really dependent on devices breaking. Hardware is vastly improving every year and their customer base happily upgrades just for that. Also it could be argued that their most profitable product line – iPhones – have, despite all of that, some of the healthiest life cycles in the smartphone marketed with people happily using 5+ year old devices which still are supported in the latest releases of iOS. Few other devices hold their value in resale like Apple products, their sturdiness is quite remarkable and clearly factored into pricing and consumer decisions. They pride themselves with a reliable repair program and I have to imagine their repair geniuses (their term, not my sarcasm) don't like messing with glue.

So, all things considered, is there an argument for fucking gluing in batteries other than petty greed? Like, is it cheaper? That doesn't seem a motivation behind any other major design decision on their part. Is it it lighter? Easier to cool? Does it make for a slimmer chassis?

I tried searching the question but couldn't find anything (in fact, I wouldn't even know what terms to search for). Is there any good analysis or reasoned speculation? It somehow makes less sense the more I think of it and it would give me some head peace to at least know of some arguments for it other than Apple being assholes.