this year has been pretty bad for music, no? some would disagree, i'm sure (plenty, even) but as of now it sucks. anyway, time to be senile and promote something old - emergency & i. i extol this record because of the many factors that have helped make it such a good record. it's instrumentation is innovative in a way which makes it seem new at any point since it's release. i'm not the type to care for lyrics, honestly - a bunch of jirble-jarble nonsense about rattle snakes and jarred mutants, but the contemporary timelessness they portray is really astounding - they are very applicable to that modern view of the world, even if this is 12 years old. musicianship is beyond precise, reaching very satisfying levels of composition and the odd time signatures break pace in a very great way. the "90s sound" is all but there and their jangly sound and definitive keyboard is great, plus the drumming is fantastic. superb listen and a total treasure, give it a spin of your harddrive or whatever other terrible thing to say there is.