by SHANE SINNOTT

Lordy! Where would we be without the Internet? Can you imagine having to distract yourself at an office job without a net connection? What the hell did people do? Actually stand around a water cooler and talk? Thank God we’ve spared ourselves that agony and opted for the private delights of an unfettered Internet connection at every desk. It was during some downtime at my office (I work from home but it’s as boring as an office, believe me) that I discovered the folks at Stereogum. No doubt bored themselves, they’ve created a script that allows you to choose any track you like to play over the last few minutes of The Sopranos, so you can do better then that Journey song. Try it here: tinyurl.com/2nokqj. Stereogum recommends the theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm and Spoon’s “The Underdog,” both nice choices, and available on this site. Also fun is L7’s “Shitlist” (tinyurl.com/29wkyq).

In other news (I’ve always wanted to say that in this column), the upcoming and much-ballyhooed Stars album, In Our Bedroom After the War, was leaked online a few weeks ago, well ahead of it’s September 25 release date. In response, the band and their label, Arts & Crafts, have made the album available for legal download at the usual sites (adding with a tinge of bitterness this was being “done four days after its completion”). In a statement singed by the band and label, they say: “We believe that the line between the media and the public is now completely grey. What is the difference between a writer for a big glossy music magazine and a student writing about their favourite bands on their blog? What differentiates a commercial radio station from someone adding a song to their last.fm channel? Or their MySpace page?” A lot of stuff, I’d say, but that’s not really the point. Most importantly, the new material is really good, so go out and support the band. Or don’t, and download the stellar (groan) title track for free at tinyurl.com/yo4w6n.