by SHANE SINNOTT

If the rumours are true, by the time you read this, Google will have announced the incorporation of streaming music into their search results. The word is that they’ve made revenue-sharing deals with the four majors and some independents to stream the results of music searches directly from the search page. There seems to be some debate, as there is with almost anything Google does, as to whether this will be a “game changer” for the industry. But if they’re only streaming the first 30 seconds of a song, as is the plan for now, I can’t imagine it will accomplish much other than being able to settle your argument/prove your point in five seconds instead of the 15 it usually takes to find the song in question through lala.com or whatever. Down the road, though, you’ve got to figure they’re going to give you the whole song—which is going to be as symbolic a loss as any of the last shreds of an industry’s dignity.

Now, this weekend is Halloween, friends, and so, as is my sort-of obligation, I’ve tracked down some timely music for you. The first is a compilation from the late ’90s called Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Halloween. It’s got Ramones’ “Pet Cemetery,” the creepy “Theme From Halloween” by MX-80 Sound and then Sonic Youth, the Misfits, Mudhoney and others all doing various songs called “Halloween.” Roky Erickson and the Aliens close it off on “Creature With the Atom Brain.” Download the album at tinyurl.com/yh5qrft. Just a warning: it starts with that goddamn fucking song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show that you can’t escape this time of year, but the rest of the album makes up for it.

For an updated compilation, you could do worse than the one posted over at the Salad Days Music blog (tinyurl.com/ykovdwv). Guy’s put up downloadable links to a bunch of MP3s, as well as a funny photo of a carved pumpkin puking. Includes Halloween-y (sometimes it’s a bit of a stretch) stuff by Of Montreal, Spoon, Atlas Sound, the Flaming Lips, Daniel Johnston, Bon Iver, the Knife and lots more.