I was curious if Optus was throttling my account given this was my connection speed for the last couple of weeks:

Pathetic, right? I’ve been hesitant to call and complain because I’ve been busy and was cringing at the thought of dealing with their horrendous customer service. Last time I complained about my speed they told me it was because I had used a torrent browser a few days prior. Mind you, they didn’t say that they lowered my speed, but rather the torrent browser was affecting my speed even though I did not have one running at the time nor had I used a torrent browser in days. Could this be described at as voodoo computer science?

Finally, I gave in and called today. Being told I had a 30 minute wait (pathetic), I decided to kill some time on my slow running internet. Whoa, what?!?! Google loaded in less than 2 minutes?!?! Yeah, that’s right. Just calling them and being put on hold stopped them from throttling my account:

That’s no lie right there. My connection is now 10x faster than it was for the last 3 weeks after calling them. They have claimed they don’t throttle my account and now I have the proof. Screw you, Optus, you scummy creeps! Do this again and I’m canceling my account and going to Testra. You stink, mate!

Best Songs of 2012 (Spotify link)

Hot damn, 2012 has been an excellent year for music and don’t let anyone tell you differently. Besides the usual suspects (The Presets, Liars, Aesop Rock, Ariel Pink, Tame Impala, Todd Rundgren and El-P), this year also brought a new appreciation for artists whom I didn’t much care for in the past:

-Usher with his not so subtle song about a soaking wet vagina

-Hot Chip delivering the best album of the year (seeing them live tomorrow!)

-Animal Collective’s psychedelic meltdowns finally with some structure which apparently turned off most of their fans

-The People Under the Stairs knocking it out of the park 

-and The xx creating what is not only my favorite song of the year, but what looks to be my favorite song of the decade

Not to mention all the great new artists that broke through this year. There’s too many to list and I don’t need to thanks to Spotify.

Is it a bit excessive calling 39 songs my favorite of the year? I dunno, but next year I hope to list at least 78.

Bring it, 2013!

(Source: moviesludge, via smashedcandy)

Spring is cool and all, but I’m totally ready for summer. Bring it.

Woke up this morning and decided to make a mix. Enjoy.

Ahhh apéritif!

New “song” is up. Enjoy.

http://soundcloud.com/westervelt

New song is up.

Take that, procrastination!

Hot Chip – In Our Heads (Spotify link)

Hot Chip’s popularity was always a bit of a curiosity to me. Sure they’ve had some solid songs, but their albums as a whole have always felt half-baked. This is not the case with their new album In Our Heads. The songs sound more focused and the album more complete. There is a feeling of familiarity within many of the tracks (How Do You Do? sounds somewhat like Sister Sledge’s Pretty Baby at times), yet all the songs still sound very unique. Unlike the ramshackle albums of their past, In Our Heads feels confident in using less and it pays off greatly. This is a mid-year contender for album of the year for sure.