Do people even think of music in terms of albums anymore?? Well, I’m open to other ways of looking at it, but “album” still sounds better than “Favorite Pandora Music Channel of 2013”.

And as always, if you require a few gentle reminders as to this year’s releases, feel free to check out Paste’s Top 50 Albums of 2013. But of course, this isn’t all about stuff that was released this year. It’s all about music that you discovered this past year.

While I’ve always enjoyed the onslaught of new music provided by Paste’s monthly sampler CD, recent changes to the disc and its sleeve have left me frustrated.

For those that subscribe to the magazine, you already know what I’m talking about.  To those that don’t, let me catch you up to speed.

A few months ago, in an attempt to get away from plastic sleeves (an admirable effort) the mag informed us that they were switching to a “cardboardy” sleeve to avoid adding countless tons of plastic to the nation’s landfills.  Thinking of all the future generations I would be saving from plastic CD sleeve hell, I turned directly to the distinct division in the magazine where the latest release lay.  I nodded my approval at the striking black cat face starring up at me, and turned the sleeve over, looking to extract the singer/songwriter musical goodness…

(If this were a bad, overtly obvious movie ,this is where the sky would darken and the slow roll of thunder would descend upon me)  Though the back of the sleeve had an obvious extraction point, the tear was impossible to make due to an imperfect perforation and getting the CD out was even harder.  Skip ahead 4 minutes and the CD is on the floor, the cat-face sleeve is nearly ripped in half and a half dozen four letter words linger in the air.  Plastic isn’t seeming that bad after all.

But fear not dear readers, this need not be your future!  For after a couple months of insanity, I’m happy to report that Paste has resolved this musical travesty!  The sleeves are still paper, but now easily tear from the magazine and provide an instant opening, allowing the CD to easily slide out.

Hallelujah!  Rejoice!  And give Paste Magazine this holiday season without reservation!

The very entertaining Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband will be performing this Friday night at 8p at Eddie’s Attic. Always a blast to see live, check out their “Banjo Boy” video above to get an idea of their style and humor. I guess you could categorize them as “Newgrass”, but that’s about as descriptive as “Adult Alternative” these days.

Buy your will call “tickets” here.