Quick album release note!

My friend Rhythmics released a name-your-own-price UK/breakbeat hardcore album yesterday. You can get it here.

Music preview: Cross The Line review

Another facet of my blog is going to involve reviewing new albums and single I pick up, mainly in the genres of drum & bass and UK hardcore. October 2011 has been a good month for D&B, and it started with Camo & Krooked's album Cross The Line, released October 3rd on Hospital Records in multiple formats: a vinyl EP, a CD, and two different digital editions (the Special Edition contains four bonus tracks). This was the first album for C&K on Hospital, and their second overall. It's somewhat of a departure from their previous material, with harder-hitting, more dancefloor-friendly drum & bass, dubstep, and a bit of electro house. From the first track, "Let's Get Dirty", it takes off and doesn't let go until the end. My personal favorites are "Run Riot" with its massive buildup and even bigger drumstep drop, saw-happy "Anubis", the addictive "Make The Call" (the album's second single), former Deadmau5 remix "Watch It Burn", and special-edition exclusives "Cryptkeeper", "Portal" and "Change Me" (the latter being the favorite of this blog's namesake). The rest of the album is good, too. I was a little disappointed by the BPM-shifting "Hot Pursuit", which had potential to be a liquid-neuro monster but spends more than a little too much time in the dubstep zone to really live up to its name. Overall, I highly recommend this album for either dubstep or D&B fans, as it has plenty for both.

Another recurring feature of the blog debuting with this entry is the "Chesterfield County Street Blade Route Number Error of the Month". A pet peeve of mine has been Chesterfield County's disuse of the usual secondary route postings for Virginia (shields and white rectangles), instead opting to post the route numbers on their street blade signs (for non-roadgeeks, those are the signs with the road name on them). In addition to being nearly impossible to read, these postings occasionally have an incorrect route number on them. The most common error I've seen is posting River Road as VA 36 several miles past its western end (even past where it ever ended). This is the intersection of River Road (SR 602 by this point) and Riverway Road (SR 659).

From Various signage

I drove further down River Road past this intersection yesterday, and it's posted with its correct number everywhere west of this intersection, so maybe Chesterfield had the same idea I did about extending VA 36.

Roadgeekery preview: VA 249, I-64, and VA 153

Over the past month or so, I've only been able to get a limited amount of photo journeys done due to being busier at work and home. The most recent two were on 9/16/11, when I drove up to New Kent for a bit and returned via Richmond, and 10/5/11 when I finally got to drive VA 153 full-length for the first time.

VA 249 is the third number since 1933 to be assigned to the New Kent Highway. It was VA 4 from 1933-38, VA 33 from 1938-70, and became VA 249 in 1970 when VA 33 was placed on I-64 through most of the county. VA 249 begins in Bottoms Bridge with VA 33 and US 60. Here's a look at the intersection from US 60/VA 33 eastbound.

From October 8, 2011

VA 249 and VA 33 are cosigned between US 60 and I-64, which is just to the north, as seen here.

From October 8, 2011

VA 249 becomes solo just north of I-64 and VA 33 approaching Bottoms Bridge's business district.

From October 8, 2011

Past the village of Quinton, VA 249 meets the north end of VA 106, which has ended here since 1987. Originally a plain intersection, a roundabout was installed a few years ago at this junction, along with 3 more elsewhere on VA 106, to slow traffic. 2 are just south of this one while the southernmost is in Prince George Courthouse. This and the Prince George roundabout all have guide signs.

From October 8, 2011

Earlier this year when I drove VA 106 end-to-end my camera had died coming back from Urbanna, so I was unable to get a picture of this oversized US 60 shield or one of the others like it along the route.

From October 8, 2011

After this, I crossed I-64 and stopped at a travel center for a break, then proceeded to get on the interstate heading for Richmond. Here I was approaching the I-295 interchange on I-64 westbound. I don't remember the VA 895 trailblazer being there before. There were several more along the C/D road.

From October 8, 2011

Although it was a cloudy day, it didn't rain. The spots on my windshield were most likely just dirt. Here's I-64 westbound approaching VA 156. The interstate serves as the dividing line between Sandston/Seven Pines to the south and Highland Springs to the north.

From October 8, 2011

Getting closer to Richmond, I-64 has an interchange with VA 33. This exit sign is oddly mounted on a pole.

From October 8, 2011

Here I was getting into rush hour traffic at the I-95/64 interchange in downtown Richmond. I had originally planned to go right here but the traffic was horrible so I turned around and went home.

From October 8, 2011

My second trip was driving VA 153 southbound end-to-end, something I don't think I'd ever done before and definitely not in my Prelude. VA 153 is designed for military vehicles to drive from Fort Pickett (located just west of the route's south end) to Richmond and vice-versa, so there are wide lanes and broad, sweeping curves that can support very high speeds in passenger cars. Naturally, this means the road is often traveled by state police as well. I saw only one police car on the route, and it was heading the other way, but I was behind a gas tanker truck for the majority of the time, so I wasn't able to go quite as fast as I'd have liked.

While this was a nice sunny day, the angle of the sun in the late afternoon prevented me from taking many pictures. Here's the only VA 153 shield I was able to capture, somewhere near the Nottoway-Amelia line.

From October 8, 2011

I took US 460 home, where once again the sun angle hurt most of my pictures. This is the west end of US 460's new routing around Church Road and Poole Siding. SR 6X4 leads to US 460's old routing of SR 751. In the far background is a US 460 shield which I was able to capture, but the light had hit it directly, obliterating the numbers from my shot.

From October 8, 2011

This last photo is blurry for some reason, but it's US 460 eastbound approaching VA 226 near Sutherland. VA 226 was once the routing of US 460 through Edgehill before the route was moved to directly access the Dinwiddie/Petersburg Airport.

From October 8, 2011

Up next, my first music post, reviewing Camo & Krooked's album Cross the Line, Stamina Records' first release, and the most recent two Betamuse releases.