So we've been messing with the iTunes Music Store for the past five months, now, and apart from some first-day glitches, we've found it to be a marvel of online retaily goodness. Whenever you're dealing with a data set of over 200,000 records, there are bound to be little problems cropping up now and then; in our experience, Apple has done a spectacular job, and errors are few and far between-- but if you look hard enough, you'll turn up some goofiness eventually.

For example, faithful viewer Gerard Jeronowitz discovered an interesting anomaly the other day. You know how the iTMS occasionally offers "partial albums," from which you can only purchase music on a track-by-track basis instead of in one big glob? And you know how sometimes certain tracks from a given album are designated "Album Only," meaning that they can't be purchased separately but must be obtained only by buying the whole album? Well, those are two great tastes that don't taste great together; Gerard noticed that Prince's album 1999 is sold as an à-la-carte partial album ("Little Red Corvette" is missing in action), but three of the songs offered-- "D.M.S.R.," "Automatic," and "Lady Cab Driver"-- are unpurchasable because they're "Album Only." Can't buy the album, can't buy the songs... D'oh!

Another little glitch even made the papers: faithful viewer Ian Hornby tipped us off to a Globe and Mail article about how, for some reason, the iTMS had branded a London Philharmonic Orchestra recording of Handel's Messiah with the same "EXPLICIT" tag the company slaps all over unexpurgated work by creative pottymouths the likes of Eminem, Korn, and The Andrews Sisters. "Obviously there's been some sort of error," said Apple spokesperson Lara Vacante; the error was fixed shortly after it was reported on Tuesday. (We were actually a little disappointed to learn it was an error; for a brief, shining moment we thought we'd finally stumbled upon Handel's long-fabled "Fo' Shiznit: Bizitches an' Hos" remix. The search continues.)

Lastly, we've uncovered one last little issue ourselves: if you try to purchase Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Carols, Andy Griffith: Just As I Am-- 30 Favorite Old Time Hymns, and Mobstability by Twista & The Speedknot Mobstaz all within the same 90-minute period, your Mac will actually punch you in the face. It is currently not known whether this is a bug or a feature.