Image: Loot Ninja
My iPod joined the list of the newly dead this month. I must admit, it had some serious stamina for an early Apple mp3 player that usually held a charge for up to half of the advertised 12 hours, given that it was bonded to me for 4 and a half years. It also possessed serious cachet as a design classic, considering it was the U2-branded version, though I had the good fortune not to inherit a drive full of the band's music, barring 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me'; one of the 5 or so tracks of theirs I like
Suffice to say, this is an issue. Less of its pressing nature is linked to the days-worth of classic rock and soul that's eating up gigabytes on my laptop. The problem is that I've been re-exposed to contemporary pop and dance offerings via today's digital music-focused channels, which I'd managed to stave off via simple misanthropy, a staunch belief that music releases are becoming less interesting with the passing of the weeks, and an addictive habit that already prompted me to fill up a 20GB music player with over 4800 songs from different time periods, countries, genres, somehow managing to listen to every single one at least once in my iPod's lifetime
I need a new 'Pod like I need a new camera like I need a new job. But the 'Pod has elicited the most interesting considerations for me (if I'm capable of interesting considerations, that is) - the camera requires a more diverse lifestyle to make its acquisition truly worth it, while the joblessness just makes me disappointed
The loss of music on demand has truly awakened me to the fact that I spent most of this decade ignoring the bulk of its sonic selections, unless they had anything to do with Timbaland, Britney, Japan (the country, not the defunct pop group) or a film score. It was not total ignorance, for indeed, I spent a stint as a music journalist for a time (link below), as well as a stalwart member of I Love Music for 3 years, but I tired of being "on-trend," and it became clear to me around the time I stopped paying attention that I sure as hell was not missing much
Nevertheless, it's late 2009 - to my shock - and everything is sounding rather 2006 at best. Or further back. And when the only hot new release that I find remotely enticing is the new Shakira single (utterly enhanced by watching the video, even though the song itself is so redolent of 1977, not that I was alive then), it's time to do what I've always done when music hits a dry patch - turn backwards and dig deep
So, I'll be intermittently wasting time with a chart of sorts featuring what I was listening to this decade as we hurtle towards 2010. Singles, albums, the odd EP and my preferred listening material from past times when the world enveloping me would proclaim the Arcade Fire to be the future
This column needs a little more diversity. So I may as well make the effort
Suffice to say, this is an issue. Less of its pressing nature is linked to the days-worth of classic rock and soul that's eating up gigabytes on my laptop. The problem is that I've been re-exposed to contemporary pop and dance offerings via today's digital music-focused channels, which I'd managed to stave off via simple misanthropy, a staunch belief that music releases are becoming less interesting with the passing of the weeks, and an addictive habit that already prompted me to fill up a 20GB music player with over 4800 songs from different time periods, countries, genres, somehow managing to listen to every single one at least once in my iPod's lifetime
I need a new 'Pod like I need a new camera like I need a new job. But the 'Pod has elicited the most interesting considerations for me (if I'm capable of interesting considerations, that is) - the camera requires a more diverse lifestyle to make its acquisition truly worth it, while the joblessness just makes me disappointed
The loss of music on demand has truly awakened me to the fact that I spent most of this decade ignoring the bulk of its sonic selections, unless they had anything to do with Timbaland, Britney, Japan (the country, not the defunct pop group) or a film score. It was not total ignorance, for indeed, I spent a stint as a music journalist for a time (link below), as well as a stalwart member of I Love Music for 3 years, but I tired of being "on-trend," and it became clear to me around the time I stopped paying attention that I sure as hell was not missing much
Nevertheless, it's late 2009 - to my shock - and everything is sounding rather 2006 at best. Or further back. And when the only hot new release that I find remotely enticing is the new Shakira single (utterly enhanced by watching the video, even though the song itself is so redolent of 1977, not that I was alive then), it's time to do what I've always done when music hits a dry patch - turn backwards and dig deep
So, I'll be intermittently wasting time with a chart of sorts featuring what I was listening to this decade as we hurtle towards 2010. Singles, albums, the odd EP and my preferred listening material from past times when the world enveloping me would proclaim the Arcade Fire to be the future
This column needs a little more diversity. So I may as well make the effort
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1 comment:
music indeed has hit a dry spell
its really quite sad...
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