I love discovering new music. Love it. I truly believe that one of life’s true pleasures is listening to a band for the first time and being completely blown away. And I mean stop-in-your-tracks blown away. There are a few bands and albums that have caused me to just stop everything I was doing an listen: Minor Threat, REM, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, Spoon, Knife in the Water, TV on the Radio… And so many more. But I've been so lazy recently about music. I've gotten to the age when I'm beginning to wonder if I will ever hear anything that will excite me again.
This isn’t a rundown of my musical maturity or history or anything like that, it’s just kind of a recent tiptoe through my memory that was caused by a few events that probably don’t seem related but are. Really.
Back in 2004 I found a copy of The Kills Keep on the Mean Side sitting on table next to my sofa . Thing is, I had no clue who the band was, why I bought the album, or even what the band sounded like. This is odd because I have a freakish memory when it comes to the first time I hear a new band—especially if I love (or hate) them. I have the same memory about how I heard about a band. But The Kills? Nope. I vaguely recognized the album cover. I knew I had to’ve bought it while I was still in library school, but I didn’t know when. By this time I had been in my job for close to a year, so it had been at least a year or so since I had purchased it. The CD was sitting on a side table, yet I hadn’t played it recently. And when I looked at my CDs, I didn’t see a spot where it was supposed to go. I am obsessive about keeping my CDs in order (alphabetical by artist name, then my release date of album; if I have singles they go after the album, in track order.) My CDs are all in storage now. They are in some sort of order since I packed them in the order I had them shelved, but I know it isn’t what it should be. And knowing they are in a storage closet, in plastic tubs, out of order… well, if I think about it, it makes my brain hurt a little.
Anyway, my point is that I have no clue how this CD got to be where it was. I still don’t know why I bought it. And while I was in library school, my one activity outside of school was completely immersing myself in music. I was even on a first-name basis with the guys at my favorite record store. The movie High Fidelity? I identified with it so much it scared me. After I found this CD, I threw it in my car’s CD player while running some errands. And you know what? If I hadn’t been driving, I would’ve stopped everything and listened to it. Listening to it, I recognized a the overall tone of the album, but not the specific songs. But for whatever reason, I guess none of them struck me as all that extraordinary the first time around. Several years later, I was back in Madison for something and I swung by my favorite record store. They had The Kills’ No Wow on display, and I grabbed it immediately.
So, fast forward the last few years, and I’ve completely lost touch with what is new in music. I never wanted to be one of those people who thinks that the music from my youth was The Best Music Ever (even if it was). REM was at its best in the 1980s, U2 has sucked for years, and the new Social Distortion song is so lame it almost makes me cry (because Mike Ness is better than that song, and "Mommy’s Little Monster" is still one of my favorites). Lately, however, I’ve gotten lazy. There are numerous bands I have heard of but never heard. I know the new Decembrists’ album is supposed to be great, but I haven’t heard it. I finally got around to buying Arcade Fire’s most recent album… And, well, yeah, it really is as fucking good as everyone says. But keeping up with new music takes serious effort, especially when you don’t spend time around others who have the same passion.
The best way to find new music? Friends. And while Facebook has kept me in touch with my music-loving friends, and we all post links to YouTube videos, it isn’t the same. There is something about doing CD swaps (as a friend and I used to do in library school) or getting CD mixes from people with music tastes so very different from mine. The biggest difference though? I have to make more of an effort. It no longer just comes to me. Although social networks have allowed me to stay in contact with people I haven’t seen in years and keep in touch with people I’ve moved away from, oddly enough, I’ve somehow lost that side of my friends that want you to hear their favorite band so very much they will stop at nothing to get it to you. I’m still friends with all these people, but now we just throw YouTube clips on Facebook instead of crafting that perfect mix of songs to showcase our favorite music. (Hellooooo, Rob Gordon).
I’ve been trying to make a concerted effort to keep up with what is going on in the music world. I started following some of the basic indie music sites on Twitter. I started following some of my favorite DJs. But you know what’s really pushed me? Reconnecting with my old friend JC.
JC is a music machine. He always has been. He’s in radio, and after a brief break from it, he jumped back into being the on-air talent at a so-called indie/alternative station. (I say so-called because I’m not sure those terms mean a whole hell of a lot anymore, but they do describe a sound and attitude). I listen to him when I have a chance. It’s been kind of fun, because I think he sounds like he did back in college. But this is my first foray back into commercial radio in almost twenty years. See, I hate commercial radio. I think it kills music. Sorry, JC, but I do. Music is beaten to death by being played over and over and over. I know most radio listeners probably aren’t listening to four hours straight of commercial radio—my guess is they listen in snippets. But still, you hear the same songs every day. When I first listened to JC, I heard music I hadn’t listened to in forever. Some of it was the music I should have heard but missed. And some if it, well, some of it just sucked, but that's okay. I began to think maybe commercial radio had changed. Maybe I had been too critical. But after a few weeks I could feel my anti-commercial radio feelings creeping in. Why am I hearing the same song every hour? Why the same songs every damn day? Where are the girls? Why is this music all so boy-centric? I like boy music. I like loud music. But there is lots of good, loud music that features girls (The Breeders, Sleater-Kinney, Heartless Bastards, The Bellrays, and so much more). Despite this, I still listen to JC when I can, because he’s my friend, and I still find it entertaining to hear someone I know on the radio. All of this isn’t a dig at JC. Not at all. He knows about some of my complaints—especially the girl music. And I know he has a playlist. But no matter how solid of a playlist it is, it’s still a playlist. And I don’t know the ins-and-outs of radio. I’m merely a listener. I know the other side of commercial radio is probably so much more complicated than I realize. And, after all, it is a for-profit business.
But, you know what, I am so very thankful for that playlist. Why? Because I hate being spoonfed music by having it beaten into my skull by a playlist. Again, this isn’t a dig at JC. Really. It’s a thank you. Because it has ignited my long-dormant passion for finding what isn’t being played on the radio. To find out what isn’t on that playlist. So all those people and sites I follow on Twitter, I started paying closer attention. I’ve started making a concerted effort to seek out new releases by some of my favorites and to find new artists. I don’t think I have the time or the energy to go at it like I did in grad school, but I’m gonna try.
And in the process of all this, I found out The Kills had a new album coming out. Again, I vaguely remember seeing something about it pass through my Twitter feed however many months ago. I took notice, but quickly forgot. Today I saw their newest album, Blood Pressures, was due to be released April 5 and was currently streaming on their site. And I listened. And I was, once again, completely blown away. If I still bought CDs,* I would make a beeline to my local record to make sure I had this album in my hand the day it came out. Now I’ll make sure I download it from Amazon on the day it come out. Until then, I will be living off the stream. And loving it.
See, I told you these were all related. Kind of.
*I recently moved my iTunes library from my laptop to my netbook, and my netbook doesn’t have a CD drive. I did it due to some internet connectivity issues with my five-year old laptop, but by doing so, I lost the ability to import CDs, so all songs have to be downloaded. That’s generally what I do anyway, but occasionally, I still like going to the local record store, talking to the clerks, asking for recommendations, and whatnot. Moving everything was bittersweet. It made downloading albums easier, but giving up the CD drive? Well, I felt like it was truly the end of an era.
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