Musical Musings

Ok, so it's pretty clear that music is a huge part of my life. For a long time I thought everyone was that way, partly because my brother is equally obsessed as I am. Once I got into college and had to live with other people, I began to see that it isn't such a big thing to everyone. I was that person, you know, the one that moved into the dorm with my stereo and piles and piles of cds and I didn't really get people that were ok with just having a little clock radio as their sole source of music. I didn't get it when my various roommates didn't care if a really great new album came out or thought that Dave Matthews Band was the best band ever (they're ok, but best band ever? Of all the bands the have existed? I don't think so). I'm not really sure why it is that not everyone has such a strong connection with music. For me, it goes back as far as I can remember.

For example, I remember that one of the best presents from my parents was one of those tan, built-like-a-brick-shithouse, Fisher-Price tape players. I carried that thing around with me everywhere. My brother had one too and we were hardly without them. We didn't have a tape player in any of our cars, so we always had the Fisher-Price in the car with us. Best of all, those things were practically indesctructable; I know I dropped mine at least three or four times on the cement garage floor and the worst that ever happened was the batteries popped out. I think I still have mine somewhere and I'd put money down that it would still work just fine with a couple of fresh batteries...ah, the good ol' days:)

I also remember Casey Kasem's Top 10 being on every Saturday morning after the usual hours of cartoons. Seeing as that we didn't have cable (my parents flat out refused, felt it was unnecessary, which it probably was, but I hated the fact that all my friends had MTV and I didn't) it was the next best thing to MTV. My brother and I watched it every week from a really early age... I remember hounding my parents when I was in 6th grade until I finally convinced them that we needed a CD player. That wasn't an easy battle, that's for sure. I remember being totally psyched when I got my very own stereo for my bedroom and the total coolness of having not one but two cassette decks in my stereo. I remember finally convincing my mom that I wouldn't become an anti-social nightmare if I got a walkman...the musical memories could go on and on really.

The vast musical chasm that separates me from many people I know has become even more obvious because of Apple's beautiful little iPod. I adore mine--it's sleek white and chrome finish, the ease of the click-wheel, the compatibility with my PowerBook G4. Sure, those are all great things, but what I love the very most about my iPod is that I can carry around my entire music collection around with me. If I'm in the car listening to Nirvana and all of the sudden I feel like listening to Elgar, with just a spin of the wheel I've gone from "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor. I have a good friend who just got an iPod Shuffle and it doesn't seem to bother her that she can't have every, single song she owns with her at all times. She looked at me like I was nuts when I questioned her about this. She's perfectly ok with having only 240 songs with her and, in fact, she hasn't even bothered to put as much as she can on her Shuffle. There's just something I don't get about being ok with only having a few songs with you--for that why don't you just keep using CD's?? I have a lot of music, 17 gigs worth, that's almost 5,000 songs, and I love having it all with me. When I find out that somebody has just gotten an iPod, my first question is, what size? Weirdly enough, this is one of those instances where size matters. I don't fully trust anyone that is completely ok with having anything smaller than at least 4 gigs. Yes, I'm a snob. Yes, I'm nuts. Am I ok with this? Totally.

Here's how nuts I am. I've actually not bothered going on a second date based on the guy's taste in music. "Oh, your very favorite band is the Bare Naked Ladies? Interesting." or "Really, you've seen DMB 10 times? How...fun?" Right there is a huge red flag. I know it would never work out. Maybe I should give people more of a chance, but here's the problem. I've got a few ex-boyfriends who helped make my musical tastes what they are today. Where would I be if my 9th grade boyfriend hadn't been obsessed with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains? Where would I be if my college boyfriend hadn't introduced me to Mazzy Star, Grant Lee Buffalo, Liz Phair and Elastica? I've met a few people with vast musical tastes who have introduced me to all sorts of music I might not otherwise have found and I just don't think that someone who only listens to DMB is going to do that for me. Again, yes, I'm nuts.

Well, enough of my blathering on this, but it's been something I've been thinking about a lot lately. One final music related comment. I was surfing around and found some awesome concert photos by Christopher Chouinard. He's based in Detroit and not only am I envious of his photography talent, I'm really envious of all the awesome bands and musicians he's seen. He was at the My Chemical Romance concert I went to back in September and here are a few of my favorite photos of his. Enjoy!
Ciao,
Sasha