collecting

warning. this is a long, rather inane, post. beware.

here's a list of the songs i just bought on itunes:

1) i will possess your heart - death cab for cutie
2) valentine's day in juarez - the ike reilly assassination
3) crazy rap (colt 45 & 2 zig zags) - afroman
4) fields of gold - eva cassidy (yes. i like it better than sting's.)
5) was i on your mind - jessie baylin
6) down in mexico - the coasters

i didn't think much of it until i made a playlist of all these purchases (it's a weird habit, i know). then i realized that if anyone was listening to my music (say through all my open windows or the flimsy excuse for a front door), i would come across as a highly afflicted sufferer of musical a.d.d. (or worse, musical ineptness).

now, i'm no musician. i can't play an instrument. i really can't sing (well, i can sing. just not well.). but i do appreciate "good" music. (dare i use a parenthetical tangent here? i think i do. by "good" i don't mean "better than." i will not snub you if your musical taste includes an affinity for britney spears or miley cyrus. [i might judge a little. but don't we all?] i will recommend some other musical selections if you solicit them from me. but i think the larger purpose of music is to fill a place in our lives. and if what you need is over-produced girl pop, have at it. that's not to say that i don't wish the mega-goliath music industry supported artists whose raw talent far exceeds some [or most] of the pop genre's biggest stars. i do. and it doesn't mean that i don't much prefer supporting indie labies and local radio. i do. very much. all of this is simply to say that we can talk about all kinds of musical elements and attempt to create some sort of graduated scale where we evaluate music and subsequently judge people's choices, but the more important thing is keeping music alive and well. that we nurture musicians of all varieties. that we appreciate that different people like different things.)



okay. parenthetical over. anyhow, i'm listening to my new music (yay) and cleaning my apartment (yup. tank top. sweat pants. dancing to the beat while dusting and windexing. drinking a beer.) and have this funny thought i mentioned earlier. but the thing is, i bought each of these songs for a reason. take crazy rap. folk afficianado i might be, but there will always be room in my heart for talented rap artists. they bring something new to my world, and i love that. and i love this song because it makes me think of summer at the beach, playing games under the house, and laughing with my brother and our friends. that's the space it fills.

death cab? i've never been a big dcfc follower. never got into it when the group became the biggest "not big" thing when i was in high school. but their new album, narrow stairs, is a really interesting evolution. so i'm learning about their musical growth. and i love that.

how about eva cassidy? funny story. i'm sitting in a coffee house reading criminal law cases when this woman's voice comes over the speakers singing "fields of gold," a song i knew all the words by the time i was 8. and i was taken aback by the harrowing sound of her voice and the song had new meaning. again. another space. my contemplation space.

and if you don't listen to the ike reilly assassination, you should. start with we belong to the staggering everything. it's a great album and i've been collecting all of the songs off of it over the last month or so. wonderful new things.

jessi baylin is great. she's adorable and funny and candid. and her music fits right in with my musical m.o.

and who doesn't have room in their musical library for the coasters? c'mon. origins of rock n' roll. appreciate it. enjoy it. you'll learn a lot from it. and have fun doing it.

so there. my musical musings. and loves. post your favorites, too.

xoxo.
t.