Frickin' frick! This basically belongs in the comments a couple posts down, but Haloscan was being all CapitalOne Guy saying "no," all over the place so I'm just giving in and posting it here, it's a reply to something Phoe from Elsewhere said, and the first reply I typed out was so much better only it is now lost to posterity, being deleted when Haloscan went, "no."


Well, see, here's what I think:

Group A: the vast majority of people. They pretty much only listen to what the radio or other media force feeds them.

Group B: I would categorize you and I in this group, basically we listen to whatever the hell we want to both popular and indie.

Group C: Indie people who don't think it's good unless it's obscure.

So group A thinks group B is group C, and group C thinks group B is group A. We're a very misunderstood bunch, and can't win either way, it seems to me.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 11:32 PM  | 

 
So I bought the Muppet/Denver christmas album, and it DOES INDEED rock.

And I had my second "I instantly love you" moment with a customer today, he was getting the new Coheed & Cambria. Yeah, I'll banter with people who buy things I like, but I LOVE people who buy things I love. It's just... a completely different type of banter too. If I like something or know anything about it, I'll be like, "Yeah, that's pretty good. Have you heard the first one?" or something like that to like, be trying to sell them another album. But in this case it's like, "oh, I LOVE this. I keep hoping someone would buy it. I love the first one too! How did you get into it?" blah blah blah. Too bad he was married.

I also busted out Brand New for my coworkers at close (in general I don't really bring anything for close, but a coworker was all telling me I should bring something today). Awesomely, it turns out I was the only one who brought anything tonight, so Brand New got the whole hour to themselves, and we would've had to listen to either nothing or the stuff we listen to all day if I hadn't brought anything, so I got some thanks. I don't think anyone particularly loved Brand New, but I got no disses, so hoorah (also, I think the people I closed with tonight are not as indie as the people I frequently open with. One was the aforementioned Lenny Kravitz guy). AND since they got the whole hour, I was really glad I brought Brand New instead of some half-assed album I don't like as much. That's one of the few albums I can say I like, even love nearly every track on.

Oh, I also have an observation about the song Boulevard of Broken dreams. Ryan and I were discussing the album American Idiot today, and I wish I'd saved the conversation, because it had several good things I think I could throw out on the blog. But anyway, his position is that he really loves the album, and my position is "meh." Because Jesus of Suburbia is about the only song on there I like anymore, and before I got tired of them, I'd only even liked that plus American Idiot, Holiday, and Boulevard to begin with. And we argued back and forth on how he thought I only liked the singles, and I thought that was not the case, and then he argued on how I was like those people who whine when everything gets popular but I said I was just tired of them, not resentful that they were popular yada yada ya somehow we ended up talking about Jimmy Eat World. And also that after awhile I think I'll get back to liking Holiday and American Idiot again sometime in the future.

Anyway, the observation on Boulevard, and I KNOW it'll piss off a whole bunch of people who think that Boulevard speaks to their anguished teenaged soul, is this: After you hear it 100 times, you realize that it's really kind of a cheezy song. And after you hear it 500, you begin to hate it. And after you hear it 18,000 times, you just want to die. Who here agrees with me? It's totally the truth.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 10:54 PM  | 

 
We have our christmas music out already, and I saw the John Denver & Muppets christmas album for like 6 bucks. That's even before my employee discount. I have it on hold right now, but I plan to buy it just as soon as I actually remember to bring my wallet in. I don't like John Denver or Christmas music very much, but I think the muppets (and the cheapness of the album) make it all worthwhile.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 11:09 AM  | 

 
Damn. Stupid indie coworkers!

Okay, I'm not mad at them for the usual reason this time. In fact, I'm mellowing more towards them and their opinions. One of them told me today that they acknowledge that they're music snobs and just diss anything and it's not me personally. And the guy who loves Modest Mouse, who, to be fair to him even though he's never gonna read this, was never one of the ones making snotty comments about what I like in the first place, confessed to enjoying the Foo Fighters the other night.

We were talking about the new Foo album, and I said I'd not bought it because the album before was not so great, and the new song on the new album, I can't even pay attention to it. Like, I hear the first few words, and then black out and realized I've missed most of the song. And I said I loved their first two albums (the first three are actually good, I just for some reason hadn't gotten onto the third specifically), and he was all agreeing, and even was like, "huh? I think it's good!" when I kind of dissed the first album (I like it, but I admit it's not the best album ever, like every song on there except for Big Me is kind of similar-ish). Oh, and he said he has that same problem (not being able to pay attention to stuff) with Phish because he used to love them so much and listen to them so much that he just can't pay attention to it anymore. So maybe it is love? I really did used to love the Foo's and am kind of sad I don't anymore.

ANYWAY, that was a big tangent, what I meant to say is that the reason I'm annoyed is my indie coworkers are always making me want to buy stuff that I wouldn't have heard of if it weren't for them. I've been resisting some, though I don't know how long that'll work. There's about three albums they've gotten me into I've thought about buying for awhile that I haven't. But today, the soundtrack to a video game called "Stubbs the Zombie" came out, and not one but two of my indie cohorts reccomended it to me.

And if you clicked the link, you know why I had to have it. I'm NOTHING if not all about the covers. And it's actually not all that indie of an album, most of the bands I've heard of, if not loved before this. And if I could still rip MP3's I'd so be sending Phoe from Elsewhere the Cake track (it's AWESOME, though nothing can really top their cover of I Will Survive, in my opinion). And working in a store that sells this stuff.... I really need to curb my impulse buy problem.

Anyway, it's pretty good. Though I have to say: I think a good deal of how much you like the album has to do more with if you liked the orig. songs more than you like the artists. A few bands try to do something quite different with their particular song, but most stick fairly close. So even though I lurve Ben Kweller, I couldn't take even his cover of "Lollipop" because that song is just so fucking horrible to begin with. Whereas I love Rogue Wave's Everyday, even though I never knew Rogue Wave before this, because I have always had some closet Buddy Holly listening tendencies. I also have to giggle at the gender-reversed Mr. Sandman (guys sing it instead of women), when the guy singing wants his lady to have "lots of wavy hair just like Liberace!"

Also: we get various posters advertizing albums in, and we stick some on the Info Desk and just throw some away, I guess. But anyway, I think they get some leeway in what they put up, because one of the Stubbs enthusiasts' had put up a poster for the album, and they especially put up Coheed & Cambria for me. So I think we're coming to a ceasefire on the "who's music is better than whose?" front. It was kind of funny, though: some of the posters ARE just random crap no one likes, like for the soundrack to the Dukes of Hazzard or the new Ashlee Simpson album. Anyway, they put C & C right in the middle of the bubblegummy stuff, and I thought it was pretty hilarious because it's like, 'happy band, happy band, Coheed & "our favorite word is obviously 'whore'" Cambria.... something doesn't belong." Also the artwork is all black and red and there's this weird guillotine thing with wings.... right next to Jessica in her daisy dukes...
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 3:11 PM  | 

 
So I had some music rage myself today.

Ever since the Ben Folds incident, I've pretty much been bringing in music that I didn't love, so that if someone DID complain about it, I wouldn't be that mad. Like, one of them was Stone Temple Pilot's greatest hits. I like them, but not enough to get their individual records. And if anyone disses STP, you can be like, "Well, you know what? You can suck it, because secretly I KNOW you like STP. Everyone my age likes STP whether they can admit it or not.

So.... since no one had done it for awhile, I brought in something I really love again, The Refreshments. No, I don't love them like I love Ben. They're not even in my top 5. But I love them just the same.

Anyway, and this is done in a "friends ribbing friends" sort of way, so it's not too malicious, but obviously it still irks me enough to get the music rage and blog about it: I was told the album (Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy, as it happened to be) was always in 99 cent bins. Well, I didn't take that too hard, despite the fact that I've never seen any 99 cent bins for CD's ever, anywhere. Even the most crappy album never gets sold for less than five bucks. But then someone said, "well, that's about what it's worth." And I was like, "Hey!" and whoever it was tried to backpedal because they could tell I was irritated, but basically they said it was a crappy album. And later on I got some other static about me being the poppy one of the group now, which, was kind of condescending, even when it was admitted that "there's nothing wrong with pop."

And they admitted that the Refreshments is a nice "fun" band. Like, their music isn't art or something, the way Modest Frickin' Mouse is! Well I HAVE a Modest Mouse album. And it's NOT THAT GREAT. And I HAVE a Coral album. And it, too, is NOT THAT GREAT. And I actually like some of the random other things you people bring in, the stuff that isn't so artsy but people just happen to not have heard of it. And I really don't think what you like is any better than what I like, or is more valuable to humankind. And you know what? Fun music is all I'm going to be bringing, as I know anything I'd bring in that MEANS anything to me is going to be shat on and it will ultimately not be a fun experience for me. And also, I like peppy music in the morning! It wakes me up! I'm not going to be pondering the mysteries of the cosmos that much while I'm at work at 6 a.m stocking the new Dolly Parton album! It's just that simple!

Okay: that all said, I admit, the Refreshments are a "fun" band rather than a "serious" band. Their lyrics are all about drinking, women, and mexico, sometimes all three. But that still doesn't mean they're only worth 99 cents, and Ben Folds IS my type of "serious" and they don't like him either. I can't win, here.

I keep wanting to find some speed metal and bring it in. No one can say that's poppy.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 2:15 PM  | 

 
Man. I already loved Nick Hornby. But really, this passage from his new book made me go, "I have to quote that on my blog."

So there you go, Nick Hornby. You have the dubious honor of being quoted on my blog:

(the book is written from the point of view of each of the four main characters at times, at this point it is JJ, a washed-up rock-star-wannabe, who's narrating. He's playing a CD for the other three, and 2 of them don't get it)

"I wondered whether it would be possible to punch both of them out simultaneously, but rejected the idea on the grounds that it would all be over too quickly, and there wouldn't be enough pain involved. I'd want to keep on pummeling them after they were down, which would mean doing them one at a time. It's music rage, which is like road rage, only more righteous. When you get road rage, a tiny part of you knows you're being a jerk, but when you get music rage, you're carrying out the will of God, and God wants these people dead."

How great is that? That's exactly how I feel when someone disses Ben Folds. Or when I have to listen to Nelly.

Anyway, if you're into music, Nick Hornby's an all around good read, most of his books manage to get it in. Another book of his, Songbook, which kind of inspired this blog in the first place, is a non-fiction book of essays on his views on music, and they're all very interesting even if you haven't heard the song the particular essay is about, because more he picks a phenomenon everyone knows and explores it, and just happens to use a specific song as an example. And About a Boy, my favorite book of his (um... yeah, I'm actually embarassed that I like Nick Hornby so much but have read so few of his books--I've not even gotten to High Fidelity yet, though I've seen the movie) is set around when Kurt Cobain comitted suicide, and this is skillfully interwoven with the narrative, as one of the main characters is having this sort of musical awakening after having never before listened to anything but his parents listened to, and that same character's mother is grappling with depression and the question of whether or not she'll commit suicide is kind of hanging in the air much of the novel.

Yeah, I think Hornby is kind of interested by suicide, as that's what the new novel, the one I mentioned the passage from, is all about, four people who meet when they go up to the roof of this tall building to kill themselves, but instead end up forming a little group as they try to figure out how to make life worth living. It sounds kind of hokey, but it's really good. One great thing about Hornby is he can be funny, such as in the passage I mentioned, and he doesn't feel the need to bop you on the head with some huge moral or revelation that solves everything in the end.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 8:06 PM  | 

 
Man, I suck at this. I forgot two other albums I got this year, by Motion City Soundtrack in that list.

As to which category they go into: probably the "I don't listen to it" one. Though I feel bad slamming poor MTS like that, because for about a month I really DID like their albums, and I don't really feel stupid for buying it (Greenday? Purely hype. Why did I think I'd like it? I've not liked an album of theirs since Dookie) or embarassed by buying it (Gavin DeGraw? I mean... what the hell was I thinking?).

On the other hand: I couldn't even remember last night that I bought those albums. And it's not like on my deathbed I'm going to rasp, "Wait... I want to hear Motion City Soundtrack one last time."

So in a way, for a lot of these albums I'm either too late to be able to say I still really like them, or to early. Because I can't tell you how many times I've gotten an album, listened to it 20 times, been like, "meh," and then rediscover it years later and be like, "This is actually pretty damn awesome!" And... at the same time I've had a lot of MTS experiences, where I only like the album for a month or something.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 1:49 PM  | 

 
Wow. It's weird to go from having TOO much time on my hands to not enough. The last time I had a full time job I can't really remember having this problem. More I remember time stretching out into infinity because it was a job I had very little to do at and was bored all the time and did stuff I'd probably be doing at home anyway (reading a book and/or listening to music).

Anyway, I think the people I work with must be maniacs who never sleep. Because they work as long of hours as I do, but they seem to be up on ALL new books, ALL new music, and ALL new movies. And I feel pitifully behind on all that stuff since I got a job with less time to spend it on.

I have two Coheed & Cambria albums I haven't totally digested yet. I've been saying the new one, Good Apollo... is pretty good, because I like a couple of songs, but really: that is no good way to tell. Nearly every album I truly love, whatever song or two I like first is the catchiest and the songs I really end up loving are the ones that suddenly, inexplicably click with me out of nowhere after I've listened to them a ton of times. The old CoCam album I bought recently, Second Stage Turbine Blade, I have listened to even less.

On top of that, a coworker burnt a couple CD's for me as a thank you for changing shifts with him a couple of times (which I thought was really nice). One of them is basically two Shins albums, one of which I already have, and I've not really listened to it yet. The thing about the Shins, for me anyway, is that they're kind of hit or miss. They have a couple of pretty good songs, but I listen to others and am like.... "I think they're just trying to sound weird for the sake of sounding weird, here. That's not really working for me." The other CD is an album (albums?) by the Be Good Tanyas, who I've never heard of. Which, I'm not surprised by that. Given the indieness of most of my coworkers, I was actually MORE surprised when one of them was the Shins, a band anyone who's seen Garden State and more have heard about by now. Perhaps he's taking it easy on me, given my (by now) well-known and frowned upon love of Ben Folds and "other poppy bands."

Anyway: the Be Good Tanyas seem alright, I've listened to them three or four times. They're folky. The banjos kind of drip with indie pretentiousness, but not in a bad way, per se. The singer's a woman, which puts me off sometimes, but not really this time. We'll see, I guess.

Which, by the way: am I the only person who needs to listen to an album about a thousand times before I can tell whether I like it or not? I mean, I can tell right away if something's downright annoying and I'm never going to like it, but I can never tell whether something will bore me but be alright as background music vs whether something will be the type of song or album I'll listen to over and over and fall in love with.

But a ton of my coworkers: know right away. Like, the day after an album comes out, they'll know whether they like it or not. And three or four albums will have come out that day, and the person has listened to all of them. And Ryan always seems to know fairly quickly, despite being constantly bombarded by new music. Is it something about being in the industry? After awhile you know music so well you can make fast judgements?

But I don't want to get that way. Because the more music I listen to, I've found, the more easily I'm bored by it. Bands I love... I just don't want to listen to their new albums anymore. And new music, I have a hard time getting into. And I'm thinking maybe I just can't get into anything because I'm listening to too much. And now I have a job, I have even less time for music overall.

Seriously though, here is all the music I've gotten since last Christmas:

Breaking Benjamin, Saturate and whatever the new one's called
Brand New: Deja Entendu
Gavin DeGraw: Chariot
Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers
Ben Folds Live
Ben Folds: Songs for Silverman, Songs for Goldfish
Idlewild: Hope is Important, Warnings/Promises
Coheed & Cambria: Secrets in Keeping With Silent Earth, Second Stage Turbine Blade, Good Apollo....
Lifehouse's self titled
Punk O Rama compilation
two compilations from Vagrant records (label most known for Dashboard Confessional, also the label of one of my favorites, Saves the Day)
Live's greatest hits
No Doubt's greatest hits
The Shins: Oh Inverted World
Greenday: American Idiot
Built to Spill: There's Nothing Wrong With Love
Future Leaders of the World: Level IV
Saves the Day: Ups and Downs, early recordings and B sides
Taking Back Sunday: Tell All Your Friends
Tenacious D: whatever their album is called
Aqualung: Strange and Beautiful
Keane: I can't remember what it's called
The Postal Service: also can't remember
Death Cab for Cutie: Transatlanticism

so that's 30 albums. That's a LOT of music to most people, including me.

Okay, I'm not going to count greatest hits, live albums, or B sides as new music. So.... 25

How many do I genuinely listen to more than a couple songs off of?

Breaking Benjamin: Saturate
Brand New: Deja Entendu
Coheed & Cambria: Secrets in Keeping With Silent Earth
Maaaaybe eventually Aqualung and/or one or both of the other two CoCam albums.

3. Less than 1/7th of the new music I've bought in the last year or so. Including stuff from some bands I really love. I can't tell if this dismal track record is from listening to too much music to really spend enough time getting to know everything well enough or I listen to so much that I get bored more easily, or if it's a little of both. But I'm really worried about it, and think it might get even worse now that I have a job.

What do you people think?
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 8:55 PM  |