Yesterday i met up with Andrea, who used to be the third person in our little circle of insanity along with Gina and I. For some obscure reason Andrea and i hadn’t seen each other since graduation, so our time together was chock full of catching up on all the people we’ve been crushing on since then, and all the music we’ve been listening to. Inexplicably, i managed to spend $40 on used cds despite claiming that my only goal for the day was to buy Pinkerton, which i never did find.
What’s was funny is that we ran into another one of our fellow graduates quite randomly in a diner, and we proceeded to sit and chat for a while. All of us seemed to agree that this “getting old” business was no fun, and that we still had dreams more than we had goals. But, then i said how i felt like a totally different person now and the two of them looked at me as though i had grown a new head (which, apparently, would be the only way they could imagine feeling different; alas, it was the same head they’d always known). I honestly do feel like a different person, because now i’m living a life different than the one i had been living. I live on my own, i have nearly all new friends, and my personality has even changed a little. I’m not the same! But, anyway, they both said they didn’t feel any different at all, which is part of what was bothering them about getting older. Maybe they changed, and they just don’t yet know how…
weezer
Even with my cd collection continuously expanding (at a rate better than one a week last year), i never have the right disc at the right time. Matt was just playing Nevermind, and he told me to put something in to follow it up, and i just sat here and stared dumbly at my record collection. Not that i had to defeat Nirvana, or anything, but you just don’t throw on a Madonna album to complete the feeling that you get from Nevermind. I could’ve really gone for Pinkerton, but since i inexplicably don’t own that, i threw in Built To Spill’s 1994 effort There’s Nothing Wrong With Love – because it’s squeaky and sentimental while also possessing some cool guitars and rocking. So, yeah. But this obviously means i need to go shopping.
Ha! Jack captures that wonderfully blissful feeling of not knowing or really caring who any of these hot new bands are. Creed? Lit? Papa Roach? Everything after Weezer is mostly just a blur, if you ask me… (Hey, given the layout he has going, don’t you think Jack should probably do a Trio every week? I sure do… i mean, hell, if i could look that groovy and set up some mics in my apartment i’d be doing Trio every frickin’ night! But, i digress…)
Despite my admitted predilection for females wielding guitars, a recent substitute has been found in guys with higher voices than my own. Currently in the mix is Death Cab For Cutie, Built to Spill, Elliott Smith, Ben Folds Five, and Weezer (from more obscure to less obscure). I have more musically in common with my girls with guitars than with any of those gentlemen (except perhaps Elliott Smith), but their music is definitely my kinda stuff … and a huge challenge to sing along to.
For years, and even still, my taste in music was known as “chicks only.” A quick examination of my pre-2000 album collection would prove that stereotype mostly correct, as the only two men to make any sort of significant showing in my collection are David Bowie and Peter Mulvey. The real truth is that i like the female voice as much as the male voice, but since females leading their own bands are fewer and farther between there is in no way a glut of them on the current market so i can easily have multiple favourites. Of the five acts i named about i can hardly name a female equivalent for any of them, except for perhaps someone in the category of Chantel Kreviazuk for Ben Folds (and even that’s a stretch). This year was definitely a good one for new female addictions, introducing my to Juliana Hatfield and Aimee Mann as well as solidifying my love of the Pretenders and PJ Harvery, but in those inbetween moments i turned to the high-pitched men of music and they have yet to fail me.
To escape the glut of middle-of-the-road male bands in the top20 racks, i had to diversify a bit. Weezer hasn’t been on the radio for years, though they have a (very good) new album due in the winter. Ben Folds Five is past tense now but in their heyday never made an impact on airplay with anything other than “Brick” despite crafting some of the best Beatles and Elton John amalgamated pop ever to be heard. Elliott Smith has been an indy acoustic introvert darling for years, so i’m surprised i managed to ignore him for as long as i did. Built to Spill is yet another import from Anastasia’s record collection, and it’s an excellent introduction to that slightly out of tune realm of indy pop where there isn’t a rhythm guitar anywhere in sight. Finally, Death Cab for Cutie is a new recommendation from multiple acquaintances, and so far they come off as an acoustic-er Built to Spill, or perhaps a Built-to-Spill-esque Elliott Smith.
And that’s probably as much as you want to know about what i’m listening to right now, or any other time.