I Just Read About That…

By now you’re asking what this soundtrack thing is all about.  And so I exposit:

iPod be damned!  I say again, iPod be damned!  Now, I am no luddite.  Far from it, in fact.  I love my flash drive, I love my various online gadgets, but no, I shall refuse the iPod.  And why, you may ask, would I refuse such a masterful device?  Because, although the idea of having all of my favorite songs in one place at one time sounds so blissfully perfect, I feel that in practice, no good can come of this.  You ask, Why Paul, What can you be on about?  And, what I am on about is only the destruction of music as we know it.  Some of my friends would reply, well good, the music industry is evil and blah blah blah.  But I say, and what of Track 8 (or if you want me to go medieval on you, Side Two Track 3).  Track 8 is typically where you’ll find a song that’s not as catchy, not as immediately Wow as say Song 1 (or if you’re Blur Song 2), and yet a song that is more than likely very good (everyone knows the filler songs are stuck at the end).  So, what will become of Track 8s?  No one likes them enough to put on an iPod, and yet if you had enjoyed a full album in the past, when you re-listen to the whole thing again, you’ll say, Hey, this song is Good! and lo, a newfound appreciation for the album will blossom.  The corollary is that albums as such are dying to make room for singles; the inverse of the original days when singles (they were called 45s, kids) made way for albums.  And, well, I grew up on albums, And I love pretentious concept albums, and I love listening to songs the way they were placed on an album.  Call it artistic integrity, call it old fashioned laziness, whatever the case, I think the artists have a vision, and I like to see it through to the end (which is why cover art is still important).

Sidebar:  I do agree, however, that the CD hath wrought some really overblown, far too pretentious claptrap.  Let’s face it an album should be about 45 minutes.  I’ll give you an hour for a double album.  But, come on, 72 minutes?  That’s a bit much for anyone to digest in one sitting (exceptions: Greatest Hits and Live albums, which can pack in as much as they want).  Nevertheless, even CD length can’t account for Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, as that sumbitch is like 5 hours long, and yet is still very good.

And so, MY SOUNDTRACK is the CD I was listening to on the way to work the morning of my posts.  I got the idea from the Blue Monday graphic novels in which Chynna Clugston-Major likes to put soundtrack suggestions for the mood of the piece.  Well, mine don’t reflect the mood of the piece, just what I was listening to that day.  Oh, and there’s some neurosis involved: when I buy a new CD I must listen to it at least 3 times, not necessarily in a row.  So, there will invariably be duplicates that do not mean I love the disc, just that I’m still digesting it.

Aren’t you glad you asked?