Wall of shame
This weekend I spent my time creating my "media wall" - which is a polite term for unpacking all my CDs, DVDs & VHS tapes that have been in various boxes, shelves, and scattered in corners of the house. My CD collection had out grown to storage units, then two standing units I stole from Preston, and eventually wound up in a teetering pile of cardboard boxes. We mounted shelves on one whole wall of the family room, 5 inches apart, and started unpacking.
Staring at them all together up there for the first time ever, I realized that A. - I'm a shamelss glutton for music and B. - these are the photo albums that chart my musical growth. I don't "enjoy" music the way most people do... barely hearing it as a soundtrack to the main action in the foreground... if there is music playing it is front and center for me. My ears seek it out and my brain begins the disection - what is the drummer doing, how is the bass fitting in, what sort of guitar is that, how does the melody play against those chord changes. It's a bit of a "Beautiful Mind" moment, even walking into the freaking gas station... I heard one song while I'm pumping gas, walked into the station to pay and a DIFFERENT song was playing. Very confusing. That's why I listen to symphonic music when I need to relax... so much of the structure of a big orchestra is still foreign to me and I can actually have a listening experience instead of trying to examine the harmonies. I'm shocked that music is EVERYWHERE - our cell phones broadcast it, it's in the elevator, every commercial is pumping it, toys spit it out when squeezed, iPods would have you believe that you're abnormal if you don't march down the street dancing in your mind to your personal soundtrack playing in your earbuds. I think iPod's appeal is more to cut the unwanted music that assaults us everywhere than to carry our own personal 1000 song mix tape around. I sure could use one once in a while.
Back to the wall of CDs... finally all on display, little 4 inch boxes of art. Eractic, eclectic, excellent and some of it embarrassing. I've probably bought and sold the entire collection twice... in financial crisis I'd box up all but the essentials and take them down to Phil's. I still have my first CD - Sgt. Pepper. I can pull out every CD I recall it's point of origin... a gift, an impulse, a rare treasure in the used bin, a trade with another band. A few signed CDs from those brief encounters with my heroes. Some artists are represented completely, others have a disc or two there and that is enough for me. There are a few holes - someone stole my copy of XTC's Apple Venus Volume I... a few CDs have been scratched beyond playability but remain there for some odd reason, like a plaque on the wall where the painting once hung.
Touching all the CDs last night as I finished the task, I began to ponder where our next CD will end up on this shelf and what artists will be represented in the final recording. Some inspiration is directly accountable, other more subtle... will my several 10,000 Maniacs CDs make an appearence? Nat King Cole? My large section of strange movie soundtracks? I'll check back in several months and let you know.
I just remembered I've got two boxes of CDs in my car I need to unpack. Better make some more room on the shelves. Anyone want to buy a Candyskins album?
- Dave
Staring at them all together up there for the first time ever, I realized that A. - I'm a shamelss glutton for music and B. - these are the photo albums that chart my musical growth. I don't "enjoy" music the way most people do... barely hearing it as a soundtrack to the main action in the foreground... if there is music playing it is front and center for me. My ears seek it out and my brain begins the disection - what is the drummer doing, how is the bass fitting in, what sort of guitar is that, how does the melody play against those chord changes. It's a bit of a "Beautiful Mind" moment, even walking into the freaking gas station... I heard one song while I'm pumping gas, walked into the station to pay and a DIFFERENT song was playing. Very confusing. That's why I listen to symphonic music when I need to relax... so much of the structure of a big orchestra is still foreign to me and I can actually have a listening experience instead of trying to examine the harmonies. I'm shocked that music is EVERYWHERE - our cell phones broadcast it, it's in the elevator, every commercial is pumping it, toys spit it out when squeezed, iPods would have you believe that you're abnormal if you don't march down the street dancing in your mind to your personal soundtrack playing in your earbuds. I think iPod's appeal is more to cut the unwanted music that assaults us everywhere than to carry our own personal 1000 song mix tape around. I sure could use one once in a while.
Back to the wall of CDs... finally all on display, little 4 inch boxes of art. Eractic, eclectic, excellent and some of it embarrassing. I've probably bought and sold the entire collection twice... in financial crisis I'd box up all but the essentials and take them down to Phil's. I still have my first CD - Sgt. Pepper. I can pull out every CD I recall it's point of origin... a gift, an impulse, a rare treasure in the used bin, a trade with another band. A few signed CDs from those brief encounters with my heroes. Some artists are represented completely, others have a disc or two there and that is enough for me. There are a few holes - someone stole my copy of XTC's Apple Venus Volume I... a few CDs have been scratched beyond playability but remain there for some odd reason, like a plaque on the wall where the painting once hung.
Touching all the CDs last night as I finished the task, I began to ponder where our next CD will end up on this shelf and what artists will be represented in the final recording. Some inspiration is directly accountable, other more subtle... will my several 10,000 Maniacs CDs make an appearence? Nat King Cole? My large section of strange movie soundtracks? I'll check back in several months and let you know.
I just remembered I've got two boxes of CDs in my car I need to unpack. Better make some more room on the shelves. Anyone want to buy a Candyskins album?
- Dave
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Geez Dave ... now how is it going to look when the rest of us start posting ? I have bowling balls for fingers when it comes to typing ... plus I don't have the attention span either ... oh look ! ... a shiney penny ! ........... There .... See what I mean. Man ... think about how much money you spent on all that too! I don't have nearly the collection that you do, yet it's still amazing how much we both have spent on our passion for music. Physically and mentally spent. AAArrrgh !
All Things Mimes
Posted by
Anonymous |
1:48 PM
You have bowling ball fingers, I have bear paws.
It's a wonder we can play the damn guitars.
Posted by
Anonymous |
4:06 AM