Twas a few weeks before Christmas
And all through the land
Music bloggers posted their year end lists
To let us know where they all stand.
Here at No Depression
We’ve heard from Grant Alden and Kim Ruehl
Community members have also voted,
It would seem that all is cool.
Now I’ve looked over the lists,
Read them once, checked them twice
Found a few things here and there that I’ve missed,
Which is why I think this site is so nice.
For myself…although I’m grateful
And will try not to be cynical
But this decade and year have been all about me
Going totally and completely digital.
I know there are many
Who still love a CD
There are those who crave more vinyl
But I admit…I like my mp3.
I grew up with 45’s and 78’s,
Mono albums and AM radio
So it doesn’t need to be perfect,
As long as I can listen on-the-go.
Please accept my apology for giving poetry a bad name. As I was searching for the perfect hook in a year end post, it seemed that all the good stuff has already been done. We’ve got top tens, fifties and hundreds. There are lists for both the decade and the year. Box sets and vinyl releases. Record labels and producers. Radio stations and clubs. The best cities to hear live music and films with the best soundtracks. Lists of female singers who play left-handed guitars and a very short list of drummers who play in bluegrass bands.
I’m not left with much at this point.
In thinking about the past year in particular, I realized that it was my transformation to an almost complete digital musical environment that’s the big news at my house. At times when I come to this community I feel out of step because so many of you wax romantic thoughts about the loss of record stores, the tactile experience of browsing the bins, the warm sounds that only vinyl can give you and the poor sound quality of a digital file. I miss record stores too and I feel your pain. Nevertheless, I’ve moved on.
My lifestyle is such that I no longer have time to sit still, listen to music and read liner notes. I work from home surrounded by computers and phones, and iTunes runs in the background through a small desktop amplifier. Every morning I (try to) spend an hour or two at the gym or walking the dog with my iPod in shuffle mode. If I drive the new hybrid, I can easily plug into the car’s sound system. In the past I’d grab a handful of CDs and hope they didn’t get scratched. Today I fit my 13, 289 songs into the front pocket of my jeans and if for some reason they get lost or stolen, I have them backed up on a couple of external hard drives and my laptop. I know…it doesn’t look as good as my old record and CD collection did sitting on those wooden shelves in my den, but it sure is easier to deal with.
By changing how I listen to music, I’ve discovered that I’m listening more now than any other time in my life. Hungry for more, I fly around the internet from music sites like this to blogs and places where I can sample and try things out, finding that my consumer-ism has increased as well. With that has come the end of the road (speaking for myself here…not you) of the full length. Yes…there are albums I still must have in their entirety, but more often now it’s the songs that I now care about. If it doesn’t get me in 30 second sample, I’ll most likely leave it behind.
So I guess that’s it
I’ve outed myself
No more an analog man,
With CDs on the shelf.
My expensive Shure buds
Stuck into my ear,
Listening to lots of new music
And wishing y’all a happy new year.
