Saturday, May 05, 2007

Old Is The New New

Well, sort of. I was at Green Apple books for the first time a week or two ago, and discovered their wall of $2 CDs- two bucks each! That explanation probably wasn't really necessary. But anyway, I managed to pick up a couple of classic albums from my high school days for super cheap. While I was ripping them to MP3s the next day (who listens to uncompressed audio anymore?! LAME*) I figured I'd throw on a few other oldies that I hadn't yet converted to some intangible digital format. And so began my aural journey back in time to the days of my youth. Oh, the sour times!

Really though, it was a trip down memory lane. It's kind of amazing how well I remembered all these tracks considering that it'd been literally a decade since I listened to some of the stuff. And I know this makes me sound a little "grumpy grandpa," but a decade ago CDs were all we had! None of these fancy MyPods or co-decks or internets what're corrupting youngsters these days! Why, my friend Oliver and I used to rummage through the used bins at Rockaway Records in eighteen feet of snow- and this was LA in the summer! We're talking 105 degrees F in the shade! But it kept us out of trouble. If not out of hot LA wintry mix.

Back in reality though, I'm happy to announce that most of these rediscovered gems appeal to me as much now as they did then, which is a nice feeling. After all, if I assume that my taste now is impeccable (which it obviously is), I can logically conclude that my taste was also impeccable many years ago. And THAT leads me to conclude that I'm right and that Lindsey Lohan should never have recorded an album, because I know what's good and that is NOT good. Actually I'm not sure that she recorded anything, but if she didn't it's only a matter of time. Mark my words.

Was I going somewhere with all of this? I guess I really just wanted to pat myself (and my high school cohorts- you know who you are) on the back for liking some good stuff way back when. It's nice to get the opportunity to revisit fondnesses from one's past, and I really enjoyed the memories that listening to these "old" favorites evoked. Perhaps I'll do it again in another decade... unless my taste sucks by then. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Oh, and for the trainspotters, the specific albums that inspired this diatribe were:

Purple Penguin - "Detuned"
The Orb - "Orblivion"
Statik Sound System - "Tempesta II"
Baxter - "Baxter"
Crustacean - "Bloom"

...all worth a listen if you can find them. More on my own struggles to make something worthwhile next time. I promise.

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* I didn't want to nest parentheticals, but I couldn't help pointing out how incredibly clever I am for coming up with this pun. CS types will understand.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You mentioned Lindsay Lohan so I figured I had to add this link I randomly came across last night for good measure:

http://thesuperficial.com/2007/05/lindsay_lohan_partying_in_her.php

Anonymous said...

It cut off my link. Try this:

Lindsay

Sarah said...

Just so you know:

1: Lindsey DID, in fact, record an album. As did Paris Hilton.

2: Thats not a bra, its a bathing suit top. In case that makes a difference.

3: It's good to know that your musical tastes and opinion of yourself haven't changed in a decade. Be you ever so humble. ;)

Sowmya said...

Listening to Il Casanova soundtrack (on David Byrne radio =). Sounds like your kinda music. Give it a listen, if you haven't heard it already.

Sowmya said...

Actually, if you listen to DB's playlist, there's a lot of stuff there that isn't the kind of sound I meant. Wait for something from Il Casanova.

Anonymous said...

After I read your post I decided to look up Baxter on discogs.com and noticed they made a second album in 2002. Did you know that? I'm listening to it right now. So far not as good as the first album, but at least one good song.

Arianna said...

Bra, bathing suit top - whatever. She still suckity sucks.