For Your Listening Pleasure
Live – Throwing Copper
Said But True
“There could be some shows — maybe acoustic, maybe not, a possible CD of some sort, and it’s possible the band may head back to the studio toward the end of the year to begin work on their eighth album.”
— Ambiguous statement on PearlJam.com about the band’s future plans. Sheesh, they might as well just reissue 1994’s Vitalogy — everyone else is, anyway…
“I’m a little too punk-rock for this.”
— Frankie on “Real World: San Diego”
Decayed
So – and be honest – have you missed me, or was this little “vacation†I took as good for you as it was for me? In case you’re wondering why I haven’t had a “regular column†here on 411mania since the fabulous Ten Years Since Nirvana feature (despite a review or Black Log here and there), here are my Top Three Excuses:
1. Just started a new job, and needed a few weeks for the transition
2. Working on re-launching moodspins after a hiatus
3. Writer’s block
There ya go! Three! (It’s the magic number, don’t ya know?!)
Plus, let’s face it, there have been a TON of TV season finales to catch up on, and several weddings and graduation parties to attend (congrats, everyone!), and I’m a man with priorities.
So after a few weeks to sit back and reflect, another two days to recover from Creed’s (sniff, sniff) break-up, and a quick trip to the CD store, I came to a sad realization: I may very well have jumped the shark. What do I mean? Well, it’s just getting so damn hard to care about new music when everything I’m bombarded with is as new and interesting as… a salad? Yeah! Everything new and interesting is simply an iceberg-lettuce-only salad. Green and crispy, yes. But in the end, all it’s good for is making you crap better.
Needless to say, I look for a little bit more in my music than help keeping my bowel movements regular, so perhaps it’s time to just give up and wait for the Next Big Thing to come to me. (And yes, I hope that imagery was as pleasant to read as it was to write…)
After my above visit to the CD store, and after perusing some of the latest music news, I learned this scary fact: the following CDs are being reissued in commemoration of their ten-year anniversary:
Weezer: Weezer (“The Blue Albumâ€)
Nas: Illmatic
Jeff Buckley: Grace
Notorious B.I.G.: Ready to Die
Yeah, that depressed me as much as it just depressed you.
I should have seen this coming, right? Perhaps by the fifth or sixth Classmates.com “Your Ten-Year HS Reunion Is Coming Up!†email reminder? I’ll admit it, I’m not sure which is more depressing: that New Music is so mediocre that record labels are resorting to reissuing old material (with a couple of extra b-sides), or that it’s been ten years since these albums first graced my CD player. Laugh all you want, highschoolers, but this will happen to you, TOO, one day (although thinking about the “10th Anniversary Reissue†of Avril Lavigne’s Under My Skin just made me throw up in my mouth).
But what’s the point in letting this get to me? In fact, the above four albums are still among my favorites from the mid-nineties, and the whole exercise has made me realize that there’s a ton of music in my CD collection that I’ve virtually ignored for the good part of, oh, the last ten years… and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with tapping into it every once in a while – especially during those times when things look their bleakest. There’s also nothing wrong with tapping into your FRIENDS’ CD collections, especially when they dwarf yours. I’ve found that most of the time, if you just take the CD and leave the jewel case with the CDs you’re NOT “borrowing†and they’ll never know the difference. Seriously, what are they chances you both want to listen to the same CD simultaneously?
That being said, I’m glad those four CDs have been re-issued. They’ve given me the chance to remember some great albums that pretty much defined my transition from highschool into college, and inspired me to write this column – and to not give up looking for new music… Shit, the Class of 2004 must have their own Weezer, Nas, Buckley and Biggie, right? And, I still have enough musician friends to remind me that, yes, folks are still out there, inspired to do new things and write kickass songs… if you’re willing to do the work to find them. No, I didn’t jump the shark – or let the shark jump me – after all.
Until next time…
peace. love. moe.
– Matt
Matt’s columns and other miscellany can also be found on his Black Log, and on moodspins and 1-42.
