Wednesday, May 19, 2004
CD-Grabbag
One pleasure in my ordinary life is the CD-Grabbag.
When I want to listen to something new, I locate a used CD store; ones that accept trade-ins, like the ones around college campuses. Then I give myself a tiny cash limit, like $20.
For the CD-Grabbag to work, I have to be in the mood for any kind of music -- good, bad or ugly -- and if I'm lucky, I'll get all three! If the store has a $1 CD Bin -- and the best ones do -- then selecting music based solely on the cover is always an adventure!
Recently, I found a store located almost within walking distance of BIPC -- not anywhere near a college campus. A pleasant surprise. Time for a grabbag!
I went with a mission: This band. I had read they were breaking up.
This was no great shakes to me; I had never heard of them. But apparently they have a cult following, and I became motivated to hear them upon learning they were Dayton born and bred. So, once inside the store, I chose
The Best of Guided By Voices, Human Amusements at Hourly Rates
32 songs, 32 hits. Here's a grabbag finding: If you've never heard of a band and purchase their Greatest Hits CD, you are usually in for a wonderfully awful treat!
"I read they just broke up," I told the clerk with ultra white skin and ultra black everything else, "Are they any good?"
The employee screwed up his face, "GBV?" (Of course they're known by their initials) "They're ... sorta all over the map. A few songs are good; others not. I'd call them Indie Rock."
In the background, wailing slide guitars accompanied a husky, panting voice. It reminded me of a band I listened to over 10 years ago. So, I zoomed back to the racks to seize
The Pixies, Bossanova
I am so into the Pixies. They're so amazing I can't even objectively talk about them. Steel guitars and screaming -- it's so "me".
I loved Trompe Le Monde; I loved Doolittle; and now I love Bossanova.
The Pixie-like song playing around me had ended and the next track sounded David Bowie-ish. "You know, I thought the Pixies were playing," I said to the clerk.
"Oh no, someone just turned this in."
"Who is it?"
It was
The Decline of British Sea Power, CD of same name
OK, so the band isn't bad; they're just not that good either. After the first two tracks, they sound like ... well... like half a dozen other bands you've heard but can't immediately name. They probably sound like how my blog reads; nothing is crisp and it all just sort of runs together. ha ha!
At the counter, the clerk pointed to a note taped to the counter: "If you buy 3 cds, you get one free."
(I like this store more and more!)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Let's Face It
Ah, ska memories. Ska is fun and upbeat, like the Blues Brothers on speed. If you're from my generation, the big ska hit with blaring saxaphones and a speedy speed beat had someone repeating monotonously "One... Step... Beyond...!"
I don't know if the ska dance has a name, but it could be called the Spastic Duckwalk. At least that's the way I tried to do it. (But then I'm a freak.) A great workout, Ska would make for great music for whatever aerobics are called these days.
Listening to MMB (hey, they have a cult following, too!), I vaguely remembered one song and guess the band's a one-hit wonder. Further along, the band veers toward punk and some songs aren't bad. But they also suffer from muddiness: Saxaphones, voices, guitars; all drown each other into noise.
"This is only $1.99. You can pick another," the clerk said.
Wow! A random choice, located in the bin next to the counter
Mephisto, San Francisco Plasmafunk vol. 1
It's 1999. Everyone is stressing over Y2K, but not Hugshyhermit. No. He's taken a trip to San Francisco. No matter that it's grey everywhere, the mist softly covers and protects everything -- and everything is fantastic. It's plasma-fantastic. Colors streak through the clouds, trees glow, and buildings vibrate. Light pulses through people, through the milky way, through the planets and moons and the entire universe. Hugshyhermit could spend a whole wonderful day in Golden Gate park, spinning and laughing and twirling and laughing.
Not bad for $20, eh? I have an interesting array of tunes to listen to, and it should last for awhile. I'd say it was a pretty darn successful grabbag.
Until next time...
When I want to listen to something new, I locate a used CD store; ones that accept trade-ins, like the ones around college campuses. Then I give myself a tiny cash limit, like $20.
For the CD-Grabbag to work, I have to be in the mood for any kind of music -- good, bad or ugly -- and if I'm lucky, I'll get all three! If the store has a $1 CD Bin -- and the best ones do -- then selecting music based solely on the cover is always an adventure!
Recently, I found a store located almost within walking distance of BIPC -- not anywhere near a college campus. A pleasant surprise. Time for a grabbag!
I went with a mission: This band. I had read they were breaking up.
This was no great shakes to me; I had never heard of them. But apparently they have a cult following, and I became motivated to hear them upon learning they were Dayton born and bred. So, once inside the store, I chose
The Best of Guided By Voices, Human Amusements at Hourly Rates
32 songs, 32 hits. Here's a grabbag finding: If you've never heard of a band and purchase their Greatest Hits CD, you are usually in for a wonderfully awful treat!
"I read they just broke up," I told the clerk with ultra white skin and ultra black everything else, "Are they any good?"
The employee screwed up his face, "GBV?" (Of course they're known by their initials) "They're ... sorta all over the map. A few songs are good; others not. I'd call them Indie Rock."
In the background, wailing slide guitars accompanied a husky, panting voice. It reminded me of a band I listened to over 10 years ago. So, I zoomed back to the racks to seize
The Pixies, Bossanova
I am so into the Pixies. They're so amazing I can't even objectively talk about them. Steel guitars and screaming -- it's so "me".
I loved Trompe Le Monde; I loved Doolittle; and now I love Bossanova.
The Pixie-like song playing around me had ended and the next track sounded David Bowie-ish. "You know, I thought the Pixies were playing," I said to the clerk.
"Oh no, someone just turned this in."
"Who is it?"
It was
The Decline of British Sea Power, CD of same name
OK, so the band isn't bad; they're just not that good either. After the first two tracks, they sound like ... well... like half a dozen other bands you've heard but can't immediately name. They probably sound like how my blog reads; nothing is crisp and it all just sort of runs together. ha ha!
At the counter, the clerk pointed to a note taped to the counter: "If you buy 3 cds, you get one free."
(I like this store more and more!)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Let's Face It
Ah, ska memories. Ska is fun and upbeat, like the Blues Brothers on speed. If you're from my generation, the big ska hit with blaring saxaphones and a speedy speed beat had someone repeating monotonously "One... Step... Beyond...!"
I don't know if the ska dance has a name, but it could be called the Spastic Duckwalk. At least that's the way I tried to do it. (But then I'm a freak.) A great workout, Ska would make for great music for whatever aerobics are called these days.
Listening to MMB (hey, they have a cult following, too!), I vaguely remembered one song and guess the band's a one-hit wonder. Further along, the band veers toward punk and some songs aren't bad. But they also suffer from muddiness: Saxaphones, voices, guitars; all drown each other into noise.
"This is only $1.99. You can pick another," the clerk said.
Wow! A random choice, located in the bin next to the counter
Mephisto, San Francisco Plasmafunk vol. 1
It's 1999. Everyone is stressing over Y2K, but not Hugshyhermit. No. He's taken a trip to San Francisco. No matter that it's grey everywhere, the mist softly covers and protects everything -- and everything is fantastic. It's plasma-fantastic. Colors streak through the clouds, trees glow, and buildings vibrate. Light pulses through people, through the milky way, through the planets and moons and the entire universe. Hugshyhermit could spend a whole wonderful day in Golden Gate park, spinning and laughing and twirling and laughing.
Not bad for $20, eh? I have an interesting array of tunes to listen to, and it should last for awhile. I'd say it was a pretty darn successful grabbag.
Until next time...