the physical divide.

Today at work, I tried to listen to an album on my iPod--The Best From Buddah [sic].  

I came across this album on a series of random whims.  I happened to be listening to the Shadows of Knight one day.  I happened to look at their discography, and somehow noted that they released a single called "Shake" on an album called The Best From Buddah.

I can only imagine they released a hell of a lot of singles, so I have no idea how this stuck in my mind.  What I do know is that I happened to find that very record on eBay for a few bucks (back when I did little at work but blow my paychecks on records).  I couldn't find a digital copy of it, so I used my fancy USB turntable to make what I thought was an adequate rip to mp3.

I've only listened to the record a few times.  To my surprise, it was a compilation of bubblegum pop bands, with a very strange, but catchy, contribution from the Shadows of Knight (though I highly doubt it was the same line-up from the Gloria days).  I listened to the album once at work, but barely paid attention to it.  I think it was a registration day.

Today, however, I did pay attention to it, and it looks like my first attempt at ripping vinyl was a failure.  It sounds like I had it playing back in mono, somehow, so I have to redo it at some point.

Or do I?

The Best From Buddah is clearly an album that was meant to be listened to on vinyl.  Just like my Pebbles and Nuggets comps.  It's gritty analog music that doesn't translate particularly well to digital.  I adore Pebbles and Nuggets, however, and couldn't imagine not having them on my iPod at all times.

But this album?  Not so much.

Which begs the question--where do I draw the line between my digital library and my physical collection?  Do I necessarily need a digital copy of every record I own?  Are some records just too tied to the medium to be reduced to mp3's?

I'm not quite sure what the answers are yet.  For now, I'm going to delete my shitty rip, listen to the record a few times to see how much I like it, and see if I really need it in my library.  The same goes for a couple other records I don't have mp3's of--16 Bitch Pile-Up - The Hairless Whisper; Garage Zone Volume 3; and a handful of splits and 7"s.  

It's a weird divide I never really considered until today.  But I'm gonna have to address it eventually.

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PLAYLIST:

U2 - Pop

Everyone has a band they loved beyond reason as a kid, and everyone has albums by that band that they refuse to let go of.  U2 is that band, Pop is that album.  1997 was probably the height of my U2 obsession, and even though everyone told me that it was shit, I still played that CD relentlessly.  I still stand by the fact that it's not a dreadful album, but at this point I have to admit that it's not a good one either.  (3 stars)

Aphex Twin - Girl/Boy [EP]

One of the more solid EPs from Aphex Twin.  I'm absolute shit with electronic genres, but I know this EP came from Richard D. James Album, which was...jungle?  Drum 'n' bass?  I don't know.  It's fast and melodic and excellent.  Worthwhile if only for the demented "Milkman."  (4 stars)

The Flaming Lips - Transmissions From The Satellite Heart

This album was the moment when the Flaming Lips started to let go of their midwest eccentricities and start writing great pop songs.  It pales in comparison to the albums that were still to come, but it's still an undeniably class Flaming Lips album.  I still don't understand why "She Don't Use Jelly" got played on the radio--just like I still don't understand why I still find it so goddamn catchy.  (4 stars)

Mark Sultan - $

Mark Sultan suffered the same drop-off in quality as King Khan did after they broke up--they were never as good solo as they were together.  But while King Khan's solo stuff is terrible, overblown bullshit, Sultan can still write a solid tune or two.  The production on this album suffers from...well, the production, and you can't help but miss the analog whine of the King Khan & BBQ records.  This was in definite danger of getting cut, but a handful of solid tracks make it worth keeping.  Can't say the same for most of King Khan's shit.  (3 stars)

Broadcast and the Focus Group - Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age

This is by far Broadcast's most avante-garde release, which is saying something, considering they didn't exactly write pop songs.  The United States Of America influence is still pervasive, mainly in the dreamy vocal melodies of Trish Keenan, but otherwise this isn't your average Broadcast album.  The dark, driving percussion that fueled albums like Haha Sound are almost completely absent here, replaced instead by the odd, psychedelic ambient sounds of the Focus Group.  The result is oddly compelling, resulting in an offbalance listen that stands out well among some of Broadcast's more straight-forward releases.  (4 stars)

Eric's Trip - Forever Again

I love Eric's Trip unconditionally.  I love everything they've ever put out.  Even their shitty records.  And Forever Again is one of their shitty records.  Their dreamy lo-fi landscape is as rich as ever, but the songwriting just isn't there.  "My Chest Is Empty" is a personal favorite, but listening to his album just makes me Love Tara even more.  (3.5 stars)

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

Gun to my head, right this second, this my favorite album of all-time.  It's a perennial top-five contender, but today, this is the one.  It took me probably 5-6 listens to really "get" Loveless--before then, I was just entranced by the pretty guitar noise, unaware that incredible pop songs lurked just beneath the surface.  But then one night in 2008, sitting alone in my room, drunk and depressed, spilling my soul recklessly and poorly onto a Word document, "When You Sleep" kicked in, and the vocal melodies brought me to tears.  It's only grown on me since that moment.  (5 stars)

The National - Boxer

I prefer Alligator, which apparently makes me an indie-rock contrarian.  (Apparently fucking High Violet is the more popular choice these days.)  But I stand by my opinion.  Alligator has the better songs, and Boxer just dissolves into lush, pretty nothingness after a while.  Which isn't to say it doesn't have it's merits, and is certainly worth keeping around.  It's just not as good as the hype demands it to be.  (3.5 stars)

The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

The Cure were one of the original post-punk bands, but that tag never really sat right with me beyond this album.  As poppy as the title track is, there's some definite lingering punk influence to the rest of this album.  Hearing Smith's borderline punk sneer on "Plastic Passion" is hilarious.  This album finds the Cure at the beginning of a string of incredible albums, but their roots seemingly disappeared on subsequent releases.  Still, this somewhat harsher sound suits them well.  (4.5 stars)

Jackie Greene - Sweet Somewhere Bound

I can't stand any other Jackie Greene album I've listened to, but I have a definite soft spot for this one.  "Honey I've Been Thinking About You" is an all-time favorite, and the rest of the album is enjoyable catchy Americana in the same vibe.  His influences are a little too obvious at times, and no one would exactly call this groundbreaking, but it's good to have some easy listening every once in a while.  (3.5 stars)

The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

I want to hate Billy Corgan.  Wait, scratch that.  I do hate Billy Corgan.  What I want to hate is his music.  Nobody wants to support the music of a total asshole.  That just doesn't feel good.  But Billy Corgan put out a string of albums with the Smashing Pumpkins that were impossible to hate.  Siamese Dream is excellent on a seemingly carefree level, especially compared to the palpable neurosis on Melon Collie.  Riff follows riff, hook follows hook, and the result is one of the better rock albums to come out of the 90s.  (4.5 stars)

The Gories - Outta Here

The Gories are a solid band, but they're overrated as fuck.  Their influence was far greater than their actual music.  Mick Collins went on to make exponentially better music.  But for what it is, it's pretty excellent.  It's hard to think music more utterly primal than the Gories.  They ride an absolutely relentless Bo Diddley stomp and layer it with a twisted punk boogie rock fueled by sheer classic rock 'n' roll incompetence.  "48 Hours" is my favorite song of all-time (most days), and has my vote for rawest rock song ever recorded.  (4 stars)

New York Dolls - New York Dolls

If you read any semi-decent account of the origins of punk, you will come across a wide variety of musicians and music people describing the wasteland that was the early 70s, and you will hear them cite the same handful of bands as sweet, delicious oases in that endless desert of prog rock pretension and droning M.O.R. bullshit that enveloped them: the Stooges, Roxy Music, and the New York Dolls.   They helped create punk, and the almost certainly created glam rock.  But mostly they just fucking rocked.  Nobody ripped off Chuck Berry any better, and certainly nobody did it with more attitude.  "When I say I'm in love you best believe I'm in love L-U-V."  (5 stars)

Cobson - Cobson

I was assigned this band during my brief time writing for an online magazine in Baltimore.  I'm sure my write-up was terrible, and I didn't say any of the things I meant to say.  I'd like to take this opportunity to coin the genre "iPod rock," something that would've been relevant back when there were still iPod commercials.  Basically, this is music you could see some silhouettes dancing to in front of a neon background.  It's indie pop, yeah, but loud and semi-aggressive and with distinct personality.  I still say "I Won't Let You Go" needs to be in one of those damn commercials.  (3.5 stars)

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CHANGES:

- My copy of Where You Want To Be was completely fucked up, so I re-downloaded it.  If only I could find the CD I had once upon an angsty time...

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DELETIONS:

- U2 - Pop.  This breaks my heart.  But I just couldn't justify it any longer.  It's not a very good album.

- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Let Love In.  Nick Cave was always an impenetrable force in my library, but I just could not fucking stand this album, just two tracks in.  So this could be interesting.  I know I don't hate Nick Cave, certainly not enough to delete him altogether, but I can now see my Bad Seeds collection being whittled down considerably.

- The Best From Buddah.  See above.

- The Distractions - Nobody's Perfect.  Too much new wave, not enough post-punk.

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ADDITIONS:

- Boys Life (#123).  Midwest emo.  Added Boys Life, Departures & Landfalls, and a split with Christie Front Drive.