Only Mostly Dead

But that means we're partly alive.

We have every intention of starting this up again and soon. It might be after the new year (hopefully sooner); it will definitely be before the one year anniversary of our last post.

If you haven't done so already, add us to your rss feed, that way you won't have to wait one day longer than necessary for new content.

(And our apologies to our fans for just dropping off like that. But, you know, life.)

Metarock: Value of Digital

(You can view this an extension of Brandon's post here, since it touches on many of the same things. You should note, as well, that I only have 250 tracks of Orthodox singing, which is more than enough for almost anybody.)

I've spent the last two weeks acclimating to my new place, new city, new time zone. This trip moved me a thousand miles. I left with a backpack and two bags: everything else was given away, sold, or stored.

This includes my music. The vinyl, the CDs, even that one cassette I own (Robert Johnson's Complete Recordings)...most are in a storage unit in the middle of the midwest. The rest, hopefully, are being given a good (temporary) home with a friend. I have 12 albums with me, 5 I brought, 7 I bought once I arrived here.

This is just physical media. I did rip most of the music to an external hard drive before I left, so I'm not in danger of running out of exciting music or having a listening itch that I can't scratch. (If I really find myself begging to hear, say, Billy Joel's Millennium Concert or the second Finger Eleven album, then I have bigger issues.)

Is this not a glorious time we are living in? I have over 40,000 tracks two clicks away and they physically take up as much space as my left hand. Thirty years ago I'd have crates of AC/DC, Sabbath, Springsteen, Cheap Trick, and the Damned to lug around, plus a turntable ('cause why would I buy a new one when I'd have a perfectly great one already?).

Eight years ago, when I moved 1500 miles for college, I had 224 CDs. I bought a case that allowed me to take the entire lot but not the jewel cases or booklets. I felt it was a bit of a loss not having the package, but the music is what's important, right? The subsequent 11 moves in 4 years between dorm rooms convinced me that the lack of extra bulk was virtuous.

But still, when I got my own place and it seemed I was relatively settled, I once again brought out all those empty cases and added them to those I'd picked up in the intervening time. And when I finally got the whole thing set up, I was happy and impressed. Here's the picture, initially from a previous post:


Yeah, I'm a little sad that all I have now are 1s and 0s and code to show me what I got. I like having the booklet, I like having the case, I like seeing the CD sitting on the shelf. I like being persuaded to listen to an album because exposed end is garish yellow. I like the artwork. I like to read the essays included with compilations of old blues. This is all lost with a switch to a solely or mostly digital interface.

But...I have 1800 albums I can listen to right now that I couldn't otherwise.

I wonder: it'll be at least three months, but more like six or nine, before I get the physical copies back. In that time, will I feel the same way? Could I bring myself to sell all those discs at the local used store? Will I stay completely digital?

Well, no. Because, for me, it's not just about the music. I'm a collector. I like the aesthetic, the way rows of music look on the shelf. I like re-arranging my albums by things like spine color or how they fit into my personal narrative. And that's something you can't do with a digital copy. Not easily, anyway.

But I imagine 95% of what I'll play will be the digital versions.

Robert Johnson - Ramblin' On My Mind (take 1) [sounds almost as good on the cassette]
Cheap Trick - Stiff Competition [a very specific time in my personal narrative]
Gogol Bordello - Oh No [from that garish yellow album]

(Having difficulty uploading the files...will try again in the morning. Sorry.)

Posted by Lin.

Whoopee in Hell Mix #5: Solitary Man (a mix for staying in for days at time)

So I realized today that I hadn't left the house in almost four days.

This is not ideal.

In my non-teaching life, I'm a writer (well, a dissertator--which means I'm a writer), and a variety of self-imposed deadlines are fast approaching. I have a scholarly article on Nigeria's ruling party (the People's Democratic Party--an ironic name if ever there was one), and the first chapter of my dissertation, both of which need to be done by the end of the month. so I'm at the desk, suffering from internet-induced ADD, getting little done (but, as my wife would point out, at least I'm showering).

So, here's a mix for the self-imposed shut-ins among us (especially those of us trapped in a tiny, somewhat stinky one-bedroom with a lovely wife and a pile of books to the ceiling).

Whoopee in Hell Mix #5: Solitary Man

1. Solitude (Soundtrack from The Thing) - Ennio Morricone
2. Have You Ever Been Lonely? - R.L. Burnside
3. Solitary Man - Johnny Cash
4. Just Call Me Lonesome - Elvis Presley
5. Rockin' Alone In An Old Rockin' Chair - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
6. Solitude - Billie Holiday
7. A Solitary Life - Richard Thompson
8. Alone So Far- Old 97's
9. Shakin' Sugar - Wilco
10. Lonesome Suzie - The Band
11. Lonely - Tom Waits
12. Ballad Of A Lonely Man - Mike Ness
13. Honk If You're Lonely - Silver Jews
14. I Can't Stand Myself - James Chance & The Contortions
15. Mexican Lonelieness - Matt Dillon With Joey Altruda, Joe Gonzalez & Pablo Calogero
16. Solitude - Black Sabbath
17. Lonely Town - Stan Ridgway
18. You and You Alone - Souled American
19. Bad Fog Of Loneliness - Neil Young
20. Closing Down My House - Travel By Sea
21. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Grandpaboy
22. Lonely Tenement - David Johansen
23. Alone In The Endzone - Radio Birdman
24. Lonely Night - Chrissy Zeppy Tembo
25. Kicked Out The House - De La Soul
26. Slip Inside This House - Primal Scream
27. We Live As We Dream, Alone - Gang Of Four
28. My House - Lou Reed
29. All By Myself - Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers
30. Just Don't Want To Be Lonely - Blue Magic
31. Long Lonely Nights - Clyde McPhatter
32. Lonely Hours - Lowell Fulson
33. Keep It To Yourself - Sonny Boy Williamson
34. Lonely Boy Boogie - John Lee Hooker
35. Lone Wolf - The Blasters
36. Get Lonely - The Mountain Goats
    

Get tracks 1-17 here; tracks 18-36 here.

Posted by Brandon