NECESSITOUS

I’ve spent about $190 on records in the past week. Sometimes a deal is just too good to pass up, and other times you find something like, eighty deals in the same week. Today I drove down to Princeton and ended up with the following vinyls:

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Crosby, Stills & Nash – 4 Way Street
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Deja Vu
Buddy Holly – The Buddy Holly Story
Led Zeppelin – Presence
Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors
Ennio Morricone – One Upon a Time in the West [soundtrack]
Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night

There was probably more I’m forgetting. I also got this week a few vinyls like Unknown Pleasures (Joy Division), Second Edition (PiL), Marquee Moon (Television), and two Dead Meadow albums, Howls From the Hills and Got LIVE If You Want It.

At one point during the car ride Ian popped in a Ramones album. I’ve never really dug the Ramones, for my money I’d rather listen to the Sex Pistols, The Stooges, The Clash… other bands. Blasphemous, I know, but that’s just my own tastes. I wouldn’t say they suck, but it’s not my cup of tea. Nevertheless, this “accusation” prompted Ian to scold me by saying, “You’re such a fag about music.”

Hmm. I’m such a fag about music.

I can’t say I’m entirely clear about the meaning of that statement, but I can only guess he meant something about me being closed minded or not giving the Ramones a chance to win me over. I’ve never honestly understood why there are certain musicians you’re just supposed to like without question, and if you exhibit any sort of negative tendencies towards said musician, you’re suddenly labeled a contrarian, an elitist, or, in this case, a fag.

So whatever, I’ve listened to the self-titled album and Rocket to Russia, came to the decision that it wasn’t for me, and now I’m ridiculed because of it.

I’m calling shenanigans on everyone who uses the, “you’re a fag about music”/”elitist”/”contrarian” tag as a cop-out for someone not enjoying the same kinds of music that they do.

Do you think I give a shit if someone doesn’t recognize the artistic genius of Jackie-O Motherfucker or that Chris Isaak record with “Two Hearts” on it? No, because people cultivate their own aesthetic tastes over the course of their lives, and just because I don’t own a Stevie Wonder album doesn’t mean I hate black people and don’t respect the man’s life or achievements. I just choose not to listen to the album because it doesn’t elicit the same emotional response as, say, that Flying Saucer Attack album Further. It simply doesn’t wrench my guts or break my heart the same way. Listening to music is a pretty personal, anti-social experience anyway (unless you’re at a live show, in which case, you probably all like the band on stage). So we gravitate to what we like and enjoy it on our own time. Doesn’t mean I’m a snob just because I won’t give Ummagumma or Station to Station the time of day. I’ve got other things I want to explore first.

And, you know what? Tomorrow or a few months from now I might come back to it and enjoy it. That’s what’s so great about music. Every note and melody is out there floating around waiting for you to find it; if you do you do and if you don’t you don’t.