“This Is A Journey Into Sound…”

“You listen to some weird music,” my friend eagerly confessed to me on one of our recent ‘Hey, lets do nothing – together!’ themed soirees. Now, I can certainly understand how someone could take offense to a comment like this. After all, music tends to be an extension of self, as well as an extremely personal issue, so by these definition my friend essentially just called yours truly weird. But, so be it. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would agree with his comment, perhaps in both contexts. And I’ll admit that sometimes my music collection does tend to be a little less than user friendly (I think this particular comment was brought about by either David Bowie’s Low or Joy Division’s Closer). Ultimately though, my music has one distinct advantage in its corner to defend against the arrows of the world – its mine. So those who would may feel free to insult the music I love. It makes no difference to me. After all, if I want to rock out to Slayer and then follow that up with some Natalie Merchant, that’s really my prerogative isn’t it?

Ultimately, this discourse between myself, my music, and my friend stems from a single source of excitement for me, and explains why my friend and I were doing more than just wasting time playing video games and chess on the occasion I just described – I got a new toy! Yes, after years of strength training from lugging around a huge notebook full of CDs, I recently decided that I had become strong enough, so I became officially ‘with it’ and bought an iPod. I had intended to do this much sooner (this whole affair happened very recently), but a few things had stood in my way, namely my computer’s lack of a sound card (making iTunes fairly useless) and my lack of funds. Then my roommate announced that he would sell me his 30 GB Video for only $40 dollars. With that knowledge at my disposal it was easy to justify shelling out the money for a new sound card, and my journey towards (further) pretension had begun!

The ability to shuffle my library is probably the one thing I enjoy most about this iTunes/Pod tag team, and leaving it on shuffle for long periods of time tends to lead to conversations and comments like the one that started this post. However, it also led to a dilemma, though ultimately a good dilemma to have – what goes on the iPod first? 30 GBs is an awful lot of space for music, and as of this writing the 1107 songs/3 days worth of music I’ve put on it have only filled 4 GBs. Yet the initial question of what to put on first still required some musical value judgments to be made on my part. So, having seen High Fidelity enough to have at least gained the ability to make music-themed lists in my sleep, it was easier than I had expected to establish a five album hierarchy of musical divinity to import into the iRealm. That list is as follows:

1. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead

Definitely The Smiths. Definitely. The songwriting team of Morrissey and Johnny Marr is perhaps one of the most underrated of all time, and it shines most apparent on this album. The tracks range from lighthearted, upbeat, and oftentimes comical affairs like”Cemetery Gates” and “Vicar In A Tutu,” to somber melodies with brooding, heartfelt lyrics like “I Know It’s Over” and “Never Had No One Ever.” Also, it’s almost unfair that the album climaxes with “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”, one of the best pieces the band has to offer.

2. Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love

With the knowledge that I have  at least a few more years of music listening to undergo, it’s a bit idealistic to call one particular album an all-time number one favorite. But lets jut say that Hounds Of Love is the closest thing I have found to that ideal at the time of this writing.  Bush possesses one of the greatest singing voices to ever touch my ears, and her eccentric and diverse style testifies to her importance. Her music has gone on to influence numerous artists (one of which will appear next on this list) and this album showcases why, with tracks that range from synth-based ballads (“Watching You Without Me”, “Running Up That Hill”) to Celtic and Irish influenced pieces (“Jig of Life”) as well as songs rich in sampling and production trickery (“Waking The Witch”). But take heed – this one definitely falls under the “T.C.’s weird music” category.

3. Radiohead – OK Computer

My favorite Radiohead album by far and away. It provides the perfect bridge between their original grunge-esque sound and their later more digital and computerized style. “Let Down” is perhaps my favorite song by the band, and haunting tracks like “Climbing Up The Walls” and “Exit Music For A Film” add to the feelings of isolation and fear that pervade the album. So imagine my demeanor when I realized that my computer’s CD drive wouldn’t read the disc! A travesty of justice, I know, but I’ll probably just buy the album off the iStore in the near future. To compensate, I opted to import a two album combo – Kid A in order to get my fix for the band’s avant-garde side, as well as Hail To The Theif, an album that displays quite prominently that Radiohead is still very much a rock band.

4. Tool – Aenima

Much like OK Computer, this album exists as a bridge of sorts for Tool as a band. It combines the spastic metal of their earlier releases together with the links towards mysticism and sheer technical ability seen in their latest albums. The 13-minute piece “Third Eye” which ends the album stands as a testament to this fact. The album itself has a sound uniquely its own, with no other band displaying the exact same levels of complexity that make up proggressive tracks like “Eulogy” and “Pushit.” Maynard James Keenan’s vocal and lyrical stylings reach their full potential on this album as well, audible in songs like “H.” and “Forty-Six And Two.”

5. The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

In my experiences, the battle between Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie when it comes to best Pumpkins album can often be a fierce inner struggle. This battle echoed within me as well, yet ended rather quickly and definitively. Siamese Dream might be able to hold its own against Dawn to Dusk (Disc 1 of Mellon Collie), and that’s a big maybe. Once you factor in Twilight to Starlight (Disc 2) however, the fight becomes a bit one-sided. The first disc offers a perfect blend of the Pumpkin’s hard rock intensity and their dreamy, melodic side, with rock anthems like “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and “Zero” standing together with ballads like “Cupid De Locke” and “Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans.” The second disc follows suit, offering soft hits like “Beautiful” and “By Starlight” as well as hard, rocking blows like “Tales Of A Scorched Earth” and the 7-minute “X.Y.U.” Further, Twilight To Starlight offers “Stumbleine” and “Lily (My One And Only)”, in my opinion the best two examples of the band’s songwriting prowess.

With that list done, my first foiree into the iWorld was also complete. Needless to say, there are countless other bands and albums that have ample representation, but far too many to list here. And at any rate, those other bands might be too “weird” for some, you know? Ultimately, this was a good exercise in vaule judgement, and it really got me to consider the notion that some refer to as the “Desert Island Album,” those recordings you would want to have with you should you be marooned on some isolated island. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a whole lot more potential ”Desert Islanders” to import, so if you’ll excuse me. . .