Constrained Bliss Point

I have a very particular method of consuming music, which I feel a strong urge to pontificate about.

I outgrew illegal music downloads some time in high school. This had little to do with a fear of legal repercussions. In fact, I began to implicitly value my time more, so that the opportunity cost of manually downloading every song I wanted and then organizing my music collection became prohibitive. Not to mention how difficult it is to build a playlist worth listening to.

Luckily at this time I started earning discretionary income, and through the magic of the internets I could purchase used albums on Amazon. Ripping albums is straightforward, my music collection organizes itself, and each new CD yields a band-vetted play list. I listen to albums all the way through now. If it’s difficult for me to get through each song in order, that’s something wrong with the album (or more specifically, I don’t like the album). More than a hodgepodge of songs, each album has a feel to it, a theme that it plays out through each sequential track, leading you on a musical journey. Here I postulate: one can more accurately judge a band by the quality of its albums than by the quality of its songs. Producing an album is hard work, and much effort goes into ensuring a certain flow, a certain style. A good album is a conceptual whole.

There are other benefits to an album-centric view of music. Like not missing out on b-sides or less “popular” songs — which are actually just those songs the main stream hasn’t picked up on. Example: off of Alanis Morisette’s Jagged Little Pill, which song is most often played on the radio? Probably the worst on the album, “Ironic”. Both “Forgiven” and “Not the Doctor” are at least twice as good, and you probably aren’t familiar with them. (That’s right, I’m being pretentious about Alanis Morisette music.)

Another example: greatest hits albums suck. Originally I theorized that I could be more money-efficient by purchasing greatest hits albums, just getting the best songs and leaving all the unworthy ones behind. But that is entirely the wrong model. While some songs are better than others, the concept of some set of songs being “best” and using that criterion as basis for a playlist is folly. Greatest hits albums are exactly a hodgepodge of songs. They are like the Frankenstein monster, discombobulated parts stuck together, seemingly alive but distinctly lacking a soul.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go listen to Jagged Little Pill. Again.

Last weekend was the glorious NYC edition of ROFLThing, packed from end to end with epic win. In no particular order, there was Tron Guy, Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere, the eminent Jason Scott,  and the guy who invented Comic Sans. The legendary Tim Hwang worked the scene like a puppet master of the caliber of the John Cusack character from Being John Malkovich. Anonymous was there, and proceeded to heckle the first few speakers — until they were stilled by the threat of forcible expulsion. All the while volunteers were on stand-by to counter possible stage rushing or similar tomfoolery. Imagine “The Battle of Evermore” meets the Internet memescape for a better idea of how things went down.

When our cadre of volunteers was preparing the venue for the awesomeness that would follow, I heard the most curious music come over the sound system. Pre-ROFLThing was graced with the melodies of Tegan and Sara in the song “I Was Married”  — in my opinion, the finest defense of same-sex marriage I have ever known, and a catchy tune to boot. But that wasn’t all! Indeed, the entirety of The Con would play before the ROFLFestivities began. It was a fitting start to a fabulous day.

Last, to anyone unfamiliar with Tegan and Sara, stop what you’re doing right now and go purchase at least one of their albums. You shall not regret it.