While growing up, (that is, primary school to age 30) I have always been indebted to other people for my musical tastes. That is, I have never really explored music on my own, mostly, I just picked up what I liked from friends, usually boyfriends, by way of the mixed tape, and sometimes I went to buy the CDs of those I really liked. Even though I have made some my own (Bjork, Nick Cave and Tom Waits, most notably), I have rarely picked up on music all by myself. In this way, I have inherited a taste for Cocteau Twins, The Strawbs, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, The Smiths, Kate Bush, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and so on.
My problem in a way has always been that I did not know where to go to find new music, or MY music. Invariably, when I listened to a CD in a shop, I would be disappointed had I made the purchase and tried to listen to it at home. The result is that my music collection is now full of things I kind of like, tracks and albums that make me think of other people, past times, and older selves, and hardly any that I appreciate simply because of the musical quality rather than sentimental attachment. The other effect of this state of affairs is that I listen to the same small percentage of my collection over and over, until I am sick of it, then I hardly touch it for months on end, expecting vacuous radio stations or tv background noise to fill the silence.
One particular poignant memory for me is lying in my bed late on Sunday nights (high school time), listening to Leon Iconomedes’s Dinosaur Days, on the then Radio 5. This was a hardcore obscure uncurable obsession with late 60s, 70s and the occasional retro throwback from the 80s. Classic rock, art rock, prog rock, glam rock, obscure rock. Listening to this show was great for the young Free State mind that inhabited my skull at the time, a path into a world of sages, or at least bearded old men who had loads of trivial and useless knowledge. This show is also responsible for me buying an album by a band called Frumpy – only Leon and myself are aware of this band, surely. I tried very hard to like this album once I owned the CD, but after endless cajoling by a number of boyfriends who targeted that poor band as the epitome of the cliche of 70s rock, thus not deserving of even a couple minutes of freedom from the jewel case, spinning wildly within the CD player, I had to abandon it. Yes, Frumpy, like so many of my other purchases, lies abandoned in a corner and quietly causing me embarrassment and shame when I think how pathetic my efforts at building a musical collection has been.
In a similar vein was one last-ditched attempt at finding new music. A number of years ago, I started religiously buying SL Magazine (although I don’t anymore). The articles are hideous, I know, I know, but that is not my reason for buying the little folio. SL includes a compilation CD of “hip” “young” “new” music, but needless to say that most of it sounded like rip offs of Blondie, The Clash and Echo and the Bunnymen. Most, but not all. In this way, I did indeed find some people I liked, among whom Sufjan Stevens. Of course, that’s great news for the musically starved creature that I am, but there lies the rub. Try going into one of the two prominent music outlets asking for Sufjan Stevens or HAL and the standard response is… “we are out of stock but should be getting some next month. Give me your number and we will let you know.” After five years or more I am still waiting. At this point, I started ordering discs on Amazon. Discs that became increasingly expensive with the plummeting exchange rate and Amazon’s decision to only deliver with courier in South Africa, due to the increasing number of parcel thefts courtesy of the South African Post Office. Another little option closed down for good.
My interest was piqued once again when I started seeing adverts for Nokia Music Store. I am not interested in downloading albums illegally from torrent sites – I wouldn’t even know what to look for, I have no taste. Endless lists of creatively named files do not solve my problem. Recently though, I took the plunge and started looking for viable sites to buy mp3s from. (It should be said that my sudden activity is probably due to me planning to buy an iPhone soon!) Amazon and iTunes don’t sell in South Africa, so Nokia Music Store it was. After a friend recommended emusic.com I am now a subscriber there too. Yes I am a late bloomer, but by now my confidence about getting a feasible music collection together was rather low.
Making a long story come to a short, abrupt end, I am happy to report two great finds since joining both these sites. The first is Rufus Wainwright, whom I first saw on the Graham Norton show and somehow I managed to hold onto his name in my muddled head.
The second is Bat for Lashes, who was simply a recommendation made by eMusic while I was browsing.
As someone who is passionate about dance, films and books and of course as a practicing artist, my lack of a managing a music collection I could enjoy, is perhaps rather puzzling. But perhaps, like this, my first post of any significant length, is an auger of more discovery and productivity all round. My knee is also almost back to normal!