The Past, Present, & Future Of Music
I love music.
It wasn’t until I started attending high school that I really fell in love with music. When I was a kid I listend to the radio and spun a few Kiss albums. That was about it. I was a sheltered kid, I know. When I started high school I abandoned the bus in favor of a daily car ride from an older friend of the family who was in his final year of high school.
This friend had a healthy collection of cassette tapes in his car, and every day I was exposed to music I had never heard of before; music by bands such as The Cramps, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Bauhaus, The Jam, The Damned, Operation Ivy, Yello, Agent Orange, Talking Heads, The Stranglers, Violent Femmes, The Replacements, and Sisters Of Mercy flowed over me and through me. I was absorbed, entranced, and joyfully enraptured by it. These artists (and many, many more) helped me to define myself in a way that nobody and nothing else could.
Into the trash went the radio, and in its stead stood a larger dual-cassette tape deck with 8″ speakers. I finished high school and started college. Around that time I began to collect compact discs. This was the era of Nine Inch Nails, Pop Will Eat Itself, Ministry, Nitzer Ebb, Elvis Costello, and Jane’s Addiction. I finished my first year of college but somehow felt as if I was missing…something.
I was unsure whether or not to join the priesthood, team up with the Peace Corp, or become a circus carnie. I looked at all of my options then decided to enlist in the Air Force, hoping to find some direction in life. It was during time this that I purchased a huge component stereo system with giant Infinity floor-standing speakers through which I blasted Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Descendents, Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus Jones, STP, Live, The Pursuit Of Happiness, and Primus. Needless to say, the military didn’t completely destroy my soul nor my love of music.
A lifetime of music in one location
Four years later I found myself back in the real world and involved in computers. I picked up a Macintosh G4 and began to digitize my now extensive CD collection. I got into mobile DJing, playing gigs around town for a year before running out of time, patience, and energy. I sold my gear and picked up my first iPod, then finished college (I guess it was a case of “music first, education second”). And now, here I am, years older and more than a bit wiser, yet still in love with music.
Some will say that the music of today doesn’t compare to music from our younger days, but I have to disagree. Those who say such things really don’t put any effort into finding the great bands that exist right here, right now. If you haven’t heard any good music lately, then may I suggest you give a listen to Underworld, Muse, Death Cab For Cutie, Eels, The Avett Brothers (a bit of country/folk never hurt anyone), Wax Tailor, As Cities Burn, Wilco, Vampire Weekend, The Shins, Andrew Bird, The Whitest Boy Alive, Rotersand, Decemberists, and The Editors? Go on…just give ‘em a shot.
And now that I think about it, the evolution in the way we consume music has dramatically changed. For me it began with a small radio, then a boom box, a full-fledged stereo system, then finally on to a quad-speaker DJ system. Eventually the whole kit shrunk down to a tiny iPod, with my entire collection housed on a hard drive connected to a computer based system with powered speakers. Music started with the LP, then the cassette (I skipped the 8-Track on purpose because, frankly, I never owned one), then the CD, then the physical media disappeared completely, replaced by digital code. Record stores are now few and far between, replaced with WalMarts and online services. I wonder how my kids will listen to their music. Personally I’m hoping for data crystals and in-ear bone speakers.
It’s amazing how drastically things can change, yet the music keeps playing on.
