Ramsayings

Here’s something I scribbled about @TheRealYLT back in 2007. It’s still so true. Need more proof? Fine. Check out these clips of a reunited Pussy Galoredazzling the crowd at Maxwell’s last week. Let’s not forget the fact that Yo La Tengo are still playing their standard 8 night Hanukkah run while Ira recovers from an undisclosed illness. Since I couldn’t make it to any of their shows this week, I’m listening to everything Yo La Tengo on Spotify. Unsurprisingly, it’s perfect for this week.

These guys are seriously the greatest, most generous act in indie rock and I can’t help but think people still take them for granted, because, well, they do.

(I’d be remiss if I didn’t link over to Jesse Jarnow’s online home, Frank & Earthy, for full setlists from these shows.)

This is how I used to feel about music 2.0. Now I’m more than willing to spend $10 a month to listen to whatever I like, give or take. I will say that the playlists feature is pretty great, especially now that I’m not a music editor who would’ve been tasked with assembling them. Tedious work, that. That said, I’m enjoying the Pitchfork Top 100 songs playlist right now. Point me toward good playlists and I will add them.

I’d love to see them add a bookmark feature so I could catalog titles I find as I surf around the web. Think Instapaper, but for music.

You know what makes this blog great? It’s always reminding me of my shortcomings. No, not that I post once a month; that I post resolutions every year and never fulfill them.

This year I planned on ripping all my CDs to my MacBook. Didn’t happen. It’s tedious, there’s never time, the litany of excuses goes on and on. That changes next year.

Why? Because if we’re planning on buying a new home in 2013, I need to shrink my portion of digital goods considerably. There’s no excuse to not have everything loaded onto a computer that can be accessed via home sharing. Flipping content from computer to other devices in the home is really awesome and I’m finally seeing that potential.

What does it mean? I need an iMac. While everyone is going smaller — whether that’s iPads or MacBook Airs — I’m realizing that I need a machine that can comfortably store all the CDs and DVDs I own locally that I can then access on mobile devices. My MacBook just won’t cut it. I want something that can whirr quietly upstairs and be the classic home computer. I think iMac fits the bill.

Wish me luck in 2012 in getting our digital life together! (Do people still even buy used CDs and DVDs?)

I know people have cooled on their steely grooves, but I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through 2002-2007 without steady doses of Spoon. Two songs in particular that galvanized my will when it was bent near the breaking point: “That’s the Way We Get By” and “The Underdog.”

Can’t listen to either of these tunes without being transported back in time. The former reminds me of a sweaty summer spent in Brooklyn, punching F5 on craigslist or interviewing for jobs for which I was but one of hundreds of applicants. I’d turn this all the way up as I sat on my futon, scraping by on adjunct lecturer’s wages and whatever was left on my student loans. The latter takes me to a better place: finally back on the job after nearly a year out of work. It was their brand new album at the time and I had a hard time believing that “The Underdog” wasn’t my personal anthem that summer.

A few years on and I keep finding myself coming back to these records. I can’t think of a band whose body of work has more closely fit my moods over more than a decade of fandom.

Once upon a time, I used to be a guy who compiled lists — obsessively, even — of the movies and music I wanted to acquire in some physical format. It made birthdays and Christmases so easy for everyone in my life. Distribute the list and — voila — instant gifts!

Now it’s not so easy. I still really enjoy music and film, but there’s just no pressing need for me to “own” any of it. Does this mean I’m facing a future of ties for every gift going forward?