"I've never heard anything that sounds like this, Major Dude," purred Science Girl. "How do you find so much fabulous music?"
I had met the lanky blond naturalist on the internet. Her sky-blue eyes swept over the rows of CD's in my collection. She was glowing, transported by our listening experience, as Ginger Lass had been, and Therapy Ballerina, and even Velvet Vixen before her. This was not the first time I had heard such exclamations. The transparent realism of audiophile sound first astounds, and then enthralls most listeners, if they really appreciate music.
That night, Steve Earle's "Transcendental Blues" emanated holographically from the vacuum tube component system, sourced from the custom tube-output CD player. We reclined with tangled limbs on the Tibetan rug, in the sweet spot between the speakers. Earle's group was constellated in the room, as Orion was in the indigo sky beyond the French doors. We were hearing every nuance of Hillbilly twang, guitar fuzz, drum slam, and lyrical rumble that they cook up in the recording studio. Passionate possibilities inched closer. I mused that even if web dating hadn't yet connected me with the love of my life, at least I was steadily converting my town's divorced female population into audiophiles.
Sometimes I miss my own a
Have I adopted any useful methods for finding music to love? You be the judge.
Eclecticism is my musical orientation. I have sounds to please or offend anyone. My few hundred CD's cross multiple genres, including Classic Rock, sub-categories of Jazz, some Blues, and several singer-songwriters. On my racks you can also find Electronica, World Music, a bit of Classical, and even Opera. There is contemplative music for breakfast, and sensual selections like B-Tribe for intimate hours. Andrea Bocelli is there when I want to soar and ache. Techno drives my workouts. And I've identified what drives my music selections.
Singer-songwriters satisfy my hunger for poetic lyrics. Another unifying theme is what Frank Zappa called "the element of musical surprise," like what happens when Keiko and Kazu Matsui rearrange Mozart, and - shazam -- it turns into World Beat. Such freshness combines with a golden vein of emotional engagement. Take for example, this emotion: simple joy. You can spin any number of my CD's (like EKO's four discs) to go there when ready.
"The music we play is the sound track for our lives," observes my friend Brynn.
Yes, indeed. And that makes music too important to default listening choices to Broadcast media programming. I cultivate several 'music friends.' Nobody I know holds any opinion about a CD without me finding out about it:
"Hey, have you heard Nuclear Jumping Bean?" I ask.
"Amazing how much they sound like the Scalded Dogs," Brynn scoffs, sweetly. "But I just found a copy of Wizened Geezer at the Disc Dump, and it's great."
Perfect - clear opinions, with references, and a welcome new lead.
I poll all sources on what they are listening to and liking, or hating. I ransack their collections. If Brynn likes it, I get it. If Dad hates it, I give it a listen. If it's too New-Agey for me, my gay neighbor Randy might trade me some Motown for it. That wiry little crew-cut gnome got spiritual and gave up funk when he came out.
My musical antennae are always tuned in, like an array of radio telescopes searching galactic white noise for an intelligible message. I found Steve Earle and Bruce Cockburn in the Utne Reader, and Belle and Sebastian in Time Magazine, while waiting in a doctor's office. Tom Waits haunted my perimeter for years before I read Loreena McKennitt's CD liner quip, that she appreciates him. I vex my dates by sitting through movie credits to see who did the sound tracks. I haunt certain large bookstore magazine racks, scouting music reviews. To keep my music habit from getting out of control, I made a budget. I maintain a written wish list and shop from it. By making my list known, I become very easy to buy gifts for.
Used CD stores are a collector's main asset. Half my collection came used. I never got a bad CD, and they hover around half price. Store credit for reject CD's helps turn over the tired, the mistakes, and the outgrown. I mentally salivate, and almost tremble when I walk into a used CD store for the first time in a month, and the long rows call out to be picked over. This exhausting grab bag often yields the delightful, unexpected find.
Previewing any disc before buying is a great feature of the used stores. Even stores that deal exclusively in new discs have gotten the message to provide listening stations for us to haunt.
Following threads can lead to surprising twists. Some artists run hot and cold, and others progress through periods. Oystein Sevag could do no wrong during his recording years. Jackson Browne only got interesting after hitting bottom and coming back more mature. Karla Bonoff made one great album. Whether you agree or not, such opinions hold information value. You may learn you like my taste in Blues (Keb' Mo', Bonnie Raitt) but suspect I don't know Alternative Rock from deep left field. This is true, and even truer of Gothic.
Then there is the internet, that super-empowering cornucopia of music data and CD bargains. My favorite site alone is a fabulous resource. I can't go there without finding things to want among the many informative reviews. All released titles for any given artist are often available, and rated. You even get to download samples. There are notable other sites, too, and even sites dedicated to audiophile recordings. The sidebar for this article provides specifics.
It is surprising how few people are aware that TV cable carries digital music programming. In my area, there are 30-odd channels of continuous CD-quality music in numerous categories. The decoder box connects into the stereo, with on-screen ID. This great source of new sounds costs under $10.00 per month.
The local public library is even more economical - it's free. Every neighborhood branch in my town has yielded new finds. Then there are always Columbia House and BMG for mail order, with their multiple free disc offers. If you can find music you like in their inventories, that is. Most of that stuff is either too classical or too pop-culture for me.
Given all these available sources, the way is clear to an exciting collection. We are musically endowed more than any civilization before us. It takes digging to discover what you like in the trackless wasteland of music distribution, but we have music, music, music.
I'm pleased to report that Science Girl has absorbed these methods, and is discovering new ones of her own, to stoke her new high-end car stereo. She's become a music friend, an emerging expert in the area of Rhythm and Blues.
Sidebar for Stalking Good Vibrations
The System
The 2-channel audiophile stereo that astounds and delights visitors to my listening room comprises the following best-buy components, listed with internet links to their origins:
CD Player AH! Tjoeb Model 99
http://www.hifi-notes.com/index-en.htm
Preamplifier Rogue Audio Model Ninety-Nine
http://www.rogueaudio.com/99.htm
Amplifier Rogue Audio Model Eighty-Eight
http://www.rogueaudio.com/88.htm
Speakers
http://www.josephaudio.com/product.rm7sisig.html
Subwoofer REL Q100E
http://rel.net/products.html
Of course, this high-end audio gear is wired with audiophile quality interconnects and speaker cable, and housed on specialized audio furniture and speaker stands. Why do things half way? Every little nuance contributes some valuable fraction of realism to the musical experience.
The Compact Discs
In order of appearance in the article, these are the discs mentioned. Where no title was associated with an artist, a favorite is suggested. They are listed by Artist and Title at the web sites offered below as CD sources.
Artist CD Title Category Steve Earle Transcendental Blues Hillbilly/Rock/Celtic B-Tribe Sensual Sensual World/Electronic/Flamenco Andrea Bocelli Sogno Opera Frank Zappa The Yellow Shark Rock or Classical? Kazu Matsui Project Tribal Mozart World-Classical EKO Alter EKO World/Pop Bruce Cockburn Dart to the Heart Rock/Pop/Folk/Country Belle and Sebastian The Boy with the Arab Strap Scottish Pop Tom Waits Mule Variations Delta Blues/Pop/Folk Loreena McKennitt The Book of Secrets Celtic Oystein Sevag Bridge Jazz-Classical Jackson Browne Looking East Male Vocal Rock Karla Bonoff Female Vocal Pop Keb' Mo' The Door Blues Bonnie Raitt The Luck of the Draw Blues