THE PREDICTABLE RANT ON THE STATE OF POP MUSIC

this would be a real neat present for me- Thesaurus Musicarum: The Pitchfork Year in Music 2003

i have to admit, i live for music. this year i bought more cds than ever before. the time given to digest each one decreases more n more.
let's see.. the new records i bought were

emmylou harris - stumble into grace
elbow - cast of thousands
cat power - you are free
tori amos - tales of a librarian
radiohead - hail to the thief
basement jaxx - kish kash
kings of leon - youth and young manhood
lucinda williams - world without tears

very little, until we consider the older records i bought

liz phair - exile in guyville
portishead - live in roseland nyc
ben folds five - whatever and ever amen
dee dee bridgewater - this is new
dee dee bridgewater - dear ella
ella fitzgerald - sings the irving berlin songbook
jazz moods compilation
badly drawn boy - hour of the bewilderbeast
flaming lips - yoshimi battles the pink robots
johnny cash - american iv the man comes around
interpol - turn on the bright lights
ryan adams - gold
pj harvey - stories from the city stories from the sea
fun lovin criminals - loco
antonio carlos jobim's finest hour
neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea
emmylou harris - last date

some i bought at cheap gramophone, some at expensive borders, some bought with vouchers, but if every cd cost 20 dollars, i would have spent 500 dollars [and counting] to satisfy my yearning ears this year.

Rock critic Michael Goldberg recently speculated that what makes music fanatics thirst for the obscure is the desire to discover music that is "uncontaminated by the commerce machine." This, he says, is the reason we cling to the abstract and unmarketable, the outlandish and abrasive. i have by all accounts a mainstream taste. indie stuff are hard to find and expensive. that's why i burn the rest: the notwist's neon golden, spoon's and weezer's records, beth gibbons and rustin man, etc. there are tens of bands and singers deserving every top 40 listener's attention.. broken social scene, sigur ros, damien rice, martina topley bird, the fire theft, wilco, ted leo and the pharmacists, my morning jacket, the darkness and people i haven't even downloaded: the decemberists, pretty girls make graves, sun kil moon, you know, weird band names make good bands.

so wake up! stop listening to the radio!