A proper rant:

I really need to stop being disconcerted by my tendency to occupy (practically) all extreme points on a cyclical basis. I need to stop assuming that the now of any given time will last. It never does, and the opposite always shows up before long. Normality rarely touches me, but experiencing the end points, highs and lows, of humanity makes me feel closer to every aspect of life. I like living this way. I always say that when I'm happy, don't I? Perhaps I just like that I've lived this way. It makes a lot of things easier for me to understand. And that's what life's about, isn't it?

Shifting gears completely...

I was typing up a Statistics lyric earlier today, and it got me thinking about a lot of things. And I do mean things. Mostly musical formats. I have this obscene love of...practically all of them, for different reasons.

MP3s are mostly good for discovering bands and tiding me over until I can afford a real copy of an album. I hate the lack of artwork associated with them, I hate that they have no weight, I hate that they're often shitty sound quality (despite being digital), I hate the lack of transportability (without burning to a cd). I hate everything about them except that they help me find new music, actually. But I love them quite intensely for that last attribute.

CDs are good for transportability and a clean sound quality, but don't have much going for them in the way of ambiance. I put on cds when I want to ignore the music, mostly. When I want background noise. Because it doesn't take much attention to keep them going, and they can carry on making noise for a good long time. (Minidisks are much the same, from my brief exposure.)

Records have the best ambiance of any musical format, in my opinion. The weight of the records in itself seems really significant to me, and I think that's actually my favourite part about them. The sound quality is muddier than CDs, but I actually find this to be a perk with regard to many bands. Transportability doesn't exist, which frustrates me when I only own things on vinyl. It's also harder for me to put music onto a mix from vinyl, which is shit, but that's mostly just because of the musical setup in my house. They require much more attention than most formats, with flipping disks over and setting the needle down. This makes me pay attention more, and makes listening to music more of an event in itself, which I think is quite beautiful. They get scratched and skip easily, which is a definite con, but something that's been easier to get used to than I expected. I don't know. I just like records a lot, despite seeing their flaws. This could have something to do with the fact that most of my good childhood memories are associated with records, however.

Tapes. I never listened to them much. I have a few mix tapes, and that's really about it. I just never saw the appeal. They're annoying to find songs on and rewind, they're rectangular (Um. I'm obsessed with circles. Ignore me.), they have minuscule artwork, and the sound quality isn't really any better than records. The only real mark of progress with cassettes is that they were transportable. And lately I've been daydreaming about the hissing noise that tapes make, though I couldn't explain why if you asked. Something about it just seems comforting, like the crackling noises of records. The best thing about cassette tapes is probably the ability to make mix tapes that have to be actually listened to, as opposed to skipped around on. Yes, I am a control freak, but I listen to other people's mixes as well, so this is fine.

8-tracks I have no experience with at all (though I want to, and will apparently need to before too long. Anyone know a place I can buy a player?)

Anyway, the point: Limitations are not always limitations. I love all of the formats for different reasons and in different circumstances. Nothing should ever be obsolete or abandoned, the options should just be expanded.

Fin.

revoless.
3:47 p.m.
July 17, 2003.
Listening to: Criteria.
Drinking: Nothing.
Eating: Nothing.

comments? 0.

Mostly Bright Eyes ranting, despite my best intentions or Just a jumble

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