no fear shall we know

One of the primary benefits of a digital music collection is that it acts as natural selection for your music. Personally, I didn't really understand my tastes until I started using iTunes about four years ago. Up until then, because I generally listened to an entire album at a time, slow or mediocre songs counted against an artist just as much as great songs counted for them. Because I can now skip songs that are unappealing, jump around, and keep accurate information on my listening habits, the best music is naturally highlighted. Some artists and genres benefit enormously from a way of listening to music that separates wheat from chaff. The joy of the shuffle is not merely a matter of a short attention span or an obsession with juxtaposition (the mix tape effect). The truth is that not all great music comes in the form of a well paced, consistent album, and not every great song is lucky enough to be on one. Obviously, I still appreciate an artist that can produce a great album (and a digital music collection still allows you to listen this way, the shuffle is a possibility, not a rule) but it's one of many worthwhile forms.
Bright Eyes is a good example of an artist that benefits from this. As a songwriter, Conor Oberst has periodic flashes of brilliance, but seemingly no internal censor to gauge the quality of his own work (I suspect this is also why his output is so high). But the fact that most Bright Eyes albums are plodding and uneven doesn't stop me (and many of his other fans too, I suspect) from enjoying his best songs (see Appendix A). Another example is the Dave Matthews Band, whose music I had largely left behind for years until I imported it all to my computer, and discovered a number of great songs that I hadn't had the patience to notice in my younger days (Appendix B). I would also credit iTunes with saving my love of Irish folk music. I was so used to being inundated with it in my parents' house that I stopped listening to it entirely when I moved out, but the ability to recieve it in small doses brought it back into my favor.

I finally obtained the new Al Stewart cd, Sparks of Ancient Light (whose initials look like "So, Al). I rarely see much of his selection in music stores, but like a miracle, I walked into a Borders and found exactly one copy standing in front of the obligatory greatest hits compilation that is all you can usually find. Overall, I'm a bit disappointed. Al's albums don't usually take me multiple listens to appreciate, I generally begin memorizing them before I've even finished with the first time through, but in this case I've been through three or four times and have yet to latch on to any favorites. It has plenty of the jaunty quality of his recent work, but I miss the heartache that he was so able to capture for most of his career. Mr. Stewart's previous cd, 2005's A Beach Full of Shells had the same sort of sound, but balanced with emotional honesty ("and I hope that she's reading King Lear, but it's Twelfth Night instead"). When Sparks of Ancient Light does slow down, it feels disingenuous. It's not a bad album, and I'm sure I'll eventually develop a fondness for some of its songs that makes me kick myself for this, but it would certainly offer little to anyone who is not already a fan.


Appendix A, top 5 Bright Eyes songs:
1. Haligh, Haligh, a Lie, Haligh (Fevers and Mirrors)
2. Make War (Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground)
3. When The Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass (Fevers and Mirrors)
4. If Winter Ends (Letting Off the Happiness)
5. Nothing Gets Crossed Out (Lifted...)

Appendix B, top 5 Dave Matthews Band songs:
1. Grey Street (The Lillywhite Sessions)
2. Two Step (Crash)
3. Big Eyed Fish (The Lillywhite Sessions)
4. Angel (Everyday)
5. Lover Lay Down (Under the Table and Dreaming)


(And, I thought I'd tack this on, because I've been watching Life on Mars on TV, and it's awesome...)
Nonsequiter A, top 5 David Bowie songs:
1. Ziggy Stardust (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars)
2. Rebel, Rebel (Diamond Dogs)
3. Starman (Ziggy Stardust)
4. Life on Mars? (Hunky Dory)
5. Something in the Air (Hours...)