Notes on the Transition from Anabolic to Catabolic

Wow. 2009 and I'm finally writing a blog post, which comes as a followup to one of those "show us the first random 25 songs on you iPod" challenges. I had come up with a spiffy little list and wrote this note at the end of it:

"I'm pretty pleased with the roll of the dice on this one. But I do have to credit a lot of effort tending to the collection. One of the biggest things I've had to let go of is completism. In the pre-internet era, there was always the feeling that you were missing out on an artist's best work, so the drive was huge to seek out and acquire. For example, it took me seven years to score a copy of Throwing Muses' cover of the Volcano Suns' "Jak".

It's taken me a while, but I've come to terms with the fact that seeking and acquiring is now child's play, and the difficult part is mercilessly trimming your collection. But that's a long essay for another time."

Here's my shot at that essay. First, a bit of history. I was involved in college and community radio from 1984 until about 1994, resulting in a voracious appetite for music. I wanted new stuff, rare stuff, remixes, live versions, demo tapes, gimme gimme gimme! (Speaking of demo tapes, one of my favorites made it onto cart at WMBR sometime between 1989 and 1990. "Smokeshow" by Grand Theft Auto. Good luck googling that one.)

Next Time: Foreshadowing from the 100CD changer.