The thing I miss
After reading the second instalment of Dan Ozzi’s alphabetical order write up it got me thinking about the importance of physical media and more importantly about the tangible things in our lives. Dan spoke about the first cd he bought which was ill communication by Beastie Boys, a fuckin banger of an album! This got me thinking about some of my cds that I owned when I was an angsty teen. Much like Dan I placed an enormous value on my cds. I would carve out time in my day to listen to them no matter where I was. I could be on holiday with the family and I would sit in the car and blast System of a Down or Slipknot for any rube in the near vicinity(of obscenity) to hear. I would also deliberate about which cd to buy as this would be something I spent my time on in the future. Another important factor was listening to metal in South Africa was an expensive hobby as most of the cds were import and an extra 50 bucks more expensive. I could only afford 1 cd a month at best so it had to be the right one to join the ritual.
I remember going to my local cd shop and browsing the rock and metal sections. I’d see names of bands that I vaguely knew from metal hammer or rock sound but being a metal elitist at the time I had to get the most brutal stuff. Ironically I listened to slipknot and SOAD so I was deluding myself about that elitism. I would find a cd and join the other punters at the listening stations. Give it a spin and sometimes you would hit gold or sometimes it was a dud. Back to the shelf and more browsing. I remember finding Obituary – frozen in time and judging by the cover which was a dragon frozen in a wasteland and then the name of the first track, Redneck stomp a absolute banger, I knew I had struck gold. I listened to redneck stomp and immediately bought it.
I had a system where I would try get bonus editions that came with a making off or live show. A kinda two for one deal. So most of my cds had that extra bit and I would watch those all the time. I remember the making of Lamb of God’s Sacrament album was a fun one. Watching the producer make Randy Blythe run around the block and then do a vocal take was insane to me. Another was the making of ,and just general footage from that era, Norma Jean’s O God the Aftermath. An album that hold a special place in my heart. Watching those guys make such an incredible album and then go tour it and get up to silly antics was peak entertainment for me. Another album that helped expose me to more heavy music was Roadrunner United. The concept was that all the great musicians past and present from Roadrunner Records joined forces to record some songs that best represent the label. In hindsight its not really a great album but at the time it was amazing! It came with a behind the scenes dvd of the recording process which again was one of the coolest things ever. On top of that Joey and Paul from slipknot appeared in it without their masks. Slipknot back then still had enough mystery around them where that was a big deal. Man just writing about this stuff makes the nostalgia bubble up for me.
These physical things had meaning and purpose to me. I had to engage with them and touch them and look at them. The process of picking an album and putting it in the cd player then looking at the art or reading the lyrics with the song just made it all the more real and a thing. I think we have given over to much of our things to the cloud or to the ether. We are missing the ritual of seeking out, buying and holding a thing. In this case a cd or record. Setting time aside to engage with the physical music that we love and just being with it. Sure digital media is cool and I would be lost without my mp3 player but the more I think about it and read other peoples articles and blogs about physical media the more I miss it. A part of me longs to have that back and experience music like that again. I guess it sounds weird now but I kinda wish I had less access to everything. Less choice isn’t necessarily bad, it just makes the choice you make more important and thought out.