*Right Here, Right Now*
I wish the world of magazine publishing could be more Zen. They never live in the moment. It’s like you finally finish the stack of year-end issues (with all of their Top-insert-number-here lists documenting the best of the past year) when your mailbox is stuffed with the “Upcoming Amazing Things for The Upcoming Year” issues. And while I’m grateful to tomes like EW for keeping me abreast of when the new season of Six Feet Under will start (June) and when Paris Hilton’s album will be released (I’ve blocked it out, I was too traumatized- she sings!), I never had a minute to deal with what’s going on right now. (This is probably done on purpose, judging by the bleak famine of interesting January releases in all media- Ooh, better not miss Chasing Liberty! Try not to overexcite yourself with the new release from Five For Fighting!)
I refuse to be like these magazines- dissecting the past one-day and then anticipating the future the next. Now, I’ve already dissected the past- announcing my favorite albums of 2003 and pouring over the songs that made my year. But, rather than counting the days until Courtney Love’s February 10th release (anyone taking bets on whether or not this one’ll actually come out?) or getting all hot and bothered that I have to wait until March for Franz Ferdinand’s eponymous debut album to be released, I thought I’d be Zen and revel in the now. Here is a list of the CDs (most of them released last year but some are older than I am) that I would buy if I could go on a shopping spree this afternoon. They are things that I never bought, for one reason or another, but things that I’m dying to own. Think of it as my own little Amazon wish list. Except without the selfish hope that someone is going to buy them for me!
Phil Spector- Back to Mono (before he was an alleged killer, he put out this boxed set of his killer girl-group tracks. I MUST OWN IT!)
The Jam at the BBC (I know, it’s currently not available in the States but that doesn’t keep me from jonesing for it!)
The Smiths- The Complete Picture (this is a collection of Smiths videos. Why don’t I already own this?!)
The Realistics- Go Ahead EP (It’s like the Jam for the aughts!)
Blur- Modern Life is Rubbish (I lost this in the Robbery of 2000 and I’ve really been missing it recently.)
Neil Young- On the Beach (It’s finally available on CD!)
The Zombies- Live On the BBC (They cover “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”!!)
Liz Phair- Liz Phair (I know all of her old fans hate this sparkly album- especially cuz Avril’s BFFs, the Matrix, helped with the songwriting. But what can I say? That “Why Can’t I?” song gets stuck in my head for days and I find myself singing along with the commercial for “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton.”)
The Strokes- Room on Fire (To know it, is to love it. I’ve just been too broke to actually buy it!)
Lou Reed- Transformer (Another CD I lost in the robbery. I’ve been itching to listen to Vicious recently.)
Fiery Furnaces- Gallowsbird’s Bark (Nobody understands the boredom of temping better."Slit my wrists with my Swingline/Copied myself 500 times" sings Elenor on “I’m Gonna Run.”)
The Darkness- Permission to Land (There is no excuse for me to still not own this. I only made “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” the theme song of my European sojurn. Beth and I did above the head hand claps to it while on the plane!)
New Pornographers- Electric Version (They’re not just good- they’re also Canadian!)
The remastered double CD versions of Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces and This Year’s Model. (I think I’d like to be his fourth wife.)
The Fall- 458489-A-Sides (I love Mark E. Smith! He’s just so damn prolific it’s hard to pick an album to buy, so I’ll cop out and go for the Greatest Hits package!)
While I’m making a wish list, I might as well add some concert tickets too.
February 19- Franz Ferdinand at Bowey Ballroom
March 13- British Sea Power at Bowery Ballroom
(And since we are talking fantasty here….)
May 1 and 2- Coachella Festival (Featuring the reunited Pixies, plus Radiohead and Kraftwerk)
I wish the world of magazine publishing could be more Zen. They never live in the moment. It’s like you finally finish the stack of year-end issues (with all of their Top-insert-number-here lists documenting the best of the past year) when your mailbox is stuffed with the “Upcoming Amazing Things for The Upcoming Year” issues. And while I’m grateful to tomes like EW for keeping me abreast of when the new season of Six Feet Under will start (June) and when Paris Hilton’s album will be released (I’ve blocked it out, I was too traumatized- she sings!), I never had a minute to deal with what’s going on right now. (This is probably done on purpose, judging by the bleak famine of interesting January releases in all media- Ooh, better not miss Chasing Liberty! Try not to overexcite yourself with the new release from Five For Fighting!)
I refuse to be like these magazines- dissecting the past one-day and then anticipating the future the next. Now, I’ve already dissected the past- announcing my favorite albums of 2003 and pouring over the songs that made my year. But, rather than counting the days until Courtney Love’s February 10th release (anyone taking bets on whether or not this one’ll actually come out?) or getting all hot and bothered that I have to wait until March for Franz Ferdinand’s eponymous debut album to be released, I thought I’d be Zen and revel in the now. Here is a list of the CDs (most of them released last year but some are older than I am) that I would buy if I could go on a shopping spree this afternoon. They are things that I never bought, for one reason or another, but things that I’m dying to own. Think of it as my own little Amazon wish list. Except without the selfish hope that someone is going to buy them for me!
Phil Spector- Back to Mono (before he was an alleged killer, he put out this boxed set of his killer girl-group tracks. I MUST OWN IT!)
The Jam at the BBC (I know, it’s currently not available in the States but that doesn’t keep me from jonesing for it!)
The Smiths- The Complete Picture (this is a collection of Smiths videos. Why don’t I already own this?!)
The Realistics- Go Ahead EP (It’s like the Jam for the aughts!)
Blur- Modern Life is Rubbish (I lost this in the Robbery of 2000 and I’ve really been missing it recently.)
Neil Young- On the Beach (It’s finally available on CD!)
The Zombies- Live On the BBC (They cover “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”!!)
Liz Phair- Liz Phair (I know all of her old fans hate this sparkly album- especially cuz Avril’s BFFs, the Matrix, helped with the songwriting. But what can I say? That “Why Can’t I?” song gets stuck in my head for days and I find myself singing along with the commercial for “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton.”)
The Strokes- Room on Fire (To know it, is to love it. I’ve just been too broke to actually buy it!)
Lou Reed- Transformer (Another CD I lost in the robbery. I’ve been itching to listen to Vicious recently.)
Fiery Furnaces- Gallowsbird’s Bark (Nobody understands the boredom of temping better."Slit my wrists with my Swingline/Copied myself 500 times" sings Elenor on “I’m Gonna Run.”)
The Darkness- Permission to Land (There is no excuse for me to still not own this. I only made “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” the theme song of my European sojurn. Beth and I did above the head hand claps to it while on the plane!)
New Pornographers- Electric Version (They’re not just good- they’re also Canadian!)
The remastered double CD versions of Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces and This Year’s Model. (I think I’d like to be his fourth wife.)
The Fall- 458489-A-Sides (I love Mark E. Smith! He’s just so damn prolific it’s hard to pick an album to buy, so I’ll cop out and go for the Greatest Hits package!)
While I’m making a wish list, I might as well add some concert tickets too.
February 19- Franz Ferdinand at Bowey Ballroom
March 13- British Sea Power at Bowery Ballroom
(And since we are talking fantasty here….)
May 1 and 2- Coachella Festival (Featuring the reunited Pixies, plus Radiohead and Kraftwerk)
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