Today I began a tough quest of cleaning out my music library. I’m doing this not only to create space on my Mac’s hard drive, but to remove all the garbage that has been collecting here and there over the last fourteen years. Though, I suppose there’s no such thing as “garbage” music, since even the loudest, drum pedaling, lyrical screaming noise-makers have quite a following, but that doesn’t mean it belongs on my computer. How it got there I will never know.

The thing is, I take pride in the music I have. And I don’t mean that in a snotty, pretentious sort of way. I simply think music taste is a fundamental part of life. Music education should go hand in hand with reading and writing. In some ways, we are judged by what we wear and read. Music is no different. Our personalities, desires, ambitions, and feelings are all reflected by what we listen to. I like to think of listening to music as drinking wine. At first, you’ll drink anything to get drunk, but over time, you begin to appreciate it more and develop tastes for certain types. Some are crafted well, others downright terrible. We like to splurge on the expensive wines, but sitting on a porch with friends and a few bottles of cheap red can be just as fun.

Every few weeks or so, I like to cycle through my music library to find songs to put in my iPod. I find that I can only listen to the same songs over and over so many times before I become bored with them. That’s where music exploration and excavation comes in. By exploring, I peruse through iTunes, looking over what people are buying, what bands are suggested through other bands. I read through friends’ blogs (namely Samir – see Are You Gene Hackman? under links) to see what they’re listening to. Even listening to online radio players like Pandora and Slacker are ways of exploration. It’s a great way to find something new to listen to. But then there’s excavation. If you’re like me, you probably have a modest selection of 6,000+ songs available at your fingertips. According to iTunes, it would take me 16.5 days to listen to every single song back to back. At no point in my life will I ever do something like that. So what do I do? Month after month, I cycle through the songs, rediscovering songs from the past, finding enjoyment in things I had used to hate. Through excavation there can be newfound delight in older music.

So as the “cleansing” of my iTunes begins, I am sure I will find some great stuff. For now, here’s what I’m listening to (via exploration):

  • Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
  • Arctic Monkeys – Humbug (new album – VERY good)
  • Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream
  • Coconut Records – Nighttiming
  • Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Break Up
  • Matt & Kim – Grand
  • Super Furry Animals – Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
  • Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major
  • Television – Marquee Moon (thanks Nelson!)
  • Passion Pit – Manners (GET THIS NOW)

I’ll be sure to post about what I find later on.

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