Memification

Erik over at Alterdestiny posted this music meme and solicited responses. In a moment of vanity, I chose to respond here rather than on his site.

1. What is the total volume of musical files on your computer?

Well, on my home computer, zero. Why put music on a computer if the CD player is right there? On my work computer, however, I have 471 songs comprising 1.11 GBs. Not all of it is mine, though, as some came with the computer (e.g. Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Collection, Vol. 2).

2. What song are you listening to right now?

Passage by Lanterna.

3. Last CD I bought?

Geez. Ummm..... For myself or for somebody else? For somebody else: New Beginning by Tracy Chapman. For myself: I think it was Uh Huh Her by PJ Harvey, which I bought last summer while studying for the bar. I gave it away, though, as great music needs to be shared. Of course, now I wish I had it again.

4. Five songs you listen to a lot and which mean something to you:

This is hard. I never listen to just songs, I listen to albums. Moreover, given my terrible hearing, I rarely listen to lyrics because I can rarely make sense of what is being said. This might explain why I gravitate towards more instrumental music, especially that which includes interesting harmonics, percussion, tonality, etc. I don't know. In any case, if I had to pick five songs whose title I remember and which "mean" something to me they would be, in no particular order:

a. "Tear Stained Eye" from Trace by Son Volt
Reason: Because it reminds me of driving across Oklahoma at 3:30 in the morning in June 1991 knowing that life was full of promise and freedom and adventure.

b. "Mr. Knowitall" from Frizzle Fry by Primus
Reason: Because I love how the guitar slides from note to note, the bass work is impeccable, and the syncopation in the middle of the song just rocks.

c. "Whirling Hall of Knives" from Rembrandt Pussyhorse by Butthole Surfers
Reason: Because, even after having listened to it for going on 20 years now, the drone in this song still amazes me.

d. Track 1 from SYR2 by Sonic Youth
Reason: Because of the guitars, percussion, static and feedback, all of which meld quite nicely into a single throbbing wall of the most amazing sound.

e. A Long Time Ago from David Byrne by David Byrne
Reason: Because of the following lyrics which, contrary to my general assertion above, I can definitely make out every time I hear this song:

"And that roaring that you hear
Is only the blood that circles constantly
No it is not applause my dear"