Mixes aren't funny; they're FABULOUS!

”Dude, you have a LOT of angry rock!”

So sayeth my friend Rey as he was rifling through my CD drawer at work yesterday for what was at the time an undisclosed reason. I would have argued, and started to, pulling out discs at random to show my diverse tastes. Rage Against the Machine. SliPKnoT. Megadeth. godsmack. Alice in Chains. And so on. I did have several albums from my favorite band back in college, Pearl Jam, as well as the odd lighter soundtrack such as A Life Less Ordinary, but they were definitely outnumbered. I suppose my Cypress Hill album could have been used to argue that I have angry rap as well in that drawer, but it wouldn't have exactly been the right argument.

Despite considering my tastes to be diverse, the majority of stuff I listen to tends to be ”K-Rock” music, the sort of music I was made fun of for NOT being familiar with in high school. My friend Mike, always on the cutting edge of what's in, gave me a cassette copy of Nirvana's Nevermind when I was a high school senior, opening up a whole new world for me. I was into grunge by the time he was into Ska, by then fronting his own band in college. I catch up with him about once a year these days with his globetrotting and active social life, so I've long since given up looking to him to get a jump on an upcoming trend. It was hard enough to keep up when I saw him every day in school. I had some other friends in my neighborhood around high school that got me into pre-sucky Metallica dubbing the black album for me and soon it's even better predecessors. By the time I was in college I was not only into Nirvana and Metallica, but Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and STP as well. Sawyer had a line on a Lost rerun tonight along the lines of the irony of becoming the very thing he was hunting. People who weren't my friends mocked my ignorance of their music. People who were my friends helped educate and expose me. My enemies are long gone. Those friends moved on to other types of music, and some moved on with their lives. But I'm still listening to that stuff.

What DID I listen to before the end of high school? When I was a kid, stuff from my mom's generation. Every morning she played Jonathan Schwartz on WNEW AM, and I was exposed to: Sinatra. Tony Bennett. Duke Ellington. Count Basie. Steve and Eydie. And many more. In fourth grade I pretended to like Michael Jackson more than I actually did, buying paperback books from the school book club to impress the blond girl I had a crush on at the time who was a real Michaelphile. In middle school kids were in to Bon Jovi and The Beastie Boys. I genuinely enjoyed their music myself, yet in a somehow less cool way. Perhaps I should have kept spoof lyrics like “aw mom you're just jealous it's the yeastie boys!” or “shot with a fart and you're to blame” to myself. I'd have gotten less beatings, and possibly dated before I was 20.

I guess it was the beatings made me wise. Make-out sessions with my girlfriend after college were often supported by Jewel, Dave Matthews or The Foo Fighters. We exposed each other to our tastes in music. There were both overlaps and new discoveries for each of us. I remember one cassette she made to tell me how she felt. Apparently my love was ”better than ice cream.” Dave Matthews and the Cranberries were among those who rounded out that wonderful tape. In my only attempt at such a venture since the fake radio shows I recorded when I was in elementary school, I returned the favor. I don't recall what songs I put on there for her but I know it was a big hit. She listened to it in the morning on her commute to our job, a small company we were both hating by that point except for the joy of seeing each other every day, and a place where we kept our relationship a careful secret for two years before she was “downsized”. Apparently the tape brightened her day since she came in beaming, the effort not to look at me more noticeable than ever. First chance she got she pretended to drop a paper near my printer and from behind it as she picked it up whispered a quick “I love you.” That's an awesome memory for me.

Music is an important part of life, and one of the strongest things to ground memories. It can move us in many ways. The “angry” music I listened to in college got me through more late night painting sessions than I can imagine, the fast tempo crucial in moving and motivating me. Some days at work it still does. In the day and age of CD burning software and IPODs, it's easier than ever for friends to share music, experiences, and life. As it turns out, the reason Rey was rifling through my CDs was to find songs to include on a “New Year's” album he was making for several of his friends. He didn't use any of my “angry rock”, but did compile an impressive range of emotions from sadness to wistfulness to angst to inspiration to hope, thus cementing the spirit of the times into a fabulous memory. Thanks, man!