Listen without prejudice
Essential albums. Last week I borrowed a copy of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die from my officemate Denise (given to her by another officemate, Erwin). This is probably the type of book I enjoy reading most these days: made up of short, generally well-written entries on a subject of enduring fascination to me, structured in such a way that I can dip into it at random, and featuring pretty pictures for occasional eye relief. No sweeping, epic multi-generational novels or convoluted excursions into theory for me, for now, though I must admit that my reading habits these days are shaped less by my intellectual inclinations than by the fact that reading while eating is a childhood pleasure I never outgrew.
Anyway, the great thing about books like this, made up of lists of selected — sometimes even ranked — items from a certain field or endeavor or time frame, is that they pleasantly remind you of things you already enjoy and admire, while pointing the way towards unknown pleasures (sometimes quite literally, as in the case of Joy Division’s debut album). It’s fun to read what supposedly respectable critics have to say about an album that you’ve been listening to for years (for example: Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Teenage Fanclub’s “Bandwagonesque”), and also fun to list down the ones you’ve never heard but are described appealingly enough that you will include them in your inevitable subsequent downloading spree (Dusty Springfield’s “A Girl Called Dusty,” Robert Wyatt’s “Shleep”).
Reading through books like this also spurs you to think about what you might include if you were to compile such a list yourself. Off the top of my head, if I were to come up with “1001 Albums Luis Katigbak Says You Should Hear Before You Die,” it would include: Rickie Lee Jones’ “Pirates,” Prefab Sprout’s “Jordan: The Comeback,” the Pet Shop Boys’ “Behaviour,” Ciudad’s “Is That Ciudad? Yes Son It’s Me,” XTC’s “Wasp Star,” The Blue Nile’s “Hats,” Up dharma Down’s “Bipolar,” and Outerhope’s “A Day for the Absent.” And the writers and editors of the actual “1001 Albums” (2008 edition) absolutely agree with me — at least about the Pet Shop Boys.
Which brings us to another, perhaps less appealing aspect of a book like this: ultimately, it cannot be, well, ultimate. This book is defined and redeemed and cursed by its omissions as well as its inclusions. One could argue quite reasonably that any volume that has room for Britney Spears but not for Rickie Lee Jones is immediately suspect, if not outright discredited. And of course, as one can see by the Pinoy albums on my instant list, there is no way such a Western-centric work could encompass even a respectable fraction of what’s worth listening to out there.
Perhaps it’s just as well. If they ever did publish a perfect “1001 Albums” book, I have a morbid fantasy of reading through it, carefully gathering all the albums listed via electronic or physical means, listening to them one by one, in chronological order perhaps, maybe even writing a short review of each for this column or my blog; and then one day. I’ll set the book down with a sigh, having listened to and written about the 1,001st album in the book, reach into my desk drawer for the pistol within, and blow my brains out.
Loving The Life
Speaking of stuff that is mind-blowing, if you haven’t been to a gig for a while, you really should do so — it’s always astonishing to me that in any given week, we have great and varied options as regards live rock music. You really should take advantage of that fact while it lasts.
Take this weekend for example: tonight (Friday, Aug. 13), you’ve got Terno Night at Route 196 on Katipunan Extension in Quezon City, which will feature one of the best bands in the land (Up dharma Down), along with the rest of the impressive Terno Records roster. Tomorrow night (Saturday, Aug. 14) at SaGuijo Cafe and Bar in Makati, Redslim & Revolver presents the Silipan Rinigan Arts & Music Fest with Kuwago, Paranoid City, Pitik, Placid, Sruvaleh, Turbo Goth, Twin Lobster and (the main draw, for me right now) the amazing Domino.
