Kaelri

It feels like all the roads have disappeared and we’re stuck in our houses.

One of my strange idiosyncratic fantasies is to meet famous people who I like and introduce them to the works of other famous people who I like. My taste in the arts is so eccentric¹ that this doesn’t happen too often, which is why I was delighted to notice this on the homepage of Steven Wilson, the intimidatingly talented (and prolific) frontman of Porcupine Tree. Number eight, in particular, is what made me happy:

That would be The Dear Hunter, one of my other very favorite bands, and much less well-known. I have actually thought several times that Mr. Wilson would enjoy their music and appreciate the ambition of their ongoing surrealist pageant – now in its third “act.” I also imagined it would take some very lucky word-of-mouth to bring such an obscure gem to his attention. So I’m glad that it happened, even if I didn’t get to do it. (Not that I would. The one and only time I’ve met Steven Wilson, he gave me a funny look and then almost accidentally pushed me off a ten-foot ledge outside the Phoenix Theater. Social grace, I do not have.)

I now expect to see neglected genius Kevin Gilbert up there within the year. Come on, karma! Look alive!

My music library is one of my prized possessions. (This does not make me unique.) My music software of choice is, and has been for many years, iTunes on Windows. (This does make me unique, or at least part of a badly misunderstood minority.) As such, I spend a lot of time keeping my library organized and trimmed, and today, I’ve been struggling to pin things down by the cruelest, most elusive species of metadata: genre.

I hate genre because there’s no solution to satisfy the purist in me. Clearly I need some method of classification; the latest Radiohead album does not belong in the same category as The Best of Enya. But where are the borders? When does pop become pop-rock become rock? Should I separate punk rock, indie rock, progressive rock? Too many Rocks, you might say – not enough Boulders. And that’s just for the artists whose styles are vaguely pigeonhole-able. Where, really, would you put The Books? No-Man? Andrew Bird? What do you do when Sufjan Stevens releases an EP* that is clearly anything but rock, except for one track which is explicitly called the “classic rock version”? And just when you think you’ve got a peaceful situation, will Bear McCreary decide to cover a Bob Dylan folk ballad with Indian instrumentation for a science fiction television soundtrack? I usually end up with a very big “Alternative” section, which is code for “this stuff does not fit anywhere else even though it makes up a plurality of everything I own.”

None of that is relevant to what I meant to write about here, which is this:

By some weird coincidence, I ended up with exactly 1019 songs in the “Rock” genre, and exactly 1019 songs in the “Soundtrack” genre. But, even stranger, the Soundtrack group adds up to 2 days, 8 hours of music, while the Rock group trounces it with 4 days and half an hour. This is pretty counter-intuitive to me. I tend to think of rock stuff as being fairly self-contained pop-length numbers, and soundtracks as long, formless, sprawling soundscapes. On the other hand, I have a lot of Genesis, Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree, which may have dramatically skewed the results.

Anyway. I invite you, wherever you are, whether you’re at home or wherever, to inspect your own auditory treasure for fascinating anomalies.

*It’s also an “EP” that’s sixty minutes long. It really is futile to define art sometimes.

A followup on my earlier submission to EDC. Click for full-size.

This is the armory of Useful Items™ in the front pocket of my backpack. I’m a big fan of pouches: all the “misc” and “electronic” items live in the two pouches on the top, while the iPod, camera and binoculars have their respective holsters. The result is that all my stuff is stored in five self-contained packages that I can easily transfer from bag to bag. And when I need to make room, I can also attach all of them to my belt.

• Binoculars: very compact, and equipped with a long-range digital camera.
• Camera: what it is.
• iPod: 80GB iPod Classic, black, with a modular case; belt clip can be exchanged with elastic armband for running/biking.
• Misc: Playing cards (useful for more than poker), sunglasses, spork, signal whistle, compass, disposable lighter, SD card (redundant backup of important data), concave/convex mirror and magnifying class, 2 miniature padlocks.
• Electronics: just the peripherals I need to keep the other stuff running. Camera and iPod USBs, earphones, spare batteries. I usually have a 3.5mm-to-RCA cable for connecting the iPod to stationary speakers.
• Pockets: mostly the same. Phone, wallet, pen & mechanical pencil, Moleskine notebook. I did replace my carabiner with a stronger one, and the laser/flashlight and Leatherman Micra are now on quick-release detachable keyrings.

I threw this together for a submission to EDC, one of my new favorite blogs. I guess it makes as good a first post as any.

Toys!

EDC on a budget. Each of these items was purchased (if at all) for $20 or less.

• Moleskine notebook, ruled, 3.5×5.5″
• Leatherman Micra. Includes scissors, tweezers, three screwdrivers, a nail file, a bottle opener, and a knife – it may be only two inches long, but I won’t be left out!
• Verizon Coupe.
• Flashlight & red laser combination keychain.
• Keys, miniature padlock, cheap carabiner.
• Wallet.
• Disposable pen and mechanical pencil. (That said, I adore those pencils, and they’re out of production now, so I take good care of this one.)
• Watch, hybrid.