The following ratings, comments, and anecdotes are entirely personal. I'm not trying to be objective, nor do I believe such objectivity to be possible or desirable. If you think you can judge anything objectively, be it music, film, literature, or any art form, you probably just don't love it enough. Having said that, here is my entirely subjective journey through my record collection.



The 6ths- Hyacinths and Thistles. 2000.
3.5/10. Stephen Merritt, I love you. But this is both boring and redundant. In fact, Hyacinths and Thistles is probably one of the biggest letdowns of my musical life. The suspense built up for months as I searched for this record before finally giving in and ordering it. The 3.5 rating is generous and awarded on the merit of other 6th's and Magnetic Fields releases. My sense of betrayal calls for a 1, but this is unfair and I will resist.

The 6ths- Wasps' Nests. 1995.
8.3/10. I love this record, although that is love is mostly based on Falling Out of Love With You and San Diego Zoo. It is alternately gorgeous and tacky, and I forgive any and all of its missteps. This is one of the albums that I associate with the early days of Luis' and my relationship; he introduced me to The 6th's after learning of my love for The Magnetic Fields. There is a surviving doodle from my 10th grade chemistry class that features both a lyric from Falling Out of Love With You and what I thought was a very clever and abstract depiction of our relationship at the time. Now it looks rather amateur, but I still enjoy the same irony that I perceived at the time. Luis and I were falling in love to the tune of Falling Out of Love With You. Lovely.

The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds Of. 1966.
I absolutely refuse to rate this record. I know why it is important and everything, but I just cant get over the awful sound quality. It sounds like someone thought You're Gonna Miss Me was worth remastering, did an excellent job with it, listened to the rest of the record, got scared, and decided to leave it alone. I wouldn't blame them for that. This is probably just an issue with the particular CD edition that I have. I actually just saw this on vinyl a couple of days ago and now I'm thinking I may have to buy it in order to actually hear it properly. If only my record player weren't 3,000 miles away from the record store. I've carried vinyl through airports across the country many times before and it is a pain. Try getting a calander-sized, inflexible object into first a carry on bag and then underneath the seat in front of you. And then the corners of the record poke your arms all day as you carry the bag. Plus, who wants to carry objects on to the plane that have no immediate utility? I have no problem carting around four different books that I will obviously not have time to read, but bringing an object doesn't even have a potential for usefulness until well after you arrive at your destination? Pass.

A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder. 2004.
8.9/10. 2004 was a good year for me. That was when I started buying music magazines, which in themselves didn't really change things, but made me feel connected. I could flip through Magnet and recognize 80-90% of the bands mentioned in the articles. I was catching the references. I felt like I belonged. Of course, this couldn't last. I don't know if they magazines changed, or if the subsequent estrangement was my fault. At any rate, The Slow Wonder came out during my golden years of Magnet-reading, when I had a subscription that would consistently fail to deliver the newest issue for weeks after it appeared in stores. Boy, did the magazines love this one. They were right.

Adorable - Against Perfection. 1993.
6.5/10. Okay, so this isn't the best record ever. But it certainly isn't the worst. It reminds me of (the good parts of) early high school and it has all those elements of late 80's, early 90's Cure-esque shy-kid music that I really do love. Homeboy makes me feel like I'm 15 again, in the best way possible. I remember walking to the school bus with this in my walkman, and I will never denounce it, no matter how many times I choose to leave it out of my iTunes library. Never.

Al Green - Call Me. 1973.
8.0/10. Honestly, I don't think I'm cool enough to listen to Al Green. Yeah, he made really good music, the production is great, and his voice is fucking incredible, but every time I hear his albums I feel strangely inadequate. This is probably what I would listen to if I had that mythical sort of "good taste", like John Cusack in High Fidelity, or Dean Wareham in his own mind. Alas, I am a mortal. And while I enjoy this, I can't say I reach for it during long car drives or those empty stretches of time when I am home alone. If my life were a movie, perhaps I would listen to this more often. Although then it would definitely be on vinyl, and I would have to lay on the floor with headphones over my ears. And really, who has time for that anymore?


Al Green - Gets Next to You. 1971.
9.0/10. Now, this is why I needed to go through my iTunes! I know I just wrote about how I'm not cool enough for Al Green, but Gets Next To You one gives me hope. I actually enjoyed just about every moment of this record, and I don't think I'll be taking it out of my iTunes any time soon. I'm a Ram is fantastic, and it is certaintly within my realm of musical understanding and appreciation. I don't need to make excuses for this one; it isn't a "grower", or something that needs to "sink in". It is just really well done, well produced, and well performed pop music. And hooray for pop music!

Al Green - Let's Stay Together. 1972.
8.0/10. Ah, Let's Stay Together. This was my first Al Green record, and I'm more than a little sentimental about it. The title track does an incredible job of showcasing his amazing voice, and it has the added bonus of reminding me of when I met Luis. The real standout track, though, is How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?, which is just flat out unbelievable. Unfortunately, the record as a whole doesn't have the kind of momentum that Gets Next To You has in such abundance. While those two songs are some of my very favorites of his, Let's Stay Together is, overall, my least favorite of the three albums I have. You win some...


Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs. 2005.
9.4/10
I think I missed something. Lately, Andrew Bird's name has been popping up more and more often. I don't know if this is a result of his newest offering (which I still haven't heard. Luis isn't a fan), or if there has been some sort of resurgence in popularity. At any rate, I seem to be hearing his name at an unusually high rate these days. I'm intrigued, and honestly a little surprised. Not because he isn't very very good, because he is. It is only surprising because Mr. Bird is such a "headphones musician". Unless you are willing to sit in place for a good hour or more and keep those headphones glued to your ears, you really aren't going to get the whole experience. There are so many layers and textures to this album that I had completely forgotten about; I confess that on this first listen in over a year, I am completely blown away. So, whatever Luis says, I will never again unfairly restrict Andrew Bird from myTunes, despite his shady past with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Oh, and as a serious word dork, how can I not go gaga over lyrics like:
"my dewey-eyed disney bride who has tried
swapping your blood with formaldehyde? monsters?
whiskey-plied voices cry 'fratricide'!"
Did he really just rhyme "bride", "tried", "formaldehyde", "cried", and "fratricide"? Uh, hero? This is one of the brainiest records I have ever heard. I may need to dig my old Andrew Bird shirt out of hiding now.