i think i’ve finally figured it out.

see, i’ve come to the point lately where i have no tolerance at all left for music that bores me. probably a combination of being jaded and overloaded with potential music to spend my time with, as a defensive filter against the hordes of music out there asking to be heard, i’ve simply lost any patience for music that isn’t immediately satisfying on some level.

the best music, for me, has the surface sheen to get me excited and like it upfront — cool hooky riffs, cool beats, catchy choruses, etc — and then gets better and better with further listening. neutral milk hotel is my best example for this; probably the richest album i own that ages like fine wine.

my revelation here is finally pinning down the difference between me, who is fairly into music, and other kinds of people who are WAY into music. not being specific to any individual here, but they are the kind of people who can love animal collective. or the fiery furnaces. or olivia tremor control. or in other genres, bland but lyrically-excellent hip hop tracks, or spectacularly-produced but essentially unmemorable electronic music. whereas i need something to grab me and pull me in, they enjoy diving headfirst right in there, and the deeper they can delve the better. they can get excited about stuff that i have to say, seems dull (common’s be), or just a bunch of noise (blood brothers, ugh), or even gratingly annoying (seriously, i hate the fiery furnaces), because there’s so much going on underneath to make it worth while.

maybe it makes me a worse ‘music appreciator’, but i’m just not like that. sometimes a single song can grab me and lead me into other, deeper waters that wouldn’t have tempted me on their own — say the rest of the tracks within an album with a good couple hits (i would have totally dismissed art brut if it weren’t for ’emily kane’ and ‘we formed a band’). but in the giant listening station that is the internet, if i sample a track or two of a new band and they don’t get to me quick, they’ve probably lost me unless the buzz gets so big i get sucked in against my will. and i’m okay with that, because there’s too much out there for me to have to spend lots of time dissecting things before i get to the point where i can enjoy it. i’m fine with the dissecting; i like it. it’s just that i would have had no time for soaking up aphex twin’s cacophany if they hadn’t expertly dropped those bell chimes into ‘girl/boy song’ to give me something to start with.

all this came to mind today because as many people claimed to love it, i just don’t give a shit about broken social scene’s latest album. i tried to listen to it a half-dozen times and i was so bored i either forgot i was listening to it or i turned it off. sorry! and that feist solo album sounds like a sleeping pill to me too. beautiful vocal melodies yawn yawn snooze.

hooooowever… they had to go and put out this b-side version of ‘mushaboom’, with a hook i don’t even need to hear to be interested in: ‘postal service remix’. neat trick, guys. real nice. i tracked it down, and it’s pretty good. not ‘such great heights’ good, but way more captivating to me than the original now that there’s some, you know, music in there. so do i reevaluate my whole position or just accept this as a fluke? should i fall for their dirty ploy and listen more to her whole sad, spare-sounding album? i don’t think so this time. now that i know my own weakness i’m more prepared to guard agaisnt it.

i am grateful, however, that there’s another track approaching postal serviceness in the world… when are they going to work on a new album, anyway? i just hope it’s before the next death cab album — another band that’s sure on the good/boring fence lately too.

oh yeah, i went there.