music, then and now

I guess it was about seven years ago that Apple changed my life. Specifically, iTunes. Up until that point, mostly as a middle-schooler attempting to do whatever my older sister did, I collected every CD and bootleg tape I could get my hands on, shamelessly buying "merch" from the few concerts I went to, and spending hours at Tower Records and Newbury Comics. Off to college and beyond, as I started to develop my own taste in music, I continued to fill my Caselogic folios, hoping, praying, that soon I'd have enough to fill yet another massive black one, a strange badge of honor. Check it out.. hey, look at my music collection. Look at how much money I've spent on my music collection. Look at how damn cool I am! Years and multiple Caselogics later, I had to select which discs would make the cross country journey with me to California, and what would stay in a cabinet in my childhood bedroom. It was the first time I really had to edit my music collection because I simply could not take it all with me. Before I made my trip out west, I went to visit my friend Dina at her parents' house in Cambridge. I'll never forget standing in her sister's old bedroom, and Dina handing me a little white gadget that she called an iPod. She scrolled through the strange device (which was the shape and size of a deck of cards, I should note), showing me all the great music she had "downloaded" to it. Dina has always been pretty tech savvy, but this iPod thing, I really didn't see it having a future.

I'm currently on my fourth iPod. Like yours, the battery keeps playing tricks on me, and yet I continue to buy them again and again. And I probably always will. I can't believe how much music I have at my fingertips at a given moment, or can have thanks to the iTunes store. I recently looked at my Bank of America account, and so far this year I've spent $142.39 at the iTunes store. Oops. But I refuse to steal music like many people. It's my opinion that if you don't support bands, it can be hard for them to really measure their fan base (yes, I have heard of Facebook but you know what I mean)... How will your favorite, new band know to come put on a show in your city? Think about it and do the right thing! This doesn't mean that I won't download free stuff when it's available. My best pick in that category would have to be Girl Talk's album Feed the Animals. That link will take you to his most recent album, All Day, which is also great, but below is one of my favorite tracks from Feed the Animals.

WARNING: If you are offended by curse words, enjoy dance beats or any top 40 song from any category from the past 30 years DO NOT download these two albums! You'll be moved to dance around your cubicle uncontrollably and I can't be held responsible for anyone that loses his or her job.
  

Which bands have you tapping your feet these days?