Super Tuesday

Ever since I discovered the Interweb (Thanks, Al Gore!!) and especially eMusic (Thanks, Steve Sprinkel!!), I have changed the ways I procure music. I have always been a music freak. I think I have somewhere around 500 CDs at my home in Sacramento, and maybe 20 here that I have purchased in the nearly 2 years since living in New York. I do, though, have no frigging clue how many albums I have downloaded since introduced to high speed internet my freshman year of college. My parents still had dial up, and I remember in high school, my friend Scott asked me to download a newly released Underworld song and it took me all night. 7 hours for 1 song. Then Napster came along, and it was free and amazing. I downloaded scores of albums, but I usually only did that to get a preview of an album I would buy anyway. I can't think of too many albums I just downloaded without buying.

With eMusic, it made things simple. I could download them, have them immediately and not feel guilty about stealing music. It does, though, leave me feeling that music is a bit disposable. At my most recent count, I have almost 5 gigs of music that I have downloaded legally from eMusic. The problem I have is that I have no jewel cases, no artwork, no liner notes, etc. If my computer goes down, I lose thousands of dollars in music in a heartbeat.

While I rack my brain trying to figure out how to transfer my music to a more sturdy source, I think I will be going to the store (Other Music, most likely), and purchasing the actual CDs for SEVERAL releases today. First off is the eagarly anticipated follow up to El-P's stunning debut, I'll Sleep When You're Dead. Great title, it has gotten great reviews, and even has a blog written by the creator. Jay Dee's Ruff Draft album is being released in a special mega-version by the fabulous Stones Throw records. I think I actually downloaded this vinyl-only release while in college. It is on my dad's computer at home, and it is certainly worth having, so I will be throwing my support to the Stones Throw label. My roommate Steve already bought the new Modest Mouse, which is really good. I might also grab the new Ted Leo, but it sure is tempting to get it from eMusic (as I write this, I am downloading the new Panda Bear)(Scroll down).

In the meantime, I have some music to listen to.