Sinister: obsessiveness: geeky or cool?

[minigo]

Hello hello,

        New here, feeling a little cautious about posting--(opening night
nerves!! someone give me a shot of voddie and a slap on the back, would
you?) So be kind, that's all I ask. :) 

>    I went on to the chat site last night and was having the usual
>music-y conversation when it was mentioned that perhaps people (such as
>those on list this list) who are really into music have no life. Is this
>true? Do "normal" people see such activities as being obsessive about a
>particular band or genre as sad? Or does the obsession hold a mystique
>that makes these people seem more interesting than they really are?(Are
>people into to music simply for this very reason?)

        Spod, I didn't think you were serious about posting that! It 'twas
me that said that, but it was partially in jest. A reference to the (ok)
book "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby. Over-rated by now but still hits home
with anyone who's a music junkie. The meaning behind mixed tapes for your
crushes, spending hours re-arranging your record collections, refusing to be
friends with people who like Simple Minds...

        And I quote the passage that struck me the most (forgive me if this
book's been discussed before, it's brief je promets!) :

        "The unhappiest people I know, romantically speaking, are the ones
who like pop music the most; and I don't know whether pop music has created
this unhappiness, but I do know that they've been listening to the sad songs
longer than they've been leading the unhappy lives."

        At any rate, I know I turn into a little hobbit when I'm in my "only
B & S will do" moods. It's music that naturally makes me somewhat reclusive,
which isn't a bad thing, but I do tend to hole up a bit and forget about
being social. (NB: Then again, "lazy line-painter jane" is INCREDIBLE to
dance to when you're out.)

        What I *really* need to do is attend one of these Sinister Picnics
I'm hearing about, and then I'll have a healthy balance. ;)

        As for other people I know, the most music-obsessed of them happily
admit to having little to no life, as far as the "average" life goes. Work
is simply a way to get pay cheques to pay for records and new fab speakers
and the best record needle on the market. They emerge only for the gigs they
simply can't miss. 

        I would say being an ultimate music junkie is akin to being a
computer programmer. The characters from 'Microserfs', for example, are
pretty much the same as the ones in High Fidelity, only with Pentiums as
opposed to owning a mint Stax '45 collection. 

        Some people might think that pathetic, but at the end of the day, if
you're happy, it matters not what anyone says. 

>     It's like paying £££'s for TM when it isn't really worth that much
>(certainly not to me anyway). Is the price so high because of the
>coolness factor that is associated with the records rather than the
>songs themselves?

        Like anything, it can split off into different camps. My friend has
paid ooodles of money to get his Lee Hazlewood Swedish-issue records, but he
paid it only because he HAD to have them. It's a compulsion, to complete the
puzzle and sit there looking at them with a glow of pride. Then you've got
the types another friend has complained to me about, people collecting
Northern Soul, paying exhorbitant prices for '45's only to NEVER play them.
Dishing out major attitude about what they own to score cred/social points.
Stuff like that turns my stomach.

        Another thought: do people fill their lives with music when there's
something missing in their lives, especially love? I'm sure I do, a bit.

elisa xx

p.s. I've been enjoying the IRC chat quite a lot-- flabbergasted to meet
people who know people I know, etc. Small world, indeed.




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