A few months ago I commented on a friend’s Facebook page that he should check out the new Longwave album. He gently reminded me that the album wasn’t new; it came out last year. He went on to suggest what the college-aged Norm would have said, were someone to dare refer to an album not released in the last two hours as new. The exact words he put in my mouth elude me. But they were definitely snide, music snob that I was. And in those days, I would’ve followed them with something like…

That album sucks anyway. You need to find their first release from before they got popular and started getting played on the radio. It’s an import-only. And they recorded it before their singer got off the smack. That’s their best album. That’s the one you should pick up.

or

That album sucks anyway. If you want to hear something good, check out band X. They just recorded a 5-song EP on a 4-track in the bass player’s mom’s cousin’s uncle’s basement garage storage space. They only printed 100 cassettes. And they only sell them at shows to real fans. They’re gonna be huge. [By "huge" I was destined to mean that nobody would ever give a crap, and they'd go on to bag groceries or ride a desk like everybody else.]

The Facebook exchange reminded me that I’m not that young music fan anymore. I’m not even up on the latest music – once a point of pride with me. My priorities have changed. “New” as a music descriptor doesn’t matter as much as “new-to-me.”

But I’ve been in a music slump this summer. Even the new-to-me hasn’t seemed all that interesting. My CD buying has tailed off, what with the unemployment and all. People forward me albums, which sit in folders on my desktop, un-listened to. Even eMusic‘s suggestions haven’t excited me much. Only when wifey commandeers the stereo, and then only when she plays something other than David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” might I be exposed to some new-to-me music.

My music listening hasn’t tailed off one bit. I seem to crave my all-time favorites more than ever. Certain albums connect me to a specific time and place, or, more importantly, a feeling. Some of these albums come from my youth and were first released on a player piano roll; the Pet Shop Boys get a lot of airplay around the apartment, as do The Church.  Some albums are more current – like The Clientele’s “The Violet Hour.” Either way, I’ve heard these albums a hundred thousand times. Every word and every note is familiar. There are no surprises. I know what they sound like, and I know how they make me feel.

This weird lack of curiosity extends to the news as well. It’s been that way since the layoff. I just don’t care that much about the constantly changing. I have a theory as to why this all is. Unemployment breeds uncertainty… about my career, paying bills, having children, life in general. And uncertainty in some aspects of life pushes me toward familiar and comforting things. In the face of upheaval, I crave stability. So I ignore the news. So I keep playing old Church and Pet Shop Boys albums.

A few weeks ago, something changed. We were cruising down a Canadian highway, somewhere in Quebec province, and entering our fifth straight hour of 80s music on XM. We’d heard every one-hit wonder’s other single – “Pop Goes The World,” “Promises, Promises,” “Kyrie,” you name it. All the Duran Duran and Whitesnake actually started my mullet growing back. I’d had enough… probably too much. It was time for something else.

Since then, I’ve been enjoying many great new-to-me albums. Some I discovered on one of the other XM stations. Some were already sitting dormant on my iPod. And some of them are almost new [gasp!]. My younger, hipper, indier-er than thou self would be so proud. Here is but a sampling of the sounds gracing my ears in recent weeks…

Bowerbirds – Upper Air
Ever wish Iron & Wine, Great Lake Swimmers or Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy would liven things up a bit? Maybe you like your depressing folk music to be a bit dancier. Well, here you go.

The Broken West – Now Or Heaven
Wow, can these guys write a pop song. I have wifey to thank for introducing me to this. And she has me to thank for burning the songs into her cerebral cortex from repeated listens. Seems like a fair trade.

Desolation Wilderness – New Universe
Dreamy and atmospheric… but won’t put you to sleep like Galaxie 500.

Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic
Catchy melodies that devolve into experimentalism. I like it, but I don’t know really what to make of it.

Jets Overhead – No Nations
Secret Machines-lite… from Canada, where everybody is just a little happier.

Metric – Fantasies
Ladytron meet The Sounds. The Sounds meet Ladytron. It’s cold, emotion-less music for summer cruising in the convertible with the top down. That is, if you have a convertible, or a car stereo, or, uh, summer.

The Most Serene Republic – …And The Ever Expanding Universe
The Most Serene Republic borders on The Polyphonic Spree and Mercury Rev. There supreme ruler has banned all drugs but surrounded himself with interesting orchestration. So things don’t get nearly as wacky here as they do in neighboring states.

Passion Pit – Manners
It’s a happy dance party in your living room, or at least in your headphones. But maybe not in your pants. For that, try Junior Senior or Cut Copy.

Rhett Miller – Rhett Miller
The Old 97’s guy is still around. This album is solid singer-songwriter fare, with a country-ish tinge. It’s pretty okay for what it is. But I get the feeling Rhett can’t decide what to do with the rest of his life but also knows the job market is crappy for low-level rockstars.

We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
Is the band name clever or just trying to be clever? Either way, pop punk just sounds better when Scottish guys sing it. It’s a little like Ballboy without the sense of humor.

Wye Oak – The Knot
Pop songs with guitar noise… what’s not to like?

Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. Unless you’re in a convertible and going under a low overpass.

Behold the mullet, feel the mullet, be the mullet.

An old buddy of mine texted me last night. He’d been listening to the first Tears For Fears album, The Hurting, from forever ago. You may remember “Mad World” and the great cover of it that scored a Gears of War video game trailer. His favorite song from the album – “Suffer The Children” – starts out like the opening of a sex scene in an 80s porno. At least that’s what he tells me. I wouldn’t know. I was too busy studying and doing community service in high school to have viewed such unwholesome debauchery. But one 80s music reference was all it took to put me on an extended high school/college music jag.

It started yesterday, and I kind of thought it would end yesterday. These things generally run their course in about a day. But I heard this insidiously infectious song at the gym today, one that owes Toni Basil of “Mickey” fame an enormous debt of gratitude and has probably been adopted by every high school cheerleading troop between here and California. Maybe you’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve sung it to yourself. Maybe you’ve told your daughter to turn it down or you’ll disown her. It goes a little something like this…

They call me hell
They call me Stacey
They call me her
They call me Jane
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
That’s not my name

They call me quiet girl
But I’m a riot
Mary Jo Lisa
Always the same
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
That’s not my name

It isn’t my favorite song ever. But it also doesn’t make me want to jam plastic sporks in my ears until blood washes away the pain. The Ting Tings song (like the name of the artist matters) is rather catchy actually, and it put me right back in 80s mode. Playing evil scientist and implanting that song in your brain is just a nice ancillary benefit. Some the stuff that made the playlist is still great, and some of it, well, isn’t and probably never was. All of these albums could use some serious remastering. I’m sure the music industry will get to it right after they figure out the whole digital thing. I’ll start holding my breath now.

So without further delay…

The Church – Gold Afternoon Fix
The Church is one of my favorite bands ever, still. They had one hit – “Under The Milky Way” – 20 years ago, and have been ignored ever since. I discovered this album on a friend’s dorm room shelf freshman year of college.

Tears For Fears – The Seeds Of Love
I couldn’t find The Hurting, so I went with this one. It’s got a little too much of that 80s over-produced thing going on. But how can you not love someone named Roland Orzabal?

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
This album indoctrinated a generation of anglophiles and holds up well to this day. Everything else they did kind of sucked.

Rush – Power Windows
I was a teenage boy. Is any more explanation needed?

New Order – Technique
A Korean friend of mine insisted that only Asian people could like New Order. I thought that was ridiculous. It’s not like New Order was The Communards or some other such band. Besides, I always turned up “True Faith” to some insane volume whenever it came on the radio. So I bought this album on cassette – as one did then – pealed away the shrink wrap, breathed in that glorious new-tape smell and put it into heavy rotation.

Catherine Wheel – Ferment
This is one of those albums that influences my tastes even today – Early Day Miners, The Black Angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and so forth. And it still f**king rocks! I saw Catherine Wheel at the HFStival in 1992. It was about 100 degrees with 90% humidity that day… real outdoor weather. Heat stroke only made the music better.

The Charlatans – Some Friendly
Ever worked ground crew on a golf course? Ever cruised the empty fairways in a golf cart at 7:00 in the morning blasting British shoegazer music through ratty headphones? You should try it sometime.

The Ocean Blue – Cerulean
Ok, so they’re a little dippy. I can accept that. I’ve come to terms with my love of jangly pop made by Pennsylvanians trying to sound British. I suggest you do the same.

Mr. Big – Mr. Big
Not sure what I was thinking back then. The mullet, no doubt, drastically affected my judgment, and not for the better. I can’t tell if this album is so bad it’s good, or so bad it passes good on its way back to bad. We’ll just go with the latter.

Living Colour – Vivid
This album was my psych up music for the SATs, or maybe it was the PSATs. Either way, I can still picture cruising in my orange 1981 Chevy Citation to my high school early that Saturday morning. And wouldn’t you know it, it still holds up.

And an unfortunate, last-minute, post-jag entry…

Micheal Jackson – Thriller
Ma Ma Se, Ma Ma Sa, Ma Ma Coo Sa, Michael. Ma Ma Se, Ma Ma Sa, Ma Ma Coo Sa.

I don’t have the pile of CDs in front of me. But here’s much of what I’ve been listening to this week…

Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
Caribou – Andorra
The Church – After Everything Now This
The Editors – An End Has A Start
Kiln – Dusker
Longwave – The Strangest Things
Josh Rouse – Dressed Up Like Nebraska
Tears For Fears – The Seeds Of Love