Genius Ammo

So, I’m sitting here streaming Sunset Rubdown’s new album, Dragonslayer, from Pitchfork where they just recieved a “Best New Music.” I’ve heard their name around, but never listened to them, so I decided to check them out.  Normal, everyday behavior.

I’m listening to it though, and thought about my normal standard for whether to actually purchase/pirate an album: “would I want to listen to this again?”  (The answer ended up being “no.”)  Yeah, it’s a vague, flexible standard, but it’s treated me well so far.  Anyway I came to the conclusion that I probably wouldn’t want to spin this whole album again, cover-to-cover, but maybe would just want it in my library for the occasional listen, most likely via Genius.  (If you don’t have Genius enabled or don’t know what it is, read about it and turn it on.  It rocks.)

Anyway, this was a borderline-scary realization for me.  As my music taste has matured, so have my listening habits.  Since the day I had my mind blown by Elephant, I started listening to more albums all the way through, or at least runs of several songs.  The thought that I had become a single-junkie or some sort of digital-era-a-la-carte listener is a little disturbing to my pretentious-indie-music-snob core.

Thinking of songs as “Genius Ammo,” however, isn’t necessarily a departure.  To me, what makes Genius great is that it allows you to 1) instantly have a playlist that reflects any mood without combing through your library, and 2) brings up forgotten tracks from your library you otherwise wouldn’t listen to.  I certainly don’t think of all the music in my library as spare parts laying around to be assembled into a playlist by a robotic music selection machine, but there are some songs that I just don’t feel like listening to a lot.  Sometimes, especially in the context of similar songs, they’re great.  Other times, not so much.  This is how albums work, after all.  I’m not a huge fan of “Pieces of What” off of MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular, but when I listen to the album I don’t skip it.

Genius is basically making pseudo-albums; they’re not all the same artist, but the spirit is remarkably coherent.  I’ve been consistently surprised with some of the playlists it’s come up with, some of which are good enough that I save them for future listening or at least as reference points.

So, I’m not going to worry about this new development and keep doing what I have been since before Genius was even dreamed up: loading up on music that makes me feel something cool.