The End

Back on December 15, 2006, I set out to document something I've been doing for about the past 15 years: listening to my entire CD collection (some 2,500 discs) in descending order of their total time, longest to shortest. The first CD was Disc 2 of the X Marks the Pedwalk retrospective Experiences, clocking in at 79 minutes, 54 seconds. The project officially ended yesterday afternoon with the shortest CD I own, The Courtyard & Jerusalem by Current 93, registering 8 minutes and 17 seconds.

Counting vacations and other distractions, the whole thing took me slightly under 10 months to complete, a period during which I managed to blog every day, not counting those pesky vacations spent out of town. Some days it was a drag to write (and probably to read), and some days I looked forward to it. It'll be a relief not to feel obligated to it anymore, but I'm sure I'll miss it.

For you--and I don't know how many of "you" there are--I hope reading this was at least somewhat entertaining. At the very least, if we share musical tastes, maybe the obsessive lists of artists and their releases turned you on to someone or something you hadn't heard before or didn't know existed. If even one of you was motivated to buy something you saw described or listed here, it would all have been worth it to me. I love all the artists' music listed here, and I'm happy to support their continued existence.

I've written extensively about the compact disc in this blog--its history as well as its waning status as a means of delivering music. And what that might mean for independent musicians, especially in the industrial/ambient/avant-garde/exprimental genre. And what it might mean for someone who's invested a great deal of time and energy--to say nothing of money--into collecting CDs and fetishizing them as objects that deliver music, sure, but also something more: an expression of the artist beyond simply the song. You can listen to, say, Wappenbund, but how much of the pleasure of getting something new from that willfully obscure band is in the strange and elaborate packaging and artwork? Buying it on iTunes just wouldn't be the same thing. (And don't even try to talk to me about "ripping" the music using BitTorrent.)

So what now? I'm still thinking that through. One thing I think I can state for sure: The mission I set out to accomplish has in one way succeeded, but in another way has completely failed. Yes, I've managed to stick this out and document one entire run-through of my collection. But the stated aim was also to cure me of the obsessive need to listen to my CDs this way. And I know that didn't happen.

Sometime soon, perhaps on October 1 or sooner, I'll print out a new list, one that includes all the new CDs I bought this past year, and start all over again. As kooky as it is, I've come to like it. And I feel adrift without it. Hell, I feel that way right now, and I only finished the list yesterday.

And what about this blog? Not sure. I might continue to post here about music or other stuff, but not every day. Or I might just leave it alone, as a testament to this project. You'll just have to visit to find out.

For now, a huge thanks to anyone who's bothered to read this and especially if you came back for repeat visits to see what new nonsense I'd managed to post. You deserve some sort of medal. If you care to leave comments or questions, I'll be happy to read them and respond. I'd love to know what you thought about the blog or the project. Or if you know of music you think I'd like, based on what you've seen here.

Bye for now.

-Total Time

12 minutes, 18 seconds

Dubstar
Elevator Song

I've been a little cranky over the past few posts. But in my defense, the CDs that have come up first over the past week or so...well, let's just say they don't represent the best work of those artists. They had it coming. But I'm pleased to switch gears here and heap praise on a band I really love, even though in light of my general listening preferences, I'd have to categorize them as a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Dubstar.

It's not so much the dance-pop music crafted by Steve Hillier as it is Sarah Blackwood's northern accented vocals and kitchen-table lyrics. It's been called runny-Mascara music, which is to say it's all about failed relationships from the woman's point of view. Which is a fair appreciation. But there's so much wit and, for want of a better word, Britishness to the lyrics and vocal delivery that it's like listening to a strange and refracted world that sounds familiar yet is completely foreign, at least to an American ear. It might be a touch of the same phenomenon that attracts American (and other) fans to Morrissey--if Morrissey or Blackwood were American, would we care as much? Could an American even write those kinds of lyrics? Would they ring true?

And like Morrissey (and the Smiths, for that matter), a good deal of Dubstar's best songs are not on any of their albums. They're hidden as B-sides on singles. Think of Morrissey's "Nobody Loves Us" (the second song on the Dagenham Dave single) or "Girl Least Likely To" (third song on the November Spawned a Monster single). Accordingly, for Dubstar I'd choose "Unchained Monologue" (second song on the No More Talk single) and "This Is My Home" (third song on the Cathedral Park single). Lush, another great Britpop band, is the same way--lots of singles, lots of hidden gems. How about "Carmen" (one of the B-sides from the Ladykillers singles)?

In any case, as the list of CDs dwindles down, it's all about the singles. Short and sweet.

Make that bittersweet, since it means this project is coming to an end. Today, in fact. There will be a final post tomorrow--a conclusion, of sorts--but no CDs listed. Weird! It's been ten months of consistent posting. What will I do with myself if I can't obsessively document what I listen to each day? I'll actually have to, like, get a life or something.

Also today:

12:18 Morrissey, I Have Forgiven Jesus
12:17 In Strict Confidence, Holy: Alpha Omega
12:05 Allerseelen, Pedra
12:04 Morrissey, Dagenham Dave
11:53 Morrissey, Suedehead
11:50 Cocteau Twins, Dials
11:50 Morrissey, Our Frank
11:49 Maja Elliott, 1000 Water Craters on the Sea
11:32 Omne Datum Optimum, Nostre Dame du Grand Oeuvre
11:31 Cranes, Shining Road (CD 2 of 2)
10:53 Love Is Colder Than Death, Spellbound
10:52 Morrissey, Ouija Board, Ouija Board
10:38 Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke, Duality (CD 2 of 2)
10:32 The Sundays, Summertime
10:31 The Smiths, Sweet and Tender Hooligan
10:15 Cranes, Forever (CD 2 of 2)
10:04 Fin de Siècle, Repli
9:46 Morrissey, Certain People I Know
9:46 Morrissey, Sunny
9:37 Dubstar, I (Friday Night)
9:27 Morrissey, Boxers
9:19 Morrissey, Picadilly Palare
9:17 Current 93, The Nodding Folk
9:13 Morrissey, Tomorrow
9:07 Autopsia, Radical Machine
8:17 Current 93, The Courtyard & Jerusalem

14 minutes, 15 seconds

Gaytron
Man to Man

Plastic Noise Experience's Claus Kruse is gay, and he wants you to dance to his "gay tekkno." Or at least he did back in the early '90s, when this CD single was released. There was an album too, Phase I, and an extremely limited second single, called Toy. (Which I'm still trying to hunt down.) I remember thinking that "Gaytron" was about the stupidest name he could have come up with. But then along came electroclash sensation Ladytron, and, well, that sounded OK. So why not Gaytron?

However, I'm pretty sure the name "Ladytron" was meant to be ironic. Hell, even the band's songs seem to have a knowing wink to them. But Kruse? I don't think he does irony. What he does is deadly serious minimal industrial-dance music, and if he wants to call it "gay tekkno," that's fine. Never mind that by the early '90s, gay men were dancing to techno music that makes this stuff sound like late-'70s electronic doodling.

I don't mean to be unkind. PNE had some great songs, but Gaytron? Not so much, and the fact that Kruse seems to have shut down this side project testifies to that opinion.

Yesterday I thought I'd reach the end of the list by today. Uh, I believe "almost certainly" were the words I chose. Well, I'm an idiot. But loyal readers (that never fails to crack me up) already know that.

Also today:

14:12 Institute for the Criminally Insane, Audiotherapy
14:09 Dubstar, Stars
14:08 Kriegbereit, A Forest
14:07 In Strict Confidence, Exile Paradise (CD 2 of 2)
13:59 Amiina, Seoul
13:59 Lush, Single Girl (CD 2 of 2)
13:39 Lush, 500 (CD 1 of 2)
13:38 Lush, Single Girl (CD 1 of 2)
13:29 Lush, For Love
13:29 Morrissey, November Spawned a Monster
13:02 The Smiths, This Charming Man
12:59 Fin de Siècle, Summertime
12:51 Morrissey, Everyday Is Like Sunday
12:40 Les Berrtas, Metamorphosis
12:39 Lush, Ladykillers (CD 1 of 2)
12:33 The Sundays, Cry

17 minutes, 44 seconds

A-Head
Deep Down

One of the many side projects of André Schmechta, a.k.a. Sevren Ni-Arb, a.k.a. the dude behind the late, great X Marks the Pedwalk. (I guess if your last name were Schmechta, you'd use a bunch of pseudonyms too. Then again, maybe in German "Schmechta" sounds like "Smith." To me it sounds like something nasty you might find on the bottom of your shoe.) He recorded these dancy electro tracks back in 1992 with Alexis Schaar, with whom he'd worked on U-Tek, yet another side project. And then A-Head disappeared, and probably for good reason. Suffice it to say that Schmechta would go on to do better work.

Switching topics, it's looking increasingly likely that I'll reach the end of the list perhaps as soon as today and almost certainly sometime tomorrow. Weird. It seems kind of sudden, but then again, when the CDs are 20 minutes long or less, they go pretty quickly. I'm starting to feel like Casey Kasem, counting down the hits. Except these are the opposite of hits. And I'm so not Casey Kasem.

Also today:

17:43 Covenant, Travelogue
17:31 Maelifell, La Peste
17:26 Construggle Test, Welfare Taste
17:24 Intoxication, From the Source
17:19 Morrissey & Siouxsie, Interlude
17:15 Photophob, Five Odes to Lem
17:12 Soma, My Ancient Vihmaana
17:01 Robin Guthrie, Everlasting
16:57 Die Form, Savage Logic
16:54 Hocico, Wrack and Ruin (CD 2 of 2)
16:52 Accessory, Forever & Beyond (CD 2 of 2)
16:48 Empusae, Extra-Muros
16:46 Dive, Two Faced Man
16:37 D.Sign, D.Sign
16:35 Dubstar, Not So Manic Now
16:31 Sonne Hagal, Nidar
16:20 Cocteau Twins, Lullabies
16:07 Morrissey, You Have Killed Me
16:06 Morrissey, Interesting Drug
16:04 Autopsia, Requiem pour un Empire
16:01 Morrissey, The Youngest Was the Most Loved
15:59 Dubstar, Cathedral Park
15:49 Lush, Ladykillers (CD 2 of 2)
15:46 BlutEngel, Ice
15:42 Dubstar, The Self Same Thing
15:41 A Challenge of Honour, Fold Your Wings Awhile
15:18 Binärcode, 01001-01010
15:18 Cranes, Shining Road (CD 1 of 2)
15:10 Xmal Deutschland, Peel Sessions
15:09 Dubstar, No More Talk
15:02 Seelenthron, Steingeworden
14:53 Konzept, Last Night
14:49 Photophob, The Fragmentary I
14:37 Cocteau Twins, Aikea-Guinea
14:37 Cocteau Twins, Peppermint Pig
14:36 Cranes, Can't Get Free
14:34 Cold Fusion & Rukkanor, Wunderwaffe
14:30 Heiden Ära, Lopun Ajan Juhla
14:29 Gaë Bolg & Omne Datum Optimum, Gaë Bolg & Omne Datum Optimum

20 minutes, 35 seconds

Cyberaktif
Nothing Stays

Cyberaktif was the short-lived reunion between Bill Leeb, of Front Line Assembly and Delerium and about a thousand other projects, and Cevin Key, of Skinny Puppy, Download, and about a thousand other projects. Of course, before they went their thousand separate ways, Leeb (at the time known as Wilhelm Schroeder) and Key played together in Skinny Puppy at the dawn of the Vancouver industrial scene back in the early to mid '80s.

The album they released, along with two singles, of which this is the second, caught them at a thaw in their sometimes-fractious relationship. If you listen to the music, it's easy to say, Well, this is what Puppy would have sounded like if Leeb had been their vocalist instead of Ogre. But really, who cares? Would you have wanted a Skinny Puppy without Ogre? The more time I spend with Cyberaktif, the more it sounds like a lame attempt by Leeb to convince Key to record songs with him and get the old band back together. And for what? Leeb already had a good thing going with FLA and Delerium.

To be sure, there are a couple of good songs, "Nothing Stays" probably being the most memorable. But the music is distinctly Bites-era Puppy, and let's remember that Cyberaktif was recording this music between the releases of Skinny Puppy's Rabies and Too Dark Park, two albums that were worlds (and years) apart from Bites. It's as if the Beatles had welcomed Pete Best back to the band during the White Album recording sessions and decided to return to playing "Love Me Do."

Also today:

20:35 Dive, Final Report
20:33 Genitor Lvminis, Virgae
20:23 Hocico, Scars
20:17 Mellonta Tauta, Fishes
20:08 Splatter Squall, Suspiria
20:07 L'Age d'Or, Sad Times
20:06 Detritus, Thresholds
20:05 Fight in Unity, Technical Mind
20:04 Sleepwalk, Immortal Disease
19:51 Cold Fusion, ORP Orzeł (CD 2 of 2)
19:51 Neuroactive, Neuron
19:38 Pow[d]er Pussy, Just 2 Annoy You
19:24 Antigen Shift, This Moment of Cold Remebering
19:21 Sophia, Aus der Welt
19:20 Pow[d]er Pussy, One Day
19:19 Der Blutharsch, Fire Danger Season (CD 2 of 4)
19:17 Attrition, Something in My Eye
19:10 Current 93, Where the Long Shadows Fall
19:06 Gridlock, Under
19:05 Cyberaktif, Temper
18:51 Covenant, Final Man
18:51 Mellonta Tauta, Ocean
18:38 Delerium, Karma (CD 2 of 2)
18:35 Amina, Animamina
18:33 Dive, Lies in Your Eyes
18:32 C/A/T, Worldwide Totalitarian Control
18:32 Einstürzende Neubauten, Pelikanol
18:20 Horologium & K. Meizter, The Dustbin of History
18:14 Stin Scatzor, Industronic
18:08 Apoptygma Berzerk, The 2nd Manifesto
18:04 Lush, Black Spring
18:02 Soman, Revenge
17:52 Ophir, Nichts Ist Verloren

21 minutes, 42 seconds

Knox Om Pax
Laudanum

Knox Om Pax--sounds like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, doesn't it? But it's actually a reference to something Aleister Crowley wrote. Of course. After all, you're not a true dark ambient band until you've referenced the Great Beast himself. But come on, Crowley was an interesting guy and all, but he was already a cliché back in the '90s. Maybe it's high time Dr. Seuss became a source of inspiration in industrial/occult music. Perhaps it'll be David Tibet's next obsession.

Also today:

21:33 Vomito Negro, Save the World
21:26 Heimatærde, Unter den Linden
21:25 Maelifell & Semper Eadem, Maelifell & Semper Eadem
21:24 BlutEngel, My Saviour
21:22 Combichrist, Kiss the Blade
21:21 Omne Datum Optimum, Opus Mago Cabalisticum
21:13 Von Thronstahl, Mutter der Schmerzen
21:11 Swallow, Hush
21:10 Front 242, Politics of Pressure
21:10 Implant Code, Biodigit
21:06 Horologium, Paradise Inverted
21:05 Robin Guthrie, Waiting for Dawn
20:58 Terminal Choice, Totes Fleisch
20:57 Current 93, Hypnagogue
20:53 Chineseblack, Director's Cut
20:51 Artefactum & Horologium, Sangreal
20:51 Horologium, Songs for Hunters
20:51 Lush, Hypocrite
20:48 E-Craft, Die Stahl
20:45 Feindflug, Im Visier
20:45 The Protagonist, Interim
20:41 Supreme Court & Feindflug, We'll Fuck You Up!
20:40 Ah Cama-Sotz, Rites of the Flesh

22 minutes, 44 seconds

X-Fusion
Choir of Damnation

Just realized today that it's really only a matter of a week or two before I get to the end of the list. Maybe less than that. And that it'll feel weird once it's over. It's been hard sometimes to blog every day, but I'm sure I'll miss it. There were times when it felt like having a second job, but it often helped get me out of bed in the morning. I felt a responsibility to it, even though I couldn't be sure how many people were reading it. I'm still not sure.

In any case, I've been thinking about what I want to do with this blog space after I get to the end of the CD list. Not sure if I want to continue writing about music in some way here or just leave this blog be, as a kind of monument to nine months' hard labor. The thing is, despite my original intentions, I'm under no illusions--I know now that writing this blog hasn't exorcised any demons whatsoever. I'm sure I'll resume listening to my CDs in order of total time soon enough. The list will flip over, incorporating all the new arrivals, and the whole process will begin again, where it started, at 79 minutes and 54 seconds.

Also today:

22:43 Phragments, We Are All Beasts
22:37 Dive, Extended Play
22:37 E-Craft, Reaktanz
22:35 Velvet Acid Christ, Pretty Toy
22:31 Von Thronstahl & The Days of the Trumpet Call, Von Thronstahl & The Days of the Trumpet Call
22:24 Various artists, Writ in Water
22:19 Current 93, The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home
22:12 Morrissey, My Love Life
22:11 Mortal Constraint, Second Move
22:03 Current 93, I Have a Special Plan for This World
21:55 DavaNtage, No Candle Light
21:52 Harold Budd, Ruben Garcia & Daniel Lentz, Music for 3 Pianos
21:48 Absurd Minds, Come Alive
21:48 Laudanum, Laudanum

23 minutes, 4 seconds

Assemblage 23
Ground

Assemblage 23 will be playing a live date in Seattle next week, and I might go. But as I get older, my willingness to schlep out late on a weekday night to see bands has greatly diminished. I'd do it for a band I've never seen live and really want to (Current 93, In the Nursery), and I might even do it for a band I've seen several times but am always blown away by (Death in June, Laibach), but there's a vast middle ground of bands that I need to really motivate myself to go out and see. Assemblage 23 might be one of those bands.

And then there's this new phenomenon that this woman who cut my hair last week was telling me about: people who go to shows for the sole purpose of starting fights. Rolling Stone did a piece recently on these ruffians, who apparently call themselves FSU (Fuck Shit Up). Now, I doubt they'd bother with Assemblage 23 fans, but who knows? And wimpy 98-pound weakling blogger that I am, I'd just as soon stay home rather than risk having to explain that I got my head bashed in not at a hardcore punk show...but at a synthpop show where a mod, black-clad dude sang sensitive lyrics to a techno beat.

Also today:

23:02 Plastic Noise Experience, Smalltown Boy
22:59 Project Pitchfork, Trialog
22:55 Severe Illusion, Panopticon
22:50 Project Pitchfork, One Million Faces
22:44 Project Pitchfork, View from a Throne
New arrival! 65:33 Helmond, Licentia Poetica
New arrival! 51:30 Dark Water Memories, The Rejuvenation Ballet