It’s almost time for the holidays. Even if you want to ignore it, the barrage of catalogues, gift guides, and Christmas tunes force you to be quite aware of its advent. Call me a scrooge, but by December 24th each year I detest the sound of the Salvation Army bell and the ubiquitous Christmas carols that have played nonstop for over a month. They become synonymous with the mountains of toys and home appliances stacked to the ceilings, the red and green displays, the tinsel, the endless lines and the not-to-be-found parking spaces. My disgust may in part result from my short attention span. These displays target the easily distracted who, like me, take it all in, buy on impulse, become befuddled by the endless varieties of features, on say a toaster, and end up buying one of each because it’s easier than choosing the right one.
At work this weekend my co-worker began playing an array of Christmas carols on the stereo. And once he began playing it, he left the room while I sat and listened until I could no longer bear it. I’m not even sure why someone who is not Christian and who didn’t grow up listening to them would own a mix CD of Christmas tunes. Tonight I might just pop in one of my Dischord Records 20th anniversary discs to liven things up. I’m sure that the people I work with (most in their mid 40s and 50s, conservative, & immigrants) would just look at me funny and turn it down until its barely audible.
Don’t fret, though. To help you through the holiday rut, pitchforkmedia has posted the first fifty albums in its list of the top 100 albums of the eighties – a list that’s dedicated to proving that good music was in fact created in that decade. I was happily surprised that the list included GN’R’s Appetite for Destruction (and forgive me for I was merely a child in the 80s). I nostaligcally remember smuggling the tape into my parents’ house and then clandestinely listening to it for hours on end on my Walkman in the basement, marking the beginnings of my childhood rebellion.
2:17:48 PM 
|
|
