Sunday 22 May 2011

Rip and Review...The Music That Moves Me

One of the tasks that I have left undone of late has been the transformation of my CD library into a seriously space-saving digital collection.

By undone, I mean that I started it about a month ago along with a little 'sorting by genre' on the sideboard. Today I have resolved to complete this chore and make the place look 'tidy' so am currently in the midst of what I like to call a 'rip and review' - ripping all of these tunes may take time but is made infinitely more bearable by dipping into each and deciding whether or not they should go into the Faves Playlist.

The Faves Playlist is the one that I play in the background whilst doing other things.  Sorting the Spring/Summer wardrobe and packing away the Winter Woolies?  Faves Playlist on shuffle.  Tending to my small but thriving garden patch.  Windows open and Faves Playlist on shuffle.  Reading The Times newspaper from Saturday?  Faves Playlist on shuffle.  Writing my latest blog post?  Well, you get the gist.

I am sitting in my front window, the sun is shining after a brief 'fat-raindrop-style' shower earlier and I am currently listening to the students from the University of Granada (a CD I picked up whilst travelling in Spain in 2002), The Florestan Trio (a legacy of my brief but rather lovely subscription with the Australian Chamber Orchestra) and Acoustic Love (a CD I bought in 2006 in the honeymoon period of a relationship, you know when the world is shiny and people/things don't p**s you off nearly as much as usual) all the while dipping back into a few existing faves like Lady Gaga, Chris Daughtry or some 70s Disco (Born To Be Alive, You Make Me Feel etc).

I've come across some real joys this afternoon.  Music that takes me back to events and places and moments I'd forgotten about, some tunes that I've listened to today as if for the first time.  But I was unprepared for the effect of one particular tune - from the first moment I heard it until right here and now in my front window, it still moves me to tears.  It's not necessarily the words or any memory it evokes - it's just the most beautiful song and it's definitely worth a blog post to share it.

So here's Eva Cassidy's version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow to enjoy on your Sunday wherever you are.

5 comments:

Michelloui said...

Ugh, that is a mammoth task! But worth it. My husband did this to our combined collection a few years ago and we sometimes put the computer on random play at it's fantastic to hear things you'd forgotten about or wouldn't normally play.

About Last Weekend said...

Really cool. Am so impressed with all your collating. These days I'm so lazy I just listen to the usual top ten on the car radio whenever I'm in it. One day during the soccer carpool from hell a girl asked Tallulah "what music does your motherlike?" Oh said T, she just listens to whatever we do. Landsakes I'm worse than her indoors, more like er in 't car.

Linda A. said...

Kym - So much for being a rock star - the comment I left for you here two days ago 'disappeared'! (Uh oh, human error on my part) I agreed that there's nothing better to listening to 'the soundtrack of your life'. I love Eva Cassidy and have a CD; such a crystal clear voice. Did you know she died young of (I think it was) cervical cancer? I read a great story in the Wash Post weekend magazine about her life (it was after her death in the 1990s). The world was graced by her presence, if only for such a short time...

Unknown said...

Michelloui, I'm on holidays this week and am def. looking forward to a few shuffle days!

About Last Weekend, I've been commuting for the last couple of years so no car radio for me! I'm also not a great fan of being 'plugged in' in public so I love the weekends when I can just potter and enjoy the music.

Unknown said...

Linda, the mysteries of cyberspace eh? I usually 'lose' things when I'm leaving comments while commuting - something about doing more than 2 things at once I think.