Scattered.

(It should be said that I had no idea what this entry would be about when I started. I apologize if it seems scattered.)

Before I continue, I will say that I hope someone takes me up on the offer to review their music some time soon. I had one artist submit a couple of mp3s, but unfortunately I found myself in the position of not having anything good to say about them (this probably doesn't sell me very well as someone who would potentially review your work, but there's a lot of music out there that has redeeming qualities...I have found something to like in things that most people despise, so there you go). If you are reading this and you are an artist, and you'd like a review, please, Please, PLEASE email me at doctorpants@doctorpants.com. I'll give you a review, and I'll do my best to make it positive.

Meanwhile, I sold off about 40 or 50 CDs from my collection last week to attempt to offset the cost of the upcoming Beatles reissues. The box sets are absurdly expensive, and at this point any fan should consider his or herself lucky to get a copy of the limited edition mono box set (the mono versions of the albums are not being released individually). It looks as though I'm going to get mine, but not at a price I'm happy with.

The Beatles reissues are great news, but I feel as though I want to talk about the evolution of my collection a bit, and what the selling off of those particular 40-50 CDs might signify. Many of the things I sold were so-called "Greatest Hits" or "Best Of" collections. In the day and age of iTunes and the mp3, I think this sort of record might be obsolete. What do I mean? If one only wants certain songs by an artist, a few of their hits or whatever, why on earth would they spend the extra money on a CD and wind up with some other songs they might not want? Why wouldn't they just buy the individual songs they DO want from iTunes, Amazon or whatever? I found myself in the position where the songs I liked from many of those CDs were in my iTunes (or in mp3 format on an external hard drive), so the need to own the "Greatest Hits" CD simply didn't exist anymore. I've always been more of a fan of actual albums anyway, and many of those hits collections were by bands who've I've always had every intention of investigating further anyway. In other words, I have even more incentive to actually listen to a whole album all the way through by some of those bands, since I don't have the stupid "Greatest Hits" as a placeholder anymore.

I want to get to a point where all the CDs or LPs I own are ones that I would listen to start to finish all the way through. I won't always do this, of course (shuffle is such an indelible part of my life at this point...Shuffle on my iPod is like the best radio station I could ever imagine. All my favorites mixed with things that I am trying to gain greater exposure to. Isn't that what radio was supposed to be in the first place??), but it's a noble goal. I may yet sell even more CDs...we shall see. I have an enormous amount of music that has piled up that I'm still starting to get to know. I haven't reviewed hardly any of it on this blog...which is kind of a shame. I'm working on it, people. It's a challenge when I spread myself so thin, both in terms of all the balls I'm keeping in the air, and all the records I listen to. I rarely listen to anything two or three days in a row.

I will say that you should go find some Game Theory online. You'll more than likely have to download it from somewhere that has a RapidShare link or something like that, since all their albums are very, VERY out of print. But they're a real gem. The great lost band of the 80s, I tell you. Delightful. Lolita Nation is their masterpiece, but really any of it is fabulous. Some of the early EPs are brilliant as well.

Okay. Kind of a random entry, but I hope you found it worth reading. In summary, yay Beatles, yay Game Theory, boo "Greatest Hits" albums. Oh, and yay sending me your music for review. Email doctorpants@doctorpants.com to discuss.