I don't want to harp more on this; several blogs back I've already dissected my financial woes. But I had the opportunity to reverse this deppressing situation a bit, and just in time for the holidays. If there's one of the joys I experienced this year, that would have to be (re-)discovering music that I like. More precisely, that would have to be Limewire and uTorrent. Music downloads have been like "comfort food" last year. I successfully nipped off my deppression on the thought of not being able to give something during the season of gift-giving when I decided to burn what I thought were my best (re-)discoveries, and give them out to relatives and closest friends. One limitation though, I thought my kind of music weren't exactly something that would thrill my Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles, and the more senior of my colleagues. I prayed they'd understand.
I essentially had three collections given away. There was the 100 Best New Wave Songs, the list courtesy of DigitalDreamDoor.com. I've been giving this collection to friends this year, not only during the holidays, but also birthdays. Of course, the new wave-attuned generation of friends appreciated it very much. I redid the cover for this collection: I googled for all new wave related image or symbol and I came up with a Keith Haring artwork. I thought then how amazing that Haring has come to symbolize popular culture of the eighties.
Another collection, which I essentially collected from downloads in uTorrent, was Madonna's very best, or what in my taste was her best work. I called the collection "Her Majesty Madge," and contained 70 tracks. This one went to the "girls." What conversational piece that li'l gift was! Three albums though I had to buy online: I'm Breathless (soundtrack of Dick Tracy), Who's That Girl? (another soundtrack from one of Madonna's box-office disasters), and American Life (which seem to have already gained a reputation as an all-time low of her studio albums). Well I thought American Life was still fairly good; some music critics now think it was just too ahead of its time. And all I can say to that is "that's what majesty is all about."
Lastly, the one for the younger set of cousins and my younger brother, was a melee of mostly Britpop's best, including some Britpop sounding and sensible imports (from the US and other places) as well as more current hits. I called it "Wired Up with a Twist of Lime," after the blog entry I wrote about discovering the joys of downloading MP3s. I noticed that lately the rock/pop hits that catch my most attention seem to hail back to either the 1980's New Wave or 1990's Britpop. I included also some "rock classics" and remarkable singles from artists I consider my all-time favorites. The selection process was a bit painful: as I was only able to fit so much on a CD, there were tracks that I had to remove. The selection was initially 200-plus; I could only fit 190 on a CD.
BFF and housemate Eon didn't receive any of these collections. I didn't need to bother burning them on CDs and gift-wrapping them for him. As soon as I finished sorting my collection, Eon, whose self-esteem is currently propped up with a new iPOD acquisition, started uploading the selections to his player. He also "borrowed" the Wired Up collection for his nephew.
How much did I spend for the holiday gifts? Direct cost was around 45 to 50 pesos for each CD, including the jewel case and the laser color printing of the cover (there were indirect cost like the amount of time I spent online and the transportation for buying CDR's and other stuff). But more than the inexpensive value (I'd be a cheapskate for considering just the cost), I think these were the most meaningful I've given away so far. These tracks were music I really, really liked - I similarly did something like this two years ago when I gave away my favorite foodstuff then (that would be Bizu's cookies).
Maybe on succeeding blogs I will put the track listings of these compilations. Hopefully blogmates will tell me what they think of them. And oh, for those who are curious, I'm not planning to sell these compilations (Eon was joking that I've turned myself into a "producer" of sorts). These are for sharing to friends and loved ones, that's it.
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