Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Of Michael And Music

This message is cross-posted at The Daily Dave:

Whenever I pick up a new book, or listen to a new album, I always wonder if Michael would approve.

Music was one thing Michael and I had in common, even though our tastes differed. When I was in college, I introduced Michael to the Indigo Girls with a mix tape of live and rare songs. Since then, Michael always returned the favor, exposing me to songs, singers and bands I may never have discovered on my own: XTC, Sufjan Stevens, the Decemberists, Beulah, Wilco, and so on.

The last e-mail message I ever received from Michael was about music.

A few days ago, Ben Saitz were chatting on e-mail and trying to figure out what Michael would have thought of the Beatles' new "Love" CD. Would he see it as a respectful tribute that finds new meanings and connections in the Beatles' classics, or a greed-inspired mash-up of songs that robs the material of its original grace and poetry?

We'll never know. But I'm pretty sure Michael would have sided with the Beatles purists, mainly because (a) that's the stance he typically would have taken and (b) I kind of liked "Love," and Michael and I generally had opposing viewpoints about these kinds of albums.

Let's open this up to discussion. What music have you heard since Michael died that you wish you could have shared with him? Movies, books, TV shows too -- what do you miss discussing with Michael?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not books, movies or media so much, but I did think of Mike when Alfonso Soriano signed with the Cubs.

linnea said...

Mike and I were good friends in Atlanta. We were always sharing and discussing music. I had an amazing dream about Mike the other night and felt drawn to revisit this blog. I think of him often.