::'mie'-usic:: - (bad pun intended)

several days ago, i went to a mall with my sister to buy some groceries.on the way
to the car,we passed the electrics section.by chance, i saw some cheap walkmans.
i never thought there'd be walkmans ever now.

it all brought back the memories of my encounters with music. i still remember my
first walkman.it was red, and it cost about RM30.it was probably in the late eighties.
RM30 was a lot of dough back then (i think it still is today).the player has no rewind
function,only fast forward (FF),so if you wanted to rewind the cassete, you'd have to
flip it.it was a great walkman.i think i still have it somewhere in the house.i listened
to a lot of music on that gadget.back then,rock music was at its mightiest, so
naturally i listened to that a lot.i also listened to Paula Abdul (would you believe it?),
Ekamatra,Vanilla Ice,MCHammer,Elvis Presley,Shima,Aishah (it keeps getting better,
innit?),and else.you can conclude that my taste was pretty eclectic. i also started
playing air guitar at that period. my late father had one of those record/LP player, and
it still exists today.even the records. i think it's broken, though. maybe i'd get it fixed
for old times' sake.just for giggles.

back in primary school,an original tape was about RM13.90, so saving up for music
wasn't so hard.piracy was still in infancy, and a pirated cassette was about RM5.my
collection was a balanced mix of both.back then, i WAS a malay-music fanatic.you
know,buying mags,watching juara lagu (muzik2).i don't know what happened since.
maybe it's Eddie Hamid's fault.maybe the cheap pirated cds did it for me.

secondary school - this was where the music scene exploded for me, IMHO.i began
discovering other people's influences,buying guitar magazines,started playing guitars
in Form 3,and else.i discovered hiphop,metallica,nirvana,guns 'n roses,iron maiden,
bla bla bla.that was a pretty exciting time for me.i also started jamming with a couple
of friends.we pretty much played only metal music (no prize for guessing which group),
and soon i discovered that i sucked at playing guitar.so i took up drums. i fared better.
i was also fascinated by the fact that some musicians resorted to taking drugs to
continue playing music. i don't see any correlation whatsoever, just a pathetic excuse.
their rock star life was cool,though.

my music taste in the next following years was stunted,mainly because there wasn't any
music worth listening, IMHO.i began listening to past catalogues of Jimi Hendrix,Led Zep.
that's about it.

music can be anything.researches have proved that a person can be miserable if he listens
repeatedly to Pearl Jam songs. i belt out songs on the ol' six-string when i'm depressed.
currently, i'm listening to System Of A Down's 2nd album.toxicity.all i can say is wow.
the vocal,the guitar parts,the drums,the bass,all solid.this one's a rare find.you've got songs
with abrupt tempo changes,excellent drumming,unique voice,impossible-to-decipher lyrics,
ultra-low-tuned guitars that doesn't sound muddy.i still think my descriptions doesn't do it
justice, so find out yourselves.reviews portray it as 'armenian rock'.

i'm out of juice to write any more, so if you'll excuse me, i'm heading out to buy SOAD's
latest album (the local version, of course).

give it up for the music.