I just deleted songs from my Zune Mp3 player. Listening to music continuously for the past few months has taught me what I like and dislike. Radom play is a good way to get turned on to tracks you may have overlooked. I’m glad to have put entire albums on the player. It’s a good example of making a high-level decision and then reaping ‘surprise’ benefits.

The deletions were done not only to make more room on the 32 Gigabyte unit, but to prevent me from the pain of listening to certain songs.

As I noted above, I learned a lot about what I like as well as dislike. In these cases, dislike means ‘cannot listen to without experiencing pain.’

The White Stripes, Eponymous Album (1999): includes one of the worst songs ever recorded, “The Big Three Killed My Baby.” Fortunately, the awful quality of this and other tunes from the first record did not sink the ascending ship of the talented Jack White.

Metallica, anything. These guys are jerks and their music sucks.  I had actually purchased these mp3s using my Zune Credits. But not only am I deleting from my Zune Player, but my computer as well— terrible!!  “Kill ‘Em All” : The Four Horseman, and Seek & Destroy, which were both described favorably. And, the hits from the ‘Black Album.’ “Enter Sandman” etc… are such soulless gimmicks. These guys have no heart, no soul. I don’t imagine they are friends with any musicians. I don’t even think they’re friendly with each other, or their selves.

Tom Waits, “Small Change.” Wow, this is so dissonant to me, I have been fast forwarding when it comes on.. I had to delete the whole record. It’s highly regarded and known as Wait’s first “5 star” (Mojo Magazine) but my ears can’t handle Waits.

Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On?”  Masterpiece? It grates. And as I reflect on his body of work, I don’t think he had the right stuff. But yeah, I dig “Sexual Feeling.” Kind of a novelty, though.

202 Motown Songs: The #1s : Eh… some good hits, but I found it convenient to delete the entire record. I still have separate collections of Smokey Robinson and The Temptations. I think overall, the Motown sound is artificial and slick. I prefer the blues. Just compare any tune by Junior Wells versus The Supremes. I can’t handle the lack of heart after getting so into the blues. Funny thing: when Motown’s name was attached to ‘latter’ acts such as Johnny Gill, and Boyz II Men, people protested that these sounds didn’t compare to the classics. Actually, they are all in the same tradition— of sucking!

What do I dig? The blues, baby. And others. I will profile some of my favorites in future posts.