Good Music, Bad Music

One of the great things about the collection of people in the lab I work in is that most of us are huge music fans. Each of us have copied the music from our iPods onto the main lab computer (which has 2 or 3 hard drives of over 100 GB each), and between us, we have basically every genre covered, making a pretty impressive collection of music. I don't remember the number of GB of music on there, but I know it's WELL over 3 months-long. Or so says iTunes. The computer is tripped out with two fairly nice speakers from a big stereo system, and a subwoofer. Yes, a subwoofer, right next to two PCR machines and an autoclave.

Naturally, with a collection like that, spanning all genres, we've got some pretty sweet playlists. I've made several, though there's really just one that I listen to with any frequency, when I get to choose what we listen to. I have no actual name for it, mostly because it's a very eclectic mix of music. In addition to the usual (and expected, if you know me) handful of jazz, there's classic rock and 80's new wave songs, a few hip-hop songs (apparently, Fergie wants to get me drunk off her lady-humps), as well as even a few of the almost tolerable songs performed by country artists. You can be rocking out to Queen one minute, moved by a Miles Davis ballad the next, and then out of nowhere you hear some awesome Earl Scruggs banjo solo that almost makes you crap your pants!

The other day, I was in the lab, doing my usual thing. One of the guys who kinda distances himself from everyone else happened to be in the lab, and was doing some research on the main computer. Until he came in, I was the only person in the lab, so my awesome mix was playing. For the first half hour or so that he was there, the shuffle seemed to favor mostly the classic rock songs I had placed on there, which he and I were both enjoying. Anyone who doesn't enjoy a little Styx every once in a while has a black hole for a heart. After enjoying a great Doors track (I forget which one), Pat Metheny's "The Roots of Coincidence" came on. I understand that the name of that song, and maybe the artist, means nothing to you, so I'll fill you in. Pat is primarily a jazz guitarist, but he also forays into folk, country, new age, and as in the case with this song, rock. "The Roots of Coincidence" is an eight minute acid rock spectacular. It has some shredding that would make even Jimmie Page do a double-take to listen again. About two minutes into the song, when the music is already intense, but getting much, much more so, this moron switches to "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics, without so much as a word of "Hey, Jake, do you mind?" or anything. I was, well, shocked, and maybe even nauseated.


Don't get me wrong. I like "Sweet Dreams". I did, after all, put it on my list. Still, two huge errors were made:
1) Switching to a new song in the middle of another one. All the musical tension that was building up never got resolved! Arrgh! Songs aren't written for you to only listen to a portion of them. Songs are whole units, and need to be respected as such.
2) Switching from a very musical song to a less-so song. "Roots of Coincidence" is very acid rock, but still classy. Pat got a Grammy for best rock instrumental performance in 1997 for that song. It ain't no trash. To switch from that to Eurythmics is like eating a few bites of filet mignon, and then deciding you'd prefer a McDonald's cheeseburger. Such a huge step down!

Am I overreacting?