Your 2020 Self Talks About Music to Your 2013 Self

Yeah I think Grimes having a baby with Elon Musk and Kanye running for president are the two main ones that would make me think the future is all fucked up.

Early in the year 2020, you will learn from an old messageboard that an old friend has fallen ill, and will register to share your reaction.

Whatever you do, don't get sucked into this board. All they do is take votes on absolutely fucking everything and argue politics. just wish your friend well and move on

xx

The ~12 binders of CDs that you're tired of moving, after you got tired of moving the cases and put them in binders? Go ahead and keep them. No, you won't ever actually listen to them again but you'll be sad that you no longer have them.

"Daft Punk? No. Portishead? No. The Avalanches? Ha, well..."

'You know how you never really liked metal all that much? Well…'

I would go back to the stretch between 2000-2006, heady days of filesharing where I basically spent nothing on new music, and tell myself "hey, all those obscure new 7" singles that you're downloading? Just spend the $4.99 now, and later on lots of them will be worth hundreds of dollars."

"so, you know how you're adamant about defending kanye as a person because you love his music..."

"Tim doesn't make it :("

"Go see Prince or Tom Petty at any chance you get in the next few years."

"Okay, so you're going to Japan next year, start saving and pick up as much YMO/solo related stuff as you can manage..."

Xxpost: which Tim?

I'm guessing Tim Smith from the Cardiacs.

Yeah, it's Cardiacs Tim, Moka.

Not really sure what I'd say to myself 7 years ago - it seems too recent, not that much has changed. "My child, you WILL live your dream of becoming a noise act (btw, stock up on ryvita)".

2013 ME: Oh shit you're from the future
2020 ME: Yep
2013 ME: Am I into weird new music?
2020 ME: No, you listen to the same type of shit you always have, but now you're divorced and your kids live in another state during a pandemic
2013 ME: Wait, what????
2020 ME: Well, it's been good talking to you
2013 ME: You can't drop that on me and leave! What happened? And I have kids PLURAL???
2020 ME: I gotta go, my male partner is making lunch
2013 ME: WHAT
2020 ME: Keep listening to Dawn Richard, she gets better
2013 ME: GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO EXPLAIN TO ME

now: "hi, i'm andy. i live in your brain too and i love classical and bluegrass and all the music you hate and i remember all the things that you don't. like, all of them. i even remember how to read music. also i know all the william blake poems from memory and i'm obsessed with what happens to you and me after we die. wanna talk about that? math is super fun!"
then: "(drinks to the point of blackout every night to avoid talking to you)"

"So aside from music, what else is happening in 2020"
"Shut up. Stick to the music".

lol DJP

"Shut up. Stick to the music".

"but, uh, don't stick too hard to live music"

"you suck haha"
"weren't you supposed to talk about music?"
"later dork"

"enjoy being able to properly embed YouTube clips on ILM while you still can, mf..."

"So you know how you don't know the first thing about music, and this is increasingly a source of sorrow to you? Learn a damn musical instrument. You live in a cabin in the woods with only one housemate who's gone in the summers anyway; if you ever want to get a guitar or a keyboard and plunk away at it without a million people hearing you, now is the time."

now: "lol you like grimes"
then: "lol you like coldplay"

HA! got 'em!

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/12/09/arts/SUBKRAPP/SUBKRAPP-articleLarge.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp

whatever you do, don't lose your HD with all that UK funky, that stuff is never getting properly archived and curated

You think vinyl has gotten expensive since you began picking it up in 2001?! Get hoarding, chappie.

you're missing your copy of the doors' strange days, make sure you don't accidentally put it in with stuff you're selling/trading.

don't buy that CD of felt's pictorial jackson review you found at amoeba, it has train above the city on it by mistake

Lol. I had a twofer of both of those.

2013 me would be envying 2020 me.

Yep same. In the last seven years, I've gone from "all new music I hear is not as good as what I already love so why bother" back to my high-school-days listening habits of finding amazing new music weekly

2020: Phhew, I've just started my first real job this year
2013: But I've just graduated !
2020: Yeah I know, me too. Btw, remember how you've been a cunt to your girlfriend last year before getting back together ? She hasn't forgotten and your ass will soon be a lot more sorry than you were.
2013: I certainly can't believe you. Do you have any more bad news ?
2020: I'm locked in for ten days and waiting for a dangerous virus to leave my body, hopefully without permanent damage. Everybody sort of has it.
2013: Guh. Do we still have music as a consolation ?
2020: Sure do, alongside books now. I remember your taste being very wide, crossing countries, styles and generations. That era has ended, I now listen to 2010s music as if I was born in the late 90s. Commercial Nigerian pop and South African house dominate your playlists. Nobody would think you're a music fan.
2013: Sounds a little disappointing but not uncool. I guess I can hope we are not still on RYM.
2020: Listen, I'm doing what I can. I did find another cool community though.

2020: you know how you're getting fed up that there's so much "quite good" music it all begins to blur?
2013: yeah
2020: nothing's changed. Read more books, stay off facebook, don't take the Swindon job.

2020: you know how you're getting fed up that there's so much "quite good" music it all begins to blur?

Feeling very seen rn.

20: Tool finally release another album, but by the time it happens you can't be bothered to even hear it
13: I see... What's Toby Driver up to though?
20: he disappears down a synth hole, make peace with it early and you'll get less annoyed.
13: anything else?
20: you get into funeral doom and dempa about the same time
13: I have no idea what any of that means
20: you'll find out when you're older
13: ok but apart from that things get better right?

Speaking of funeral doom in 2020, have you heard the Atramentus LP?

The only thing I would say is to spend as much time as possible with your best friend before he dies of cancer.

At least he leaves you a turntable and gets you back into vinyl.

you’re gonna misplace your Le Mystere Des Voixes Bulgares CD but don’t buy a new one, it’s under the driver’s seat in your car.

Ugh, sorry to hear that, PBKR. I’ll add that one to my 2013 self-chat also: spend as much time as you can with your old bass player, and stop pretending you know about the things he talks about, and ask a million questions. You’re gonna miss him like hell when he’s gone.

"The coolest genre since New Wave finally happened."
"oh yeah?"
"Yeah they call it 'SynthWave'. Ya know Kavinsky? It's a whole genre of that."
"Oh, cool!"
"Well, it's already pretty played out."
"Oh that's a shame."
"Oh, yeah, and the Nazis decided it was their thing."
"WTF?"
"yeah, there's a bunch of actual Nazis now, and they love it."
"Leave me alone, man."
"The Strokes & The Killers just released big new albums..."
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Teenagers online say they love classic rock, like Green Day and Danzig."
"Plz leave!"

then: "is purposely saying it wrong like `danZING` still proper annoying to the right people, and therefore still funny?"
now: "yes"
then: "alright, nice."

https://ftrain.medium.com/web-conversations-with-the-year-2000-f0c40fb8b19c

2013 doesn''t feel like long ago enough for me to have had significant changes on my outlook as to warrant a conversation about it

Maybe: "You'll stop finding autotune annoying but it makes little difference cos it's on its way out anyway"