AudioShocker

Yesterday, 5:50PM, Peoria, Illinois, The Gym. As I round my way into the second straightaway of my third lap, I start to wonder: is this really necessary? I'm not 'orca fat'. I don't need to lose 15 pounds, and jogging around the indoor track with all the short-timers isn't doing anything for my morale. More importantly though, what the hell is up with the music selection on my iPod?

I've been going through a bit of a musical crisis recently, and I don't mean some sort of purple lit Fosse number. I am starting to hate every single album I own. Discs with previously infinite replay value no longer titillate. Fashion Nugget, once represented the quintessential Cake album, but now it lays fallow in the rotation. The problem is not genre specific. Aimee Mann's latest album and the Skillz's disc which I extolled as recently as October fall flat now. Even the stalwart guardians of Harlem, The Diplomats, fail to stir my spirit.

I am serious; this is not something I take lightly. Albums like From Me To U are more than just great discs, they are the soundtrack to my life. That disc used to be a musical flashback to my junior year in college, the FTC house, and the debauchery of my 21st birthday. I can barely stand to her Juelz Santana's voice anymore. In fact, Killer Cam, SAS, J.R. Writer, and the whole clique sound old and busted now.

Is this the natural way of things, to randomly fall out of love with our favorite music? It is a cruel hypothesis. Will I forsake Modest Mouse and Good News For People Who Love Bad News if something slightly more engaging comes along? Why has Blues Traveler's Four lasted so much longer than Dave Matthews' Under The Table And Dreaming? When did Diana Krall replace her husband in my head space? Sure, musical tastes change, but this is maddening. There are people who still love Def Lep. To them, 80s hair metal never went out of style. Me, I'm losing my taste for albums less than a month after I get them. (For the record, I am not 'hip' when it comes to music. I usually 'discover' new bands about 1-2 years after they break.)

Solutions? I have had varied and fleeting success. I tried more focused, but less frequent listening, but imposing rules defeats the point of casual listening. In 2007 I went to several shows, which were great, but now those three artists are all on my shitlist (Regina Spektor, The Decemberists, and Badly Drawn Boy). I even tried to open myself to more genres and artists, but it isn't a switch you can just flip. I didn't warm up to hip hop until high school, and only in college was I able to acknowledge the indie scene.

So I appeal to you, the AudioShocker community, please help me out. There must be a way to overcome my musical ennui.