itunes Genius is my New Boyfriend

Monday, September 15th, 2008 | Author: stinkwallet

I’ve come a long way from my box of pencil crayons and the glue stick I would use to decorate the jackets of mix tapes passed onto friends and lovers. And, it’s been with excitement and a heavy heart that I’ve come to adopt new technology these past ten years. My so-called need for music that plays faster, smoother, and smaller sits anxious and caffeinated beside my yearnings for a time when things were simpler. It was a time for me when a home-made mix tape from a crush was enough to make me swoon. I would trace my fingers over their hand-written playlist and the pictures cut from magazines that were collaged on the front of the case. I would listen to every word; allowing the words to come to me as if they were floating from his bedroom to mine.

Granted, over the years I’ve tried to make mix-cds and pass them on. There was even a time when I would go so far as to design a cover on the computer, print it out, and send it to someone special across the ocean. But, there was always something so cold and impersonal in its design and delivery. Maybe, over the years, technology has helped music to become entirely purified. Maybe, in the re-defining and filtering of all the notes and sounds, we somehow eliminated all the imperfections that lingered in the shadows between beats. Perhaps it was these imperfections that made my heart flutter, or maybe it was just my innocence

Today when I started itunes, I was prompted to upload to a newer version. Thinking nothing, I did as I always do… I confirmed and let the whole thing unravel. When I was able to finally load itunes again, things had really changed. You see Apple has included a new feature in its ubiquitous software, a feature called Genius. You select a song, click this pseudo-molecular looking button-thingy and somehow itunes gives you a playlist of related music according to the song that you first selected. Curious, I tried the thing out, and time and time again have been completely amazed at the songs that it pulls out of the deep dark hat that my music collection has become. Not only has Genius provided me with a whole new world of possibilities surrounding my music collection, it has also brought a sense of humanity back to something that has become a little lack-luster recently.

In my pensiveness this evening, I decided to click on “To be Alone with You” by Sufjan Stevens, a song that has always made me yearn for a time when sitting on my roof and watching the cars drive by was enough; a time when mix-tapes were my favourite project. I selected the Genius option and was given some of the following musical choices:
“To be Alone with You” – Sufjan Stevens

“Say Yes” – Elliot Smith

“The Crane Wife 3″ – The Decemberists

“Photobooth” – Death Cab for Cutie

“Come Pick me Up” – Ryan Adams

“Volcano” – Damien Rice

“Knocked Up” – Kings of Leon

“Jesus, Etc” – Wilco

“Ask” – The Smiths

“Shine a Light” – Constantines

“Black Swan” – Thom Yorke

“.Nantes” – Beirut

Looking at the selections that itunes has pulled from the hat, I can see ten years in the making of my life. As cliché as it may sound, I’m really amazed at the true genius, of Genius. It may not be decorating tape covers just yet or passing love notes, but Apple has really stumbled onto something with Genius. Maybe all those egg-heads down there finally figured out how to extract out all the imperfections they’ve been so busy filtering over the years. Because in this playlist, and all the others that I’ve created, there is a sense of humanity that warms my heart just a little bit… and for that, I full-heartedly approve.