Here is the 28th episode of Jan Müller’s “Reflector” column, in which he explains why he probably won’t be without his CDs in the future either.
For legitimate reasons, I had to move my office. Reason for a general inventory. Because in what I call an office, important cultural assets accumulated in gruesome quantities: books, CDs, fanzines, comics, stuffed animals… the usual stuff. “Possession encumbered.” That’s crystal clear. The quote probably comes from Buddhism. While this is a religion that strikes me as particularly suspicious, I still agree. I can feel it myself. But who wants to live like Marie Kondo?
Nevertheless, some things in my office have to go. The mucking out was preceded by a mentally stressful, week-long brooding process. Why am I collecting? Why is it difficult for me to part with what I have collected? I came to the conclusion that it was the task of highly qualified psychoanalysts to fathom this. But time was running out, I had to go through the matter now. First the books: Oha! First get rid of everything that is superfluous. It’s not that difficult for me. Sometimes it is even a pleasure to throw something away. How did this annoying Precht book get into our household? Away with it! Dürrenmatt, Diederichsen and Djian: None of that means anything to me. Comics? Here, too, I found a radical and very good solution. Greetings to Fiona from the Frau Lehmann group.
I tell myself that anything non-digital should be left for future civilizations to explore
I leave the vinyl records untouched. They are actually completely superfluous. But somehow I tell myself that anything non-digital (including tapes!) should be left for future civilizations to explore. Besides, they’re just beautiful. But what do I do with the CDs? In order to save space, a few years ago, in a strange inconsistency, I got rid of the stupid plastic CD trays and then neatly repacked the cover, inlay and CD in transparent film. I thought I couldn’t do without the booklets. It could be any day that I get the urge to read the liner notes of my Neurotic Arseholes CD (DON’T GIVE UP! – THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS 1979 TO 1985). Besides, I have no desire to throw this cultural asset down the throats of questionable resellers.
The CDs still take up a lot of space in the digipacks. Since the introduction, I found these cases almost even less attractive than the jewel cases. I still remember the release of our Tocotronic debut album. Originally it was only supposed to be released as a CD. To the surprise of our record company, we insisted on not using a digipack but a standard jewel case. “Preferably with a gray tray, it looks pretty shabby,” said Arne.
“Who says music won’t disappear from the internet again!”
It’s crazy how quickly CDs, DVDs and all that crap has become obsolete. For a moment I toy with the idea of just throwing everything away. But I’m still arguing: It’s really not the case that everything is available on the streaming services. While I was in the middle of moving, I recorded a Reflex episode with Hendrik Otremba from the band Messer. Frightened, he advised me not to dispose of CDs. “Who says music won’t disappear from the internet again!” he said with a restless look.
He is right. After all, the leading streaming service comes from Sweden, a country that has not created any pop music worth mentioning apart from the Brainbombs and MOB 47. Even out of pure revenge, they could eventually shut down the servers. Or the things are not online anyway. For example, the CD-EP “Lämmöllä” by the Finnish Karkkiautomaatti, which I got my hands on in those days. The band stayed with me after a concert at the Golden Pudel Club. The gentle Finns were freezing in my apartment, although other people have accused me of living in sauna temperatures. Of course I turned the heating up even more for her. I would never get rid of this CD in my life. Even if I never hear them.
Other albums are worth preserving simply because they seem strange today
Another example is Schnuckenack Reinhardt: I do have the Heidelberg jazz musician’s album on vinyl. But only a brute would give away a Reinhardt CD! Other albums are worth preserving simply because they seem strange today. Like MELLON COLIE & THE INFINITE SADNESS by the Smashing Pumpkins. It’s absurd that this cheesy bombast double album came out as a tiny double CD. Nowadays, that would at least be placed on the market as an XXL gold brocade box set with a limited edition Armand Marseille doll.
By the way, I secretly loved listening to the album back then. IT IS MIDNIGHT, JOHN by Dieter Tomas Heck, bizarre! Royal Trucks, the coolest band ever! The Cure Deluxe editions! Heresy: VOICE OF FEAR – 48 songs on two CDs! I’ll save you from the Rebuy and Momox 15 cent vultures.
Regarding Jan Müller’s “Reflector” podcast: www.steadyhq.com/en/reflector
Jan Müller from Tocotronic meets interesting musicians for his “Reflector” podcast. He reports on these encounters in the Musikexpress and on Musikexpress.de. This column first appeared in the Musikexpress issue 06/2023.