ESSENTIALS 1
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1 Your iPhone is way too valuable to risk drenching, but it’s also the lifeline to your mobile music collection. The iShower Wireless Speaker shower is just what you’ve been waiting for, if you love singing in the shower. A Bluetooth connection to your mp3 player is all you need. ishowerinc.com 2 The key to the Death Star ice mold is to use it sparingly—after all, there’s only one Death Star, so you definitely don’t need more than one per glass. That said: if you do find a Death Star in your drink, you will know conclusively
NOOK OF REVELATIONS
that you are among friends. thinkgeek.com 3 Probably even more essential than My Cool Campervan is an actual campervan... but you can use this book to peruse your dream vehicles and pick your favorite. They’re all totally beautiful, and many of them are completely unique, handcrafted labors of love. Most of the models are British, so you’ve probably never seen them before. Whether you’re in a touring band or you’d love to just up stakes and follow your favorite band around the country, this book provides the fodder. Left Bank Books.
A chronicle of musical encounters by Thomas Crone
Jackin’ for Beats at the Public Library In my stacks of childhood detritus is a reading club card from the summer of 1976. Sure did crunch though a lot of books in those days! All of them were complement of the Carpenter Branch of the St. Louis Public Library. Having left the neighborhood, only to return, it feels just a little bit strange that the location’s still my local outlet for book loans, nearly four decades on. And while books are still at the center of the activities taking place there, they’re far from the only attractions bringing bodies through the door. Now, as then, the Carpenter serves as a spill zone for my old haunt, the nearby Fanning Middle School. At the end of the school day, up to a few dozen students drift east down McDonald and a few yards north on Grand, setting up shop throughout the expansive branch. They’re hanging out in the youth section, sure, but also dominate the computer lab, where youthful Somali immigrants play online Tetris, Facebook their relatives in Maine, and sometimes do some schoolwork, too. Of course, my own library consumption’s not exactly proving a dedication to the written word. About a half-dozen years back, my constant glances at the large CD racks bore an amazing thought: those CDs weren’t just there for show; you could take them home. And at the clip of twenty at a
time! Having just secured a laptop in return for a long-running freelance gig, I greedily snapped up everything even remotely interesting, padding my collection with downloads of acts that were on periphery of my knowledge or interest bases. If my iPod’s got a good stash of never-listened-to Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse and the Decemberists, I thank the St. Louis Public Library for those
Those CDs weren’t just for show; you could take them home. And at a clip of twenty at a time! unloved cuts. But with a bit of thought, the library’s a great place to make a splash into music forms that you don’t know, or don’t know well. A few years back, as already discussed in the Nook, I tried to dent the world of reggae and the stacks of the SLPL were my best friends that year. I gobbled up Trojan samplers and individual artists, too, with the kind of religious zeal that new collectors bring to any hobby. I then downloaded them and played them spar-
ingly, completing the burnout cycle of many newly converted zealots. In time, I learned that not all CD sections are created equally. The Carpenter Branch was a great starting point; the fact that the location is staffed by a variety of local musicians and super-fans has to be reflected in the rock-solid selection there. But other branches are strong, too, especially the Buder on Hampton and the Schlafly in the Central West End. In time, I’ll find my way to some of the refurbished branches, too, weighing myself down with another twenty selections at a clip. If a free service can have downsides, I can potentially see three options here. One is that your media library can get overwhelmed with things that never, ever get play; I know I once wanted to check out Opeth and Lamb of God for some reason, but what was it? And the fines, if you run late on a return, pile up quickly. Lastly, the disc quality is often poor; once I attempted to listen to a skritched copy of Morrissey’s Years of Refusal, within the year of its release. Flipping the disc, it looked as if it had been toyed with by a raptor in those intervening months. Sigh. Music thievin’ ain’t always easy, even when the sounds are just a few blocks and a couple scans away.
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