There are days when I wonder why music stores are not around. And then I find a playlist of Jenkees’ music and I sorta kinda know. It is not because we could not have the exact same discovery experience and kept the stores, but simply because Blogger, YouTube and even Spotify look the way they do - the people in power want things this way and no other way. Me, personally, could have found a way for record stores to be cool and hip despite the cyber assault on the music industry. In fact, the very term I used assault is derived from the RIAA warfare on our tech culture and is the exact opposite of how things should have evolved: record stores and streaming and downloading are all complimentary. There are days when I still listen to CDs and I still have my walkman, it’s a different experience that MP3s can not replace adequately. Flipping the CD booklet is not the same as flipping through a PDF. Never will be. I can only enjoy digital media when there is power and equipment works - but in a zombie apocalypse the booklet is at least a fun thing to enjoy with others. I know end of world isn’t exactly the ideal scenario to prove my point and yet it is. Music is about life.
Jenkees is one of those artists I am truly thankful for having discovered. He’s not like U2, or Madonna, in that without the Internet I never in my life would have heard Hotel MIDI or 103.5. Maybe in another world where this type of music is big, modern and played in clubs, but that’s not our reality and never will be. Ronald’s music is not what people go to giant concerts to rave to, although I think they should. If I were given a choice between any hit of Drake’s and Clutter, I know I’d be totally into disorganized fun y’know? Even having almost no lyrics the songs of most albums like Alphanumeric totally stand out from the crowded music realm. The sounds may not be that unique, if one listens to a ton of EDM and Electronica, but that’s not the point! The tunes are fun, genuinely fun, to listen to. They have no pretentiousness, are simple and melodies are at times quite epic, giving that backbone shiver merely from a knobbified synth’s repetition of the same note 10 times in a row. The best part of this music is that it sounds as if a kid who absolutely loves to dance in a DAW wrote it and further more it’s empowering as it sounds like something any of us could have written if we were so inclined. It is masterfully crafted as per my ears, which aren’t those of a master composer, but I feel like even if I wasn’t a musician, I would be inspired to try my hand at it. Like seeing a kid juggling a soccer ball and thinking - I have a few spare hours, too!
But being as poor as I am, for my birthday I am deciding between a twenty dollar disc and a twenty dollar t-shirt. I can not afford both and had to save for a few years just to make this decision. Do I have the Super Fun with a disc or a shirt? A disc would almost always be the image and sound of Jenkees at my side. I would always have an offline, physical backup of his work despite having the digital copy. But something feels like it would be missing. I already have his music. And the feels are in my heart and forever will be. So even if the world ends I think a disc for me is the wrong choice. But a shirt? I could wear it while playing soccer. I could wear it to the beach. I could make a YouTube video with it! It would be the key to fun with or without the music being present. Anyone who looks at me or takes a photo would be infected by just a tad, wouldn’t they? It would be a great conversation starter. Rarely do people ask me “What are you listening to?” while I’m jogging. In fact, never has it happened. But a t-shirt can spread information without so much as a single moment’s worth of interaction. Just the name JENKEES on my chest, why it would give me a feeling more powerful than having the biggoted word “SWAT” or “POLICE” or similarly abusive and powerful terms. I would feel out of this world happy wearing that smooth black and white shirt design, perhaps I might even begin to fly. I can just see it now. I drape my skimpy body in some keys of Jenkees, put on The Rocky Song Remixed and jog to the steps at the CN Tower in Toronto and at the top I raise both of my hands and do the Rocky bounce-dance thing on the train GO/Via bridge! It would be such a funny feeling of happyness that the $13 shipping fee which seems exorbitant now seems fitting. This dream I will live. Thank you Jenkees!
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