[kid cue]

it doesn't have anything to do with download vs. buy. i think it's depressing because it's about this age of information overload, and pouncing on leak after leak comes across like trying to scramble to the top of an ever-rising waterfall. i don't often download albums, except at the end of the year, when i'm playing 'catch up', and still i never succeed in catching up. and i know i'll never buy everything i download, even if my intentions are good. and the whole process of placing albums in a download queue, deciding to accept/reject, and then moving on has the uncomfortable ring of data processing. it seems very utilitarian or something, in contrast to how it used to work, where you were faced with these one or two albums you'd bought, and had to feel your way into some kind of relationship.

i'm not against digital by any means, i'm ultimately all for it, but there has to be a happier medium IMO.

it seems like for everything we turn our attentions to, we have to willfully turn away from something else. it's always been this way, but the feeling has never been more visceral.