I saved some of my favorite cds and I have an external cd drive for my computer, but will these things ever become central to my life again? If we lost access to streaming content I think I might lean towards vinyl for keeping music in my life, although I don’t have a record player anymore. CDs always felt ephemeral.
The first cd I ever bought was Robyn is Here (1995) by the eponymous Robyn. It was weird when she got suddenly cool again in 2010. Other middle school favorites were Destiny’s Child, Brandy, Monica. Les Miserables and The Secret Garden Original Cast Recording.
In high school a boy on the bus gave me a copy of Tori Amos’s Little Earthquakes, and I started ripping copies of CDs from the library: OK Computer, Charlie Bird, Miles Davis.
I’m a little too old for mixtapes but I have been given some wonderful mix cds in my day. Each one a collage of memories and desires. Brown-Eyed Girl, This Must Be the Place, Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne.
I would not microwave any of these treasures.