Hey, I just discovered...
 

Dear Abby,

My brother has this terrible knack for writing me e-mails about bands and albums he's just discovered. I don't mind this when they're bands and albums I've never heard of. But mostly they're not. And worst of all, in nine out of ten cases, they're bands and albums I've already told him about! This is not only irritating but makes me feel like my opinions about music matter not at all to my brother. Most recently, he wrote me an enthusiastic e-mail about a band called Melvins and their Gluey Porch Treatment LP which he found in a used record store. Had I ever heard of the band and the album, he asked.

Now, Abby, I distinctly remember raving to him about this album when I bought it in 1992, telling him all about how Kurt Cobain was influenced by the Melvins, their connection to the Seattle scene, and so on. In his e-mail, he raved to me about the album and did I know that Kurt Cobain was influenced by the Melvins and were connected to the Seattle scene, and so on.

Abby, I love my brother. He and I have very similar tastes in music, and I enjoy talking to him about the things we like listening to. But this keeps happening. Any advice?

Yeah, that's too bad, considering he's ten years younger than I am.

I think I could forgive someone not remembering a record i recommended over 15 years ago.

Once in a while us record nerds need to realize that there's another kind of person out there, the non-record nerd. Most folks just listen to a favorite radio station, and it's good enough for them. Weird, eh?

I guess thats why we seek each other out on messageboards.

My brother has a very annoying habit of doing this to me as well, only it's with bands that suck. I'll tell him that a band sucks, then a few months later he comes home wearing one of their t-shirts.

What's weird is that I was one of those kids. I used to raid my brother's CD/tape collection back in the mid to late ninties (I was like thirteen). But now I've surpassed him which is pretty surreal. I'm the one telling him about bands. I turned him on to Yo La Tengo! The guy that I discovered Sonic Youth from!

Y'all should consider youselves lucky... my brother owns about ten CDs and the ones I remember are Powerman 5000 and the Black Hawk Down soundtrack.