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MARY H. K. CHOI

AMPED UP

How I learned to stop smoking and love electronic dance music.

            It began as an experiment, though the dangers of dabbling seem obvious in hindsight. I thought myself impervious, but the joke’s on me. Because guess what? I love electronic dance music. Dead serious. I Slowly- it was so subtle I didn’t even notice at first-my responses to stimuli got remapped. Now I’m betrayed by a conditioned effection for fly-swarm sounds, jarring bass lines, and whistle bleats. I crave BPMs beloved by the sweaty orange fist-pumping douches for whom the rave scene in The Matrix Reloaded  is paradise. If I were Homer Simpson, I’d hear my brain leaving my head and slamming the door behind it. I didn’t start listening to robo tunes for asshats because I liked them. What happened was, I quit smoking so I could start jogging, and I quickly learned that only a particular sub-genre of EDM called dubtsep could irritate me sufficiently to incite explosive forward propulsion. Only hate-listening could make merage-run. And I didn’t want to spoilmusic I already like by Clockwork Oranging it into my oxygen-starved brain.

            What came next humiliating to admit. My neglected muscles and heretofore purely ornamental bronchial cilia began mending. As my endurance increased, I can only assume that endorphins flooded my limbic system and prefrontal lobes, which then stupidly scrambled my runners high and escalating self-worth with crashing mushromm-cloud wobbles. Suddenly I had positive associations with Skrillex, in whom I used to see merit only as a hasty but effective Halloween costume. But no I felt nothing but gratitude for this specific musical subgenre, which I’ve since learned is referred to as brostep. Gross.

            I’m not a music snob by any stretch. I like what most people my age like-the stuff they loved when they were younger. In my case that’s pop, R&B, and rap from the ‘90s. For example. I like Kendrick Lamar because he slots nicely into the “Devin the Dude and OutKast circa when they were exciting” file. But as my run times improved and I needed new music to add to my oh so innocuously titled running mix, I began looking for a new fix. I started checking oracular music-genome algorithms and streaming sites for associated acts. And that’s where I finally confronted the awful truth : I know have bad taste in music.

Difficult Word

Dabbling : berkecimpung

Hindsight : belakang

Subtle :  halus

Stimuli : stimuli

Remapped : memetakan kembali

Betrayed : dikhianati

Effection : kasih sayang

Douches : pancuran