I find that a lot of pop tunes lose their charm for me by the time I've learned them. Some of that is surely that the production sounds interesting, but the songs don't often stand up to a more naked folkish rendition. Or maybe I just kill them in the process. Sometimes the lyrics turn out to be silly or tainted, for me. And all the marketing imagery and stuff tends to be an embarrassing association with the songs.

   I still use old complicated art rock stuff as a benchmark for technical progress, though it doesn't do much else for me. It's easy to read since I know the tunes, it's published a lot in guitar magazines, and is better exercise than running scales, I guess.

   I really wish I could get obsessive about something generally, could commit bigger than the odds and ends I like of this and that, but it doesn't seem to happen anymore. Being ecclectic is a cumbersome undertaking.