Spot for the Bearded Flannel Guy

I have asserted in the past that a good music collection is much like a good basketball team in that it can contain fringey role players, but at the core, it needs to have some all-stars. (In other words, you can't say that Vampire Weekend is a foundation of your collection any more than you could say that JJ Reddick is the man to build your team around.)

I will now assert that a music collection is like a gathering (I hate the term "party") of your friends and acquaintances. (If you are like me and have never witnessed a mighty gathering of your friends and acquaintances, then just populate your imagination.) A mighty gathering really needs to have a sad sack in the corner. You need the sad sack to just add a beautiful contrasting streak of bitterness and anger to the generally jovial proceedings around him. (The more I write this, I realize how I was the token sad sack among my friends at various dances and parties in my teenage years. This is harrowing and awesome.) You just need the one so that when people go near him and he offers a despondent comment, people just laugh, pat him on the back, and move on. Two or more sad sacks may make things a little too blue. Musically, these are the bebearded beflanneled be-acoustic guitarish type persons. You don't need more than one in the collection because they all serve the same purpose.

In my music collection, this role is amply filled by Dolorean. When people bring up Iron and Wine or Bon Iver, I kindly but firmly point out the position has been filled, so please move along.