When is the gift of music not?

A bit of a dilemma for me came up again today in a discussion elsewhere.  A few years ago, a friend of mine gave me a vinyl copy of Cat Power's album Moon Pix. She is one of his favorite artists.   I listened to it once and thought I might jump off a tall building. It's not that the music is "bad" (I don't describe any music that way anyway). She's a fine songwriter and anyone who can make music that leaves me with feelings that strong is to be admired in some form at least. But it's just not my thing.

The point I'm trying to make here is that it's not always a great idea to give someone a record that you like when when you have no idea if the person you are giving it to is going to like it. I think the intention in doing that is generally meant to be good, but in a way that is unintentional, that's really more about the person doing the giving than it is the person receiving. I never get rid of books or records that are gifts, because I know the intent was meant to be generous. But sadly, here is a record that goes un-played that someone else might very much enjoy.