lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I dug this as well, but it kinda sucks that almost every song is under 2 minutes long. That's fine with a band doing fast-paced stuff like The Misfits but these could have used some more time to enjoy them.
Random Music Talk CXXIX: Gump attends a concert
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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I dug this as well, but it kinda sucks that almost every song is under 2 minutes long. That's fine with a band doing fast-paced stuff like The Misfits but these could have used some more time to enjoy them.
Lancemc
Blue Crack Addict
cobl04
45:33
I had this horrendously confused. I was talking about Japanese Breakfast - the music on that record is exceptional. Japanese Wallpaper is another artist.
Also want to say that I just love this song:
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
This one hit me hard. And he was still working on a new show. There was a read through recently so hopefully it was close to being finished.
I'll be rewatching my DVD of Sunday in the Park with George this week.
This is the best piece I've read all weekend:
The Measureless, Omnipresent Influence of Stephen Sondheim: Children will listen.
cobl04
45:33
Ok, I've kind of asked this before, but I'd really love as many people's opinions as possible.
How do you listen to music? How do you keep up with new releases? How do you give new records the proper attention? How do you revisit records you love? How do you do it all whilst maintaining connection to music?
The reason I ask is in recent years I've really struggled to find one satisfactory way to consume music. My life is busier than ever now, and though I've never been a big podcast listener, I do listen to podcasts more now, particularly when doing chores or cooking dinner.
What I want is to be able to listen to great new records when they come out and assess whether they're worth buying and adding to my collection, without it becoming an overwhelming chore. I keep a list of records I want to listen to, but it's quite long - I've currently got 17 albums from 2021 on my 'to listen to' list, in addition to the 50+ older albums on that same list.
The problem with this is that I'm always adding to it, and it can sap my enjoyment for listening to new music, something I generally find a lot of enjoyment in, because it begins to feel like a chore. I even sometimes struggle to listen to a record and make an assessment on whether I like it enough to add it to my library. Sometimes a record takes a few listens, sometimes I know I love it straight away.
I have traditionally loved writing up end-of-year blog posts for the albums I loved in any given year, but I've stopped doing that sadly, for a few reasons... I'm busier, no one gives a shit what I think and barely anyone reads it and engages with it in depth, making all the hours I sink into it a bit of a waste of time.
Sometimes I'll really dig an album that's come out during the year and be like yeah! This rules! But after a few listens, it ends up never being listened to again, just because there's so much fucking music and you can't listen to it all, all the time. Lianne La Havas' record is one that comes to mind from last year - I really enjoyed that album, had it in my top 10 for the year, but don't think I've listened to it or thought about it for like 10 months, and may not ever play it again.
Another thing that then happens is I feel like I lose a bit of connection to music overall, because I tend to prioritise listening to records that have come out during the year over records that I already know and love. And music, which is the single most important thing in my life outside of my relationship, becomes less of a priority.
And that makes me sad. Like, part of me wants to just listen to all the old records I know and love over and over depending on my mood, but then another part of me gets anxious about missing out on great new stuff.
Do I, after all these years, let go of my obsession with listening to new records that have come out during the year? Do I just start falling love with records I know and love again? Do I stop reading review sites and trying to cram in listens of new albums with great reviews? I know that I can't consume music how LM does, because I just don't have the time, or the brain to be able to be assessing music all the time whilst going about my life. Or maybe I do just play heaps of shit all the time, and if something doesn't really stick out to me, I move on.
I don't know the answer, and this causes me more stress than it should. It doesn't make me mentally ill or anything, but it does cause me a fair bit of consternation, stress and anxiety.
Would really appreciate any and all points of view.
How do you listen to music? How do you keep up with new releases? How do you give new records the proper attention? How do you revisit records you love? How do you do it all whilst maintaining connection to music?
The reason I ask is in recent years I've really struggled to find one satisfactory way to consume music. My life is busier than ever now, and though I've never been a big podcast listener, I do listen to podcasts more now, particularly when doing chores or cooking dinner.
What I want is to be able to listen to great new records when they come out and assess whether they're worth buying and adding to my collection, without it becoming an overwhelming chore. I keep a list of records I want to listen to, but it's quite long - I've currently got 17 albums from 2021 on my 'to listen to' list, in addition to the 50+ older albums on that same list.
The problem with this is that I'm always adding to it, and it can sap my enjoyment for listening to new music, something I generally find a lot of enjoyment in, because it begins to feel like a chore. I even sometimes struggle to listen to a record and make an assessment on whether I like it enough to add it to my library. Sometimes a record takes a few listens, sometimes I know I love it straight away.
I have traditionally loved writing up end-of-year blog posts for the albums I loved in any given year, but I've stopped doing that sadly, for a few reasons... I'm busier, no one gives a shit what I think and barely anyone reads it and engages with it in depth, making all the hours I sink into it a bit of a waste of time.
Sometimes I'll really dig an album that's come out during the year and be like yeah! This rules! But after a few listens, it ends up never being listened to again, just because there's so much fucking music and you can't listen to it all, all the time. Lianne La Havas' record is one that comes to mind from last year - I really enjoyed that album, had it in my top 10 for the year, but don't think I've listened to it or thought about it for like 10 months, and may not ever play it again.
Another thing that then happens is I feel like I lose a bit of connection to music overall, because I tend to prioritise listening to records that have come out during the year over records that I already know and love. And music, which is the single most important thing in my life outside of my relationship, becomes less of a priority.
And that makes me sad. Like, part of me wants to just listen to all the old records I know and love over and over depending on my mood, but then another part of me gets anxious about missing out on great new stuff.
Do I, after all these years, let go of my obsession with listening to new records that have come out during the year? Do I just start falling love with records I know and love again? Do I stop reading review sites and trying to cram in listens of new albums with great reviews? I know that I can't consume music how LM does, because I just don't have the time, or the brain to be able to be assessing music all the time whilst going about my life. Or maybe I do just play heaps of shit all the time, and if something doesn't really stick out to me, I move on.
I don't know the answer, and this causes me more stress than it should. It doesn't make me mentally ill or anything, but it does cause me a fair bit of consternation, stress and anxiety.
Would really appreciate any and all points of view.
cobl04
45:33
Something I'll add, too, is I really like playlists. A friend of mine was able to introduce me to some great songs via a playlist and it was awesome, because I didn't have the huge album focus - I might hear a song and be like "that's great", go listen to the album and then find that the rest of it may or not be for me, but I've then got at least one great song.
Two recent examples that really stand out are "Magician's Success" by Vanishing Twin and "I'll Take Care of You" from Makaya McCraven's remix of Gil Scott-Heron's last record. Both songs I absolutely adore... I listened to both albums and neither struck my interest enough to listen to them ever again, but those songs I'll love forever.
So maybe part of my issue is I'm SO album-focused and maybe that is the obsession that I could loosen my grip on.
Two recent examples that really stand out are "Magician's Success" by Vanishing Twin and "I'll Take Care of You" from Makaya McCraven's remix of Gil Scott-Heron's last record. Both songs I absolutely adore... I listened to both albums and neither struck my interest enough to listen to them ever again, but those songs I'll love forever.
So maybe part of my issue is I'm SO album-focused and maybe that is the obsession that I could loosen my grip on.
OP
OP
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
I sympathize a lot with pretty much everything you wrote. The accessibility of music online is both a blessing and a curse. Like you, intensive familiarity with a record rarely happens for me anymore; I've listened to my favorite album from this year (Cave & Ellis' Carnage) all the way through maybe three times. Part of that is a backlog of things I want to check out, and part of it is fewer opportunities to sit down and listen to a record for its own sake. A great deal of my listening takes place while I am working on grading, lesson planning, etc, which probably is a contributing factor to my tastes shifting toward moody, ambient, lo-fi stuff over the last few years: it works in the context I am listening to it in, where I have to be able to focus.
I have gradually narrowed the circle of places I find new music to a few trusted sources. I'm finding myself less and less able to stomach online music culture, which is more judgmental and self-congratulatory by the day. I have basically no patience anymore for the idea that what you like or don't like, or even how you listen to it, is some indicator of your intelligence or political sophistication. In some extreme cases, that may be true, but generally it is total bullshit. Ranking things and critiquing people's tastes doesn't seem like a good use of anyone's time.
That is a big part of why I stick around on Interference despite not feeling drawn to U2 anymore: the little community here actually knows each other and can make recommendations that work. If someone recommends something to me personally, I will absolutely check it out. And it's nice to have the vibe of "hey, I think you'll like this" rather than the bombastic hot takes that dominate music journalism.
Another place that has been reliable for me is Sirius XMU's weekly countdown of new indie songs; they barely put any of them in rotation, but pretty much every week has a gem to check out. And this might seem contradictory to some of the things I just said, but I also like Fantano; I have found a lot of obscure shit through his recommendations.
I have gradually narrowed the circle of places I find new music to a few trusted sources. I'm finding myself less and less able to stomach online music culture, which is more judgmental and self-congratulatory by the day. I have basically no patience anymore for the idea that what you like or don't like, or even how you listen to it, is some indicator of your intelligence or political sophistication. In some extreme cases, that may be true, but generally it is total bullshit. Ranking things and critiquing people's tastes doesn't seem like a good use of anyone's time.
That is a big part of why I stick around on Interference despite not feeling drawn to U2 anymore: the little community here actually knows each other and can make recommendations that work. If someone recommends something to me personally, I will absolutely check it out. And it's nice to have the vibe of "hey, I think you'll like this" rather than the bombastic hot takes that dominate music journalism.
Another place that has been reliable for me is Sirius XMU's weekly countdown of new indie songs; they barely put any of them in rotation, but pretty much every week has a gem to check out. And this might seem contradictory to some of the things I just said, but I also like Fantano; I have found a lot of obscure shit through his recommendations.
ferball415
Acrobat
Whoa, background story?
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I approach music listening somewhat systematically because, if I didn't, my music cataloging would be absolute chaos and I would forget about 3/4ths of what I listen to in a given year, let alone remember what I thought about it.
Typically the process goes:
1. RateYourMusic charts, Metacritic, Pitchfork, Fantano and occasionally Interference help me settle on an informal list of albums to check out.
2. I listen to albums with Spotify more often than not but also have my Bandcamp pickups. In a calendar year, I average 5 new albums from that year per week, amounting to 250-260 total. This was a slow year because I started working from the office but will still probably hit 250. I just make time during my commute, lunch break, on walks, etc. and it works out.
3. My RateYourMusic account carries a lot of the weight in terms of capturing my feelings about albums. Those ratings are then translated into a rough rankings list. That list gets tiered into a section for relistens that I make special time for in November and December.
4. I make a final list of 15 albums for Interference and a final list of 50 albums for RYM that includes writeups for each. By then, I will have relistened to everything multiple times.
Typically the process goes:
1. RateYourMusic charts, Metacritic, Pitchfork, Fantano and occasionally Interference help me settle on an informal list of albums to check out.
2. I listen to albums with Spotify more often than not but also have my Bandcamp pickups. In a calendar year, I average 5 new albums from that year per week, amounting to 250-260 total. This was a slow year because I started working from the office but will still probably hit 250. I just make time during my commute, lunch break, on walks, etc. and it works out.
3. My RateYourMusic account carries a lot of the weight in terms of capturing my feelings about albums. Those ratings are then translated into a rough rankings list. That list gets tiered into a section for relistens that I make special time for in November and December.
4. I make a final list of 15 albums for Interference and a final list of 50 albums for RYM that includes writeups for each. By then, I will have relistened to everything multiple times.
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Yeah, all of this. I still rely on RYM (this year more than in the past) and Pitchfork to sift through the mountains of new music that come in. But I’ll absolutely put something that people recommend here on top of my list, and usually that’s where my best discoveries come from. The Weather Statjon and Cassandra Jenkins were my two favorite albums this year and I found them through recommendations by LM.
The new vs old stuff is tough. That’s why I like having vinyl - my cherished records are in physical media and I’ll make room to listen to them regularly.
This year was interesting for me in that I listened to more Brazilian music than anytime in the last 20 years. Or ever, really. I’m currently in Brazil and trying to hit some record stores here to expand my physical collection a bit more.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Wow, I had not really ever tried Rate Your Music, but I think I'm going to. Happy to see that they have Hard Rock/Metal genres and it's not just the Pitchfork/Indie stuff that I'm not really into. 
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Oh, they absolutely love metal over at RYM. I have to filter it out if I'm not in the mood for the genre because it takes up so much of the new year charts.
I'm glad I could put my Interference friends on to some good music this year. That's the 4th most important thing we do here, behind making fun of Bono's weight, spamming song title parodies and telling the world what we're smelling right now.
I'm glad I could put my Interference friends on to some good music this year. That's the 4th most important thing we do here, behind making fun of Bono's weight, spamming song title parodies and telling the world what we're smelling right now.
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OP
OP
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
Yeah the yearly ratings at RYM always have a few metal albums in the top 10.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
Nice! That’s great because it’s really hard to find new metal albums on Apple Music because they always tend to recommend albums from older metal artists.
bono_212
Blue Crack Distributor
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
The new Iron Maiden is really good tho
bono_212
Blue Crack Distributor
As if I didn't already love them:
[TWEET]1466826693415297029[/TWEET]
For all who wanted an updated/Indie Hanukkah song.
[TWEET]1466826693415297029[/TWEET]
For all who wanted an updated/Indie Hanukkah song.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Amazing.
MrPryck2U
ONE love, blood, life
I watched Jagged last night about Alanis Morrissette and the making of her album Jagged Little Pill. Good stuff! That album kicked fucking ass! Perfect is my favorite track, but of course, You Oughta Know, is the fucking shit as well! Lots of 5 Star tracks on JLP. Anyone else catch Jagged?
Moonlit_Angel
Blue Crack Addict
I have that saved on my DVR, have yet to get a moment to sit down and watch it. I'm very intrigued about it.
I really liked "Perfect", too. "Head Over Feet" is another favorite of mine from that album. I should listen to it again, it's been so long...
MrPryck2U
ONE love, blood, life
It clocks in at an hour and 37 minutes, so at least it wasn't long. Lol! I learned a lot about Alanis as well as the band that backed her for the tour that followed.
She went through a lot of shit before she became a "superstar".
cobl04
45:33
Couldn't be happier. It is an absolute masterpiece, comfortably my favourite song of the year.
HeartlandGirl
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
I'm not a fan of Drake's music, but I respect him for pulling out of the Grammys. When I saw Kanye live, he went on a really long rant about how he'd won all these Grammys but never won when a white person was in the same category. I doubt most of us around here put much credence in those awards, but it's good to see artists standing up so that maybe things will change.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Drake's album was garbage anyway. Him dropping out saves us all the indignity of Way 2 Sexy potentially winning Best Rap Performance (considered only for Future's camp genius, I hope; Drake and Thugger mailed it in).
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
Hard to respect Drake when he's doing a co-headlining show with Kanye himself.
And Donda getting an Album of the Year nom is a joke and worth boycotting the show over.
And Donda getting an Album of the Year nom is a joke and worth boycotting the show over.
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
I just got Foo Fighters tickets. That’s cool.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Donda is easily the best album on that list, degeneracy aside.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
Haha that's not even close to true.
bono_212
Blue Crack Distributor
Even though I haven't and will not listen to Donda, looking at what was nominated, I'm hard-pressed to believe it isn't at least the 3rd best option. But Evermore is easily the best album nominated.
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