I don't think I like music...

[Vacant Horizon]

I feel what you're saying. I have many holes in my soul and music is a local anesthetic. I would think that your avatar would have some answers. Music has been the only thing so far that has made it all worthwhile for me, but I have my doubts. There are people who live beautiful lives without ever being music snobs.

 

 

this is really getting philosphical my metaphor about souls, was really just that, a metaphor. i dont really believe in souls, just lamenting the fact that i don't get many visceral reactions to music these days. me and the kids enjoy classic rock on the radio. at the house, we can't usually stand music in addition to the din of animals and children. when i'm hanging out it's just solo guitar or jazz. i listen to my ipod about 30 minutes a day, and that's when i really listen to music and try to get into stuff, etc. life's just different now and that's okay. music is just not he same for me. leaving it alone for a while may bring some spark back:)

[junkiesmile]

this is really getting philosphical

That's what they all say. But seriously, I hear you. I've been singing songs all my life and it annoys everyone around me. There's always a song in my heart. You don't have to actively listen to music for it to be there. It's just there. The visceral experience comes when you least expect it. As jaded as we all can become, one song can make us feel like a kid again. Keep listening. Talk hard.

[brownie]

I never said I would give it up.

 

I thought that's what you meant by this:

 

Sometimes I try to be over music.

 

Sorry if I mis-/over-interpreted.

[Vacant Horizon]

That's what they all say. But seriously, I hear you. I've been singing songs all my life and it annoys everyone around me. There's always a song in my heart. You don't have to actively listen to music for it to be there. It's just there. The visceral experience comes when you least expect it. As jaded as we all can become, one song can make us feel like a kid again. Keep listening. Talk hard.

 

 

yeah, feeling like a kid again! i'm actually loving that new green day song!

[willywoody]

Vinyl has been a godsend in this world of technology overload. It requires me to sit and listen to an album or at least a side. I may surf the net or read a mag sometimes then I find myself not really enjoying what i just heard. If I put away the laptop, turn down the lights and really listen, I often find albums that I've heard tens of times or more to be so much more fulfilling and entertaining. Some albums I'll only listen to this way, such as the Fleet Foxes or Iron and Wine's Shepherd's Dog. Realy helped me get int teh latest Wilco lp, to, which I've warmed up to some by really listening to what's going on.

[Vacant Horizon]

Vinyl has been a godsend in this world of technology overload. It requires me to sit and listen to an album or at least a side. I may surf the net or read a mag sometimes then I find myself not really enjoying what i just heard. If I put away the laptop, turn down the lights and really listen, I often find albums that I've heard tens of times or more to be so much more fulfilling and entertaining. Some albums I'll only listen to this way, such as the Fleet Foxes or Iron and Wine's Shepherd's Dog. Realy helped me get int teh latest Wilco lp, to, which I've warmed up to some by really listening to what's going on.

 

 

i've thought about doing this, but i just don't have $ for it. also, as someone who is trying to own only what i need, i'm privy to digital music. that being said, i'm trying to put only a few albums on my ipod and listening to those intently as you said. we'll see if i can stick with it.

[LouieB]

is this good, or just the best there is? my sentiments exactly.

I was going to start a thread on this, because I really wanted to like this (same as I felt about Bon Iver last year), but I think this is simply the best we are going to get at this point (although I think this is better than Bon Iver....!!!) Somehow it just isn't even worth going into that deeply.

 

LouieB

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I understand pretty much all of you.

 

I went through a period not long ago where I couldn't get into anything but the box set Live Trane - The European Tours. It's all great, and by comparison, everything else sounded shallow, even silly ... I mean EVERYTHING: Wilco, the Beatles, the Stones ... EVERY THING.

 

I got out of that phase through sheer overexposure, but then I went through another period where I thought the iPod and iTunes had permanently ruined my attention span at age 44. I would listen to a song for about 65 seconds, then want to switch to something else. It doesn't help that I have over 14,000 songs on there to choose from!

 

Eventually, I've gotten back to listening to whole albums ... not constantly, but often. I'm buying CDs (mostly used), listening to them from start to finish to make sure there aren't any skips, and even playing older things in their entirety just to listen to them. Right now I'm playing all of Bowie's Low album on my iMac, an album I hadn't listened to in its entirety for years. And really enjoying it!

 

Things change, people change, tastes change ... hell, my response to some things I used to like changes. Maybe I don't like it as much, but maybe I like it more. Not to get too philosophical about it, but all of life is change, and that's okay.

[tongue-tied]

I may be interpreting it from a wrong angle, but "is this actually good or the best available today" strikes me as an unhealthy way to approach or assess music. It implies some invisible standard that all records are compared to, which strikes me as unfair and inherently disappointing because music and record-making is gloriously all over the map. It conjures a world where the 1 to 10 scale actually works, and not only does it work, but music isn't as good as it was in 19 something something so we have inflation at work too! I'm not accusing anyone of actually saying or implying these things, I'm just trying to articulate what puts me off about the sentiment.

 

Anyway:

 

My suggestion for anyone in a malaise with records: stop listening to them and go to a show. Preferably a show where you don't have expectations- local, smalltime bands, someone you've never heard. Forget perfectionism and enjoy yourself. Hearing music performed always bumps up my appreciation for music in general, every time, which refreshes my ears for recorded music.

[LouieB]

I may be interpreting it from a wrong angle, but "is this actually good or the best available today" strikes me as an unhealthy way to approach or assess music. It implies some invisible standard that all records are compared to, which strikes me as unfair and inherently disappointing because music and record-making is gloriously all over the map. It conjures a world where the 1 to 10 scale actually works, and not only does it work, but music isn't as good as it was in 19 something something so we have inflation at work too! I'm not accusing anyone of actually saying or implying these things, I'm just trying to articulate what puts me off about the sentiment.

 

Anyway:

 

My suggestion for anyone in a malaise with records: stop listening to them and go to a show. Preferably a show where you don't have expectations- local, smalltime bands, someone you've never heard. Forget perfectionism and enjoy yourself. Hearing music performed always bumps up my appreciation for music in general, every time, which refreshes my ears for recorded music.

Since some of this is about my commment let's go to point two first and then back to point one. I have gotten to the point where I only like to go see local and smalltime bands since it is easier to deal with the audience and expectations are somewhat lower and these type of groups desperately need support. These groups were hit hard by rising gas prices, lower record sales, and the stiff competition that is always part of the music biz.

 

As to the first part, I have been ripped on this before here and time is finally bearing out some of my sentiment. Getting overly excited about the next big thing is fine within limits. How many buzz bands (my daughter and I still joke about the VC buzz bands) have completely dropped off the radar and into the used bins? St. Vincent is only one instance. I checked her out (as I checked out Bon Iver) so as not to be labeled the grumpy old guy (can't get around that I guess) and found her pleasent but unworthy of the adulation given. Anyone listened to the Pernice Brothers lately? That was the buzz when I got here a few years back. They seem to have dropped off the map. Music is ephermeral by its very nature. Only time will tell what is really worth listening to years from now and what is the ear candy of the moment (nothing wrong with that however, it keeps musicians working). With so much to choose from and so little universally agreed upon (due to the decline in radio fare), personal preference is going to be the sole determiner of taste from here on out. Mr. Heartbreak talks about listening to Bowie's Low, an album that has stood the test of time. This is why, just like him, I so rarely buy new CDs or LPs because the stuff that was good last year or last decade or half a century ago is now easy to find in the dustpile of history (or available for download or reissue).

 

LouieB

[brownie]

Anyone listened to the Pernice Brothers lately? That was the buzz when I got here a few years back. They seem to have dropped off the map.

 

Joe Pernice just released a new album a few weeks ago.

 

The problem with The Pernice Brothers (IMHO) is that Joe Pernice has been making the same album over and over for 10 years now. I loved Overcome By Happiness - it was like a breath of fresh air and totally different. But every Pernice album sounds exactly the same. It's hard to maintain excitement over someone who keeps doing the same thing over and over.

 

I agree with you that it takes many years to see who will stand the test of time and who will be influential on new artists.

 

I haven't heard St Vincent, but I do know Bon Iver's For Emma Forever Ago album. I listened to it nonstop for about a week and really liked it at the time, but haven't gone back to it.

 

I can't say I've ever "wanted" to like an album. I'm always curious to hear new stuff, and if lots of people are talking about it, perhaps I'm even more curious, but I don't necessarily go into it "wanting" to like it.

 

And if I look back through my record/tape/CD collection, there have ALWAYS been buzz bands who disappear off the map. For every wonderful, classic album I have, I probably have two others that, while still wonderful, are by artists who have long since dropped off the map. I don't think this phenomenon is anything new. What is new is the overload of exposure to music that wasn't really possible years ago.

[LouieB]

I can't say I've ever "wanted" to like an album. I'm always curious to hear new stuff, and if lots of people are talking about it, perhaps I'm even more curious, but I don't necessarily go into it "wanting" to like it.

 

And if I look back through my record/tape/CD collection, there have ALWAYS been buzz bands who disappear off the map. For every wonderful, classic album I have, I probably have two others that, while still wonderful, are by artists who have long since dropped off the map. I don't think this phenomenon is anything new. What is new is the overload of exposure to music that wasn't really possible years ago.

Number 2 first again. I was going to start a thread a few years back talking about all the records I own by people NO ONE is interested in, talking about, or listening to anymore. I have tons of them. (Hell just look at who died this week that no one wants to talk about...!!) That is the nature of the music biz, agreed. Someday I will actually write that thread, but frankly with the number or albums I have, it is simply too much work. It would take several threads actually.

 

First point, I don't believe this for a minute. Most people do approach new music with the intention of either liking it (in the case of someone they are a fan of or someone they think they should be a fan of). That is the nature of fandom after all. My goodness we spend tons of time on this board disecting the newest Wilco song/album or any number of new albums by others that people (including myself quite frankly) make snap judgements about. That is totally natural. (I can never actually think that Bright Eyes is going to do a good album, even though I have heard his most recent one and have to admit it is pretty good.) Most people (maybe not you since I don't know you) approach anything new with preconcieved notions, attitudes, opinions, etc and that colors their reaction, if it didn't we wouldn't be human, we would be some sort of robot. I suppose in the case of Bon Iver I was a bit turned off by the hype and then I listened to the thing and the guy's voice, slack song structure, out of tune guitar, over dubbing, and a few other things I simply couldn't get over. Had this been someone I really liked and knew something about I might have forgiven all those things, but under the circumstances I gave the thing a few listens and now it sits on the shelf. St. Vincent I had heard on a compilation I had, bought the hype, dug her pic on the cover, listened a few times and just thought "meh"; not bad, just not all THAT thrilling. (Heck this being a Wilco board I have not yet expressed an opinion about W(TA) because I know the band reads this stuff, but at this stage I do think SBS is a better album. But there is no way I am not going to ultimately not like it because after all it IS Wilco.)

 

LouieB

[brownie]

Okay, I think I worded my post somewhat incorrectly and you got the wrong impression.

 

Yes, for sure I approach new music by artists I am already of a fan of by wanting to like it...and I definitely give it much more of a chance than someone I've never heard (or heard of) before.

 

But if it is an artist that is totally new to me? Even if there is hype, I swear to god I don't go into it wanting to like it. I really don't have any expectations whatsoever, I just want to hear it. Actually, some of my best discoveries have come from hearing something new without the hype, by stumbling upon it.

 

Joe Pernice springs to mind. I heard Crestfallen on a compilation CD that came with a magazine...I had no idea who he was, but that song hit me like an arrow. Calexico is another. I heard Minas de Cobre on a similar compilation CD and I went "What IS this?!!!?"....that was over ten years ago and now they're my favorite band. I had never heard a word about them. There are others I've discovered this way (Joseph Arthur springs to mind)....

 

 

So, um, there really are people out there who don't let the hype sway their expectations.

 

 

I suppose in the case of Bon Iver I was a bit turned off by the hype and then I listened to the thing and the guy's voice, slack song structure, out of tune guitar, over dubbing, and a few other things I simply couldn't get over. Had this been someone I really liked and knew something about I might have forgiven all those things, but under the circumstances I gave the thing a few listens and now it sits on the shelf.

 

My reaction to Bon Iver was much the same as yours - I gave it a few good listens, really liked it at the time, but obviously not enough to ever make me want to return to it, and now it sits on the shelf. I don't see the big difference between your reaction and my own.

[Vacant Horizon]

I understand pretty much all of you.

 

I went through a period not long ago where I couldn't get into anything but the box set Live Trane - The European Tours. It's all great, and by comparison, everything else sounded shallow, even silly ... I mean EVERYTHING: Wilco, the Beatles, the Stones ... EVERY THING.

 

I got out of that phase through sheer overexposure, but then I went through another period where I thought the iPod and iTunes had permanently ruined my attention span at age 44. I would listen to a song for about 65 seconds, then want to switch to something else. It doesn't help that I have over 14,000 songs on there to choose from!

 

Eventually, I've gotten back to listening to whole albums ... not constantly, but often. I'm buying CDs (mostly used), listening to them from start to finish to make sure there aren't any skips, and even playing older things in their entirety just to listen to them. Right now I'm playing all of Bowie's Low album on my iMac, an album I hadn't listened to in its entirety for years. And really enjoying it!

 

Things change, people change, tastes change ... hell, my response to some things I used to like changes. Maybe I don't like it as much, but maybe I like it more. Not to get too philosophical about it, but all of life is change, and that's okay.

 

 

yeah, the ipod has really caused me problems. i'm thinking about just buying cds again. at the same time, it's really up to me to listen to music the way i want to no matter what the format. if it's good and i allow myself to get into it, then it really doesnt matter what format, bit rate, etc. hell, i'll listen to the most transcoded shitty version of son volt's trace it that's all i had. it's the music that counts. now, Live Trane, is this coltrane?

[Vacant Horizon]

my thing is also, i don't know what i like anymore. i find that i like the idea of a band (ie Magnolia Electric) more than i actually like the music or sound. also, i find i may like the sound of a band or artists, but do not find it compelling enough to listen through. i love the 'sound' of latter day wilco, but i just cannot get into that new album. now the stuff i have had a visceral reaction to, mostly classic rock, i'm so bored with. it's kind of a combination of things...too much new music out there, lack of really good music, music business changing, saturation, etc. it's just a tough time i think.

[myboyblue]

The iPod has had the exact opposite impact on me. Prior to getting an iPod many years ago, I wasn't getting into much new music. I'd buy the new releases from the 6 or 7 favorite artists that I listened to but rarely anything else. Since buying the iPod, not a week goes by that I don't get into a new artist.

[Vacant Horizon]

Since some of this is about my commment let's go to point two first and then back to point one. I have gotten to the point where I only like to go see local and smalltime bands since it is easier to deal with the audience and expectations are somewhat lower and these type of groups desperately need support. These groups were hit hard by rising gas prices, lower record sales, and the stiff competition that is always part of the music biz.

 

As to the first part, I have been ripped on this before here and time is finally bearing out some of my sentiment. Getting overly excited about the next big thing is fine within limits. How many buzz bands (my daughter and I still joke about the VC buzz bands) have completely dropped off the radar and into the used bins? St. Vincent is only one instance. I checked her out (as I checked out Bon Iver) so as not to be labeled the grumpy old guy (can't get around that I guess) and found her pleasent but unworthy of the adulation given. Anyone listened to the Pernice Brothers lately? That was the buzz when I got here a few years back. They seem to have dropped off the map. Music is ephermeral by its very nature. Only time will tell what is really worth listening to years from now and what is the ear candy of the moment (nothing wrong with that however, it keeps musicians working). With so much to choose from and so little universally agreed upon (due to the decline in radio fare), personal preference is going to be the sole determiner of taste from here on out. Mr. Heartbreak talks about listening to Bowie's Low, an album that has stood the test of time. This is why, just like him, I so rarely buy new CDs or LPs because the stuff that was good last year or last decade or half a century ago is now easy to find in the dustpile of history (or available for download or reissue).

 

LouieB

 

so so right about the buzz. paste magazine makes it's charity supported living off the buzz they in turn try to create. case in point, sujan. what's he been doing for 4 years since illinoise? now a tour and a re-working of old material? the buzz is gone my friend. unfortunately, the buzz has not died down for wilco. the praise they are getting for this new record is way out of proportion to the actual music. interviewers call jeff tweedy a superstar...oh no! wilco will probably stand the test of time though (being there, yhf). also, with all the user generated reviews of every piece of new music that comes out, it's impossible to make an informed decision anymore. someone is gonna call anything that comes out a masterpiece. personal opinion is gonna be the winner. for me, i'm finding nothing i prefer and am really pissed at myself for falling into the buzz of many many things over the last decade. bon iver being one. terrible album.

[Vacant Horizon]

Joe Pernice just released a new album a few weeks ago.

 

The problem with The Pernice Brothers (IMHO) is that Joe Pernice has been making the same album over and over for 10 years now. I loved Overcome By Happiness - it was like a breath of fresh air and totally different. But every Pernice album sounds exactly the same. It's hard to maintain excitement over someone who keeps doing the same thing over and over.

 

I agree with you that it takes many years to see who will stand the test of time and who will be influential on new artists.

 

I haven't heard St Vincent, but I do know Bon Iver's For Emma Forever Ago album. I listened to it nonstop for about a week and really liked it at the time, but haven't gone back to it.

 

I can't say I've ever "wanted" to like an album. I'm always curious to hear new stuff, and if lots of people are talking about it, perhaps I'm even more curious, but I don't necessarily go into it "wanting" to like it.

 

And if I look back through my record/tape/CD collection, there have ALWAYS been buzz bands who disappear off the map. For every wonderful, classic album I have, I probably have two others that, while still wonderful, are by artists who have long since dropped off the map. I don't think this phenomenon is anything new. What is new is the overload of exposure to music that wasn't really possible years ago.

 

many good points brownie,

 

the rub is i want artists to do different things, but things that i like:)

 

your example of bon iver experience is enlightening. i find that i'll really get into something for maybe 2 hours. then i just hate it. this has happened several times with post rock, jazz, drive by truckers. also, i do 'want' to like stuff, so maybe that is an issue?

[Maggie]

The iPod has had the exact opposite impact on me. Prior to getting an iPod many years ago, I wasn't getting into much new music. I'd buy the new releases from the 6 or 7 favorite artists that I listened to but rarely anything else. Since buying the iPod, not a week goes by that I don't get into a new artist.

 

This is essentially what happened to me. A five month Ryan Adams binge and a shiny new iPod are what helped me to discover Wilco, so the iPod was clearly important to me. Unfortunately what came after hasn't been so positive for me.

 

For the first year or so things were good. I carefully researched music to purchase, discovering some of my now favorite artists like Wilco, Son Volt, Gillian Welch, and Kathleen Edwards within a period of about 6 months. The problem came when the research ended, and I started buying up music that often only vaguely interested me. Now I've got an iPod full of albums that seemed like a good idea at the time, but I now have little desire to listen to again. It got to the point where I was browsing emusic and amazon.com every day of the week. I felt like I NEEDED something new every day of the week, yet nothing was satisfying me.

 

When I was a teenager a CD purchase was huge endeavor for me. It took numerous trips to a record store, picking up an album, examining it and putting it back on the shelf multiple times before I finally made the purchase. I remember walking between the three records stores at the mall just to admire the Sonic Youth CD's. It was at least a year before I finally requested at Sonic Youth CD as a Christmas gift.

 

Of course money was an object at that age, but I was also in awe of the music. I wanted to get things right. I didn't want to buy something I wouldn't fall in love with. You could say the loss of the romance is a part of growing up, but I think some willpower and maybe a self-imposed budget will help me. It's worth a try.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

now, Live Trane, is this coltrane?

Yep.

[LouieB]

my thing is also, i don't know what i like anymore. i find that i like the idea of a band (ie Magnolia Electric) more than i actually like the music or sound.

 

it's kind of a combination of things...too much new music out there, lack of really good music, music business changing, saturation, etc. it's just a tough time i think.

I bought the new Magnolia Electric Company and have yet to listen to it, but yea, I like Jason Molina, he seems like the kind of guy we all should support. Rough time it is I think, totally agree

 

so so right about the buzz. paste magazine makes it's charity supported living off the buzz they in turn try to create. case in point, sujan. what's he been doing for 4 years since illinoise? now a tour and a re-working of old material? the buzz is gone my friend. unfortunately, the buzz has not died down for wilco. the praise they are getting for this new record is way out of proportion to the actual music. interviewers call jeff tweedy a superstar...oh no! wilco will probably stand the test of time though (being there, yhf). also, with all the user generated reviews of every piece of new music that comes out, it's impossible to make an informed decision anymore. someone is gonna call anything that comes out a masterpiece. personal opinion is gonna be the winner. for me, i'm finding nothing i prefer and am really pissed at myself for falling into the buzz of many many things over the last decade. bon iver being one. terrible album.

I got Paste because No Depression closed down. Paste is beyond horrible. Sufyan needs go get back on the horse and finish the last 48 states. Not that I personally care that much, since Illinoise was...well let's let it go...it and Bon Iver were similar to me, although to be honest, Sufyan has much more talent (if a severe lack of swing). Some of his songs are very compelling and some not. Bon Iver, yikes, just simply crummy production and slack songcraft. Now his every new release is treated like the second coming.

 

However Jeff Tweedy IS a superstar, for better or worse. Since I have followed him for along time and actually know him a bit, I feel his success is well earned, having been working on his craft for two decades and employing some of the finest musicians anywhere (who doesn't love Glenn and Nels??) Perhaps the music press has gone overboard, because what else do they have to do? They always have to proclaim someone the savior of popular music and Jeff is as good as the next guy, better really. Music was better when every new album wasn't the greatest thing someone ever did. W(TA) only suffers by comparison to a number of albums Wilco did that were truly groundbreaking (take your pick); since it is a perfectly fine album that will be followed by another and another and another. (If Wilco wants to freak everyone out they should release another album six months from now, fuck the press, fuck us....) Considering Wilco has already produced a few masterpieces why must we insist they do it every time out?

 

I am reading Gary Giddens Visions of Jazz (per recommendations of others here)and while reading it I was reminded that musicians such as Trane, Miles, etc etc. just cranked out albums by the boatload (I knew that but the reminder was important), some were not released until after they were dead, others years later, some mulitple albums in the same year (heck even the Beatles did that...) and no one was particularly concerned about one album being the greatest of their career. Things changed about the time St. Pepper came out since it WAS the greatest thing the Beatles ever did (maybe it isn't anymore, but it was at the time). Now the expectation of popular musicians is that they create the fantastic works of art each time out. For most musicians For Emily or Illinoise would be juvinellia and not be hailed as anything other than a stage of those artists development rather than being born as full blown masterpieces.

LouieB

[mountain bed]

 

 

Tbere was an excellent article in the New Yorker last week about the the music biz and tickets and stuff and the point was made that artists now have to make money touring, not like in the old days when they made money on records. Really sad. The minute Wilco stops touring people are gonna forget about them entirely. I guess that is why they have to tour so relentlessly.

 

LouieB

I feel compelled to respond to this - especially the last couple of sentences. It is so true - I can't imagine a self-confessed 'family guy' like Jeff (or John or Glenn now, for that matter) gets a big kick out of dragging the fam all over hell's half-acre most of the year. Or maybe they do, I have no idea.

 

The best example of touring making more bucks than record sales has to be the Dead (y'all knew I was gonna mention that ). Until "In The Dark" those guys NEVER sold a million records, not even close. But they continued to play shows year after year to large crowds. There is something kind of romantic about the idea of the wandering troubadours, but sleeping in strange beds, eating shitty hotel food, etc. has to be taxing.

 

OK, that said, I don't really listen to a lot of new music. For me, it's about 90% jazz or Dead. That's keeps me pretty stoked.

[LouieB]

I feel compelled to respond to this - especially the last couple of sentences. It is so true - I can't imagine a self-confessed 'family guy' like Jeff (or John or Glenn now, for that matter) gets a big kick out of dragging the fam all over hell's half-acre most of the year. Or maybe they do, I have no idea.

 

The best example of touring making more bucks than record sales has to be the Dead (y'all knew I was gonna mention that ). Until "In The Dark" those guys NEVER sold a million records, not even close. But they continued to play shows year after year to large crowds. There is something kind of romantic about the idea of the wandering troubadours, but sleeping in strange beds, eating shitty hotel food, etc. has to be taxing.

 

OK, that said, I don't really listen to a lot of new music. For me, it's about 90% jazz or Dead. That's keeps me pretty stoked.

I had some snarky comment about the fact that the Dead kept touring was because they were all so stoned they didn't know what a drag it was. (Oh that WAS the snarky comment.... ) The Dead certainly did write the book on the constant touring. Certainly the Dead did okay on record sales though and they did get some airplay, but touring made them millionaires.

 

Jazz is certainly some of my first choice of stuff to thrown on the box in my spare time. I bought an Artie Shaw CD the other day, I MUST be getting OLD.

 

LouieB

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Familiarity really does breed comtempt.

 

Too much of a good thing IS bad.

 

Ease of access has taken away the specialness, the allure.

It is all commonplace and leads to ennui.

[Vacant Horizon]

This is essentially what happened to me. A five month Ryan Adams binge and a shiny new iPod are what helped me to discover Wilco, so the iPod was clearly important to me. Unfortunately what came after hasn't been so positive for me.

 

For the first year or so things were good. I carefully researched music to purchase, discovering some of my now favorite artists like Wilco, Son Volt, Gillian Welch, and Kathleen Edwards within a period of about 6 months. The problem came when the research ended, and I started buying up music that often only vaguely interested me. Now I've got an iPod full of albums that seemed like a good idea at the time, but I now have little desire to listen to again. It got to the point where I was browsing emusic and amazon.com every day of the week. I felt like I NEEDED something new every day of the week, yet nothing was satisfying me.

 

When I was a teenager a CD purchase was huge endeavor for me. It took numerous trips to a record store, picking up an album, examining it and putting it back on the shelf multiple times before I finally made the purchase. I remember walking between the three records stores at the mall just to admire the Sonic Youth CD's. It was at least a year before I finally requested at Sonic Youth CD as a Christmas gift.

 

Of course money was an object at that age, but I was also in awe of the music. I wanted to get things right. I didn't want to buy something I wouldn't fall in love with. You could say the loss of the romance is a part of growing up, but I think some willpower and maybe a self-imposed budget will help me. It's worth a try.

 

 

this has totally been my problem. i browse amazon and emusic everyday too. i hate it. i've downloaded so much crap that was purported to sound like neil young, it's ridiculous. torrents are another big problem. that has stopped as i'm only using my wife's macbook now. she forbids torrents:)

 

i was the same about cd purchases in high school. i'm not buying anything for a few weeks or a month. i'm gonna try to cut back to buying one album a month. something i really really want and in my gut i know is not fluff.