Week 45
Lessons from listening.
I finished this mushroom comic strip this week. Here’s another excerpt from it. Excited to share the whole thing in a few weeks time. Anyone here going to PCAF this year?
This Week I (Re-)Learned…
How to listen deeply. I spent the last decade working in radio and during that time my listening habits changed.
I got really good at listening to a song and judging its radio merit in a very short period of time. I spent a lot of time doggedly hunting down new music, new artists. I would listen to songs probably once or twice and play it on the radio a few times and then move on, unless I really really loved it and maybe it would end up on a personal playlist. It was a life of skimming, of shallow listening. I was across a lot of different music, a lot of local artists, but I basically stopped listening to albums.
Occasionally I would go on a spree and buy several vinyls and spend time with them that way, but that was maybe once a year, I couldn’t sustain that kind of devotion. I found that after playing music on the radio for 8 hours on a weekend and spending another full work day furiously skimming to try stay on top of everything, I actually didn’t feel like listening to music all that much.
So I’ve really enjoyed reclaiming my listening time lately. With the pressure removed of trying to stay on top of everything new, I can tiptoe between new and old albums at will and follow my curiosity.
Album(s) of the Week
Two weeks ago, I announced that I would be listening to one album and only one per week. For those wondering, I am allowed to listen to podcasts and audiobooks. I can even listen to the radio. But any time during the week that I decide I’m going to listen to music I can only listen to that album.
Some general thoughts on the one album, one week format:
I found myself actually listening to music more than I normally would. Taking away the cognitive load of choice made it easier to slip music on. Like Apple man’s black turtlenecks.
I found I was excited to get back to the album, and because I was becoming familiar with the songs very quickly, they would live in my head even when I wasn’t listening, prompting a positive cycle.
It’s cool to expand the songs I can sing along to. Because I’m not skipping songs, the growers are becoming show-ers.
There were some times when I wanted to listen to something else or the music didn’t match the vibe of what I was doing. I could see this getting annoying in the future but also after I do this for a while I can probably relax my own rules a little.
The first album I listened to was Heroes to Zeroes by The Beta Band (2004) . The thing that struck me with this album was that it was very easy to slip in at any point and something interesting would be going on. It’s solid all the way through, but that’s not to say it’s crisp banger after banger. There are lots of misshapen lumps of songs here but they all have a place and a charm and work together beautifully as a whole. Most of this album wouldn’t work on radio but that’s not the point of albums so that’s nice.
The second album I listened to was Aldous Harding’s new album Train on the Island.
I love Aldous Harding and she’s actually someone I have had no trouble listening to her albums all the way through. Some have suggested this is her best album. I’m not there yet but I am enjoying it.
Some thoughts I had while listening:
What is this accent now?
I wish I could do vocal runs. I would do it once on an album so people knew I could do it and then it would be impressively restrained when I never did it again.
Why do people keep thinking I’m getting off the tram? The last two people both shifted their bodies expectedly to let me out and I had to say “oh no, sorry, I’m not getting off yet”. I guess I fidget a lot, fidget and stretch. Maybe I shuffle. Am I shuffling now?
Anyway this isn’t an album review blogspot so I probably won’t refer to it all that much going forward except to say what the album was or what next week’s will be. Perhaps I will try to make a drawing while listening to the album and I can just show you a quick visual review every week.
I’m also open to suggestions. I want to branch out and try listen to a bunch of different things, if you have an album you love that you think I should listen to exclusively for a week, get in touch in the comments and perhaps I’ll do it and provide a visual review.